Prosperous soul in the making

Tahlullah.H

This too shall pass.

Yes, it will.

On a positive note, my cleaner is coming tomorrow.  

MovingForwards

It's not helped as everything is last minute, even I was checking my work emails over the holidays just in case there was a major change before being 'back' today. 

Are your team able to Flexi to make their hours work around the kids / partners.

Things will settle at some point and then we can all move on.

savingholmes

Thanks Mark, Tahlullah and MF
Glad your cleaner came Tahlullah - mine has said she may come weekends. Anything is better than nothing. 
We do have flexi where I work but people's childcare challenges may mean that is insufficient. We don't qualify for furlough.

Well I had two video calls today which helped motivate me (hard to motivate others when struggling yourself!). So gradually settling back into working again after the break. Grateful I have Mr A orders pre-booked - including at least one recurring slot. I've bought myself some slipper socks today and another long sleeve top. Using my clothing allowance which was sat is savings. Despite having the heating on today struggled to get warm. I think our lounge windows need replacing as most of the rest of the house is toasty. Drawn curtains now which helps a little. Left xmas lights up which are nice and cheerful. 

I sent a couple of postcards today with jokes on them to try and cheer family members up. All need to do our bit to lift the gloom. DD's school rang her today and offered her some support and have promised to call her tomorrow. Really hope BTEC exams get cancelled too - ridiculous otherwise. Schools shut but exams going ahead? Madness!! DD got her mock results back she did well in 2 out of 3. No-one did well in the third - and that's what we hired a tutor in - so hoping it will sort over time. 

Going to cook some Gammon for a late tea / tomorrow. Tonight I want to write some more of my book 2.

jwil

savingholmes said:

JWIL - How else do I get people to buy more books. I promise I'm on it LOL.... Thanks to those of you who have read and left a review on Am**** it all helps make my book more discoverable.

It's like when you watch a TV series which ends dramatically and know you've got to wait a year to find out what happens next  

That's a shame about DD's exams.  I hope something can be sorted for them.  Everyone's all a bit fraught again (including me!) but hopefully we'll all get used to it again fairly quickly.  

Bargainhunter30

We had our windows replaced this summer (our old ones were 20+ years old) and the difference in warmth has been amazing. We've only had to start using the heating in past couple of weeks and not for long. We're in NIreland too, so cold here! It's a big investment,  but should add value to property too x

savingholmes

Thanks Jwil and Bargain Hunter. Yes our neighbours (before they sold) had much lower energy bills than ours and they had replaced the front door and two sets of windows on the front. They said it made the world of difference. Maybe once we're debt free depending on how long we think we'll stay.

I've written over a couple of thousand words on Book 2 today on the heroine's arch enemy so enjoyed that. I get to write darker more twisted things then and it is strangely satisfying. I re-ordered my chapters too and it's all flowing again which is positive. I had been feeling a bit stuck but I now know how to get past that again. I sat at my 'work' desk which made a difference and about 1000 words were from what I wrote in my journal at 3am last night!! Ah well - I've left myself a signpost so hopefully I can carry on tomorrow night after work. 

Just taken pooch for a walk with DH. Feeling better this evening than I was earlier.

enthusiasticsaver

savingholmes said:

Good luck whatever you decide with investing. I plan to dip my toe in the water with V'gd index funds

A lot of people do invest rather than overpay the mortgage due to low interest rates. We did both but interest rates were higher then. I am not sure which Vanguard funds you are thinking of investing in but there used to be  a heavy UK bias in the LS funds which seems to be putting a drag on the performance at the moment. Maybe explore other multi asset funds like Blackrock or HSBC global trackers too? There are others but can't think of them off top of my head. We came out of Vanguard 2 years ago and I compared the performance of our IFA managed portfolio to the Vanguard LS60 at end of 2020 which was where it was invested previously and the rate of return was double for same or lower level of risk (13% for our portfolio against 6% for VLS60). 

Congrats on getting your book published. 

MovingForwards

How are the seals looking where the window frames meets the walls? Some of mine have perished as they don't last anywhere near the lifespan of windows. Also it's cheaper to replace the sealed units than the entire frame and window; 'MIL' had some local guys come out and she only needed a few changing.

Fingers crossed BTEC cancel.

Keep writing, doing art and anything else wholly different to work and use your creativity to release pent up stresses.

Grogged

Curious really (as I don't have the writing gene) - do you plan out your series at the start or does it evolve as you go?
I know different writers have their own style, just wondered what yours was?

savingholmes

enthusiasticsaver said:

savingholmes said:

Good luck whatever you decide with investing. I plan to dip my toe in the water with V'gd index funds

A lot of people do invest rather than overpay the mortgage due to low interest rates. We did both but interest rates were higher then. I am not sure which Vanguard funds you are thinking of investing in but there used to be  a heavy UK bias in the LS funds which seems to be putting a drag on the performance at the moment. Maybe explore other multi asset funds like Blackrock or HSBC global trackers too? There are others but can't think of them off top of my head. We came out of Vanguard 2 years ago and I compared the performance of our IFA managed portfolio to the Vanguard LS60 at end of 2020 which was where it was invested previously and the rate of return was double for same or lower level of risk (13% for our portfolio against 6% for VLS60). 

Congrats on getting your book published. 

Thanks ES - I am hoping to do that in the summer. Perhaps I'll PM you then for some ideas of what's in your portfolio versus what a  Vgd tracker could offer.