Plodding determinedly up a 300k mountain!

try_harder

£20,000 paid off the capital thats brilliant

greent

Hope all is ok..... x

michelle09

Wow, it's been a while! Been incredibly busy, mostly good, although a few downs too. My grandmother had another stroke (she had one the week my grandfather died but had put it down to a stress headache). Unlike the last one this has had some lasting impact and she's feeling fragile. Looks like she is on the mend now, and she has started scolding me for organising her 90th again.

I have started my new job, and somehow have agreed to do a PGCE (apparently 3 degrees is not enough?) but it's being funded and is good for the old CV. The rest of the job is busy and very different to anything I've done before but I'm 4 weeks in and think I'm enjoying it! Definitely a step up from the last one and working Monday-Friday with no 5am wakeup calls is rather appealing.

MFW wise, we have been plugging away at the mortgage although my new job is a 12 month contract so we need to keep some savings.

Repairs wise - finally got a guy round to quote for the interior doors last week. Once that's done we just need to redecorate. Been a little lax the last couple of months as we are down to the last couple of cosmetic bits and pieces but hope to be finished by Autumn.

Healthwise, I am FINALLY off the damn crutches. Still seeing a physio but I have been able to dig out the Focus T25 workout again which is my key to weight loss. OH and I have signed up for a 10k in October to give us something to aim for. (In an entirely non-MSE move I spent £150 on trainers with fitted insoles after the physio suggested my sports direct ones may have partially lead to the break. The insoles are guaranteed for 1000 miles and while I'm not 100% convinced the trainers were worth it, the insoles definitely were.)

In more MSE news, I have discovered that the O2 Priority app gives you a free drink at Caffe Nero every Tuesday. And that if you take your own cup in then you get 2 stamps on the loyalty card. So I used a TCB voucner to pick up a bamboo coffee cup on Amazon. Help the planet AND get free drinks. I fail to see the negative.

I have a big birthday this week (my grandmother and I are 60 years apart) so will be celebrating with friends at the weekend. I am splashing out on food and drink but I love my friends, it is once a decade, and what's the point of saving if you can't enjoy it every now and then huh?

Busy_Mee1

Nice to see you back Michelle and to hear that you are finally off the crutches. I hope both you and your Grandmother have fabulous Birthdays x

michelle09

Thanks Busy Mee1! Today is the big day. I had a minor freakout about the end of my 20s last night but have some more perspective this morning. 30 isn't exactly old and I've achieved a fair amount in my 3 decades. Half way through the year too. We had a couple of issues with OH's student loan as his emplpyer only sent 2 months of payments off to HMRC and the statement said he's only paid off £18! Was not impressed but we have sorted it and the remaining £1000 odd should come off by September.

June 2018 Figures
Parent Loan (0% interest): Paid off.
Mortgage Balance (1.24% interest): -£241,000.00
Student Loan (1.5%): -£17873.95
Remaining Repair Estimate: -£8,000.00
Current Savings: £6330.27
Total: -£260,543.68


2018 Targets:
1. [STRIKE]Pay back £1500 parent loan[/STRIKE]
2. Complete all house repairs Hoping for September, door guy has been and waiting on a quote!
3. Reduce overall figure to £240k Only £5k closer. This might be a little unrealistic but still aiming high.
4. Build up £10k emergency fund £6k. Still on emergency tax and missing some pay from old job, should be improving in July.
5. [STRIKE]Find a new job [/STRIKE] One month in!
6. Lose excess 3 stone Stupid broken foot. Making headway, lost 3lbs on the first go this week. Let's hope it continues.

Busy_Mee1

Gosh 30 isn't old. In fact I like to think 50 is the new 40, which makes 30 the new 20 :rotfl:

Karmacat

michelle09 wrote: »

Today is the big day.

:bdaycake: Congratulations, michelle!

Busy_Mee1 wrote: »

Gosh 30 isn't old. In fact I like to think 50 is the new 40, which makes 30 the new 20 :rotfl:

Well said that woman :rotfl: 30 is right at the beginning of everything!


:j:j:j

beanielou

Happy birthday.
Celebrate in style

michelle09

Whoops, it's been a while! Thank you everyone, I had a great birthday.

The heatwave seems to be over, and I am jumping for joy. Not a heat person, and the garden was so ridiculously sad. We used a watering can to keep the plants alive, and now they are finally starting to fruit. The blackberries that my grandfather took from the woods in the 1950s has rooted and we got a handful of blackberries this year. The apples, raspberries, runner beans, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, peppers and potatoes are in the process of being harvested and it feels so satisfying to cook with produce from the garden. We don't have that much of each as it's the second year of having a garden, but next year it could all be fantastic.

The guy who came to give us a door quote in my last post... has still not provided one. Flipping contracters. Might try advertising it again, maybe the cold weather will improve?

We had to put off our Asia holiday due to the new job, but I've volunteered for an outreach event in a couple of weeks, and one of my professional bodies is covering the petrol, hotel and lunch for Saturday / Sunday. So OH is coming along, has bought a ticket for the event and all it's costing us is his entry ticket and dinner on Friday and Saturday night. Not too shabby.

The BoE interest rate put our mortgage up, but I can't find much better than the 1.49% we're on with the rise that won't be put off by my 9 month contract. One of those points where I really wished OH made more money than me!

I have this weekend off, so spending it on the sofa with Netflix, the haul from ASDA's reduced counter this morning and a book. It's so unproductive and I am loving it.

August 2018 Figures
Parent Loan (0% interest): Paid off.
Mortgage Balance (1.49% interest): -£237,900.00
Student Loan (1.75%): -£16,488.19
Remaining Repair Estimate: -£8,000.00
Current Savings: £8,620.91
Total: -£253,767.28

I don't think we're going to make my target of less than £240k by the end of 2018, but we might be close. Depends on the rest of the repairs, I guess!

greent

Welcome back! Sounds like lots of lovely HG produce
x