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MeandO

Unfortunately I didn't sleep great the next night or last night either, so feel a bit like I'm hitting a wall atm. Fingers crossed for a better night tonight.
I did paint the bathroom and the ensuite though and am really pleased I forced myself to do it, it looks much cleaner and fresher. I may even start slapping some paint on a wall in the kitchen later today too. It makes it look more homely and is not going to cost me anything as I already have loads of paint in the garage and would like to use some of it up.
I didn't get round to the ebay listings either, I will try and do that later if I don't start painting again.

I had quite an emotional day yesterday. I had a consultation with a specialist regarding a hereditary condition we have recently found out about. Basically, I'm at high risk, but they test or look into it until if/after I have problems relating to it. Sadly though, this condition has been the cause of the sudden and unexpected death of four of my aunts over the years. Another aunt had it and survived and my Mum has had numerous strokes and PE's becaue of it and has also thankfully survived, but has lasting problems associated with it. So baiscally, if I don't drop dead and survive the effects of this, they will test me for it. Scary when you're a single parent.  Listing all of the sudden deaths of my much loves aunties to the specialist and going over the 20+ episodes my Mum has suffered made me quite upset. I can remember each and every one of them as if it were yesterday and each time there was a serious risk of us losing her. I found it all quite traumatic tbh and the slightest thing has made me cry ever since. 
Anyway, life goes on, so I have to keep on keeping on and just hope for the best I guess. 

Honeysucklelou2

Well done for getting the painting done. Trying to motivate myself to keep going on the wall preparation at the moment!

Sorry to read about the hereditary condition...is there any option for counselling at all? Hope you are able to access helpful information. Thinking of you and sending virtual hugs.

MeandO

Thank you HSL2 and good luck with the painting xx

I managed to get 4 bundles listed on eBay this afternoon and 3 have sold already! I think I listed them too cheaply, but I’m just glad to get something for them tbh. I’ve made around £25 after fees and postage so have rounded it up and paid £30 off the credit card. 

I also went through all of DS’s clothes and sorted more stuff that is now too small for him. His drawers are now nice and tidy and I know what I need to buy him next - short pyjamas and school jumpers. 

OH and I had leftovers from last night’s keema curry for tea tonight. Tasty, cheap and healthy too.
We also fitted in a 40 minute walk, or rather a march, as it was raining hard at some points. I’ve got my 10,000 steps in today and am well within my calories for the day, so feeling good about that. 

Hopefully more of the same tomorrow. 

MeandO

We managed to go for a good 4 or 5 mile walk the past three days now and I’ve really enjoyed it, even the day we went out in the rain! DS is back with me now so I won’t be able to fit another walk in until the end of the week now. We don’t have a great choice of places to walk around here where we live without driving to a spot first which we obviously can’t do atm and motivating DS to walk round the houses with me is more hassle than it is enjoyable tbh so we tend not to go too far. He has had plenty of exercise playing in the snow this morning at his Dad’s so I don’t feel too guilty. 

I have been eating well too but that went out of the window a bit last night and this morning as have been so tired and craving chocolate. 😞
I’ve been feeling really down and restless again the past few days, like I can’t settle. The eagerness to move and be settled in a more permanent home is kicking in again, so I will wait until this lockdown is listed and consider putting it back on the market again. DS asked me again the other day if we could move soon. 😔 

I’m hoping the feeling of being unsettled will pass soon, I find it really hard to deal with. I can’t put my finger on what the issue is, probably a mixture of everything I guess. 😩

I posted the eBay parcels yesterday and received a refund for something I never received which I ordered. There are two more items listed for now, would be nice if they sell, although will only bring in around £10, but better than nothing.

It’s payday tomorrow and I can’t wait to pay a big chunk off the credit card. There’s about £540 on there so not sure if I will be able to pay it all off immediately, but I should be able to manage £400 and the rest later on when the second tax credits and child benefit payment is received. 

MeandO

I’m relieved to say it’s payday today, things were getting extremely tight. 

I’ve transferred £50 to H2S (which gains another £25 bonus) and £50 to another savings account so the savings have gone up by £175 this morning. There will also be another £50 sent to the premium bonds with a few days and I’ll try and add another £25 to that to round the total savings up to £5800. I’ve also sent £100 to the gifts savings and another £100 to the car/house maintenance pot, but I don’t count these within the total savings amount as they get used as and when needed.

I’ve paid just over £350 off the credit card too leaving £190 on there now. I should be able to pay that off before next pay day, hopefully. 

MeandO

There's two sleepy humans in our house today as neither of us slept well again, I have no idea why it's proving so difficult to sleep lately but even DS is having trouble getting a good night's sleep too.

The £50 DD to premium bonds has left the account today and I've sent a further £25 from my spends budget this month to top the savings up to £5800 exactly. It will be nice to reach the £6K mark next month, all being well. 

Honeysucklelou2

It’s amazing that, not only do you overpay your mortgage, but payment by payment, you’ve been able to build up savings too. Thank you because you have inspired me to get sorted out with a H2S account. It’s not going up as fast as yours, but little by little, some savings are starting to grow🙂.

MeandO

Thank you for your very kind words HSL2, the H2S really is a good scheme to be part of if you're able to. Also, it doesn't matter how much you can add each month, you will always get much more back than you paid in, so it's worth your while in the end. They pay the first onus straight into your bank account after 2 years which is a welcome surprise and the second after a further 2 years.

Unfortunately I'm not overpaying the mortgage at the moment as I think I need to concentrate on the savings for peace of mind. My aim is to get the savings up to £10K then start overpaying the mortgage again, but it seems a long way off at the moment. I may re-asses when I get to £7500 though as that is a substantial enough amount to have in the bank.

MeandO

It's February 1st! I'm glad to see the back of January, it just seemed so dull and depressing, mind you, that's how life feels constantly at the moment. My mood has been really low lately, I just can't summon enthusiasm for anything and, without sounding too dramatic, I feel like my life is over in my 40s.
Covid aside, I feel like I have nothing to look forward to - a job that bores me silly, I'm fat and can't seem to lose weight ( have been trying but fail every time); no social life as I have very few friends here; a lying, narcissist if ab ex husband who still continues to make life miserable for me; a house we hate and can't seem to get away from; a lovely OH but with no prospects of marriage or even living together (not sure that I would want that now though tbh), poorly parents and family a 4 hour drive away and a wonderful DS who is loving the big family life he now gets at his Dad's and I feel like I'm losing him to them.  I'm feeling really sad tbh. I look at photos of myself 5 years ago and it feels like looking at a different person. I just don't know where to start and how to make things better. I can usually find the positives in things, but I am struggling. 
Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the things I have in my life, like DS, a house that we own (with the bank), food on the table and that my parents are still here, I'm not being ungrateful, I just wish I could make more of my life, it just feels so bland and like a chore. It also feels that the kinder you are and the more you help other people out, the more **** you get dumped on you. 

Anyway, onto the finances. Every time I do a grocery shop I am shocked at how much prices have gone up. The shopping this week cost me £75. Around £7 of that was for extra bits for upcoming birthdays, but the rest was just groceries. My monthly grocery budget used to be £150 but I can't get anywhere near that these days. 
My electricity and gas is also going up by £5 a month, that's a £10 a month increase since I started with EDF nearly 2 years ago. I expected it to go up as we are obviously at home a lot more, but £120 a year is a lot. I'll be looking to switch in March when the contract ends.

I made a little sale on ebay this morning of around £8 once everything is taken out. It was something I bought DS for christmas but he said he didn't need it as his Dad bought him a better one....   the Dad who previous to the past two years had never bought his child a Christmas or birthday gift in his life or made any effort for him whatsoever unless it also was of benefit to himself. In fact, he'd never bought him anything, not even a pair of socks. He only does it now as his girlfriend is on the scene and he's been playing the trophy Dad and long suffering ex husband thing ever since, if only she, and his relatives he all lied to, knew the truth! The cash will go into DS's account. I have found an item of clothing in my wardrobe with tags on that I have no chance of getting into, so that will go on ebay this week as well.

So, I'm now skint until the other child benefit and tax credits payments come in and I was really hoping to stash those to the savings. We'll see how it goes. There's always the council tax free months to fall back on for an extra bit of money to sweep to the savings or the mortgage. 

MeandO

I've just paid the home insurance for the year (£136). Thankfully there was £200 in the house/car account so that covered it with a bit left over, although I have the feeling that I'm going to have to dip into that this month.  Hopefully, I should get £20 cashback from TCB too which will help.
I've also paid the milkman (£7.45), but OH transferred £6 of that as he asked me to order something from them that he likes.