ZC's Aim for a little independence

zcrat41

Thanks Jwill. Curry is a good idea and chicken casserole. Not too worried about jacket potatoes as we're lucky enough to have an aga so I just bung them in the slow oven in the morning and they sit there all day.


Good day yesterday. Got lot's of work done and had £5 off my haircut as my loyalty card stacked up. Really yummy butternut squash pasta for tea.


Today is a work day so normally no spend but have just spent £2.99 on a Take That birthday card for a friend's big birthday. Tea tonight is Omlette and salad which feels wrong in the weather but the salad is about to go off. Tomorrow will be the last of the fish pie from Sunday. Tonight and tomorrows meals were supposed to be from the freezer but I've managed to save those for another time by stretching the fresh. Quite pleased with that.


My rental property is having it's fixed electrical check next week. This could be expensive as it's a very old house. I did have one done when I bought it nearly 10 years ago but I'll be surprised if no work needs doing. The question is just how much. There's about £1000 saved up in the property fund but that can go pretty quick when electrics are involved!


Have a good day all.


ZC

zcrat41

Whoa, have just been having a play with YNAB as quiet at work. (The joy of working on a farm on a rainy day!) I have underestimated my summer childcare costs so I've had to up our July and August budget a bit. It's going to be pretty tight.

Well, actually I haven't underestimate the childcare, I've just used more of it than I've budgeted for in the first 6 months of the year!

zcrat41

Evening all.

Good NSD here as it was a work day. Have done a Tesco shop for tomorrow. It's £91 but will include ingredients for a big Mexican chicken stew and a big beef stew for the freezer.

Have just worked out that if I use my Tesco current acc to pay for the Order I effectively get double points!! Wish I'd realised earlier. I've been using my clubcard credit card but it's not as good apparently.

Dh wants to go out for a meal for Father's Day. There don't seem to be many offers about but if I sign up for £1 to tastecard I can get bogof on all meals.

Have a good evening all x

zcrat41

Ugh. Tesco delivery arrived today. 3 boxes of cereal soaked, two essential items missing. Now I'm going to have to go to Aldi which is A) a right pain and defeats the whole point of online deliver and a dangerous temptation!!

Made some scrumpy flapjacks last night. Half for the freezer for harvest and the rest for snacks over the next few Days. Made a few extra to take to my poorly FIL as he's really struggling. Good excuse to drop in!

In other news we've been researching camp beds for our awning. We had blow up beds last year but they weren't great. Any experiences welcome!!

zcrat41

Morning all.
Busy and exciting day at work today.
Had the gardeners in to do a few hours in the jungle that surrounds our house. Bit of a luxury but I just don't have the time to maintain it. Hopefully in a few years I will so we don't want to let it go to rack and ruin in the meantime!


Have spent £6.50 to Amazon on earplugs (DH snores like there's no tomorrow). I get 12 pairs for that and its £6.50 for 2 in Boots so feel like I'm winning at life so far today! No other spends planned.


As expected I spent £21 in Aldi. Stocked up on their chopped frozen veg which is cheaper than Tesco. Also got distracted by a new jug and tumbler set for our caravan!


Have a good day all


ZC

zcrat41

Morning all.

Had an interesting conversation with DH last night.

It started when my tenants neighbour rang up saying she's had a problem with damp. She had a company out to look at it and part of her problem is caused by a blocked gutter on my property (it's a terrace). Obviously I'll head over and sort that ASAP.

But it made us think - it's a really old house. Like 1860 ish. I imagine at some point it's going to need something expensive going to it!!

We worked out that in my 72k capital invested in the property I get about 4% return. That will go up to about 5.5% when my mortgage rate drops in October.

DH thinks life would be easier if I just invested in the stock market and added it over 3/4 years to an ISA. I can see the merits to that idea.

Any thoughts wise ones?

zcrat41

Morning all.

Went to see the house yesterday. Cleared the gutters but the the flashing behind them needs a good fix up which isn't going to come cheap.

The lady next door (it's an end terrace) tells me she's got rising damp. This worries me because if she's got it then I must have it.

I really need to think over the pros and cons of selling.

Pros:
Less hassle
Can invest in S&S Isa's
There was a really rough pub knocked down over the road so I've probably had the capital increase value

Cons
If I decided to buy another property I'd have to pay 2nd home stamp duty
That's me off the property ladder
I'd have to pay CTG
I could do without the hassle of selling it right now
I'd have to tell my lovely tenant.

My parents are dead against it as they see property as the be all and end all. DH thinks I should sell to get rid of 1)the risk it needs something massively expensive and 2) the hassle factor.

In other money news used my £1 tastecard last night to save on a beefeater meal. £58 for 4 with 3 courses and drinks. Not bad!

Hopefully the rain will stay away long enough to get out in the garden today.

Have a good day all

becky170

Just wanted to pop by and say that I've really enjoyed reading your diary. I think you're doing really well with your food budget....I struggle to get by on £450 for the 4 of us but I think that's because we buy too much convenience stuff which isn't great for our budget or waistlines I also do online shopping as I can't face taking the children to the supermarket and it does keep me away from the temptation of chocolate and biscuits.

Good luck with deciding whether to sell your property and invest or keep it as a rental. I guess there are pros and cons of both and it depends what level of risk you're prepared to take.

zcrat41

Thanks Becky. To be fair we get free eggs from the farm which form the basis of at least 3 breakfasts, one evening meal and a lot of cake! The kids get very fed up of eggs!


Although on the note of baking I'm so annoyed with myself. I made a massive batch of 24 muffins last night but forgot to add sugar. The recipe is my favourite - plum jam crumble muffins. They were like eating bread with a but of crumble on top. Not good!


NSD yesterday. Actually got loads done. Went for a run, cleaned a bit of the house, did some work and strimmed round the farm. When DH is out of the house I get a lot more done! The downside of living and working together from home is that it's very very rare I get a day like this!


NSD today too. Work day for me today. Will need to do an online shop for Thursday.


Still deliberating the sell vs keep debate. My parents think I should keep because they think property will always increase, is safer and your in control of your own money. DH and I are leaning towards diversifying investments that are a bit easier to manage.


Have a good day all

zcrat41

So I was a little premature yesterday and it wasn't a NSD. I went to Aldi for milk and came out £33 lighter! Of course I bought the essential mini chopper and 3 tier pizza holder that I desperately:rotfl: needed Also stocked up on their yummy rice chocolate bars. Think if I need to go ahead I just need to take the £1.20 with me for milk!

Spoke to our family accountant today for his advice on my BTL. He thought I'd be best to hang onto it. His theory was if it's ticking along making money then why meddle. Well, I'm still deliberating!

Have a good day all!