My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge said:

Breathing space is valuable. Give it a little while and you may find people here will give useful advice, and your own thoughts will settle down.

Thanks hopefully it will work out ok 

Onebrokelady

Sunshine_girl2 said:

Hi OBL, you won't regret only doing two days a week, it's what I do now. Your job is more stressful than mine , but I don't know how I worked full time now. I get to spend more time with my elderly parents and grandchildren but social outings in the week. 

I am glad you have been given a 6 month break I'm sure it will help you. Did you say you were paying your mortgage off with your lump sum from your pension? 

How are you getting on health wise now ? Is your daughter happily settled her flat now ?
Take care 

I am so looking forward to it I can't wait. I am paying  my mortgage off with some of my lump sum and also using some to do some desperately needed repairs to my house. 

My health isn't so good sadly. I'm down to 5 msg of steroids but had an increase in symptoms so I requested bloods to see if my inflammation levels had gone up and they were normal so I've stayed on this dose of steroids as I want to get off them as soon as possible ( that will be December) I now have a
problem with my left leg that is really painful and I don't know if it's Fibro or something else. I had it before they diagnosed me with PMR but it's not that so I don't know what's going on. I have put on a stone in weight which won't help but that's down to the steroids so hopefully I will lose it again when I come off them 🤞

My daughter is slowly settling into her flat. I helped her decorate the bedroom so it feels more like her space and not just a white box. It's looking really nice there and she likes living there but misses the animals. 

foxgloves

Hello OBL, How lovely that you will be able to pay off your mortgage. I think you will still have a the rented portion to pay for (?) but getting rid of the mortgage will certainly reduce a chunk of your monthly living expenses. Sorry to hear you have not been in good health recently. You do very well to keep everything going, especially as your condition is painful. Nice to hear your daughter is making inroads into making her flat feel like home.
F x

enthusiasticsaver

Good that you have a semi retirement date and I think it is a good idea to pay off your mortgage with your lump sum.  Do not be tempted to put it towards unsecured debt. Your health and the mortgage are the priority. 

If I were you I would put all the debt on the back burner until February and you know what your new budget will be on part time wages, pension presumably and hopefully reduced outgoings if mortgage repaid. Don't be tempted to borrow to finish off repairs.  In my experience they always cost a lot more than expected.  Do you have a priority list? 

Seasidegal58

Hi OBL - just caught up with your diary - I'm sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather and do hope you feel more like yourself soon. 

That's wonderful news to hear you'll be mortgage free!  Really good advice there from @enthusiasticsaver about managing the debt. 👍. I think that's what I'd do in your position. 

You'll really love reducing down to a two day working week. I had lunch the other day with an ex-colleague who has always worked a three day week. She's getting close to retirement and the firm agreed that she can reduce to two days. She loves it - she said she didn't realise just how good working one less day felt!

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

Hello OBL, How lovely that you will be able to pay off your mortgage. I think you will still have a the rented portion to pay for (?) but getting rid of the mortgage will certainly reduce a chunk of your monthly living expenses. Sorry to hear you have not been in good health recently. You do very well to keep everything going, especially as your condition is painful. Nice to hear your daughter is making inroads into making her flat feel like home.
F x

Hi Foxgloves, I'm lucky that I don't owe much on my mortgage now so I thought best pay it off and release that money for living on ( probably paying my energy bill 😡) 
Im a bit sad that I'm in pain again but I do find carrying on regardless does help sometimes so long as I don't go too mad. DDs flat will be very colourful when she is finished with it 😀

Forgot to say that yes I will still be paying rent but it's mercifully quite low so not too bad 😊

Onebrokelady

enthusiasticsaver said:

Good that you have a semi retirement date and I think it is a good idea to pay off your mortgage with your lump sum.  Do not be tempted to put it towards unsecured debt. Your health and the mortgage are the priority. 

If I were you I would put all the debt on the back burner until February and you know what your new budget will be on part time wages, pension presumably and hopefully reduced outgoings if mortgage repaid. Don't be tempted to borrow to finish off repairs.  In my experience they always cost a lot more than expected.  Do you have a priority list? 

Thanks ES sound advice as usual 😊 I will have wages and a pension so will have a good idea on my budget by the time February comes round. I definitely won't be using my lump sum for debt and definitely will never be tempted ever again to borrow money to fund anything.
My repairs are things like the hole in the kitchen floor, the gutters and fascia need sorting out and my bathroom needs something doing to it but I can't decide how far to go with that . It definitely needs tiling and a new loo. I've got the flooring and can do that myself. The bath is chipped so either needs re enamelling or replacing ,the cost of re enamelling was roughly £400 but I can get a new bath for half of that but then you have to factor in paying someone to fit it as well so I'm not sure which is best
I just basically need to get the house fit to sell when I decide to sell it 

Onebrokelady

Seasidegal58 said:

Hi OBL - just caught up with your diary - I'm sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather and do hope you feel more like yourself soon. 

That's wonderful news to hear you'll be mortgage free!  Really good advice there from @enthusiasticsaver about managing the debt. 👍. I think that's what I'd do in your position. 

You'll really love reducing down to a two day working week. I had lunch the other day with an ex-colleague who has always worked a three day week. She's getting close to retirement and the firm agreed that she can reduce to two days. She loves it - she said she didn't realise just how good working one less day felt!

Thanks SG I'm hoping  the health thing will be temporary 🤷‍♀️ I'm going with ESs advice an taking the 6 months to evaluate my budget and come up with a solid plan.
I can't wait to start my two day week I've been marking it off on my calendar 😀 I think it will make a big difference to my health 😊

milann

I’m sure working less hours will help. 

Glad Dd is making her home her own. She is lucky to have you to help.
It’s good to hear you have some breathing space re the debt. I really hope you get it written off.

Onebrokelady

milann said:

I’m sure working less hours will help. 

Glad Dd is making her home her own. She is lucky to have you to help.
It’s good to hear you have some breathing space re the debt. I really hope you get it written off.

Thanks Milann 😊