Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

This afternoon I have taken up the carpet in the spare room and removed the gripper rods. I asked a friend how to do this, he showed me how to do a small section and then left me to it. They are very small things but I am proud of myself for doing it and not just asking someone to do it for me. I have just got back from the tip, I am trying to get rid of things as I go.

I have a couple of sections of wallpaper left to strip, I am hoping to get this done over the next few days. After this I am just waiting for a date for the work to start with this company, I will get in touch to organise this on Monday.

The plan for the coming week, depending on the weaher, is to cut back one of the shrubs in my back garden (I eventually want to take it out), sort a couple of my drawers and start getting all my tools together. The tools aren't all in one place so I am not really sure what I have. A bit in the style of "Sort Your Life Out", I am going to group everything together and go from there. There are things I think I need but don't want to buy and then find out they are already here, especially as I think a few of the previous owners tools have been left in a cupboard in the shed and garage.

LadyWithAPlan

I spent many years having no home broadband but did pay up for a Vodafone max unlimited mobile data plan - it was great - was able to work from home and on my travels easily by hot spotting my laptop but then they really hiked the price up so now I have bband again 

always worth looking at what deals are around 

Watty1

Good job getting started and clearing as you go.   Have you thought about a wall paper stripping party?  I had one in the first house I bought and it was huge fun.  Everyone was invited and asked to bring a wall paper stripper and work on the rooms in return for wine and supper. (Steam strippers were optional, water sprays and hand held scrapers were fine).    I had people that had never met each other, a couple of neighbours popped in (to be noisy I think and one for the wine) and it was huge fun.   My mother eventually stopped progress by letting everyone try her  HM wine and taxis were called to get people home after that

However in a about 3 hours 5 rooms where completely stripped and a few people actually knew what they were doing whereas those who had come to party were put to clearing up duties.   Possibly one of the most productive parties ever

ajmoney

After months of putting it off, May is going to be the month I keep an eye on what I am spending on food. I am going to take cash out for it and am currently making a meal plan to try and be a bit more resourceful and have meals in the freezer for busy days, like I used to!

Last year, after a blood test for something else, I was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic. I had got a little lazy with my diet so went back to doing what had been normal and I got everything back in the normal levels. I fear I have slipped a little though and a couple of issues have me thinking that I need to focus my attention here again; this is part of the reason for the meal planning. Luckily I don't need to make an drastic changes but I do have a sweet tooth and am not very good at just having something small that is sweet so this is where I need to retrain myself. I feel the meal planning will help.

ajmoney

Met my folks for lunch today. The place we went was tough to pick sensible options to eat, luckily it is a yin and yang thing, I just need to make the less healthy option less frequent! I went shopping on the way back, I think I have enough stuff in for the week including snacks to have around swimming etc that don't have me resorting to some of the recent alternatives.

I was going to go swimming this evening or meet some colleagues from work but, after a rather long charity swim last week I am too tired for either so am going to have a chilled evening on the sofa. I need to price up my car insurance so will use the time to do that.

ajmoney

For the first time ever I am too early to compare my car insurance, the companies/comparison sites I have looked at so far only go up to a start date of 28th May. I am ready to go in the next couple of days, this hasn't happened before

ajmoney

I am working from home today, I have a list but am not really getting anything done as I am trying to do everything! I have an online seminar to listen to at midday so I am going to try and tick at least one thing off my list before then, in reality I should be able to do a couple of things.

I have a turkey mince bolognese in the slow cooker. I have never used turkey mince before, I hope it is ok as it was a 750g pack! I have salad and a baked sweet potato to go with it, I am really looking forward to my dinner.

ajmoney

The cheapest quote for car insurance is my renewal quote. It has gone up £60 from last year, I had heard the prices were going up so it might be that or it might be that I had to claim for a replacement windscreen last month. Either way, I have been lucky that none of the rises have affected me over the last few years.

I managed to work through most of my work tasks today and have just started on the home ones. I have a list for tomorrow at work, hopefully it is achievable. I think I might have a minor infection in my eye though so getting a doctor's appointment might be the first priority for tomorrow.

ajmoney

I am pretty proud of myself. I wasn't organised enough to take any snacks into work this morning, I finished before lunch and wasn't sure what to do. Normally I would go to a garden centre or local cafe but, knowing I had some stuff at home I came back to have that instead. It means I can drop my work bag off before I am away for the weekend and can do a tip run on my way out. No money spent and by not going out for lunch I have avoided the temptation of any traybakes!   I don't intend to deprive myself of everything but I will have less control over what I am eating this weekend while I am away so I feel I can relax about it now.

ajmoney

Bank holiday Monday plans...

I want to sort through the drawers and cupboards in my living room. I made a start last night but need to go back in and be a bit more ruthless. I also need to find a home for the things that were in the wrong place.

The slightly trickier job is to sort through the garage, the weather is a wash out so I have no excuse. I am not sure how to tackle it as I find it quite overwhelming. I am going to try a dot to dot approach. I have some old buckets so will put them in the middle for things that need to be rehomed or put elsewhere so I am not creating just as much mess.

First up is to go food shopping though. I have a list so it shouldn't take me too long to get in and out.