Light the fire...

savingholmes

Congrats. Glad you got your move sorted and that business picked up. Know it was a worrying period at times. The changes you've made to the house are stunning too

woodfired

Morning all, thank you for the lovely welcome back! 
I have had a productive morning on the financial side of things.  I have been renewing our gas and electricity contract and changing our phones over to a really good SIM only deals as our contracts are just up.  I've saved £40 per month on the phones (combined) and £25 on the renewal price from our current energy supplier so not too bad.  I have also used a small amount of savings to pay off a small loan on the caravan but immediately set up a SO to send my monthly savings to the mortgage before I notice an increase in my spending money!
DH and I have been discussing the need/want to get the mortgage down and we are going to attempt a £500 OP each month going forward. DH does a physically demanding job but doesn't want to retire until the Mortgage is gone so the sooner the better and definitely before he is 60. 
We've got our savings to a good level and I've already upped our payments to SIPPs & S&S ISAs back in autumn so now we can focus on the mortgage a bit more.
I've made a good start with that £150 standing order, between us we should be able to find the remainder each month fairly easily whilst still saving for house projects.  If we manage this we should be on track to pay off the mortgage in 15 years (14 from now) and any extra bits will only bring this down further.  It still sounds such a long time and the amount to pay is still huge but I know from the last mortgage how quickly it can drop when you set your mind to it and how much faster it comes down each month due to the interest saved.  I must keep that in mind!

So, onwards with a renewed focus.  Let's do this! 

lucielle

I think Woody, if anyone can you certainly can!  Go girl!
L

woodfired

lucielle said:

I think Woody, if anyone can you certainly can!  Go girl!
L

Bless you Lucielle, I appreciate the vote of confidence.
After the mortgage figures updated today (payment goes out on the 1st) I could see I needed to OP £214 to bring the balance to £230 999, precisely £10k below our figure taken out on 6/2/20.  So naturally I sent that over and I'm now waiting impatiently for tomorrow when I can see that figure in the account.    Simple things and all that....
So now we have a straight start for our new challenge.

Elsewhere I'm still waiting for the PB funds to arrive so I can pay the tax bill.  I've never selected the 'after next draw' option before and I expected it to be quicker, it is usually next day whenever I've withdrawn funds before.  Mr HMRC will not be happy with me! Ha.

Today we were snowed in (again!) and the school was closed so I couldn't go to work.  I've worked at home as much as possible and attempted to home school at the same time.  I have made a chicken tagine for dinner which is a little spicy and I cant decide if tasting it this aft has given me heartburn so that bodes well....  There's a lot of rose harissa in it and I'm not entirely sure it agrees with me but I'm hoping a good dollop of yoghurt might save it.  I'm also going to serve it with a salad topped with tinned peaches to further alleviate the heat, our local mexican does this and I always love their side salads.

Anyway, take care all. x

lucielle

MMMMM  tea sounds good
L

savingholmes

Snow day snow day - jumps up and down in excitement... Hope you enjoyed it - even if you could do practically everything you would have done from home. Sounds a good OP. 

woodfired

lucielle said:

MMMMM  tea sounds good
L

It as rather good thanks L, if I do say so myself.  A good dollop of yoghurt helped bring down the spice and an extra hour simmering mellowed the whole thing.  We've both had LO for lunch and there's 4 portions for the freezer, one to make again in the future.  Even DH liked it which is not always the case, he would live off ham sandwiches given the choice!

savingholmes said:

Snow day snow day - jumps up and down in excitement... Hope you enjoyed it - even if you could do practically everything you would have done from home. Sounds a good OP. 

Thanks SH!  I'm afraid snow days are losing their excitement round here, I never thought I'd say it but I'm sick of the stuff!  Too much of a good thing lately...

I've taken a screen shot of the mortgage balance for posterity -anyone else do that or just me?! - and then found another £110 to OP.   The funds finally landed back from the PB account today so I've paid DH's tax bill and swept the remainder into the drive fund, less the £110 OP.  I seem to have a renewed determination to OP and I'm not going to waste it, I keep playing with the calculator "if only I could find another £x amount...."  it's a dangerous game!  There are worse things to spend money on I suppose.

This morning I have been mostly at home.  DS's school bubble 'popped' last night due to a positive case so he can't go into school this week or next which is hard work.  At least he avoids having to self isolate as he hasn't been in since last Wed,  I'm keeping him indoors anyway 'til the weekend to make doubly sure.  He is currently residing in a den behind the sofa so doesn't seem to mind.

Tonight's dinner is going to be a simple one, jacket potatoes, as we have had a big lunch.  Children will have tuna pasta salad as they're not keen on JPs.  Expecting a supermarket shop in the morning, still adding bits as I think of them but got the main items I need.  I tend to only shop once a fortnight these days, I hate going but often can't get a slot for home delivery so I delay as long as I can.

Anyway, I'd better find something productive to do.  WF.x

South_coast

I always screenshot the mortgage balance too 😀

savingholmes

I hope DS is okay - and the other child. Well done on the OP.

lucielle

Long time not hearing from you, hope everything's ok
L