Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Kittenkirst

Payday has been and gone and it feels as though it was never here! Anyone else feel like that some months?

Standard monthly OP was made but boosted it a little so OPd £109.80, followed by £3 OP from a Pinecone survey. Then a further £4.35 for cashback from TSB for using contactless payments and a 30p TT.

Slowly clawing my way to the finish line of the years OP budget.

Tried to make all food this week; failed today as we were having a Diwali buffet at work but they moved it to next week so spent £3.45 on a jacket spud, chicken and coleslaw instead.

Achieved a 5mile run on Monday, suffered on Tuesday and then had a hot yoga session last night. I’m loving yoga so much at the moment and my weight has dropped a little lower to just under 63kg wooop.

Diwali celebrations tonight with the gfs family, can’t wait!

Jessy103

HI KK!

Yes I always feel like that after payday! Lol! I often think if I blinked I would miss it coming into the accounts and then leaving again!

Hope you had fun at the Diwali celebrations!

Kittenkirst

Glad to hear it’s not just me Jessy

Diwali celebrations were lovely- had a fab meal with gfs parents and lit our (electric) candles in Divya’s up the stairs which was lovely.

This weekend has been a busy one- yoga yesterday morning and again this morning, a cardio session in the gym yesterday followed by a trip to Xtreme Scream in Melton Mowbray!

Xtreme scream was so much fun- had an ace time with friends being scared and wandering round in the dark!!

We bought a chicken for Sunday lunch today so that’s in roasting away with some spuds ready to be served with some honey & thyme roasted carrots, stuffing and savory cabbage- what a treat!!

Hoping to turn the carcass into a chicken soup- debating whether to do a chicken noodle style broth or a warming chicken, bacon and lentil soup. Have ingredients to do either so will have a ponder some.

Man turned up and bought those IKEA mirrors yesterday so about to overpay that £10. And £2.30 confirmed on Quidco so as soon as that hits my account that will also be sent over! When they are sent over we will be at

....drumroll please.....

£2135.30 of the £2150 year end target!!

:dance: :j :dance: :j :dance: :j :dance: :j
:dance: :j :dance: :j :dance: :j :dance: :j
:dance: :j :dance: :j :dance: :j :dance: :j

Can not wait to smash that target and start exceeding it.

newgirly

Oooh so close

themadvix

Sooo close! And so much more than you originally expected to OP this year!

Kittenkirst

Hi all, been a bit quiet the past week or so; Halloween has been and gone and was thoroughly enjoyed

I have been going to yoga 4 or 5 times a week and am now a full member (£70 ouch!) however I feel it is a valid investment in me as it’s helping my mental state no end. Work is incredibly stressful at the moment and I’m still struggling with my boss I had a good call with our occupational health people regarding a CBT course and feel hopeful that this will help me deal with the stress.

On the money saving front, we have changed gas & elec suppliers- moving over to Eon for both with estimates of £47 a month for the two combined. We have a large credit still with first utility which will be refunded hopefully in time for Christmas!

Went through utilityswitch so cashback tracked hurrah! And another £11 survey money requested and awaiting clearing the account.

Wore a hole through my favourite gym leggings so shopped around and found some gorgeous Animal ones in their sale £14 instead of £40, and also found a lonely pair in my size at Tescos reduced down to £5. Bargains and will definitely get my wear out of them

CathT

Great overpayments total and still quite a bit of the year left for you to smash it. Sorry to hear work is stressful, is running helping? Am sure the CBT will help, have you also tried mindfulness?

Kittenkirst

Hi Cath, yes the running helps but I find my mind whirrs a bit when I’m running whereas with the yoga I fully focus and switch off which is bliss.

I’ve read a bit about mindfulness and have downloaded a free app so will have a play with that too, happy to try most things if they may help

Forgot to mention we both got free 6 inch subways yesterday for having the app and it being national sandwich day- I had a delicious pizzipla subway for lunch which was fab as it was free!!

Yoga this morning, followed by a quick trip to Iceland to get some freezer supplies- for some frozen chicken breast mince to try and some chicken char grills for the gf as she likes them in lunch. Also picked up the 50p hot dog rolls and 50p pack of hotdogs for dinner tonight as it’s a naughty tea we both like and it’s bonfire night-hoping to cuddle up with a nice dinner with the kittens

michelle09

Well done on the free subway.

Kittenkirst

Monday Monday....a rubbish morning so far at work, I really feel that they are taking away the parts of the role I do enjoy/can do to leave me with things I don’t know how to tackle and no support. I had an awful 121 with my boss on Friday and it just doesn’t seem to be improving. however it has spurred me on to book in with my GP and have a chat with them next week and I’ve also requested to have a session with my union rep to talk through what I should be expecting from the company in terms of support for my role. I’m trying hard to be proactive and not let myself be consumed with the negativity/upset.

Outside of work though things are fab! On Saturday I received a parcel containing some toothpaste for a competition I entered ages ago- it’s whitening too so is perfect for with my brace (had them tightened on Friday afternoon, mild discomfort but not as bad as when they first went on yay!)

Went for a family meal with gf’s other side of the family, a few of who I hadn’t met and was very nervous as they are a bit more traditional So wasn’t sure how it would go, but it went well! They were very welcoming and I’d been worried about nothing. Gfs parents also paid for dinner which was a lovely treat too

Prolific money finally cleared so £10.41 transferred to the Mortgage which means.....

we’ve smashed our years OP target of £2150!!!

:j :j :j :j :j :j :j

I called First Direct this morning to do some money shuffling, for them to tell me I had some free tickets to a gig in Leeds!! They had Five Finger Death Punch or Stonesour! AMAZING! (Both are fab American rock/metal bands!). As I have seen Five Finger DP at download fest this year I opted for Stonesour supported by The Pretty Reckless! Two free seated tickets just organizing how we get there with my friend and seeing if we can get her hubbie a ticket too so we can all attend!

So Work is lousy but homelife is going well- am trying to plan for Christmas too and get organized. My bro and his girlfriend are going to stay for Christmas and gfs parents will come over for Christmas dinner as brother thinks he will be okay with them here too which is a great step for him. Thinking of doing Christmas Eve boxes for the two of them so have already bought them some fluffy totes style socks from Primark, some on sale nail varnishes for the gf and some pjs too. Will put some nice hot choc in, some mini marshmallows and a mug each in and then anything else I can think of. Excited!!!