Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

I am glad she passed peacefully without being affected by covid. I know my sister and niece are going to be hit hard by this and I am not sure what to do for them. I have just been looking at the photos the care home had put on fb, the last was of her playing bingo which was her favourite past time. There was also one saying "miss you so much, see you all when this is over". I wasn't as close to her but that really got me 

savingholmes

So sorry to hear this AJM - very sad. My sympathies are with you.

Suffolk_lass

We heard via social media that our (supposedly retired) GP has died of Covid 19 this week. We have both had a bit of a cry to be honest. At least some of that is the delayed grief that my husband's mother died and the funeral was 28th March. I drove him down and sat in the car during the service and then we drove straight home. None of that family celebration of the life has been able to happen. I know what you mean. Very sad. I suppose we can take some consolation from their lives having been lived already. My sympathies.

ajmoney

I am passing the time finishing a knitted square this morning with the radio on for background noise and my thoughts have turned to money.  How much of an easily accessible emergency fund do you all have?  Do you just class the essential costs (bills, food, fuel)?  With interest rates on my savings being very low and having a secure job I am looking towards the mortgage but want to ensure I have a good buffer anyway. 

savingholmes

So sorry to hear your news Suffolk lass. It's a surreal time.

AJM - Ideally you should aim for between 3-6 month emergency fund. This would be to cover all your fixed monthly costs like direct debits and your likely food and fuel costs and things like that. Anything that is discretionary spend ie things you could cancel or hold back on spending don't need to be included.

ajmoney

Suffolk lass - it really is an awful time.

I have done 2 lots of figures, both include food fuel and bills.  The first is based on the accessible savings I currently treat as my emergency fund and that gives me 3 months.  The second is all the money in my savings accounts, the rest has been set aside for house improvements but I figure it wouldn't be used and this gives me 8 months.  I am going to continue to top this up a bit while OPing until I have a slightly bigger buffer. The bonus is I would have 12 months notice if I was to stop being paid.

ajmoney

I am lucky enough to have a few birds visit my garden, I have seen blackbirds, magpies, bluetits and pigeons. I think there will be more that I haven't seen yet. There are the most wonderful songs last thing at night and first thing in the morning, I have just googled various bird calls but haven't identified them all yet. Can anyone suggest good websites or any apps the identify their songs and calls please? I am sleeping with my window open and am enjoying being woken by a specific bird call, quite early but I am able to get back to sleep.
I grew up in built up towns so never learned much in the way of nature. I observed birds in the last house but didn't really hear their song. While I am in a town I am close to the perimeter and there are a few tree plantations around me, there is a main road behind my house but lots of trees and I would like to learn.

Suffolk_lass

I have tried a number of sites and tried to identify birds from their songs - lots of them presume you can see the bird - well if I can see it, I can look it up! so I turned to youtube and this chap is rather good - Robert Fuller

ajmoney

I am really cold at home today, sitting under a blanket and wearing a hat.

I have been ticking along this week doing a fair amount of flute practice (working from home), knitting, exercising and that is about it.  After last week's message it actually looks like we will not be working any time soon which has led to a drop in my productivity of finishing those jobs in the house.  I will try and get some enthusiasm over the weekend.

Suffolk_lass

I hope you are feeling better - my chill tricks are a really long hot shower or bath and a hot water bottle in bed, possibly with an extra blanket on top of the duvet! I'm a grown up, it's OK for me to go to bed if I don't want to be up (at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)