Prosperous soul in the making

savingholmes

Thanks GAP for taking the time. I definitely need to check into it more - but good to know it should end up being cheaper than what I was quoted - but also useful to know that them mentioning the water pump wasn't a random upsell but potentially needed.

Well I feel a bit better following my gorgeous walk in the park and my early finish. I will do the report Sunday - it's needed for Monday am. 

I was rung by my mortgage broker today asking ME for info. I panicked at first thinking they were somehow pulling my offer. I think he was just trying to make sure they would be paid! Seeing the latest news on potential interest rates - grateful I have a 5 year deal. I need to take DD next door to get her waiver type form witnessed for my mortgage. I think Ex did his today. I got a mortgage redemption statement today - and factoring my normal payment which they haven't - I may only need to find £763 rather than an extra £1K to pay off Ex (above what's coming from the mortgage).

I cooked chicken, mash, gravy, peas and carrots and onion and mushroom for tea. Totally yummy. DD asked for some which was a shame - but seems to have focused on the mash - so there is still another portion left for another day - even though it was just one fillet of chicken cut into chunks. I had leftover sausage, beans and mash for lunch - but really felt the need for comfort food today.

I defrosted some of DD's chicken earlier (with her consent) - so have made a leek, onion, chicken and potato dish with that. The potatoes were sliced and carefully placed on top so it gives a kind of semi roasted potato effect. That should help with food over the weekend. I've frozen two portions of the garlic chicken that I cooked last Sunday as DD hadn't eaten as much as I expected. I need to try and find room in the freezer for soup too. 

I defrosted some mince beef from Feb!! So thanks past self. I am just going to 'cheat' and use a jar with it. I might pad it out a little with pepper and an onion if I have any peppers left.  Trying to stretch the available food and create room to freeze some stuff...

I'm going to have to buy milk, potatoes, veg, salad and some more fruit. I then have a few tins of salmon I could have with jacket spud - and perhaps cheese  and beans etc. I have loads of onions as they were on offer for a huge bag.

I think I need to check out FB and GT more and perhaps sign up to free / low cost food apps and see if it helps. 

SandyShores

Will you need a tumble dryer when its just mainly you?  We hardly use ours now we have space to have our drying racks out.  Would it be better to have the heating on occasionally in DS’s room to dry stuff?  Just a thought.

Transport does get easier as they get older.  My DD used the train for a long while.  It was pretty hard going when she was going on a daily journey cross country, which involved two trains, the one on the way home always seemed to be late for the connection.  So we did pick her up half way a few times.  I did drive her up all they way once or twice, but didn’t do it daily as it was about an hour and a half each way (so 3 hours for me).  She lives about an hour away now and wouldn’t ask for a lift if she could get the train as its only 30 mins by train compared to a 2 hour round trip for me.  Can your DD get the train?  I know buses and coaches can be a bit of nightmare if there’s no suitable train, but you do need your R&R too.  I just wondered if there could be any compromise, such as dropping her at a station, then funding an Uber the other end? 

Car expenses just seem to come round regularly don’t they?  I had my cam belt replaced 4 years ago so it’s due again next year.  I think it was around £400, but the main dealer was about £200 more.  They advised to get the water pump done at the same time while they can access it - the labour's the expensive part so you don't want to risk that going a few weeks later and having to pay again (although this has changed with my DDs car which is loads newer than mine).  I use a garage that’s a VW, Skoda etc. specialist but they are private.  There’s no valet service or waiting room and they don’t really offer lifts, and no coffee like the main dealer – but I belatedly have realised the true cost of all that.  Apparently if your cam belt goes, your engine is kaput so it’s a bit like tyres and brakes and something I wouldn’t want to risk.  I’m due a service in a week or two so I need to get that booked in too.  Did you get your tyres sorted, I must read back and check that.

Sorry for such a long post, your thread has so many posts today.  It will all come together soon, you have it all planned, and things will be much easier as things slot into place. 

savingholmes

Thanks Sandy for caring.

I can't imagine being without a dryer for long but I think I need to scale back versus my ideal solution.

DD is autistic and struggles with unpredictability which makes public transport stressful for her. She is going to start taking the train mid week to college when her fellow apprentices can't help. Hopefully that will build her confidence. Then in a few weeks she may have the confidence to use public transport more. Longer term she wants to pass her test, get a car and drive.

I got 3 new tyres in a week. Still need wheel alignment and tracking. Another £49. 

I will get there. I am using you guys as a sounding board currently, hence more posts.

capuchin

Assuming modern commemoratives, what are the coins? Most are completely worthless other than metal value unfortunately. The  main exceptions are kew gardens, undated 20p pieces, and [first series] colorised Beatrix potter set. Others have marginal upsale value (eg the Gruffalo silver proof), but the vast majority are unfortunately worthless. Whatever you do, ensure you check before taking it to a dealer. Many are cowboys.

Silver is currently good to hold in my opinion. It won't be subject to the next 24 months of nasty inflation and is currently likely a bit undervalued anyway.

edit: I disagree with the assessment that it's 'dire' - It's doing well.

Remember if you are a halifax/lloyds customer or have a credit card with them, you can get £85 free amazon vouchers.

jwil

We finally bought a tumble dryer the other year.  We went for a small 3kg one, and it does us fine. It was less than £150 I think, and although we dry outdoors where we can, I use it in winter or when it's wet.  For us it's reduced our energy bills a lot, as we kept having to put heating on to dry washing.

Honeysucklelou2

@capuchin  I’d not heard about Lloyd’s giving their customers Amazon vouchers. Is that all customers or new ones?

capuchin

@Honeysucklelou2 https://www.lloydsbank.com/life-insurance/terms-and-conditions.html - Basically sign up to the worst cheapest plan possible for £5 a month, cancel it in 3 months (once your voucher has been sent out), and you make £85 profit

edit: easiest way to do it will be via the app, takes 3 mins or so!

Honeysucklelou2

Wow did not know this, thank you!

SandyShores

That makes sense savingholmes.  With the tyres, I just bought 2 for DDs car and for convenience booked it into a place beginning with K and ending with Fit.  I thought I'd take advantage of the free alignment/tracking check - and of course surprise surprise it needed a £50 alignment/tracking.  DH took it in, and he didn't have time anyway, but said he couldn't see why it would be necessary as its hardly done any miles since she bought it.  I looked this up on the internet and apparently its a real money spinner for KF as they heavily invested in the machinery a while back.  Some of the articles were quite old, but some were saying that afterwards their tracking was completely out.  I won't be using them again for tyres.  I've driven DDs car since and it felt strange/noisy, then the low tyre pressure light popped on.  Checked the pressures and they'd only put in 31 instead of 35, plus I don't know if they'd reset the car computer.  Its driving really well now, and I've reset it, so I'm not sure about the tracking - I'll check with my usual garage when I take my car for a service.  

MovingForwards

What's possibly happening is you're still thinking of how useful things were as a family, rather than what works for one. I do an extra spin in the washing machine to take off more water and I dry my clothes inside with the window partly open. 

In a few months assess what you need, buy secondhand (some places do give warranties) to keep initial costs down. As and when things need replacing, that's when you upgrade to what you want. 

I know it's hard, but it will be better for you long term. 

We get first refusal with family when they have a clear out or upgrade, it helps to keep our costs down.