Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

VelvetFreak

I understand you feeling annoyed re. the bonus. I can't help but think that my boss will probably use this whole situation an an excuse to cry poor at bonus time I too am grateful to still have a job. It's such a rubbish situation for everyone x

Kittenkirst

The annoyance of the non-pay rise and the delay/cancellation of bonus has been firmly put into perspective today. 2 companies I manage for my job are furloughing their staff, and one senior manager I talk to weekly at least is being made redundant

I actually had a small cry as it’s horrible for them- I know they will have 80% wages but it’s still tough. The guy being made redundant is a top fella- really genuine, clever family man who I have a lot of respect for. It feels like the worst timing for him ;( 

So whilst it stings a little about my work situation I am reminded to be grateful for my salary at the moment!

in other news I’ve completed a workout on the Centrfit app today (6 weeks free usage) and an hour on the cross trainer with weights, I didn’t manage to get my Spanish class done so will try again tomorrow after work.

We did make a lovely Malaysian coconut chicken curry (Gousto recipe from when we had the cheap box deal) which went down well. I’m finding it harder to think of filling, healthy meals the we can add extra carbs to to help fill the brother up. Making a note of all meals made so far and saving links to different new recipes to try

Kittenkirst

On positive news I’ve finally hit £50 cash out on Yougov 💰 so the funds have been requested.
ive also had our Quidco cashback for switching energy in January confirm (from Uswitch), so I’ve requested that £25.59 also. 

Can’t wait to pay that to the mortgage and feel we are helping our stability for the future with this ‘free’ money! 

debtfreeoneday

Tiny steps and all that with the OPs - well done!

Kittenkirst

On a roll with hitting the payout values for apps at the minute as have hit the £20 for Shoppix receipts. Promptly cashed out and overpaid to the mortgage yesterday!

this massively helps against our £10 a week challenge. It’s week 15 of 2020 so we should be at £150, but thanks to shoppix, YouGov & Quidco we are on a cracking- £289.56!

However, I don’t like the odd numbers so have rounded up to £300 this morning  

Kittenkirst

Hi all, hope we’re all coping with this new way of living now?
Life here is pretty positive- we are both still working from home currently and the brother is still here and settled.
Its his birthday today so we ordered him a super dry jumper he wanted (in the sale) and put bunting and balloons up this morning for when he woke up.
Him and I have been in the kitchen this afternoon knocking up the dough to make cinnamon buns (once they’ve proved) for his birthday cake, and we will whip up his favourite dinner this evening- ham, mushroom & leek tagliatelle with garlic bread and salad

In money news the weekly shopping seeks to have shot up a lot to £70-£80 a week which is a lot. Brother is contributing £20 (he wanted to, I wasn’t keen but we also want him to feel he can help himself etc so it’s a compromise). 

I tried going to aldi this week however they didn’t have half my list so I had to then go to Tescos anyways for the remaining items. 

So going to meal plan for next week and try and cut the food shopping down by a tenner if we can.
Due to a lack of eating out/takeaways/no gym or yoga membership I had an extra £175 before payday in the bank, so on pay day £550 was swept over to the savings account which feels good.

Chatting with the gf last night was the disappointing discussion that my new career path may have to wait at least a few more months due to all this Corona virus lockdown and any aftermath....I am still thankful for having the job and a salary coming in but disappointed that I’m having to wait to make the next steps towards my dream vocation. Patience will be key here and at least I can aim to save more money whilst this is going on. 

Kittenkirst

Unfortunately something went wrong with our bun dough and it didn’t rise. At all. I tried mixing some fresh yeast warm water & sugar which fermented nicely then added to my dough to try and help it but to no avail, so the cinnamon rolls didn’t happen.
We did however have the tagliatelle recipe from BBC Good Food online and it was delicious with salad and garlic bread
A lovely evening was had with a few games of UNO and Dobble, rather than with phones & tv. 

We also managed a brisk outside walk yesterday although it started to rain on our way back so it was more a walk/jog than a leisurely stroll

Other than the daily walks girlfriend and brother are staying firmly in the house, as with gfs medical history we are being super careful.

Tonight we have a videoconference quiz and pizza night planned. We have frozen pizzas, oven fries, garlic bread & salad in ready for an oven supper. We may even crack open a beer each (not brother as he doesn’t drink due to his meds) :cheers:

Downshifterella

Sounds a lovely evening planned Kittenkirst ! Glad your brother is with you and going okay and love the cinnamon rolls for birthday cake idea ( even if they didn't work practice makes perfect right! )
Glad you are all keeping safe and well in these strange times 
Ella x 

themadvix

Sounds like a good night last night and a good one planned for tonight!

 With the rolls, was the yeast in date? Even stuff near it’s use by can have lost its effectiveness. If not, the water might have been too warm, which will kill the yeast - lukewarm is best. (Sorry if I’m telling you stuff you already know!)

Kittenkirst

themadvix said:

Sounds like a good night last night and a good one planned for tonight!

 With the rolls, was the yeast in date? Even stuff near it’s use by can have lost its effectiveness. If not, the water might have been too warm, which will kill the yeast - lukewarm is best. (Sorry if I’m telling you stuff you already know!)

Hey Madvix, so we thought that maybe the case and so then tried using a new jar of dried yeast, activated it (it fermented well) and then added that to the dough with extra flour and left again to rise but still no success.
So I think you’re right that it’s either the water was too warm, or the house wasn’t warm enough (we haven’t had the heating on for quite some time) as the temperature dropped a lot yesterday and we all just popped warmer clothes and slippers/totes socks on....

Thanks Downshifterella, I think he had a good birthday despite the odd situation we are all finding ourselves in.

Today is super wet and grey so I’ve spent the morning listening to some podcasts on inner confidence and been doing some reading/learning on key destinations whilst sat in a blanket with both cats curled up.

Im off to do my HIIT at 12, and will do some time on the cross trainer today too as doubtful we will get a walk in with the bad weather. I also need to change the seals on our three toilets as they are constantly flushing- wish us luck!