Dreaming of financial freedom!

ch4rly2002

It's been an odd 6 months. For the first few months of lockdown we stayed in completely. We had our groceries delivered and didn't even dare go for a walk for a few months as we were so concerned about how close people might get to us. I was terrified of one of us catching COVID as I genuinely thought it would kill us - my mum is 65, obese and has type 2 diabetes, and both DH and I are obese. We started a diet as a family to help us get healthier so that if we do contract the virus, we hopefully stand a better chance of fighting it off. I've lost 2 stone so far, SH has lost 2.5 stone and my mum has lost 1 stone. Since lockdown eased, we started going out for walks and have been doing some grocery shopping, but still keeping things to a minimum for now. I have managed to see my brothers once each (Northampton brother came up for the day with his kids a couple of months ago and this weekend just gone we went to visit Norfolk brother. We stayed in a Premier Inn and got a good price for two nights).
We've managed to save quite a bit during lockdown. Mum saved loads with not having to pay for public transport to get to work (she has a desk set up in her bedroom) and DH and I have saved quite a bit not driving up to visit the in-laws or going out as much. Mum has just used her savings to pay for incomplete NI years to boost her pension (she will earn back her money in less than 3 years so it should hopefully be a good investment for her). We've invested ours into Premium Bonds with the hope we might win a good prize. The reason we haven't overpaid on the mortgage is that we were both highlighted for redundancy and although we've thankfully avoided being made redundant, we get the impression there will be more waves so we want to keep our money somewhere we can access them. The plan is save enough to pay off the smaller mortgage - currently £24,400 out of £94,400

themadvix

It's good to see you Charly! And well done to all of you on the weight loss - very impressive and I'm sure you're reaping the benefits.

Very wise to hold onto the cash while the job situation is what it is. Fingers crossed for a win to help you on the way to paying off the smaller mortgage. A good move on your Mum's part to sort out her missing NI contributions too.

Jessy103

Good to hear from you charly and congrats on the weight loss 🙂

ch4rly2002

Thanks guys Sorry I've been quiet, I'm struggling with the new forum format. It lost my place on all the threads I subscribe to and it just felt like too much hard work trying to find out where I was to continue. I also don't log onto my PC as much any more. I have started an Instagram page so I'm hoping to post more updates on there, but I'm fairly new to Instagram too so I'm not sure how fancy the updates will be
It's turning out to be a pretty expensive month so far. We've had to replace all 3 smoke detectors in the house as they expired. We bought replacements ones at a cost of £ 97.16 from Screwfix (ouch!) but two of them wouldn't work. We got an electrician out and there was a problem with the electrics. He did some fault finding and narrowed it down to the ceiling fan on the top floor (after having to come out twice to replace the alarms then find the fault). So far it's cost us £190 for the electrician's time and we're having to send the fan back for investigation and hopefully repairs. That's so far cost £12.50 to return it and will potentially cost £30 labour and £60 for a replacement remote control unit. That is only if they can fix it though. If it's an issue with the motor, it's dead and we have to buy a new one. I really hope they can fix it! After that we'll have to pay for the electrician to come out and reconnect it. DH and I don't mind turning my hand to most DIY things such as decorating and putting up shelves etc. but we don't risk touching anything electrical, gas or water based as we think it's too risky for us so we leave it to the professionals. 
On the plus side, I have resumed my side hustles and it's coming along nicely - TopCashBack: £7.74, Crowdology: £4.47, Prolific: £11.62 and I've also just realised I have £15.97 in Nectar points. 
I have started buying and wrapping Christmas presents. Partly to be organised as I suspect there will be issues with posting this year, partly to spread the cost and partly because it's cheering me up to think about something nice for a change. I'll post some of my Christmas present purchases on here when I have more updates. 

ch4rly2002

I made a sale on FB Marketplace this week. £55 for a Mini Portal. Sadly, £45 went straight out the door to pay for the flashing to be painted (it was the final finishing touch from having the rendering painted), but at least I'm £10 up and not £45 down  
I made an overpayment of £150 to the mortgage too, so I'm feeling positive this week. 
Now I need to find the motivation to make a listing on the Bay. Hopefully it won't be too painful!

themadvix

Go for it with the Bay!

Not only are you £10 up instead of £45 down, but you've got the flashing painted - it's another job off the 'list' (even if you're not a list person, it's another thing *done*!). I love the satisfaction of that

Great OP too, btw (as if that's not the main point of being here!)

ch4rly2002

Thanks Madvix, both for the additional reason to be happy (I hadn't thought about it but it was playing on my mind every time I saw the front of the house that the flashing was letting down what was a lovely new paint job!) and for the praise around the OP. I'm really pleased with it as I have been focused more on saving than OPing recently. 
I have also just claimed a tax rebate for DH and myself for having to WFH since Covid started (link here https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home). I had been going into the office 40 minutes away prior to lockdown so I was glad to be told I could WFH but this is a little added bonus

ch4rly2002

I'm still struggling with the new format so I have been mostly using Instragram. I will try to get my head around the new forum format but I think I need to start a new thread as I'm not sure how useful this stuff is now. So much has changed since I started!

While I try to figure out the signature settings, I thought it would be good to give a side by side update from when my signature was last updated:

Mortgage: Mar 2018 -£300,000 / Feb 2019 -£278,500 / Jun 2021 -£257,000 
Student Loan: March 2011 -£18,275.04 / Dec 2019 -£12,246.78
Joint Savings: Aim £13.5k. Dec 2016 £1,700 / Feb 2019 £14,650 / Jun 2021 £36,600

We have been making great strides with the mortgage overpayments and savings and I think it's paying off well

Jessy103

Good to hear from you charly! Some great figures there. Hope you get all sorted with the forum so we can hear regular updates from you again x

ch4rly2002

Wow Jessy, I'm amazed by the progress in your signature and your overpayments! That's awesome