The march to financial freedom

Igamogam · 6 July 2015 at 11:15PM

Ali-OK wrote: »

Only connection I've found so far is probably not drinking enough water, so aiming for 2 litres a day - which seems like alot when I keep forgetting :mad:

I'm sure hormones are playing a part, which is creating the feeling weird - having quite a few of those days too.

I eventually saw a consultant neurologist about migraines.............all down to hydration in the end. 2 litres was a minimum to aim for in his book. I cant manage that in a day but if I have anything less than a litre its an almost guaranteed migraine the next day. I was convinced I drank enough in a day - only have tea and coffee at weekends and no fizzy sugary carp - but a 4 day migraine every 10 days was robbing me of my life and I was not happy with GP solution of beta blockers hence insisting on a referral. Still get migraines but much more controllable now. Consultant also said to stay off the painkillers on the basis in his opinion people who cure migraine with painkillers only have a severe headache

AlexLK · 7 July 2015 at 12:22AM

Ali-OK wrote: »

Landy avoided the cull then? Fuel here is rising by 1p a week consistently, no idea when that will stop and settle.

Aircon sounds like a bargain, is it expensive to run?

Quite normal for kids to be frightened of thunder and lightening - some of the claps of thunder made me jump . All you can do is be there and re-assure and give him a big cuddle

Landy avoided the cull as it's actually useful, unlike my other cars :rotfl:. Petrol is about £1.18 and diesel £1.22 here.

How would I know if the aircon was expensive to run or not?

I agree regarding my son, he'll get over it with time.

Ali-OK wrote: »

I did indeed make a chocolate cake yesterday - that was all eaten up too. DS denied eating a bit whilst I was out...only to be confronted with the evidence he'd cut the 'wrong' end for a slice :rotfl:

:rotfl: I can't believe how quickly the cakes seem to go in your house!

Ali-OK wrote: »

Chipping away at the mortgage still - next month should see the interest hit £50 a month lower than December 13 - that's a good bit of extra money that's being wrapped into the capital :j

That's excellent! I suppose I can understand the :j for the lower interest as we (well, Mrs. K. as she's the one that earns a proper income) have just started to overpay by a regular monthly £200. Isn't much, I know but better than nothing.

Skinnylatte · 8 July 2015 at 2:37AM

Useful information about hydration and migraines

Ali-OK · 8 July 2015 at 9:46PM

Thanks Ig - agree with Skinny, it is useful to know that and I'll make even more effort to keep the water intake high. Bit easier in the warmer weather too. I'm on BBs to stop them, but have still had 2 visual ones. Weird. And this morning, it was like being drunk when I got up! Took a while to feel normal - am due back at GPs soon so will bring this unbalanced thing back up.

Alex - unless you're a bit OTT with monitoring the electric use like me, I guess the aircon usage and cost isn't tracked

. And £200 OP on the mortgage monthly isn't small at all - all adds up and will make a difference.

Here, it's been work, Wimbledon and reflexologist appointment today at a cost of £33.

Holiday is cancelled at a cost of £60, plus deposit loss - thankfully the bulk wasn't due until 2 weeks before so not too bad. I'm looking forward to time off at home as Christmas was the last break like that.

Financials:
- bank account checked - not much happening there until next week
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Inbox Pounds up a tad at £16.07
- Qmee - some more popped up and the pot is now at 61p

Think that's all to report at the moment. Busy couple of days at work coming up and then the DIYers are here for a 9 day stint on the garden. Am hoping it'll be nearly finished at the end of that - except for the artificial grass. We'll see

Hump day over - hope the week is going well for everyone

AlexLK · 9 July 2015 at 12:03AM

Ali-OK wrote: »

Thanks Ig - agree with Skinny, it is useful to know that and I'll make even more effort to keep the water intake high. Bit easier in the warmer weather too. I'm on BBs to stop them, but have still had 2 visual ones. Weird. And this morning, it was like being drunk when I got up! Took a while to feel normal - am due back at GPs soon so will bring this unbalanced thing back up.

Alex - unless you're a bit OTT with monitoring the electric use like me, I guess the aircon usage and cost isn't tracked . And £200 OP on the mortgage monthly isn't small at all - all adds up and will make a difference.

Here, it's been work, Wimbledon and reflexologist appointment today at a cost of £33.

Holiday is cancelled at a cost of £60, plus deposit loss - thankfully the bulk wasn't due until 2 weeks before so not too bad. I'm looking forward to time off at home as Christmas was the last break like that.

Financials:
- bank account checked - not much happening there until next week
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Inbox Pounds up a tad at £16.07
- Qmee - some more popped up and the pot is now at 61p

Think that's all to report at the moment. Busy couple of days at work coming up and then the DIYers are here for a 9 day stint on the garden. Am hoping it'll be nearly finished at the end of that - except for the artificial grass. We'll see

Hump day over - hope the week is going well for everyone

I hope you get well soon and the professionals find a solution, Ali.

As for the electricity use, I don't even know how you'd go about monitoring it, so I don't really have a clue in all honesty. You are right about the £200 per month adding up, the MSE calculator reckons it'll save almost £30,000 over the full term. I'm considering putting half my yearly savings total towards it too as it would be nice to clear this ourselves.

Enjoy your time at home over the summer holidays and I'm glad to hear the garden project is almost over.

Ali-OK · 9 July 2015 at 9:24PM

Thanks Alex - am really hoping the garden will be finished by early August. Fingers crossed for that and good weather for the weeks I'm off and at home, shall enjoy it and get the planting done if so

. In the meantime, the ballast arrives on Tuesday and DIYer has dropped off the patio plan, so we know what is needed - we'll go and order that on Sunday as rain is due. Keeps falling on the weekend :mad:

Great news on the £30k saving that can be made :T

It's list time - all the things I need to sort/book/pay for over the coming weeks :eek:

- boiler service (overdue)
- both dogs for grooming
- wisdom tooth extraction
- house insurance renewal is in - up 20%. Time to shop around

- PC software protection - usually cheaper to buy again from scratch than renew too
- GP appointment (and likely prescription - must look at pre-payment cert)
- Opticians/eye check - probably cost for more drops

- Move this year's ISA - just had a letter saying interest dropping so pretty sure I can transfer it to another provider at a better rate.

Potential mortgage capital payment for August is looking like £860 at the moment, but could easily drop with all the above bills that I reckon will swallow up £400 :eek:

Financials then:
- bank account checked
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Inbox Pounds up at £16.14
- Qmee - still at 61p

I've identified some stuff in the garage to go on Fr33cycle at the weekend to create some room in there. Haven't found a new office as yet, in the meantime I'm going part-time next week so I can get to DS's Sports Day, show and Celebration Assembly (awards). He finishes at lunchtime on the 17th and has a full 7 weeks off :eek:. I'm slowing work down for the next few weeks to start with, with a definite 2-3 week full break, maybe longer, we'll see how office hunting and finances go. Don't want to eat too much into savings, though I've managed to backfill and add to the savings pot as the garden spends have been spread out so far and the architect should be in touch early August with plans and likely her bill too. As long as I earn enough to cover the budget, I'll be happy.

Saving can start again in earnest come autumn.

Food shop done tonight and a whopping £52.31 spent - I've stocked up on meat, cake making ingredients, food for feeding the DIYers and a few school holiday extras. I'm so looking forward to not getting up with the alarm and no meetings before 11 am :rotfl:

Ali-OK · 12 July 2015 at 10:28PM

Weekend gone :eek: Hope everyone's had a good one

It's been non-stop here with lots achieved and aside from the planned spend ordering the patio and setts, not spent a penny on anything else.

. Did get part of it at half price and free delivery - arriving Thursday :j

Also did the driving, another successful trip on fast country roads and dual carriageway. Vision definitely improving :j

Full of cold though - that arrived on Friday out of nowhere with a running nose all day at work :mad:. But slept for 9 hours last night and taking my daily vits still - fingers crossed it goes as quick as it arrived.

Notice given in on office and bringing 'clutter' back home, sorting and storing/binning as I go along. Hoping to view somewhere else, phone call to make tomorrow on that. Also Fr33cycled several things from the garage that were too good to bin, but not good enough to sell which has started to create some space.

Batches of chocolate and lemon fairy cakes made to keep the DIYers and DS happy

. Garden progress was patio base dug out, some cabling in and side path up. Compost bin now in situ, water butt re-sited and fitted to downpipe, trellis gone up for the Wysteria - the one that was cut down to near the base last autumn has sprung back beautifully :T .

Tomorrow should see an indoor power point converted from 1 to 2 plate (for the garden electrics) and final levelling of all the ground in readiness for the ballast on Tuesday, then it's time to finalise the border shape and water feature position...and maybe order the artificial grass dependent upon lead time. There's still lots to do before that can be laid though.

Housework was minimal again - washing, ironing, dishwasher, towels, beds, etc. Got some catching up on the business accounts to do too, but more free time than client facing this week so hoping I can get on top of those - depends how much tea and cake I supply/make for the garden peeps as they're here all week.

Roast gammon dinner tonight with some leftover - should just manage tomorrow night from it too with new pots and veg or salad.

Financials:
- Bank account checked - finances and budget all holding up pretty well - didn't like paying out for the patio though and won't enjoy seeing that come off the online bank statement in a day or 2 :rotfl:
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Inbox Pounds - still plodding and up at £16.44
- Qmee - some more and pot at 72p
- Change Bucket - got another £31 to bank - £1s, 20p's and 1p's

Still got that long list from last week to work through - aiming to start on that tomorrow. Famous last words

Early night, early start still - counting down the last week of school with DS for the lay ins - which is about 6.45am with the dogs clock :rotfl:

Ali-OK · 13 July 2015 at 10:02PM

Evening Diary

Loads done from my list today, in the process alot to spread over this and next month's budget.

- Boiler service - booked - August - £60
- Groomers for dogs - booked - end of July - £100
- Wisdom tooth extraction - booked - August - @ £70 :eek:
- House insurance done - £116.60 paid, saving £63 on renewal price :j
- PC protection done - £69.99 paid :eek: A necessary evil
- Opticians booked - next week (already pay £5 DD monthly so sight test and contact lens checks covered)
- GP appointment - next week and picked up a pre-pay leaflet

- Move ISA - done - gone with P0st Offic3 for the 1.41% Instant Access and transferring in from current/previous year's one

Still to do:
- Bank change bucket money (£31)
- Voucher for August birthday to get (£25)

Work - just keeping on top of emails today, got a couple of bits for delivery this week that are on track.

Garden - Ooh it's all now ready for the ballast tomorrow :j Curvy border marked out, water feature re-sited and electrics done as far as can be at this stage. Rained almost constantly until late this afternoon though - picked the worst week for weather it would seem

.

Enquiries made on artificial grass after much online research - got some free samples coming that are robust enough for dogs and an instant saving as available in a 3 metre width - otherwise we'd have a fair bit of wastage to the standard 4m width most sell (need 7m wide).

Most excited about DS's Celebration/Awards Assembly - he was called to a rehearsal this afternoon as he's won an award :j:j. So thrilled for him and very proud mum here

. Can't wait for his moment on Thursday and to find out what it is for

. Wonderful for his confidence and motivation.

Used up the LO gammon for dinner tonight and all the cakes have been eaten again! I'm enjoying all the baking and now adding crushed egg shells and veg peelings to the compost bin

. DIYer brought some grass over for it too since I don't have that anymore :rotfl:

Financials - all the usual suspects checked

and budgets all updated with today's spends and commitments.

Hope everyone's had a good start to the week. A NSD on the cards tomorrow - I'm focussing on work and earning