Cheery's country living adventure

Cheery_Daff

Afternoon chums :hello:

I've been out in the garden - actually mowing the grass for the first time this year! :eek: :j The sun is shining but it's still chilly-cold so not really a day for lingering once work is done. I've spent an hour pushing the mower up and down and am calling it a workout It's a pushalong mower and I don't exactly have a bowling-green-flat lawn (understatement of the century) so I suspect both arms and stomach muscles will be very stiff tomorrow :rotfl:

Bit of spending to report. Got sick of working at home on Friday and popped to the local market town to work in some cafes instead Most enjoyable - but I did spend about £12 all told so won't be doing that very often :eek: Fun though, and productive too :j

Me and Mr Cheery went to a new cafe this morning as well and spent £8.50. It was a cheery little place, but about 12 miles away so not a regular jaunt. We'd gone to pick up something from Freegle though so it all balanced out :j :j

Not sure there's much else to report. MBing is going well :j Should be £67 by the end of today if all goes to plan - not bad for my first week :money:

Up to £18.97 on Prolific now so should be able to claim that next week :j

Now sat inside looking out of the window and drinking a nice cup of tea Gosh it looks lovely out there :j Part of me feels like I should be outside - but having been outside for the last 2 hours I'm actually quite glad to be inside now :rotfl:

Cheery_Daff

Been doing some mortgage overpayment calculations this week, trying to inspire myself on the MB front

In the last year we managed an average of £100 a month overpayment (all in one lump sum at the end of the year because of the stupid terms of the mortgage company). If we can carry that on (which I think we can), we'll pay off 2 years 11 months early.

I've been seeing what happens if I could theoretically earn a bit extra each month...

£100 a month = 2 years 11 months early
£200 a month (which would just be £100 over what we do now) = 5 years 3 months
£300 a month = 7 years 1 month
£400 a month = 8 years 7 months
£500 a month = 9 years 10 months
£600 a month = 10 years 11 months

I know I'm getting ahead of myself here :rotfl: :rotfl: But paying the mortgage off 10 years early is appealing :j

greenbee

I've been in the garden too cheery. Not mowing, as my mower needs a service and that means waiting until my brother comes over as I can't work out how to get the cover off It's lovely out there, and the local conservation group were clearing the stream at the side so I asked them about the water voles - apparently I have the second-largest population in the village. It's just a pity they're living in my lawn!

I also looked at mortgage OPs a few days ago, and although I'd love to pay it off early I did some maths and worked out that I needed to put more into ISAs (big emergency fund in case something happens to my income) and into pensions (so I can reclaim the tax and be able to afford to retire one day). So that's done in time for the end of the tax year.

Maybe I'll be able to afford to do some mortgage OPs next year? Although my rate will be going up as my fix runs out in June, so we'll have to see how it goes.

Karmacat

That's doable, isn't it, Cheery. Very exciting thought - and I just *know* that by then, there'll be all sorts of little projects like the hen coop - a pond, a willow walk, a herb spiral, who knows what

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, get you with your water vole population greenbee! :j how lovely! (although less lovely that they're digging up your lawn :rotfl: ) I have moles in mine, and chickens of course, so it's never going to be pristine anyway :rotfl:

I've already got a willow dome on the go KC, very exciting I made it with some of the willow I cut down and brought from the old house and I'm delighted that it's sprouting now :j It's big enough to put two blankets inside, and has (or at least will have when it's tall enough) a doorway and two openings so two people can lie in it and look out at the view from separate little openings :j :j Very excited about that

There will likely be a small pond at some point too - rediscovered an old belfast sink in an outbuilding the other day so I might press that into service once I've decided where it's going :j

All ok here. Had our wedding anniversary night out last night Actual day is Wednesday but we're both off doing separate things then :rotfl: Went out for a curry and very nice it was too. Arrived at 4.30 and had the restaurant to ourselves, and left when it was still light. Most enjoyable. Did spend just over £40 in there though between us (including drinks) - not too bad for a very rare night out I suppose!

Nothing much to report today. Posted my nephew's birthday present at the post office (I love our post office - it sells iced Bakewell tarts with 'xxx Post Office' piped on the top of them :rotfl: :rotfl: )

Ooh, did a Prolific study this morning and finally reached the cash out! :money: Requested £20.47 payout, so as soon as that lands I'll add it to the mortgage overpayments figure in my signature :money:

Getting there - and that figure doesn't even include any of the matched betting money - which as of this morning is up to £85 :money:

Sun's shining today and it's amazing what a difference that makes :j

Karmacat

Happy Anniversary Cheery! You of all people will appreciate some cake and a mug of tea, so here we go:


:bdaycake: :coffee:

[Deleted User]

Have you read ‘Cold comfort farm’? It’s a funny book and for some reason it popped into my head when reading one of your posts.

Cheery_Daff

thanks KC! I do love tea and cake as you know :j :j

Hi flo :hello: I haven't actually (although I have heard of it). I'm intrigued now though!

Had the fire on in the study today as it's been a bit chilly out of direct sunlight, and we haven't had the heating on in the rest of the house as Mr Cheery has spent most of the day either in the loft or outside. Mr Cheery has been chopping up some offcuts of wood and logs so a nicely frugal fire :money:

actually, the whole fire set up is pretty frugal. For kindling we're currently using the wood from the old lath and plaster ceiling we pulled down when we removed the wall in the kitchen :rotfl: and we haven't bought coal since we moved here - the woman who owned our house before us sadly died not long after her last coal delivery so we're still not even half way through what's in the shed :eek:

redofromstart

Cold Comfort Farm is an excellent book, odd but entertaining.

We burnt a lot of ancient stud wall wood as kindling, gloriously dry isn't it.

Cheery_Daff

Certainly is Redo! :j :j My only issue with it is that it's in quite long pieces that need breaking up - fine, but the whole lot is full of nails so you have to be quite careful :eek: :rotfl:

Still, free though :money: