Ruby's Bought a House, Now I want to Own It!

ruby_eskimo

Working at home on my own today as DH's got his work Christmas party tonight.  Yesterday was fairly productive:

- Spent £5.75 on posting Christmas presents
- Saved £6.53 on cancelling an order that's been delayed and realised I don't really need right now and can always purchase in the future when I do actually need it
- In: 3 (new toilet brush (ours broke at the weekend), new squeegee for the shower (again it fell apart at the weekend) and a carpet scraper thing).
- Out: 6 (old toilet brush, old squeegee, 2 dresses, old eye mask, old toiletry bag)
- Balance: -3 🥳

It's ridiculous how happy seeing that -3 makes me feel!  I don't think I really have the bandwidth at the moment to start the proper decluttering but as I see things, then I'll add them to the donation bag and it will leave the house when it's full, promise!  

Also if you have pets or your hair sheds like mine does, you really need a carpet scraper.  I was amazed by what came up on the little patch I tested it on yesterday 😳

South_coast

That is a very early Christmas party! And why on a Wednesday, for goodness sake???

Good to have you back, I am loving the renewed focus 👍 Looking forward to seeing what you achieve

ruby_eskimo

South_coast said:

That is a very early Christmas party! And why on a Wednesday, for goodness sake???

Good to have you back, I am loving the renewed focus 👍 Looking forward to seeing what you achieve

I have no idea!  But he's gone to the office in a dinner jacket and bow tie this morning 🙄🤣🤷‍♀️

It's good to be back, here's hoping the focus continues, and tips over into work - I might be procrastinating a little bit this afternoon 🤣 

ruby_eskimo

Another good day in the books yesterday: 

- Spent £0!  So my first NSD of this challenge
- Saved technically nothing but I did cancel a subscription that was costing me £15 every couple of months that I don't need.
- In: 0
- Out: 6 (another toiletry bag, old toothbrush, used up travel toothpaste, earplugs, old pen, another toiletry bag)
- Balance: - 9

Managed another yoga session and 5km walk last night and as long as I'm moving by body I'm happy.

House wise I also managed to tidy away our travel stuff which has been all over the spare bed and scraped the carpet in our bedroom and the landing.  Plan to do the rest of the house tonight and then vacuum and wash the floors.  Also realised as I was looking for sultanas to add to dinner last night that I have so much baking stuff so I need to try and work my way though that over the next few months.  Might even have a go at baking some bread again at the weekend as I appear to have a lot of bread flour in the cupboard!

ruby_eskimo

After all the tidying and cleaning this week I've made the house look a mess again with all the stuff we've got down from the loft ready to Christmas-fy the house this evening. On to yesterday's stats:

- Spent £0 so 2 NSD's
- Saved : 0
- In: 0
- Out: 1 (body butter)
- Balance: - 10

I've been tracking my toiletry use ups for years now as it's a problem area for me, and while my spending hasn't been too bad in this area, the amount of stuff I still have to work through is ridiculous.  So will be counting it all here as well because it's still stuff that will come into the house when I need it and then leave again.

Didn't get to finish all the floors last night so will try and attempt that this evening in between putting the tree up and all the other decorations we have.  Plus getting the tree up does require moving a lot of furniture around to accommodate it.

The regular mortgage OP went out today so that's another £369 closer to mortgage freedom.  DH is going to send me a little bit to take us under the £200k mark because we are so close, and it would be lovely to see the mortgage balance start with a 1 for once!

ruby_eskimo

Had a lovely festive weekend.  Tree and all the decorations are now up.  And I managed to declutter a few things that made me think "Why have we kept this?" 👍 

Went out for lunch with some friend's on Saturday to celebrate a birthday which DH paid for our contribution.  I did have to buy the card and balloon though so have added that the spends.  Also took a trip down to Winchester to see the Christmas markets and other than parking and a hot chocolate, managed to not spend anything there, although I could have bought a lot.  

Yesterday was spent doing the food shop which wasn't a lot as we're trying to eat from our stocks so took the opportunity to start picking up Christmas food bits thanks to a £50 M&S voucher from my SiL for last Christmas.  I also set aside a little money each month from the grocery budget so have and will be able to cover the additional cost of Christmas from that.  Going to make an effort to do the same next year as it's certainly making a difference.  

So the update of where we are now after the weekend:

Spent £25.48 (card, balloon, coffee, hot chocolates, parking)
Saved : 0
In: 0
Out: 4 (broken mug, 2 metal tins, stocking)
Balance: - 14

Very pleased with items going out and nothing coming in over the weekend.  The broken mug couldn't be saved, literally disintegrated as I was pouring hot water in to make a cup of tea.  It was part of a set that we got as a wedding present and the same thing happened to DH's one a few months back.  We replaced his as the company had changed the design slightly so it's a little more robust so now I have a new one on it's way to me.  Yes it's just a mug but they are the perfect mugs and they make me happy.  Stocking went into the donate bag and will be dropped off tonight.  Tins have already been dropped off at the recycling centre on our way shopping yesterday.  Also while in M&S I noticed they have a recycling point for old hangers.  We have a huge bin bag full that the previous owners left here and are taking up space in our spare wardrobe.  So have set those aside to put in the car and drop off at some point this week.

Long may the motivation continue!

ruby_eskimo

Yesterday was a slow day, no in's, no out's but also more importantly, NO SPENDING.  

I did however receive the notification of our house insurance renewal.  I know Martin Lewis was saying an average increase of about 26% this year but ours was...129% more 🤢🤯😆  Quotes have been secured and I think we can get away with a 10% increase but when I went to buy, the website was having issues.  Still have a couple of weeks before we need to switch so will try again later.

British Gas have also reached out to say they're reducing our DD by £40 which usually I'd argue but actually it's not going to be such a bad thing.  The excess money will just stay in the bills account until they decide to put it back up again.

ruby_eskimo

It's been a slow week here so didn't see the point in updating every single day but so far for December we're at

Spent £25.48
In: 3
Out: 17
Balance: - 14
NSD: 4

Which I don't think is too shabby.  DH made an OP to the mortgage last night and we've now hit the target of paying an extra £5k off this year.  Still not quite at the under £200k yet but will be there by the 1st January once all the interest has been applied.

We're off out tonight to the Glow at RHS Wisley and due to timings we're probably going to have to get dinner out somewhere.  Tomorrow night I'm going to a burlesque show as part of a friend's birthday celebrations.  Ticket was bought ages ago and I'm driving as it's in a difficult location to get to otherwise, but parking is free and means I'll be on the soft drinks so a relatively cheap night out.  Already have a card that I can give and will just buy the birthday boy a drink or two as a gift.

ruby_eskimo

Had a lovely weekend. 

Glow was very atmospheric and put us both in the Christmas spirit.  Took our own flasks with us and enjoyed the wander round with hot chocolate from home.  Did end up stopping at Pizza Express on the way home where we shared a pizza and some dough balls and got some free haloumi fries on the side.

Saturday was a very productive day - after dropping DH off at the station, I came back and got straight into making some bread as we were out and I have lots of bread flour hanging around still.  Also made some mince pies using the best recipe ever from the MSE forum and they are amazing.  We had the mincemeat already as it was picked up for 4p a jar in the January "sale" in the supermarket.  Also scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom and tidied the cupboard under the stairs which resulted in some decluttering.  Then got all glam for a night at the burlesque which was a lot of fun.  Spent £5.35 on drinks and then rushed back to pick up DH from the station.

Sunday we did the weekly shop and then met a friend for lunch in a local pub.  Not kidding that the yorkshire puddings were almost as big as my head and overall the food was very very good.  Will definitely be going back.  Then had a little Sunday night pamper which helped to use up some more beauty things that have been hanging around.

And this morning so far I've paid my car tax for next year (money from car stuff budget), paid off some library fees for reserving books and managed to arrange a refund / return finally on a pair of shoes that were sent incorrectly.

So running totals for December are:

Spent £89.40
In: 3
Out: 26
Balance: - 23
NSD: 5

ruby_eskimo

WE ARE SUB £200K ON THE MORTGAGE 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Never thought there'd be a day when I saw the outstanding balance start with a 1 rather than a 2!  Of course with the plans to move toward the end of next year, it won't be long till that's back into starting with a 3 probably!

Went out for our work Christmas do yesterday and managed to not spend a thing as meal was already paid for and boss insisted on buying drinks so win win.

Have to go and do the food shop tonight as we have in-laws over on Sunday so need to prep food etc for them and then write Christmas cards as I'm a bit behind on that.  Seeing some friends tomorrow for the annual mulled wine and mince pie social which will be another NSD and then Sunday with a mini-Christmas with the in-laws.

December updates now looks like this:

Spent £89.40
In: 3
Out: 30
Balance: - 27
NSD: 9

which I'm very happy with, especially the NSD's and the lack of things coming in to the house.  There's so many things that could be decluttered but I don't have the mental energy to actually get on with it at the moment.  That's an after Christmas thing 🤣