Dreaming of financial freedom!

Jessy103

Glad you had a great time ch4rly! Shame about the beggars and the CD people! Congrats on the PPI payout and holiday for DH, sounds amazing

ch4rly2002

I have just worked out what we overpaid on the mortgage last year. We OPed £795.62, which considering I was out of work for a few months and still managed to keep up with savings and bills, I'm ok with that amount. I did this by rounding the mortgages to the nearest 50 or 00. I would like to aim for at least £1,382 this year as that is our monthly mortgage payment so it would be pretty cool to pay an extra month on top of our savings & my student loan repayment goals. 
The larger of our two mortgages (the one that was ported when we moved) was renewed in January to a lower rate and the smaller one is due to expire in 4 days so I will renew that one on Friday and it should be a slighter lower rate too - as they say, every little helps!

ch4rly2002

So far I am keeping work costs to a minimum. I have a pedestal at my desk that I keep some snacks, paracetamol, and food in. I usually have a tin of soup for lunch, so I keep a few tins in the drawer, and I also have some instant porridge and noodles as well - just in case I'm in a rush or forgot to take something. I also use the filtered water fountain and free drinks vending machine. So usually, fuel to drive into the office twice a week is my only real expense as I'd have soup for lunch at home too. However, this week the team is going to the pub after work. I feel I should go to get to know them a bit better, although I think it might be a little awkward as I will either be the only woman there, or one of two so I don't know what the conversation will be like. I decided I will go, to show my face and be part of it but probably only stay for one drink as I don't want to spend a fortune on drinks and snacks either. We'll see how it goes. If it's going well I might have a second drink, but I am going to set a budget of £15 for it. 
Also in work related news, I have finally had confirmation that my pension will be backdated to the day I started. I got an email at the beginning of the month saying the company has the right to delay my pension until April,unless I request otherwise. It said I have the right to request that it starts from the day I joined the company. I didn't want to miss out on the company's contributions so I asked them to backdate it to 6th January. Today they confirmed they would and I could either do it all in March or pay double in March and April. I decided just to get it all sorted in one go as I have a horrible feeling something might go wrong if I try and spread it, so I won't get much pay in March, but on the plus side, I will get my first two payments from the company and April should hopefully be the first month of normality and I will be able to set a budget and start overpaying my student loan and mortgage. 
Mum had today off but has decided to go in today instead of tomorrow as it is forecasting heavy snow tomorrow. She was going to order a taxi, which probably isn't that much as it's not too far away, but my work is very slow today and I have no meetings, so I said I would take her in and pick her up. I also took some things to the tip while I was out so that saved me the fuel for a separate trip, and I will just make up the 30 minutes after work. It is good that work is flexible like that
In not so MSE news, DH's car needed a new battery yesterday. Luckily he has Honda Happiness with his car, which is basically a free AA service (and they renew it for free each year as long as you ask when you have your car MOT). The car wouldn't start at all so AA came out and said it was the battery. It was unusual to go on a 4 year old car with less than 100k miles, but the battery was tested and was kaput so a new battery was needed. It cost £250, which is probably a bit on the pricey side with it being done at home by the AA but we couldn't move the car and wouldn't have the foggiest how to change the battery ourselves, so worth it for peace of mind and a running car. They fixed my car on Monday for free (issue with the heat shield), which saved me driving it into the Honda garage, so I guess it evens out - ish At least it comes with a 5 year warranty!

themadvix

That is expensive for a battery Charly! Ouch! It does seem odd that it’s gone too. Did they check the alternator to check that the battery is charging properly when the engine is running? That could affect the longevity of it.

ch4rly2002

Thanks for the advice Vix. I'm not sure to be honest as I wasn't in when they came but I will ask DH. If they didn't, I'll ask him to get it checked by Honda just in case. I've told DH that if this kind of thing happens again, not to get AA to repair it just because he's in a rush to get back to a meeting, I told him to make a note of what is needed and I'll arrange for someone to come and do it. I am flinching at the money, but it's not the worst disaster

themadvix

No, it’s not the worst, especially if you wouldn’t have known what to do. I’ve not looked, but maybe there’s videos on YouTube that might help for future issues? Sorry, didn’t mean to sound harsh about the cost - just missing the :eek: !

ch4rly2002

Don't worry, you didn't sound harsh I'm just very aware that we're not hands-on people and while we'll give as lot of things ago, anything to do with mechanics, electrics and plumbing is a bit too far out of our comfort zone to try because we're worried if we get it wrong we might make it a lot worse. 
DH and I pulled our fingers out last night and got round to buying £1k in premium bonds each to preserve some of the PPI windfall. As we did it before the end of the month, it will be in the April draw, so fingers crossed!I know Martin and MSE aren't too keen on the Premium Bonds, but I love that we have a chance to win £1million. It feels like we're playing the lottery, but you don't lose your money. 

ch4rly2002

I have a few updates since last time...
On 28th Feb the small mortgage rate expired, so I've renewed for another 2 years, but not only is the interest rate cheaper than it was, it is also cheaper than the rate on the larger mortgage. I don't understand how as I thought both mortgages would be on the 75% LTV rate but apparently the little one qualified for 70% and is on a lower rate. Oh well, I'm not complaining. I've taken the lowest rate I could for each one at the time. So, the large mortgage is now at 1.79% and the smaller mortgage is now at 1.69%. The new combined monthly mortgage payment is £1,372.52 and the new balance is £277,500. 

DH had some good news this month. He won £25 on the premium bonds. I didn't win anything, but I was happier that he won something as he hasn't won in many months. We will now balance up again, I will pay £125 in and he will pay in £100. We usually do this as as we like to match to give each other the same (or similar) odds at winning, and it seems fairer and encourages us to save more. We're not great at saving so any incentive to save is a help.

We paid the remaining balance for DH's 40th birthday holiday but now we're a bit concerned with the whole Corona virus situation. It sounds like the in-laws won't go now as they are both in the 'at risk' category and worry about picking it up in the airport or on the plane, as the people who tend to end up dying are the 'at risk' patients. B-I-L said he really wants to go but it wouldn't really work as a 3 (they'd end up having a lads holiday with me as the 3rd wheel, as has happened in the past), so DH now has until Saturday to decide if he wants to go ahead with just the two of us, or for £50 each we could postpone the trip to next year. Our worry is that there are so many things that could stop the holiday going ahead that wouldn't be covered by ATOL or our travel insurance. A crystal ball would come in very useful right now!

Jessy103

Great news about the low interest rates, ch4rly. I'm sorry to hear about the holiday and hope you're able to get a good outcome. 

ch4rly2002

Well, after a lot of thought and back and forth, we have postponed the Saint Lucia holiday until next year. It seems the wisest move considering there are predictions that the pandemic is due to peak around April/May time. Originally Tui wanted to charge us £50 per person to change the date, plus an extra £500 person for the timing of the holiday in 2021, but today they said they would waive the £50 per person charge and the holiday will only go up by £120 per person, so it's the best outcome we could have hoped for really. Fingers crossed Tui and the hotel survive until next year. It's really sad and scary what's happening to people, with some being asked to work without wages and companies saying they won't survive the lack of business. I was thinking earlier about the elderly who haven't been able to go shopping and kids that only get to eat when they have their free school lunches that will have nothing to eat when their schools close. I know food banks were struggling as it is, I hope they manage to continue to help those who need it. I will be doing a shop for the food bank this week in an effort to help. 
DH and I are now working from home full time and all travel is banned by our company. Mum's work have asked people if they have any underlying health issues and as she does and is in the high risk category they will source a laptop for her so she can work from home. 
I have joined out town's corona virus group. We're volunteering to help out the vulnerable or those with children etc. so the aim is for each volunteer to take a street and make sure they're ok - check on people, go shopping if they need etc. Some people on the estate FB page are working from home so have offered to do little shopping trips for vulnerable on the estate and some students have even been offering to look after children while the universities are shut so that the parents can still get to work. I'm surprised by the wonderful community spirit. 
Stay safe everyone, and check on your elderly relatives and neighbours if you can.