Tales from The Shire

SandyShores

Boo to feeling meh.  Hope you feel better soon - definitely keep on keeping on, you're doing great.  I need to take a few tips from all your activity

savingholmes

Glad the criminal was caught.
Sorry you are feeling meh. You have had a lot going on

Fortune_Smiles

Recover, Review, Restart

A couple of days with a little sunshine has done wonders for my mood.  I'm not sure I've recovered my mojo fully but I'm certainly feeling less gloomy.

Mr F and I have been talking about what might happen when restrictions start lifting.  Neither of us want him to go back to the hours and travel he had prior to the pandemic.  Up until now we've planned for him to stay in the job for as long as possible so that we can pay the mortgage off quickly.  Now, we're thinking we should get the mortgage down to a level which enables him to go part-time or self-employed.  So the focus will be on achieving a lifestyle rather than clearing the debt entirely.  Our fixed rate comes to an end in August next year so the plan is to overpay the maximum 10% allowed and then save anything further to overpay when the deal comes to an end.  We can then assess whether we're in a position to make the lifestyle change and take out a mortgage for the remaining amount on either, a rate which allows us to overpay as much as possible, or another fixed rate so we can keep costs down and be confident our outgoings will remain stable.

I have two pension lump sums coming at the end of March.  We'll use the larger amount to max out the overpayment, set aside funds to make a further maximum overpayment in August when our new mortgage year starts and ring-fence anything left for overpayment at the end of the term.  The smaller lump sum is quite small so we're going to use that to make some improvements to the house and a couple of birthday treats.  That frees up my usual Tittervating Pot savings for further overpayments.  I've already added my PADs, vouchers and budget savings to March's overpayment amount and it's really adding up.

My next challenge is to take a good hard look at the grocery budget.  I don't want to cut back on this particularly as we have a little extra to fund whilst Uncle F is with us.  However, I would like to keep within the original budget if that's possible.  I think I've been less discipined with groceries during the pandemic as we've been keeping more in the store cupboard just in case it's difficult to get certain items or deliveries.  I can probably relax a little about this now.

Uncle F's situation is improving slowly.  It's likely to be a bit stop start as his ex is not making things easy for him.  I suspect he's likely to be with us for the rest of the year (although we've said he can stay for as long as he wants).  He'll start paying some rent from 1 April so that will help.  Having someone in the Annex full time means that I don't have to spend two days a week turning it around for the next set of guests.  I can dedicate that saved time to the veg garden and perhaps ways of earning a little extra cash.

Soooo that's the new plan.  At least for the time being 😉

I hope all is well with you guys.

Fortune x

savingholmes

Glad the to sun shone for you. It's a balancing act isn't it on mortgage versus commute etc. 

Fortune_Smiles

savingholmes said:

Glad the to sun shone for you. It's a balancing act isn't it on mortgage versus commute etc. 

Striving for balance is the story of my life @savingholmes 😆

Fortune x

SandyShores

Love that phrase Fortune.  Its a work in progress for me

Fortune_Smiles

Glorious!

What a glorious day it's been.  Mr F, FDawg and I spent the whole day outside in the sunshine.  Mr F and I spent the time gardening and FDawg spent the time running around and barking at pheasants 😆  I'd pruned the raspberries a couple of weeks ago and now they are all weeded and mulched and ready to produce fabulous fruit.  Mr F weeded some veg beds too and I pruned the pink, red and blackcurrants - very late but they didn't seem to mind last year 😆  So that's the biggest and hardest of the current garden jobs completed and we're feeling very productive.  Plus a dose of sunshine has done us the world of good.  I feel liberated 😁

I was ready for a long soak in the bath after all that hard work.  Bubbles, candles, wine and a film on my laptop and I felt human again.  And it was a lovely weekend treat.

We just had a sandwich lunch as we didn't want to stop work for too long.  Tonight's supper was a quick one of Leek, Cheese & Bacon Tart with oven chips and baked beans.  Nothing fancy but it hit the spot.

Now we're settled in front of the log burner watching a film.

It's been a good day.

Hope you've all had a good day too.

Fortune x

savingholmes

Sounds like you had a lovely day all round. My pooch is begging for a walk too.

Fortune_Smiles

savingholmes said:

Sounds like you had a lovely day all round. My pooch is begging for a walk too.

It was a lovely day SH - about time we got some sunshine 🌞

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Glorious Again!

We had a second glorious day yesterday, not quite as warm but we were still able to sit out on the patio again to eat our lunch.  We took advantage of the good weather to give FDawg a bath (don't say anything but he was getting a bit whiffy 🤫) so that's £30 of dog grooming costs we've saved.  Thankfully our fields have almost dried out so he's had a fabulous weekend running around all day but still managed to stay clean.

We got some more gardening done - pruning climbers and shrubs at the front of the house this time.  We now have an enormous bonfire to get rid of in the top field.  We didn't want to light it on the first sunny weekend of the year and risk annoying the neighbours 😇

I even managed to get a little writing done so I'm all set for my Writing Group meeting on Tuesday.

We had a sandwich lunch yesterday so that we could get on with the gardening.  Supper was Creamy Blue Cheese Gnocchi.  We've had a tuna and cheddar salad for lunch today to use up the salad leaves that came in the veg box.

This morning I meal planned for the week and did the grocery shop.  I did a stock check first and found we have built up a surprisingly large storecupboard 😲  I'd been buying a few extra things each week in case some items became scarce, or I couldn't get a T£$co delivery, and boy have they added up.  There's seems to be far less risk now of not being able to get stuff so I'm going to run down stores a little.  So, after shopping for some items from stores I managed to save £23.95 on the grocery budget this week 😁  That will be added to the next mortgage overpayment.

Off to do some yoga now.

Happy Monday all

Fortune x

Raspberries and currants all dressed and ready for the season...