Busy Mee's Last Leg

Busy_Mee · 26 April 2020 at 3:45PM

A quick update as I don't know where the time has gone this weekend.

Finances
I have received my tax refund of £555 into my bank account. I am pretty impressed, that was less than a week after doing my SA. I am surprised as I thought all the HMRC staff would have been prioritised onto the furlough and self employed schemes. But definitely not complaining. This money will be added to the ring fenced savings, as effectively our savings "earned" this tax refund.

I also came to the end of our fixed rate energy deal for gas and electric. We have stuck with Avr0, as their new fixed rate was competitive and we like them. Our DD has dropped from £200 a month (broken boiler 2 summers ago and Mr Mee inadvertently leaving the immersion heater on ), to £140 a month. We had got a fair amount in credit. The extra £60 will be left in the bills account towards our annual bills pot.

My phone contract has come to an end and I am in the process of switching to 3 for a sim only deal of £8 a month. The £30 a month saved will also be left in the bills account.

I need to make my mind up about whether to start up the regular saver cycle again as rates have dropped to 2.75%. I can't make my mind up whether it is worth the effort at the moment but I am quite tired so it feels like effort for not very much return.

On the Home Front

Sour Dough loaf #3 was excellent, by far the best loaf so far. I am really getting the hang of this now. However, I need to stop eating and drinking. I have put 3 lb on in lockdown, in spite of all the extra exercise. We seem to have slipped into weekend/ bank holiday eating and drinking everyday and we need to stop. Back to weight watchers tomorrow.

We have done lots of gardening over the last few days. I have cleared a raised bed for fruit and veg. I just need some compost and to decide what to grow. I am thinking raspberries and rhubarb, carrots and lettuce.

Hope you have all had a good weekend

savingholmes · 26 April 2020 at 4:50PM

Great news on the tax refund. The garden plans sound good too. I am doing similar

Suffolk_lass · 27 April 2020 at 8:36AM

Raspberries and Rhubarb are good choices. They are always quite pricey in the shops and they are excellent from the garden - we grow summer fruiting raspberries (smaller, sweeter) for cooking and jam or compote making, and autumn fruiting for eating as fresh berries (the larger ones, like the SM sell) over the years they have saved us lots. Rhubarb also freezes really well, just cut into chunks in a plastic bag for a last-minute dessert or treat in winter in a crumble.

No economic benefit in growing carrots but the taste is much better and more carroty! - same with lettuce. More muddy but satisfying!

Re your regular saver options at 2.75% - get your bum in gear I say! Your mortgage is 0.79% - the regular saver at 2.75% is more than half a percent more than that (1.37% annual interest) - £40 on money you already have? what is to lose?!

Busy_Mee · 28 April 2020 at 9:18AM

Thanks SL and SH. I am definitely going with Raspberries and Rhubarb and will decide on what else. I have basil, chillis, peppers and radish growing from seed on the window ledge but was going to grow them in large pots rather than in the ground.

Anyway I have exciting news. I finally got round to a bit of spreadsheet fiddling last night ( you know I have been busy when I have no time for spreadsheet fiddling ! ), and when I added in my tax rebate and the interest from the regular savers we are £322.14 away from being mortgage neutral

I am just waiting for my FD interest regular saver interest to arrive, which will be around £80. I also think we are due some interest on a fixed rate ISA before the end of the month. If not I am going to rob my annual bills pot, so we will be mortgage neutral by Thursday

teapot2 · 28 April 2020 at 9:31AM

Well done on the mortgage neutral milestone - big achievement. Will you be having a wee celebration?

Suffolk_lass · 28 April 2020 at 9:51AM

Oh Wow! That is amazing - talk about the magic snowball. Then you "just" need to come to terms with actually paying it off at some point. I know that is my problem....