Second Time Lucky

debtfreeoneday

That's awesome, one step back and lots forward.. be proud of how far you have come!

in_need_of_direction

Don't think I ever had 9 good days with my dd pre her 20s. Well done you

amycool

Thanks everyone - I know dealing with loss comes in waves and this is a lovely trough for us, which will hopefully prepare us for the next peak.

I've just ordered some fabric to hopefully make some rat things. I might also try to use some in the summer holidays for craft activities. DD loves using blankets and stuff to fashion clothing for her dolls and teddies (uses clips!) so I reckon she'll love it.

Just about to spend £24 on the school photo. It's £13.50 unframed, so we would have spent almost that framed anyway. The plan is just to buy this year and year 6.

I managed to avoid giving anything to school for the school fair. We'll probably spend a fortune whilst we're there so I don't feel bad.

Whilst I've been ill I've been making myself do some knitting each day. I'm on row 84 of a shawl that gets wider and wider with every row. I reckon I'll be about 50 by the time I finish it. I'll keep plodding on though, then I must start trying to finish a few other projects.

Today I tried to do a little light exercise as I feel about 100 year old at the moment. Everything aches. I'm hoping a few weeks of 15-20 mins a day will get me back to some semblance of health and then I can think about doing something more energetic.

Gutted about the referendum. I don't think anything I have ever voted for has come to pass. It's hard living in a country where your views are in opposition to the majority, although at least it's a small one. The worst is seeing Farage's smug face, making out he's a man of the people. I just hope the exit is as painless as possible for everyone.

amycool

That was stressful. I had a panic when I thought my home insurance was due, then realised it's next month. Then had a real panic when I realised the breakdown cover runs out tomorrow!!! I vaguely recall OH mentioning a letter about it but generally he's supposed to deal with the car stuff. Anyway I did a quick renewal. Probably should have shopped around but was too panicked!

We've had a very spendy month but also been lucky with cashback and gifts so it hasn't massively affected the final total for the month (I know there's still a few days but not expecting any big spends).

Managed not to go too crazy at the summer fair as Grandma kindly paid for lots of the stuff! We also won some chocolate.

Heard the postman and assumed it was my hair tints, but no - a bag of granola! I love wins like that. I'd never spend £3 on a small bag of granola so it's a little luxury for my breakfasts and a lovely surprise. There's a £1 off voucher too but we'll see how tasty it is.

I've just sent another £700 towards the mortgage. Starting next week the mortgage amount will be lower so I'm going to straight away overpay the difference. So that takes us below £50,000, which is nice! Need to focus on getting to £40,000 now.

What I know I need to do, but probably won't ever get round to, is open another Santander account in just my name. We have some savings in an ISA but it's earning very little. Having said that, there's a chance in the next few years that my OH may go into the higher tax bracket, so maybe leaving it in the ISA is wise. Hmmmm....plus we're not likely to be saving much in the next few years.

DD has another 2 parties (one school, one a friend), so I need to find money and a gift for those. Hopefully nothing else expensive for a while.

In health news, my recent hospital trip has scared me and I need to get fit. So I'm eating sensibly (no point me dieting as the moment I stop the diet I binge eat and put it back on) and doing some exercise every day. Today is day 5 and it's not been too hard, but I'm getting really hungry the last hour or two before meals and even fruit isn't cutting it. I think I've just got so used to overeating that my body thinks something is badly wrong. The hardest thing for me is in the evening when I desperately want a biscuit (not from hunger, just habit) but so far so good. I'm hoping my OH will join in and lose a bit of his extra weight too.

amycool

Mortgage hasn't been updated online yet but our first £396 payment has gone out and I've overpaid to make it back up to £500. I'm assuming that the new rate means my overpayments of 10% start again. I wouldn't want to go over the limit and pay extra.

According to an online calculator, if we don't overpay anymore and just stick with the £500 a month, we should pay off the mortgage when I'm 40.5 years old. My aim was to pay it off before I'm 40 so this now seems very very doable! If we overpay £300 a month, which I think is the most we'll be able to afford, I'll be 37. DD will have started high school then so the extra money will definitely come in handy!

It looks like we've knocked 3 years off so far - in just 2 years.

In pet news, next week we will be getting 3 rats! I had to spend a small fortune on all the setting up stuff but I'm very excited.

Muser1

Amazing target! Is this the forever house? X

debtfreeoneday

Glad the rats are ready!

amycool

Muser1 wrote: »

Amazing target! Is this the forever house? X

It is indeed! We lived with the in-laws for about 7 years (the plan was 3 years but nothing ever goes to plan!) and saved every penny, then bought a tiny cheap terrace and kept saving every penny. Now we have a 3 bed semi and it's just the right size for our family of 3. The hope is that eventually we will get a new bathroom and kitchen, and do up the living areas, and then it'll be almost perfect. A downstairs toilet would be ideal but it wouldn't fit anywhere.

I think it'll be weird to not be paying off a house!

amycool

Today is rat day! I'm feeling very nervous about it! What if they hate me? I'm still worrying about the logistics of trying to play with them with DD around (she can be a bit grabby!) or doing it when she's in bed and potentially waking her.

The rats have so far cost me....brace yourselves...£328!!!!! Lots of toys and bedding and fabric that should at least last a while.

We splashed out last week on a food shop at Morrisons (instead of Aldi) and it cost £71!! Some of that was Tupperware, but mostly we just bought far too many treats.

Had a nice free day out (other than petrol) at a NT property at the weekend.

The £24 school photo came in a stupid frame that won't hang, so now I'll have to get some picture hooks.

My healthy eating has been hit and miss.

Right, must get off the computer as my head hurts.

Pushkin

£328 on rats - who knew they were so costly :rotfl:!! Can't wait to hear how you get on with them -they have such a bad public image (in my mind) be interesting to see how they are as pets.