Renovations and Repayments.

AlexLK

edinburgher wrote: »

Calm down dear, he'll be 120 by the 2020 election
Ps. Does the other thread relate to keeping our alcoholic intake in check? I think I could visit that for weight loss reasons if nothing else!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I posted a link to the 'other thread' on someone's diary for you and NG. There's a few on there for weight loss reasons. I did it to cut down on money spent to begin with before realising I used to drink far too much.

smallholdingsister wrote: »

Yes it does, Ed. Come on over.

I am crucified that Corbyn won, but not because of his politics.

I presume you're a Labour voter and think the party has gone to the dogs as a result of Corbyn's appointment? Sorry if I'm wrong but if I'm not who would you have as leader?

maman wrote: »

I do remember and I'm still not worried. I can't see him making it to the next General Election at this point but if, in opposition, he shames the Tories into being more compassionate and less selfish and demonstrates that the average voter is fed up with patronising pre-prepared sound bites then his leadership will have served some purpose.

What on earth was this art project that you could have messed it up? Surely you've learned to colour between the lines by your age?

Missed opportunity with the volunteering Alex. I think you should have said to LittleK 'Daddy's at school all day on xxx so we'll both have to stay to lunch'.

It seems that however much we tell you to forgive yourself and move on you really can't so professional help is needed. What was the outcome of being 'dragged off to the doctor' last week?

I think the next five years will be very interesting, Corbyn or not, especially with the upcoming EU referendum. Personally, I think he may make it to 2020, I just hope the country isn't stupid enough to vote him into No. 10.

That colouring is difficult stuff, maman.

Regarding lunch, I'm going to see how he gets on over the next few weeks and then after half term try one day. I was considering asking if I could volunteer at his school as they [FONT=&quot]have little music there and sitting with him in the dining hall to get him used to having lunch at school but not sure whether that's a good idea or not?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'm aware I need professional help and will be going back to counselling. After discussion Mrs K and I are also going to attend relationship counselling for 6 months because we've been through a lot together, both done things that have made our marriage difficult. It's not just all her fault or mine but neither of us can face going our separate ways and there are lots of good things about our marriage, too. My GP has put me back on medication for the time being. For the first time I'm not too bothered about that as I think I need it. [/FONT]

AlexLK

Sunday 13th September, 2015.

Dear Diary,

Realised it's been a while since I've done one of these and that I'd not put away my usual £30 savings last week, either. Today I've made up for last week by putting £60 into my savings making me £1,880 away from the new target which doesn't seem too bad. However, it seems the end of the year is getting ever closer.

Next week has been strategically planned for me by Mrs K as I told her I'd like to get some things prepped for savings money so she's turned out a spreadsheet showing there's lots of time to do such things. :eek:

The music teaching has picked up with a few new starters, a couple of returners and a few more wanting to pay at the voluntary school. What started as a bit of pocket money from which to pay debts with has turned into 17 hours of scheduled work during school term time. Quite pleased with that, really.

Going to try to go to bed at a reasonable time this evening and turn things around over this week... I've got a target to reach.

Yours Faithfully,
Alex.

smallholdingsister

Alex so pleased you have acted to support your health.

Labour leader? Last good shot at them being elected...David Milliband?!

7roland8

Alex, volunteering in sons school sounds fine but please don't join him for lunch! It won't be long till Xmas and the Christmas lunch might be a good place to start.

AlexLK

smallholdingsister wrote: »

Alex so pleased you have acted to support your health.

Labour leader? Last good shot at them being elected...David Milliband?!

I remember at the time being very surprised Ed got the position rather than David.

Son has gone to school quite happily this morning without much fuss. Pleased about this.

I know others will likely say this is me being negative about my health but I can't ever see things getting entirely better. I had all the right intentions last night but hardly any sleep. Today hasn't been great so far, quite a few negative thoughts documented (yes, doctor wants me to write all of that down which makes me feel worse) and I'm really quite anxious about getting my tasks for the day done despite none of the tasks being difficult.

On the subject of MSE, I've been thinking about the money situation and the fact I've not done a lot to save some more money recently. Also, despite writing on here about it, I've not sat down with Mrs K and discussed what we really need to spend each month to hopefully save a bit more. At the moment, I constantly feel close to spending the savings on something other than the house but haven't as yet because I know it's the wrong thing to do.

AlexLK

7roland8 wrote: »

Alex, volunteering in sons school sounds fine but please don't join him for lunch! It won't be long till Xmas and the Christmas lunch might be a good place to start.

Thanks Roland, I wasn't sure whether it was a good idea or not.

We talked about Christmas lunch and Mrs K thinks it's important for him to have it at school, I'm happy with that, so long as he's made some friends by then.

gallygirl

AlexLK wrote: »

At the moment, I constantly feel close to spending the savings on something other than the house but haven't as yet because I know it's the wrong thing to do.

Where do you have your savings Alex? Can you keep a small emergency stash available and transfer the rest to a Notice account?

edinburgher

Alternatively, if you are comfortable going closer to the investing side of things (and the money isn't needed for imminent home improvements), P2P might be worth considering in the new year for 6-7% return? A new type of ISA is being launched for this sort of thing, so you could get a decent return on your cash.

I know your opinion on 'low yielding' investments like this isn't necessarily the highest, but unless you're actively ploughing your money into the business/reselling finds, you have quite a high opportunity cost when holding the savings as cash.

A steady income stream might be just the thing for your finances and I think that the incremental nature of the returns would appeal to your personality (and help build confidence that you *can* achieve wealth on your own terms over the long term).

S&S or similar would probably be a better start for most people, but I don't think your temperament makes it such a good option. That, and your parents are minted, so it's not as if a few written off loans will affect your future financial stability

Watty1

And that Mr Ed is why you would make such a great IFA. You've taken Alex's personality/temperament into account. Love it

cazmanian_minx

AlexLK wrote: »

I understand where you are coming from though I know had I been more responsible I wouldn't be in the position I am in now and likely wouldn't have screwed up a chance of doing something in my own right. The real problem is the fact I can't move on from the past, have failed and dread the future because I'm convinced I now cannot succeed.

I know it probably doesn't seem like it now, but you will come out the other side of this, I promise. I went through something very similar a few years ago when I realised just what a horrible person I'd been for the past couple of decades (something that stemmed from depression and self-esteem problems in my teens and 20s). Now? Changed woman Turned 40 a few weeks ago, looking forward to my upcoming new business ventures of property renovation, holiday letting, sheep-keeping and hay-making and I can quite honestly say I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up

Have I failed in the past? Of course, lots of times - and, growing up with a father who only praised success, it took a lot of time to reset my brain to stop thinking of that as a bad thing and reclassifying it as learning what doesn't work so I can get closer to learning what does. We'd still be back in the Stone Age if failures meant we gave up hope. When I failed at being an auditor by resigning from KPMG, it was simply me learning that being an auditor wasn't for me, so I went and tried something else. 20 years on and a lot of something elses later, I'm closer to earning a living from something I love doing, but I'm not there yet, so I'll carry on failing at things for a bit longer

Do you remember the 'Wear Sunscreen' poem? "Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't."
In fact the whole thing is a pretty good maxim to live your life by - have a read: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column-column.html

Great news about the counselling; well done. Hope it works out for you.