The impossible dream

Tahlullah

Pah! Went to buy a motorbike this evening. What a wasted journey. The seller was really dodgy, and the bike even more so. The log book said it was silver but the bike was blue.

Goes without saying I still have my money in my bank account! Better there than not I guess. I will continue to look.

TallGirl

Sounds like you had a lucky excape I’m sure the right one will come along soon. Glad you’re settled in and sticking to the plan.

Tahlullah

Hi TG. Yes lucky escape. I am certain there will be a few buyers out there who wouldn't bother to check the details in the log book, and would just accept that it is what it says on the outside.

Anyway, I am eyeing up another one. Have to spend more but moving away from the lower price bracket buys a better quality bike. Same with anything, you get what you pay for.

Moneyfordreams

Are you still keeping the car? or swapping to a bike?

Tahlullah

Hello Moneyfordreams and thanks for popping in. Yes, I am keeping the car. I am a fair weather biker and so will only ride in nice, warm, dry weather. Otherwise, I will be in the car.

Anyway, I bought the second one I looked at. It's not perfect but it is in good condition, comes with full service history and is currently MOT'd. Just have to wait for the weather to improve. Will be SORNing it once the log book comes through.

I also managed to pick up a 'new' set of leathers from ebay for £40 plus postage. It says new and unworn but even if they have had light use, its a great price. Looked at a brand new helmet in the shops. It will have to wait until March payday for that extravagance, along with a pair of protective boots. Luckily I still have my gloves from when I used to ride and they are in good condition, so one less thing to worry about.

Despite my complaining about no money, I managed to buy the bike without it affecting my mortgage payments and without using the visa card, so whatever happens, my frugal ways are still allowing me the opportunity of splurging without adding debt.

Also managed to sell a couple of things on ebay, so feel positive about that and finally, I got a 'good news' message from Ernie. Not got the details to check in to see how much I have won, but expecting the lowest amount. Can't complain as anything is better than nothing.

My list of things to do remains unchanged bar the bike. Will still look to see where I am in March, but don't have to worry about the extra gear and the insurance until April when the weather starts warming up.

Tahlullah

So, I spent an evening staring at my finances, at my outstanding mortgage and wondering where I went wrong. Sadly, my life plan was to be mortgage free by this age, considering early retirement. Instead, I find I am almost where I was 5 years ago, with a huge mortgage and a desire to pay it off early. I was a mortgage free wanabee and I failed.

As clearly something needs correction, I have made the decision that I am going to overpay by £100 per month. Every month, whatever happens I will make a payment of £100 into the second mortgage. Hopefully, this will help deal with my need for symmetry, the need to work in whole numbers. I won't overburden myself and if it remains reachable, then I have a hope of maintaining the goal until December, where I will have reduced the mortgage by £1k this year.

It also allows me to continue living without feeling that I am in purgatory. Hopefully, I will still have enough disposable income to pay for the things that life throws up, which will allow me to continue believing that I work to live, not live to work.

£100 per month without disrupting the rest of my life and my finances. I should be able to achieve that.

1st payment made today.

Tahlullah

Wow!! I won £2.80 on last nights Euromillions lottery draw. Considering it cost £2.50 to buy the ticket, I am pleased with my 0.30p win.

Living it large tonight!!

Tahlullah

End of February. And what have I achieved?

-Managed to make a second £100 payment to the mortgage. So the mortgage currently stands at £78,300.

-Emptied Ermintrude, which is where I store the coins that I am collecting. Now only £6.00 short of £100, so next time I empty her, I will be able to make a payment into the mortgage, but that will be a couple of months off.

-The NS Days are going well. I regularly manage 4 a week.

-Have now paid everything I need to for my winter holiday. Insurance, car parking at the airport and money for Rufus's hotel. Spending money is also covered, so holiday done. Just the actual 'going' to do.

-Still have a helmet and boots to buy but plenty of time for that.

-Food shopping down to a reasonable spend in my opinion.

-Diesel costs still high but this will be tackled in summer.

-Need to do more ebaying, but still not got my groove back on this one.

-Expecting an increase in all the bills in April. using YNAB to help prepare and budget.

-Still paying small amounts into Moneybox weekly.

-Still purchasing Premium Bonds in the hope Ernie comes in at a bit more than £25!

-Still using Top Cashback when possible, as well as Shop and Scan, collecting Tesco vouchers and Nectar points. Not so keen on Swagbucks. I may get back into it in the future.

Will look to pay a minimum of £100 in addition to the normal mortgage payment of £1k in March, despite my holiday absence.

Just taking it a day at a time.

Tahlullah

Great start to the new month - not. The same tooth that cracked off a bit of cosmetic filling in November 2017 has broken again. In the same place. Considering how much it cost me to fix approximately 1 year ago, I am loathe to spend that amount again. A lot of money to be paying out annually. So, I am going to go and see my normal dentist and ask him to file and shape the cracked edge, rather than go back to the cosmetic dentist and ask him to re-attach another bit of filling. I am lucky that this is purely cosmetic and has no affect on the actual tooth so I can get away with this minor adjustment, which will be a permanent solution.

New month and ready to see what lies ahead.

Forgot to say that I passed probation at work so I am now a permanent member of staff. This is great news. Downside is they will now start piling the work on because I am not going anywhere.

Trying to return the bike boots I bought from ebay. Usual scenario where the seller doesn't list the defects so at the start of the long drawn out process where the seller avoids contact, whilst waiting for ebay to deem it a suitable period of no contact before they intervene. Oh well. I will get the money back whatever happens.

Went out with a friend and her family at the weekend and spent £16 on coffee at Costa. Stupid amount of money but I don't see them that often. Not very MSE but couldn't be helped.

Nearly holiday time!!

Tahlullah

And today I was ripped off for the sum of £25 by an Insurance company. Purchased Bike insurance to start on 1 April. Noticed when the details came through that it didn't cover pillion passengers. Rang immediately and told they couldn't deal with the issue but someone would ring me Monday morning. No call but rude texts telling me they would cancel the insurance if I didn't get in touch.

Finally managed to speak to them and they were questioning why the details of the bike were different - because I didn't buy the first one and I was getting an idea of price. Why were the details of where it would be stored changing - because I was getting an idea of price!

Anyway, finally get round to the issue of pillion and they said they would charge £25 to cancel the cover and set up new cover. In the end, I just agreed. Couldn't be bothered to argue further. Not enough to break the bank but still disgusting considering the cover hasn't even started yet.

Anyway, you live and learn. Be careful purchasing insurance online.

Update on mortgage repayments - currently at £77,100. Hoping I might be able to find £100 by the end of the month to start April with a nice whole number.

Bike boots issue resolved. Just my crash helmet to buy next month and waiting for the good weather to arrive.

Still in holiday mode but this will end soon.

Ideal Home Show this weekend. Combining it with a trip to Bubba Gumps for some Shrimp. Friends birthday on Saturday. Just getting her Argos vouchers as she is going to be a mother soon and I think will appreciate the opportunity to buy what she wants as opposed to getting something which is nice but not needed.

Colleagues leaving do on Friday as well, so all in all, including the holiday, March has been an expensive month.

Expectation is that I will reduce the mortgage by a minimum of £1100, so should owe £76k by the end of April.

On target to meet target of £69k by the end of December 2019. If I can stop spending, it may be lower.