Fat, forty and financially f**ked

mothsinmywallet_2

I'm back. Weirdly enough because I am isolating again. I have covid for the 2nd time.

Cannot believe how much time has passed since I last posted. Things have changed, mostly for the better. Time to redo my SOA, dust off YNAB and get back on it. 

First step will be to update signature to reflect the fact that DH has finally been assessed as Limited Capacity for Work Related Activity or some other catchy title. The real life difference this cumbersome title makes is that he no longer has to provide a fit for work note every 3 months and there is no expectation on him to ever work again. This has been really positive for his mental health and by extension mine. He also now gets some benefits. They backdated it for nearly three years so just before Christmas we were able to pay off the big credit card in full. We also have an emergency fund but I'm not sure how much it is at the moment. In real terms, it should leave us about £500 a month better off but I suspect rising costs of living will eat most of that.

Work is going really well for me with the chance of a pay rise and promotion in September, incredibly unusual in my role but I have played the long game and worked really hard to make this happen.

DD is off to university in September (after getting perfect GCSE results!) so I need to do some working out around that. She has been wonderful and worked out how to claim expenses for all visits we have made (one of them we actually made a profit on due to generous mileage!) and has made a really solid plan for her finances for the duration of the course. You may remember that we have been paying her a third of the child benefit as an allowance and she has been incredibly sensible with it. She also has a part time job and has saved her birthday money from her 18th so will be starting university with a substantial amount in the bank and a very good understanding of budgeting and general home economy. Very proud of her. She took me out for lunch with money she had earned when we visited UCL and it was a pretty special moment.

Things that have not gone so well - DH's health has continued to deteriorate. It's hard but we are finding a rhythm and making life work for us. I had to stop my MSc halfway but still got a postgraduate certificate (with merit!) for the work I had done in the first year. Don't think I will go back to it but it has definitely improved things for work and was worthwhile doing. My responsibilities all became too much and I really wanted the university experience, not the online course it ended up being. 

More later, off to do some sums.

katsu

Welcome back. Did you cancel the life insurance in the end? 

We don't use stand alone insurance as like you we've paid for the house. A good tip for covering funeral costs is that credit unions often have a payout on death (say matching your funds saved with them up to £5k) so that can be more efficient to save that instead of paying and paying premiums. 

As you have a job, your job will presumably have a pension scheme so will have some kind of payment if you die so if you look into that you'll likely find you have enough coming to the family. 

Hope this helps you find some more cash to get out of your debts. 

mothsinmywallet_2

I had completely forgotten about that. No wonder I'm in debt, Really cross with myself for missing that. 

I have tried and failed to get a current Capital One balance which is annoying. It asks for a code and then they send me it about 15 minutes later and when I try to enter it I get a message saying that it's timed out. Need to phone and ask but DS2 is here with me and don't want him hearing. I could probably completely pay it off but they have currently frozen the interest on it so I think it's better to keep it in the emergency fund. 

Next job is to look at outgoings in bank account. Our streaming services have increased but all DH can really do is watch TV at the moment. He can be virtually housebound so I think I can justify this to myself. SOA here I come. 

runningrafan

Welcome back Amazing, I have just spent the last few days reading through your diary from the beginning. You’ve been on such a journey, sorry to hear about your OH’s health problems. 

mothsinmywallet_2

Wow, hope it wasn't too boring!

I am edging my way through looking at the finances again. Covid recovery has not been simple, I'm still exhausted. Back at work and trying to rest in between as much as possible. 

This weeks amazing news is that our boiler has broken. DH confident he can fix it but it probably won't last much longer. It's a 16 year old condensing boiler. I now need to get my head around the best way to replace it. 

mothsinmywallet_2

Ooh oooh!!!! Guess what? The upstairs toilet has now broken. And the leg came off the garden table. And the engine management light came on in my car. So. Blessed.