A whole new world, for now

in_need_of_direction

Was interrupted but didn’t want to lose what I’d typed. So, this is a bank holiday weekend but I’m going to the client on Monday as I’m not there Thursday or Friday. It’s dh’s birthday next fri and we are going away from thurs to Saturday paid for, within £5, by a generous gift voucher that was a present. He has asked for a monthly subscription as his present and that has been done, a card has been purchased and a £4.50 outlay on a gift, to be handed over on the day, that was reduced from £20. :T

Yesterday I received a cheque from the client for whom I have yet to deliver the work. The other outstanding invoices remain outstanding and need chased up. I am facing a bit of a financial dilemma. I can afford to up my monthly pay to myself based on what’s currently due to the business account combined with guaranteed income for the rest of the year. It’d bring me close to earning a month what I previously earned a week. However, if I do this there is a chance that money could evaporate whereas this year we were able to take out a lump sum which is being used for two big annual bills, our rates and our car insurance, work that we are waiting to get priced, top up of the emergency fund with a balance to be used possibly making a mortgage OP once we know what the balance left is after the work. That said, if I increase my monthly income, I could assign part of the increase to overpay the mortgage. There are 3 things with this. One is that my mortgage rate is 0.66% which is low, one is that I worry that if something happens and income drops, this is money I will be unable to access and the final bit is that due to having a home office, I can claim part of my mortgage interest as a business expense but if I overpay, then the interest charges reduce. I’m also wondering if I should take the £50 example of a mortgage op and instead start paying into a pension as my provision for retirement isn’t good. I have 14 years public sector service which I know to leave where it is plus an £18k pension pot from previous employment but nothing else. I had thought of getting into the buyto let business but given my deficit of practical skills, I’m not sure that this is for me. DH has a full service public sector pension if he works another 8 years which is just as well or we would be snookered.
Unfortunately, as he has always been public sector based, he doesn’t even try to understand our finances. I think I may need to sit down with a proper financial advisor but, although I know a few, I’m not sure I want to discuss my finances with them. Any thoughts would be most welcome.

So, onto other news. I have discovered that I can abstain or binge. Moderation is not my thing. Yesterday I was covering reception at a client and ate about 12 celebrations, a scone and part of a bagel with jam. Today my blood sugar was high. DH and I also had a discussion about how we had not eaten any of our low calorie type meals since finishing our diet plan. This has to stop. We need to meal plan from now until Wednesday as thurs to sat we will be away. This should also allow us to avoid mns until another sb voucher has been obtained.

Today I am grateful for
A diet lbm or two
Worrying what to do with money as opposed to 2 years ago when I was worrying about not having any
A refund voucher after a complaint for poor service

jwil

I can't do moderation either. I feel your pain.

Do you have enough of a buffer for the lean months where your income isn't so high? I'd concentrate on building that first. It doesn't seem worth overpaying on the mortgage when your interest rate is so low. You could easily earn more than that on savings. If you've got enough buffer, then I'd put it into the pension fund.

in_need_of_direction

Yesterday I hit a mood slump and I’m not sure why. Turns out there was an error n the cheque I received on Friday so it can’t be lodged. Then I contacted the post office about the account we opened 2 weeks ago after their mistakes have caused delays. I ended up closing it and they weren’t the slightest bit bothered. I am as it means they will have had our cash for at least 4 weeks before we can get our hands on it again. I’m annoyed. One the plus side, I got some plants into pots, dh cut the grass and I got minor tidying up done in the garden. We were going to the recycling centre and chazza but discovered that the council’s free compost week starts on Monday so we will wait til then and get our two free bags.

Yesterday I ate half an Easter egg and it showed in both my weight and my bs which is now 2 days in the high range. My weight has gone up 1 lb this week. This has to stop not least because I wonder if my mood slump is linked to my sugar consumption.

Today I need to be productive. So far I have eaten breakfast, had 2 cups of tea and finished my book!
I have identified three plastic boxes that have been cleared over the past week. Two from inside and one from outside. These are going to the garage to reduce the risk of them being filled. Apart from that there’s laundry, paperwork and meal planning in advance of shopping.

Today I am grateful for
Somewhere to hide from the world when I just can’t be bothered
A well stocked freezer
Some progress with the garden

doingitanyway

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

My weight has gone up 1 lb this week. This has to stop not least because I wonder if my mood slump is linked to my sugar consumption.

This happens to me I think, although I always wonder has my mood slumped so therefore I turn to sugar or do I turn to sugar when my mood slumps?

Well done on garden progress.

MortgageDonkey

Just spent an hour skimming multipl pages. I'm too nosey. Good luck with your continuing business.

I've just been diagnosed with diabetes so BS readings will no doubt become a part of my life too x

HairyHandofDartmoor

doingitanyway wrote: »

This happens to me I think, although I always wonder has my mood slumped so therefore I turn to sugar or do I turn to sugar when my mood slumps?

I wonder this sometimes too, but one thing I'm certain of is that sugar and alcohol make my mood worse.

I'm an all or nothing person too. I can't just eat one square of chocolate I eat the whole bar. If it's a giant bar I still eat it. This is why I don't buy chocolate, cakes, biscuits etc. I find without sugar my mood and energy levels are much better, so I choose not to have them apart from special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc). This works for me because the longer I go without sugar, the less I crave it. Ditto with alcohol. It also keeps me in the healthy weight range without trying too hard.

With regard to overpayments I think the mortgage and pension are both important. How long will your mortgage rate be that low? I presume you are on a fixed rate? When will that end. Perhaps you should pay more into your pension until your fixed rate ends and then overpay your mortgage.

greenbee

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

With regard to overpayments I think the mortgage and pension are both important. How long will your mortgage rate be that low? I presume you are on a fixed rate? When will that end. Perhaps you should pay more into your pension until your fixed rate ends and then overpay your mortgage.

Good advice here - I've been looking at the pension and mortgage boards recently. Although there is a psychological benefit to mortgage OPs in terms of the security of owning your home sooner, it's pretty clear that paying into a pension has much more financial benefit. You get your tax back for a start! And the sooner you start filling up your pension pot, the longer it has to earn money.

Maybe put some into your pension and some into savings - if you have enough for a lump sum when your current mortgage fix runs out, then if mortgage rates have gone up you can pay of a lump before you fix again.

Although I'm desperate to pay off my (large) mortgage, I'm being sensible and putting most of what I'm prepared to lock away into my pension, the stuff I may need in the medium term into a S&S ISA, and the short term stuff into a cash ISA. It all gets filtered through my ordinary savings account. And I've finally started making tiny OPs at the end of the month with odds and ends that are left in the account. But only the odds and ends. At the end of the financial year, anything that there is no space for in the ISAs will go into my pension (once I've calculated how much I'm allowed to put into it).

I'm hoping this way I'll manage to get the rest of the work on the house done from cashflow, save a lump sum for my pension, reduce the mortgage a bit and keep my 'big' emergency fund (a year's mortgage/minimal living costs) full.

in_need_of_direction

First things first, mortgage donkey read the blood sugar diet by Michael Mosley. It’s a whole different approach to how the nhs tackle and treat diabetes. If you’ve only recently been diagnosed, it may be able to address that.

That said, my reading remained high today and we can’t understand how. Yesterday food was fairly controlled and there was activity. I am now however within 1lb of obese. I know bmi is not the be all and end all but it’s a boost to have dropped and I don’t want to lose that.
Yesterday 4 items ended on eBay with 3 sold. This has generated £12.50 from which postage and fees need to be deducted. It’s only worth it to get them shifted as dh has shrunk out of them but liked them so may have held onto them. Holding onto too big clothes makes weight gain easier. Another 5 items were listed yesterday. These included 2 still with labels on purchased by me for me. One was bought as it was reduced and fitted but the colour was dreadful for me but was being kept Justin case. The other was bought to create an outfit but the dress it was to go with was too small at the time. The dress now fits but the item purchased is now too big. I hope someone buys it as it’s lovely and cheap.

On other news yesterday I completed a task that has been hanging over me for some time. I also identified an item that is needed at my client and that hasn’t been used here since 2002. This has been cleaned up and will go in today. Once I’m showered and ready, the car will be loaded with this, the chazza stuff and the fire pit to go to the recycling where I will pick up the compost. I will then head to the client as I’m away Thursday and Friday and working elsewhere the following Monday.

With regard to my money issues, thank you all for your input. Greenbee, that seems an incredibly structured approach that you have adopted. There’s definitely food for thought there. Re my mortgage rate, it’s a base rate tracker that we switched to at a time when property prices were high so the LTV worked heavily in our favour. Our rate, informed by LTV is 0.16% above base which is great but does disincentivise overpayments. However I’d love to get shot of the mortgage. It’s the only debt we carry but includes a number of debt consolidations which is why I’m a dfw rather than a mfw. I still owe more than the purchase price from 1990. Though some of that was also to buy out the ex’s equity. In some ways, the mortgage represents a number of mistakes that I made. Daft spending, consumer debt, robbing Peter to pay Paul, agreeing a too generous settlement to the Ex just to get matters sorted and then believing I was superwoman and putting myself under intense pressure. Still, it is what it is and it’s being addressed. One thing is clear, I need to do a cash flow for my business and I need to finish off some bits and pieces and sort out invoicing.

Right, need to crack on and start doing. Last night I packed up my bags for today. This is something I need to do regularly rather than last minute in the mornings.

Today I am grateful for
A chat yesterday with dd
Inadvertently avoiding a discussion I did not wish to have
Things leaving the house and a decision that funds generated will be used for small tweaks that improve our home

HairyHandofDartmoor

Well done on the ebay sales and de-cluttering .

We've never remortgaged but we would have done when our debts were at their highest, but luckily our mortgage provider did us a favour and said no. But at least you won't be making those mistakes again .

in_need_of_direction

Yesterday the rusty fire pit and some textile recycling went. The charity shop wasn’t open and the compost wasn’t available despite being advertised on the council website. I did however call into the local mr t and took advantage of their 3 for £1 veg offers. I also got dh lunch supplies that,along with protein from the freezer that he prepared yesterday, will carry him through until we head off on our mini break on Thursday. It’s a cheaper alternative for lunch, he knows what’s in it plus it’s freeing up freezer space. I also got some stuff that will cover my lunch today or tomorrow. In addition I splurged a bit on nice apples. I buy 6 large ones for £1 in HB or b&m and these are perfect to grate into my porridge. However, they aren’t very crisp or tasty. I have decided that I will pay extra to have a nice eating apple for a between meals snack as it will reduce the risk of me eating something unhealthy. Maybe not mse but health has to come first and I know I’m not that resolute so need incentives.

Today’s BS was back within range. This may, in part, have been down to my clearing lots of ironing instead of slumping on the sofa when I got in. Yesterday I cleared some tasks and kicked some others down the road. I was in the client for 6 hours. It was good getting stuff underway. Today will be a long day as there is a meeting that starts at half six this evening but if I focus and use the time until then productively, I should get a lot cleared. Yesterday I spent some time on 2 to do lists. One for that client and one for my other clients. This is now on a magnet on the side of the filing cabinet that I see as I enter my office.

I really need to call with my mother but it can’t be tonight so needs to be tomorrow as I’m away Thursday to Saturday. I’m dreading it but needs must. Anyhow, the good news is that 2 of our 7 current eBay items have bids which means these will be leaving the house. It also means that between the weekend sales and the bids so far, we are close to the purchase price of a plug thing that will tidy up cables, etc in our bedroom. I know it’s small but it just makes the place look less cluttered which makes me happier.

Today I am grateful for
Babysteps in work and at home
An in range BS reading
The 4 legged one making a break for freedom to come and see me this morning. A happy dog gets the day off to a good start.