Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

wildesavings

It's a fine line when wanting to help someone - i'm sure you'll pitch it right. xxx

Must admit i'm slightly green at the thought of your new kitchen. We priced one up the last few months and it was eyewatering so we're saving some more and we'll revisit the idea in a few years. *sob*

Have a great day. x

debtfreeoneday

Well done on the monthly OP total!

MichaelDH

Kittenkirst wrote: »

You're all very kind. Michael- he's a bit of an emotional hoarder (I think from years of us not having a lot as children!) so I don't think the lure of eBay would work as he would then think 'it's worth something' and keep it even if it serves no use/enjoyment etc.

Need to broach the subject gently as I want to get in there and give it a good clean without insulting him/hurting his pride....

In the office today and already feeling a bit sick at the thought. The good news is I have been actively looking at other jobs and have found one I think I will apply for as a practice run. I've worked at my current place over 11 years so am a bit out of practice with interviewing etc.

Last day of the month and no OPs planned- quite happy with the £212.52 as it's very tight at the moment, and next month will be more of the same

Picked up the kitchen tiles yesterday so will contact tiler at the weekend and see when he can come and fit them and that's another thing off the list. Annoyingly our new lamp shade from next doesn't fit our light fitting....will nip to b&q this weekend and see if there's something we can put on to stop the shade from just falling off!

I'm sure you will find the right way to approach your brother about helping him to tidy his flat.

Sorry to hear you were so apprehensive about going in to the office today. How did it go? And good luck with the job hunting!

Well done on the OP - £212.52 is a great amount! :j

Whilst I remember, did you get your bonus payment for referring me to Prolific? Are any of the other sites worthwhile? I'm using PineCone and Prolific at the moment but wouldn't mind signing up for a few more to help with the OP's

Kittenkirst

Hey Michael, nothing is showing at the referral bonus for me on prolific unfortunately

I use Onepoll and Yougov as well but they are really slow burners...Onepoll
Is 10p at a time and Yougov 25p/50p a time but not very frequent for me. My best ones are Pinecone and prolific and you seem to be doing a cracking job with Prolific I must say!

My Onepoll is at £37.95 so payout is £2.05 away...trying to hit that early September to bolster the September OP. Yougov is miles away from payout at £38.50 and on average I clock up £1.50-£2.25 per month.

Meter reads submitted to first utility- our last month was £30 for both gas and elec so the credit balance is nicely building...ready to swap in November and have kept all meter reads so can accurately choose the best deal at the time- fingers crossed.

Work was pants- I've had a look at postgrad qualifications after work as always been interested in teaching and accountancy....started trying to understand fees and whether any courses could be completed part-time. Will continue researching as think after 11 years I need a change.

Pension statement through and mine is showing a projected pension of £207k (this is only one pension). Gf's is only projecting £27k and she's 6 years older than me- we've talked pensions already a bit and she knows to up hers a fair bit in the next month or so and then look at upping it when her sharesaves finish next summer

MichaelDH

Kittenkirst wrote: »

Hey Michael, nothing is showing at the referral bonus for me on prolific unfortunately

I use Onepoll and Yougov as well but they are really slow burners...Onepoll
Is 10p at a time and Yougov 25p/50p a time but not very frequent for me. My best ones are Pinecone and prolific and you seem to be doing a cracking job with Prolific I must say!

My Onepoll is at £37.95 so payout is £2.05 away...trying to hit that early September to bolster the September OP. Yougov is miles away from payout at £38.50 and on average I clock up £1.50-£2.25 per month.

Fingers crossed they sort out your referral bonus - I referred Drew so hoping for a bonus once he cashes out

May have a look at some other sites, though I'm a bit impatient when it comes to having high payout thresholds... Drew has started using SwagBucks but there's too many screen outs for my liking! :mad:

Kittenkirst wrote: »

Meter reads submitted to first utility- our last month was £30 for both gas and elec so the credit balance is nicely building...ready to swap in November and have kept all meter reads so can accurately choose the best deal at the time- fingers crossed.

Thanks for the reminder! Will make sure to do this in the morning

Kittenkirst wrote: »

Work was pants- I've had a look at postgrad qualifications after work as always been interested in teaching and accountancy....started trying to understand fees and whether any courses could be completed part-time. Will continue researching as think after 11 years I need a change.

Sorry to hear this. A fresh start might be for the best if work is making you unhappy. Is there any one at work you can talk to that may be able to help sort out issues?

Kittenkirst wrote: »

Pension statement through and mine is showing a projected pension of £207k (this is only one pension). Gf's is only projecting £27k and she's 6 years older than me- we've talked pensions already a bit and she knows to up hers a fair bit in the next month or so and then look at upping it when her sharesaves finish next summer

Arghhh pensions is my latest worry... Will have to sort out my paperwork and see how things stand. Rough plan is to aim towards having a few BTL's but not sure how possible and/or beneficial this will be as tax breaks are changing. Drew already has a BTL that he's had for a few years and has been quite hassle free so far.

Kittenkirst

£1.37 credit interest received on joint bills account so swiftly OP'd to start this months overpayments

Swiftly followed by a 37p OP to tilly tidy the account! So £1.74 starts off August.

Kitchen floor is all mopped and buffed up, house is all hoovered and looking pretty.

Today is the first official day we've let the cats out the front of the house! Naughty little Hugo went for an adventure in the woods at the end of our drive which was a little alarming- quite amusing for my neighbours to see me trampling through brambles and trees after the little Scamp! I've tried calling them back in a few times and giving them treats when they do so they remember home is a nice place. Still a little worrying though but we have to let them venture sometime

themadvix

Picturing you in the woods made me laugh KK! Ours are only allowed out in the garden just before meal times (for various reasons the situation about letting them out changed after we got them) - if your neighbours think you're mad, they should see me.... one of our frequently goes over the fence and gets involved with other cats (wailing) or just wanders off.... there I am traipsing around the road, calling, jangling the food, looking under cars... The sad thing is, he's always pathetically glad to see me, as if he's managed to get himself lost!

Watty1

Have to let my kitten out soon. Am thinking of getting her a tracker to go on her collar. I so worry about letting her out and her going back to her feral roots.....

wildesavings

Great overpaying!!

Our cat's a wanderer - if it's dry we don't see him for 12 hrs at a time but he's also a big cat and although soft and dozey he doesn't get picked on x

Kittenkirst

It is worrying, and I'll admit there were tears yesterday lunch as I spotted Hugo up on a fence four houses away and then he fell off! As he can't climb the fences yet I was worried he'd be stranded but he made his way back.

Madvix- that's exactly how Hugo is when you call him and he sees you- so happy and a little confused!

Had friends round for dinner last night- made homemade chicken wings in sauce with chips, corn on the cob and sambarho (a carrot and cabbage mix with some spices). Seemed to go down well and chatted to my best friends gf about contracting- she's been doing it for two years and it's something we're aware a lot of colleagues have left our place to do and are doing VERY well with it.

Due to the work we do, it appears as though we could do contracting and register ourselves as a LtD company and pay an accountant to keep managed accounts. We're tempted to try it especially given the monetary incentive- after tax/NI etc it works out to 2.5x my current take home pay at least (doing very very conservative calculations).

Our mortgage renewal is due 31st May so not sure whether to stick it out for the meantime, build up the emergency funds, get a good mortgage deal (like five years) and then take a year of trying contracting. If it doesn't work out can return to standard salaried role within the industry.

Lots to think about!

Been to the gym this morning (wasn't feeling it so kinda went through the motions!) and now home with a cuppa, kittens and master chef.

Need to make the commission anklets today so after lunch I plan to play in the jewellery room