Light the fire...

woodfired

Hello!

A quick mid-year update!  I haven't kept up with posting but we have been keeping up with the financial goals, although we have adjusted them somewhat in light of the base rate rises. 

Our business loan isn't fixed and tracks at almost 5% above base so as you can imagine the base rate rises have had a massive impact and we are now paying almost 10% interest!!!!  With this in mind we have switched our focus to paying this loan off.  We owed just about £90k at the start of the year and have managed to get this down to around £57k using funds from both businesses.  This OPing will slow down now but it has already had a big effect on our repayments and we are throwing everything we can at this loan.  

Our mortgage on our home is fixed for another 4 years at 1.41% with the extra borrowing at 1.99% so this is not a priority at the moment although we are continuing with a small regular OP of £150 per month to the higher rate sub account.  The original mortgage stands at £205k and the smaller one at £22.8k.

We have finished off a little more work on the house this spring, putting in a patio around the extension to tidy up the garden and sorting out the utility room and loo that was half done after the building work.  We really want to get started upstairs now as our ensuite is out of action with loo and shower not functional but our whole bedroom needs rethinking and the ensuite moving so its not going to be a small job (or a cheap one!). It will have to be put on hold for now which is fine, we are loving living in our new space and making the most of it with our family and friends.

Finally we are looking forward to our family holiday to Cornwall next week.  Taking our motorhome down to a site right on the beach and planning on lots of cycling, kayaking and BBQs on the beach.  We can't wait.

WF x

lucielle

It sounds like you're managing to juggle everything and still enjoy life.  Ouch to the interest rates but you've got it covered.
L

savingholmes

You're doing phenomenally well on getting that loan down. 

Enjoy your holiday. Nice to hear from you.

woodfired

Thanks L & SH! Lovely to hear from both of you.

Gosh the weather is shocking today!  Makes me want to start nesting for winter which is ridiculous in July 🤣
I was up early this morning and bored by 8.30 am so decided to use up some out of date bits in the cupboards & fridge.
We buy large bags of pizza base mix cheaply from our wholesalers but I'd let one go out of date end of April.  I did a quick test with some sugar and water to check the yeast was still ok - it was - then I made a large loaf and prepped a batch of pizza base/naan dough for this evening's dinner.  Whilst proving I used up one of the several OOD blocks of butter I'd brought home from work in a batch of fairy cakes, DS helped with the cakes and it passed an hour pleasantly. 
Nipped to the farm to see Mum & Dad and sisters for a coffee then came home to a lovely lunch of homemade bread and homemade HOMEGROWN broccoli & stilton soup which I made this week and was delicious (if I do say so myself!).  The broccoli was going over slightly and a bit woody but was great in a huge vat of soup with a block of stilton that had been leftover and frozen at xmas.  I've frozen lots of soup for quick lunches and it was lovely with the bread and some OOD butter. 
I have some tandoori chicken in the freezer and some leftover roasted veg so we will have kebabs for dinner and the children will have homemade pizzas.  This is hleping to empty the cupboards and fridge in prepartion for us being away for a week.

All in all a Saturday well spent and now looking forward to a cozy evening at home with a glass of wine or two.  

Happy weekend x

savingholmes

Weather is very changeable here too. 

Food sounds lovely.

lucielle

Agree with SH, good food does sound good. 

L

woodfired

We have just arrived home from a fantastic motorhome holiday in beautiful Cornwall.  It was gorgeous and the weather held up fairly well.  We rode our bikes, kayaked in the sea, drank wine on the beach in the evening and had an all round fabulous time.  We ate out when we wanted to but didn't spend a fortune as we also enjoyed cooking outdoors on our little camping stove. 
We drove home late Friday night so were quite tired yesterday but managed to drag ourselves out to a little festival in our village to raise funds for our church roof.  It was a wonderful event and so many people we knew were there, we were glad we made the effort to go.  I'm feeling very tired today but did manage to go and help the volunteers tidy up for a couple of hours this morning.  I'm due a rest now so settled down on the sofa with the laptop for an hour or two. 
I'm currently working my way through mountains of holiday washing and need to do a food shop so will do some meal planning later.  Looking forward to getting back to budgeting and overpaying after a busy and expensive couple of months.  To that end I did make a couple of overpayments whilst we were away to round the business loan down to £55999.  Hoping to be sub £50k by Christmas, all being well.

savingholmes

Sounds like a fabulous time.

lucielle

It does sound idyllic. 

L

woodfired

Greetings from the rainy north!
Gosh it's miserable.  DH and I have another week off work with the children but the weather is putting a bit of a dampener on things. It was so damp we even lit the woodburner for an hour this morning, it feels like autumn.  My garden is doing ok despite the weather though and the first of my tomatoes ripened whilst we were away and are delicious. yum.  I also have courgettes coming out of my ears and am trying new recipes to use them up but I am really the only one who likes them so it is hard going.  I only have two plants and its still too many lol!

We took the children out this afternoon to a driving range and treated them to a burger afterwards which was a change of scenery for a couple of hours.  We then collected DS' friend on the way home and they have spent a happy few hours playing upstairs.  We are going to try to get out of the house every day this week despite the fact that lots of the indoor activities they enjoy cost £££ that our usual bike rides and dog walks etc don't. 

Not much else to report really, end of the month bills are being paid and I will hopefully be able to find some money to send to the business loan tomorrow when the rent from the flat hits the account.  I also need to get on with a VAT return for DH's company.  I'm looking forward to a new month with far less birthdays/anniversaries & holidays to pay for - may be able to save a decent amount from the budget in August with a bit of luck.