Busy Mee's Last Leg

savingholmes

Snow days, American feasts - at least you seem to have escaped Groundhog Day

Busy_Mee

And another week done. DD's lockdown birthday was a huge success. I cooked Eggs Benedict for brunch, we had a mad yomp up the moors and DD's BF cooked steak for dinner. And of course there was Colin. The kids hooted at the suggestion that it "serves 10" as per the side of the box. The five of us finished it in one sitting 

Beyond her Birthday it has felt like deepest, darkest January. I must admit I have been fed up and have lost my "Pollyanna does Lockdown" vibe. It doesn't help that we are in the financial dead zone of the month, with only a few paltry Tilly Tidies to report.

I am still tracking spending and we are spending less than we did the last time I did this. Back then (BC -before COVID ), Mr Mee was still working and gas guzzling his way into the city and back everyday and there was no lockdown. The spending line that has increased is groceries and  I have already spent over £400 this month for 4/5 adults. I need to try and bring that back down, although it will naturally drop when DD and her BF move out. 

A new cheap and healthy recipe we tried this week was Coconut Beef Meatball Curry from a site called Slimmingeats. I added spinach instead of green beans and it was very nice. A repeater.

Today we are having "posh" chilli (posh because you use braising steak rather than mince). This is a  Thomasina Miers recipe but I add extra tins of mixed beans to pad it out .

No news on DD's house yet. There was a article from Rightmove saying that the average conveyancing time is just over 4 months    That would mean March for DD ! You have to pity anyone racing to complete before the stamp duty deadline.

I think that is all. Have a good Sunday x

savingholmes

Well done on what you are achieving. Hope DD's house goes through smoothly.

LadyGnome

Looks like a time of change is coming for the BusyMee household.  Before you know it you will have your house to yourselves and time to enjoy it.  

Busy_Mee

Popping in with a very late January update. I've been really busy, not sure how that can be during lockdown but I have. There is lots going on in the background, alongside work.
Anyhoo. The January Update:

Repayment Mortgage.      £37,744.36
IO Mortgage.                  £154,000.00
Total.                               £191,744.36

Reduction in Mortgage   £1,957.56

Ring fenced savings       £215,000
Mortgage.                       £191,744.36

Savings offset mortgage     £23,255.64 ( forever fund)

Odds and sods account .              £174.84

Overall a decent month. Despite DDs Birthday, our spending felt back in control for the first time in ages, helped I think by tracking all spending.  Our overall spending was down by £300 since the last time I tracked our spending in 2019 (Mr Mee was still working). This reduction was largely due to the reduction in spending on petrol and entertainment ( eating out ). However our grocery bills have significantly increased and I spent a smidge under £500 in January. I guess this is the result of an extra mouth to feed (DDs BF) plus DS who is regularly fed ( in our bubble and working silly hours delivering the vaccine programme, so deserves feeding  ) . 

I was all set to start a money saving mission to get my grocery spending down again, but tbh I have had a rethink. This is on the basis that we are lucky enough to be able to afford the food we are buying, nothing is being wasted and we are enjoying and making a bit of an event with what we are eating. DD and BF will hopefully move out shortly and our grocery will naturally drop at that point, when Mr Mee and I go back to Beans on Toast  . 

DD is still waiting to complete on the house. It is sooooo slow and jobsworthy. Conveyancing seems such a linear and inefficient process. Still she is inching towards the finish line. It has rather taken the shine off her excitement though. 

We seem to have a number of issues at the moment that are taking a while to resolve. I am just hoping that things start to unblock soon.

My latest (yep I know there have been a few  ) retirement plan is looking at a summer date. Leaving early June , but annual leave taking me to a retirement date in July.  I will need to give notice in March and they are advertising my job in April. I just need to summon up the courage to tell my boss, I won't be applying for my job and that I am leaving 

The finances are all fine, I have run the scenarios a hundred times. I plan to pay £30k off the repayment mortgage in June, which will reduce our mortgage payment to around £150 a month. I will then keep chipping away at the IO mortgage to the end of term in 2024. At that point there should be around £140k still outstanding and I will actually pay that off 

Think that is about all. We have some severe weather warnings forecast from Sunday onwards. Snow, ice and very cold temperatures   I might do the supermarket shop early so we can batten down the hatches.

try_harder

Fantastic numbers as always

Suffolk_lass

Leaving early June is great - you will get the lovely late Spring and all the lovely summer while you adjust. It does take a while but I promise you won't regret it.

A couple of observations from me -
First, I notice I get my pension on the same date in the month that I retired (mine was a Monday, so they paid me for the weekend...). It is the 4th whereas lots of payments go out on the 1st so I have to make sure the balance is high enough.
Second - I presume you have been on the leave calculator and not forgotten that you accrue leave between finishing and R-day
Finally, I had to stop validating myself by what I did - now I do so by who I am - it has improved my opinion of me, which is a good thing rather than a conceit.

All good figures as always

savingholmes

Great plans and great budgeting. How exciting about being financially able to finish at a date to suit you.

beanielou

June sounds good 

LadyGnome

Sounds like a great plan.  Why would anyone spend the summer in work if they didn’t have to.