Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Busy_Mee1

Hi KK just catching up on your diary and exciting holiday news.

I love Singapore, it is one of my favourite places. If you can afford a night in the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, you can swim in the infinity pool at the top and get the best selfie you will ever get. A real bucket list moment for me.

In Australia Cairns/Whitsundays/Frazer Island/ Airlie Beach/Port Douglas were all wonderful and of course snorkelling on the reef was another bucket list moment. I was less fussed by The Gold Coast and Brisbane, but Sydney and a trip out to the Blue Mountains are a must. Have you thought about getting a camper van to travel about, there are lots of hire companies catering for tourists - my daughter has done that twice in Oz.

Oo I am excited for you, it is just such a fabulous trip, but beware we said that if we had gone to Australia when we were younger we might well have emigrated there !

ch4rly2002

I have to admit, that infinity pool in Singapore sounds amazing! KK and BM, I'm making a note of the things you mention on here for when DH and I eventually get round to going to that side of the globe Until then, I can dream!

I have the same problem with my kitty... he thinks I'm intruding in his bed, especially if I dare to move my legs or roll over and I get chastised with a good grumble!

Kittenkirst

OHhh thanks for the recommendations Busymee we think we might to Marina bay sands for the Sunday night as we can then enjoy the facilities all day Monday before our midnight flight onto Sydney

Prolific funds cleared so have OP’d that £18.83 today.

So pleased with the final OP for January being £417.42 which is 13.9%!of the years target so off to a great start.

This means that this month we have paid
£810.80 standard payment
£417.42 overpayment

Which totals £1227.62

So after I take off the interest applied this month of £412.93, we have cleared £814.69 of capital which is great to see!

Had a braces appointment today so I am £250 lighter than the start of the day but had the great news that the braces will be off at the end of Feb meaning that they are gone for my friends wedding early March. Yayyyyy!

Called in at a different sainsburys on the way home from the braces appt to get the taylors coffee on offer on shopmium (we do love a nice cafetiere on the weekends!) and ended up splurging a bit- got two pretty underwear sets for £16 in total as they were in the half price sale which is fab. But the surprise of the day was finding wetsuits in the sale and miraculously they had one in my size (12) & one in the gfs size (8).

She is off in Scotland with Work today and back Friday afternoon so we will try on when she is back- we can always return if they do not fit. I’m also going to research whether we actually need them for the Oz trip or not- as e’re going to do a fair bit of the travelling alone we’re assuming we’ll need them but aren’t sure. They were £19 each!!!!

All in all a pretty spendy day so am packing my lunch for the office tomorrow (had catering today as had supplier in so free lunch!) and have got my stuff ready for the gym after work.

Ps I was pleased that I remembered to make a hot flask of coffee for between the gym and yoga yesterday so no spend there on coffee! Seems silly compared to my splurging today!

A_Frayed_Knot

Sounds a fab holiday and agree with Busy Mee1 - you could love it so much you make plans to move over there.

S@insburys have a good sale on - didn't get anything this year (due to me being on a financial diet) but have in previous years.

GF visiting my neck of the woods - need thermals and a brolly - oh and don't forget the sunglasses :doh:as the saying goes here - if you don't like the weather - wait a minute :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Your doing so well, o/p and saving for a holiday of a lifetime.

How did you get on with your mb ? I have still to make my 2nd bet - and being flooded with offers by text, that I haven't got a clue what to do with

Let me know how you get on with the dumpling recipe - won't you.

ch4rly2002

Great news about the amount of capital coming off. I love that you overpaid more than the interest so your entire regular payment came off the capital amount

I've had braces, twice, and my top tip would be that if they don't give you a retainer (usually one to sleep in), pay to have one made. The dentist kept putting off making my retainer and in a very short period of time my problem tooth moved right back into its old position and I had to have braces for a second time, followed by a strip of metal permanently glued to the back of my top row Had I know, I would have paid to see a dentist privately and got the retainer made sooner.

edinburgher

Hi Kittenkirst - how does Shopmium work? They look to have some great offers for those of us who are coffee addicts

michelle09

Haha, my OH is ridiculous about it. He comes home from work to the cat and I sprawled across the bed and then neatly tries to work his way into a space. I just kick them both out of the way!

Seems like important splurging though, can't get too bogged down about that. Especially with a holiday coming up.

Kittenkirst

Hi EDinburger- Ive sent you a message about Shopmium- I have an iPhone and it works great on that

Michelle- that sounds very familiar- I usually end up only half covered by my duvet. On many occasions.

Last night Oscar brought in a bird wing- it was huge and not sure what happened to the rest of the bird (rip little feathery friend) :O

Ive had some bonuses added to Prolific so it reached £5.41 which IVe cashed out to OP next week and get February off to a start.

Charley- chatting with my dentist yesterday Im going to have a bonded wire at the back anyways and a mouth retainer for night- she said she wants to be Super secure about it to make sure it stays put. IVe got used to wearing the night retainer on my bottom teeth already (it seemed the issues with grinding my teeth and cheeks was stress related, which fits with the build up and then time off work, so wearing the retainer stopped it!)

Very busy day at work today but I made it to the gym and have been good with my eating too so feeling like a good day today

ch4rly2002

Did she say how long you have to have the bonded retainer on for? My dentist said it would be on forever Mine is on my top teeth, which I hear is unusual as they usually put them on the bottom, and it causes me so much grief. I'm constantly getting cuts and ulcers on my tongue, I can't eat anything like raspberries as the seeds get stuck in the gap and it makes eating crusty bread etc. a no-no. I'd like to look into other options but every dentist I've spoken with has been pretty rubbish. I even drove to Melton Mowbray once for a private orthodontic appointment and the guy was good (he reattached the wire where it had come loose) but he wasn't interested in seeing me on a private basis and it was too far to travel for normal check ups It sounds like you have a good one there.

Kittenkirst

Im having it on the top too!

The dentist is fab in honesty, shes related to my gf (through marriage on her aunties side so will be at the Italy wedding) and has been great all the way through. I like that she;s very cautious but am a little worried about crusty bread- Ive been so looking forward to eating Toasties again

I called Clydesdale today to see what rates they would offer us to remain with them- they have a 3 year deal for 1.64% thats almost half our current rate!!! Have taken all the details, number crunches against the other providers and think this is the best. Will work through it with gf this weekend and see if shes happy with it. If so its £499 arrangement fee but will be paying £700 a month instead of £810!

Not sure if they will shorten the term- thatll be a question to ask them tomorrow I guess as we are comfotabke paying the £810 a month plus OPs so could just keep it at that level. Something to find out!

Gym (treadmill HIIT & chest/back weights) & yoga completed this evening then popped to a friends to meet their new cat (adorable!) but yoga again at 7am so should probably try and settle down for bed really!