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Honeysucklelou2

That’s great news that the neighbours have paid their share of the repair.

A huge well done on managing an overpayment on the mortgage!

Thinking of you...the symptoms that anxiety produces in the body are so draining. Hope the blood tests go well for your DS and the kind doctor is the one you see.

MeandO

Thank you for your kind words HSL2. xx

MeandO

Unfortunately I miscalculated and I have had to withdraw money from my Help to Save account to pay the builders who want their money within the next week or two (once they've finished all the little bits that need completing and sorted the issues out!  This means that my final bonus in April will be £525 rather than the £600 I had hoped to earn, but I don't have a choice unfortunately and I still will earn £1125 in total over the 4 years it's been in there which is a huge amount.
I've also had to practically empty the premium bonds account now as well with only £25 left in there. I have emergency savings of around £1500 left now so absolutely have to focus on building these up.

The meeting at work was nothing to worry about, so that's a big relief. 

MeandO

I've just allocated the remainder of the £1000 received from my neighbour so that it wasn't sitting in my account. £116 has paid for new flooring and underlay bought in a sale for my hallway which I will install myself sometime in the next few months to save on costs. I had vinyl flooring laid last year in there, but once the old carpet was pulled up it was discovered that the floor was not in good condition and vinyl wasn't really ideal - too late as I'd ordered it and the fitters were here to fit it. It's not fared well at all, so have bought some wood/laminate instead which should be better. 

I've transferred £400 to the car maintenance fund as I know my car will need some work done this year which won't be cheap. There's £550 in there now, but will continue to add at least £100 to it monthly.

I've swept a few hundred to the 'gifts' pot to cover DS's birthday and OH's (big) birthday next month. DS never usually asks for much, but he has asked for one item for his birthday which he knows is expensive at £300.   He has offered to put his saved money towards it as he knows it's a lot of money but I have spoken to my parents as they asked for ideas for his birthday and they are going to go halves with me, so we will give it as a joint gift from us. I'm relieved they said yes! DS has asked if he can take some friends to a local activity centre for his birthday too. Again, he offered up his Christmas money to pay for it  bless him, but I have said I will be happy to pay for it for his birthday as he has only ever had two proper parties with friends in his 11 years and one of those was when he was 4! It will cost around £100 - £120, so I've factored that into the gifts pot. Once upon a time his father would have gone halves with me, but since being with his GF his attitude has changed such that I shan't even bother to have the conversation with him, I now pay for everything for DS myself, it's easier and less hassle.

As mentioned, OH has a big birthday coming up too. As his gift, I've booked a week away for us which I mostly paid for last year.  I have £200 to pay directly to the accommodation we are booked into when we arrive. Again, I've allowed for this in the gifts pot.
The leftover money from the £1K has been swept into the savings. How quickly I can make £1000 disappear from sight!

MeandO

Hello everyone, hope you're all keeping well. 

Since my last post the re-mortgage has gone through so I am now deeper in (mortgage) debt to the tune of £18000.  I'm hoping I'll be able to pay a chunk of this back once all of the work has been done and there is hopefully lots left over. At least I have mean to pay for what needs doing now though so I feel less anxious about that. I have already sent a £400 op to the mortgage, so it's now down to £79,600 instead of £80,000.
I've sent £10K of the re-mortgage funds to the premium bonds account for now and the remaining money is put aside in a different account to cover some work that will be starting this week and some in February. 

Last week was a really tough week again. My Mum was taken very ill again and it's been discovered that she has a rare disease that is hereditary. It accounts for a lot of her symptoms and suffering over the past 40 years and her siblings have related conditions too. My sister has also had health issues the past few years which can also be contributed to this illness. It's a shame it's taken someone this long to put 2 and 2 together and name the disease. There is no cure and very little treatment and apparently, the average age symptoms start in women is 48, so I have 5 years to get myself fit and well enough to give myself the best chance of being able to deal with this if I also have it. I haven't googled it or even looked into it yet, I have enough to deal with at the moment. I will get through the next couple of weeks with DS's medical appointments and then I will do my research and try and start to change my lifestyle somewhat. 
I have been extremely stressed this past week - DS sleepwalked the other night for the first time ever and scared the life out of me. I was ill all night after that and felt like I was on the edge of coping and didn't sleep for days afterwards through watching DS like a hawk. I then had round 4728 with the ex who has managed to cause so much extra stress and anxiety this past week, it's unreal, absolutely no need for any of it either. He made such an issue of an event yesterday so that the attention was on him rather than DS that he didn't just put me out, but also a parent of DS's friend who ended up running around out of their way after having DS. I was so mad, I had offered to collect DS to save everyone the hassle, especially considering he was due to come home to me anyway, but once again the ex has to have things his own way no matter who it inconveniences. I also found out he changed his job a little while ago with a £16K payrise  - still doesn't buy DS new clothes or shoes when he needs it though and guess who pays for everything - school dinners, DS's savings, clothes, shoes, school events...  If you knew the ex's new job title it would make you laugh considering the stress and abuse I have had from him - oh the irony! 

DS has had the first of his four medical appointments this next week. I took him out for breakfast after this morning's appointment before taking him back to school which was lovely. I don't think either of us will want to eat for the rest of the day though.

I have packaged up a pile of old jewellery and sent it off to HGM today. I am not sure if any of it is worth anything or even whether it is gold or silver, but some of it is broken and the rest I will never wear and it means nothing to DS so to pass it onto him would just be a burden. It was a difficult decision though as some of it belonged to my lovely Nan and some of it was jewellery I'd been bought as a child by my grandparents. DS has no memory of my grandparents as my Grandad died long before he was born and my Nan when he was just 1, so it's not like it will be precious to him. I have given one item that belonged to my Nan to my Sister as I asked her first if she'd like it. She has no children to pass it onto but she said she'd like to keep it which I was glad about tbh. It didn't feel right sending that off to be melted down. Any money that does come back from that bundle will be paid off the mortgage, I think that's the right thing to do and I think my grandparents would be pleased to know they had helped towards buying us our home.

I received a refund from the last item I had to return, so that was £38.50 back in my account. Everything has been updated in YNAB and I'm waiting for pay day now, it seems a long time ago since we were paid. 

enthusiasticsaver

I think it is a  good idea to sell the jewellery if there is no sentimental feelings attached to it.  I have some here which has been passed on to me and I am not sure what to do with it.  One of my daughters is quite sentimentally attached to old family possessions so I may ask her if she wants them at some point. 

Sorry about the hereditary illness.  Your parents both seem to be suffering with ill health so when you are in a better position anxiety wise it may be a good idea to review your lifestyle if you think it needs changing.  You often seem quite stressed understandably and whilst your Ex obviously does cause you problems it may help your mental health if you did not engage with him any more than you need to.  That will be easier as your DS gets older.  I am not sure why he told you he has had a large pay rise as that will obviously cause you some resentment if none of that feeds through to helping you with the costs of raising your DS.  That smacks of him trying to make you jealous as many exes on here seem to want to do.  

MeandO

DS’s pre-op COVID test came back as positive, so now we’re isolating for the week and the op has been cancelled - we’ve been waiting two years for it. I’ve started to feel iffy now too so am booked in for a test tonight. I’m so fed up, I could cry.

I’ve made a Chinese curry with lots of veg in the slow cooker for us for tea tonight as I knew I wouldn’t feel like cooking later on. Just rice to cook with it when it’s ready. We have plenty of food in at the moment, but may have to get OH to drop some bits off in the week or order another online shop. May relent and buy us a takeaway or two this week too if we feel like it. 

Some of the second hand books I’d ordered for myself arrived today too so at least I’ll have something to read if I get chance. DS is feeling ok thankfully, just cold-like symptoms, but he’s bored already so am trying to keep him entertained whilst really not feeling like doing much myself. It’s going to be a long week.

Mrs_Money_Penny

Oh MeandO so sorry to hear about the op being cancelled. Hope you will both feel better soon xx

Honeysucklelou2

So sorry to read about your DS...hope the op is rescheduled promptly.

crazy_cat_lady

Ah no... Take care both of you and I hope that you're both fine and the op happens soon x