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MeandO

Moguline said:

So close to a 5 digit mortgage now!!

Yes, getting there again Moguline. Last time I got my mortgage to under £100K it was somewhat of an anti climax, but then I wasn’t overpaying it, so it feels a bit more of a little victory this time round!

MeandO

My gas and electric payment has gone down by £19 a month now, so this month I’ve diverted the surplus £19 to the credit card, adding a bit extra to pay off £28.16 and round the balance down to a neat £140. The rest will be paid off within 3 weeks so it will be clear again.

I posted all the eBay items yesterday. I underestimated postage on one so only made pennies by the time postage was paid, but at least I didn’t lose money I guess. 
I also cleared out a chest of drawers from one of the the spare rooms and started another bag for the charity shop. Lots also go thrown away and I had a whole bin bag full of paper recycling after getting rid of all the old postage receipts and paperwork from the small business I used to have. I now have two empty box files and a folder, plus a chest of drawers with a couple of empty drawers. I can’t believe I moved a lot of that stuff to this house with me.

Next drawers to sort through are in the smallest spare room. Ideally, i’d like to get rid of the drawers themselves as they are the old ones from DS’s bedroom and one of the drawers is broken, they were just shoved in there for storage at the time. 

MeandO

Big news is that my house is now on the market. I'm not sure what interest there will be, especially with the current issues the world is dealing with which, according to local estate agents, has seen potential sellers holding on to marketing their properties for a while, but we will see. There is no rush. There is really nothing grabbing my attention on the market to buy presently anyway. It has induced a bit of decluttering though, so there's another black full for the charity shop so far and probably more to find, especially in the garage. I also sorted through most of my clothes and realised how very little I have that fits me. I have had to throw some worn clothes and underwear out which was past saving and lots of things have been charity-shopped and have bitten the bullet and ordered myself some new underwear, trousers for work and a few basic tops. It has gone on the credit card but will be paid off with the no council tax payment this month. I have also bought my Dad a birthday gift, paying for it on the credit card, but my Mum wants to go halves with me for this and will give me the money, so only £25 to pay off for that.

I finally sold my engagement ring on ebay last week. It fetched around 1/4 of the price paid for it originally, but I was glad to get rid of it and make a little bit of money from it. The rings were items which held a lot of sadness for me and I really struggled to even look at them for a long time, so it's not a bad thing they have now gone. The money has gone towards topping the budget up a bit and £100 to the house & car pot.

There's not much money left in the account now and 11 days til payday. We have plenty in the cupboards though and don't need to make any big spends - hopefully.

The sun is actually out today so I'm going to make the most of it and hang the washing on the line now!

MeandO

I've been really productve since my last post and have turned out my wardrobe - the last cupboards to do in my room - and have sorted more stuff for the charity shop, one item to ebay and bagged up 18 coat hangers for recycling - that's a good space cleared.
I've also sorted through the two chest of drawers in the two spare rooms and have finally thrown/charity shopped/found other places for the stuff i had in the large chest of drawers I wanted to get rid of and have advertised it for free on FB. Someone is coming to collect it tonight so that's a great space cleared. Another item has been advertised for free, if it doesn't go, it will be going to the Charity shop next week.

Honeysucklelou2

Wow, sounds like you are really on a roll. Well done with the sorting and decluttering. I thin’ if the house is priced fairly, things are still selling. 3 homes in the village I live,  have sold recently and didn’t seem to be on the market for that long.

crazy_cat_lady

Fingers crossed that the house sells soon, and you find the place that you want and it has not one single solitary problem. You deserve a change in luck.

Chrystal

You're very quiet Meando.  Hope everything is OK?  X

MeandO

Hello all, I wrote a long post a few days ago which I lost somehow then really c.b.a to rewrite it.
I’m not going to go into how awful the current situation is, it really is unthinkable, but there are enough difficult things to get through at the moment, writing them down is not going to help me or anyone. It is what it is and we are getting on with it now. 

So, DS is with me and is likely to be for some time which I am so relieved about, he is safer here and we are doing quite well, considering, so far. Last week was difficult for all of us as a population, but DS and I have adapted to the new normal quite well and are used to staying in. We have not even really gone out for our ‘exercise’ this week either, only the once, instead we have been in the garden lots and laughing our way through the Joe Wicks workouts. Neither of us feel like we are missing out on anything and it has really made me feel so very grateful for everything we have. 
We have plenty of food and supplies in and I have a click and collect booked for Thursday. I also have a milkman coming up to three times a week which, although expensive, is extremely convenient at the moment. I get quite excited having fresh milk, juice, bread etc waiting for us on our doorstep when we get up!
If anything, DS has tried lots of foods and veg that he normally wouldn’t eat as I am making more of an effort to vary the meals I’m cooking and to have as little food waste as possible. The grocery budget has gone up somewhat as we can’t really for best value products at the moment, it has depended much on availability, but as we are not leaving the house, other than for the click and collect this week, the fuel budget is at nil for this month and probably a few more yet.
I am so very lucky to be able to work from home with DS with me and have no financial penalty for that. My job is ok at the moment and I have my fingers crossed it will stay that way, but who knows what the future holds now, there is no point worrying about that now. I really do feel like one of the lucky ones atm and for that I am so very grateful. 

The credit card had taken a bit of a battering as I had put a few things on there before all this kicked off, but thanks to refunds from a weekend away we had booked but obviously can’t go on, a refund after being overcharged by £200 (long story, but am thankful for the honesty of the company in this instance as I just thought the appliance was overpriced!), and me throwing £350 ish at it from the budget, I have more or less cleared it.
I have had a birthday this week which, under the circumstances, I really wasn’t looking forward to, but DS made my day for me. We had a marvellous day in the garden and laughed, giggled and had fun for most of the day. He decorated a cake for me and made cards, he is an angel. I am also sat here on my sofa with the beautiful smell of freesias filling the room thanks to lovely flowers delivered from my family. Talking of family, I am missing mine terribly and am desperately worried about my parents, but won’t talk too much about that for now as am trying to remain positive. I am also missing OH too as we are abiding by the rules and not leaving our homes, but I know it’s for the best for everyone right now. 

Must dash, will finish this later. Love and big hugs to everyone xx

MeandO

Sorry, am back... 
I had notification that my first h2s bonus of £600 will be paid shortly and I’m deliberating about what to do with it. I would love to be able to sweep that pesky £599 off the mortgage and get it down to under £100K, but would I be wiser stashing it away in a savings pot at the moment with things as they are? I’m not sure what to do. Any thoughts would be welcomed. 

Our local hospitals are appealing for donations of nightwear, underwear, basic toiletries etc via the means of an Amazon wish list they’ve set up for patients who are running out of basic things as their families are obviously not allowed to visit them and they cannot take walk in donations of physical items. This really struck a chord with me last night, and to mum Mum who I mentioned it to on the phone, so between my parents and myself, we have purchased around £45 worth of items which will be sent straight to the hospital. It’s nice to be able to send a little something direct to those that need it and the fuel savings for this month will mean I can afford to do so.

I think this month works out as the month I receive two child tax credit payments within the one pay day period. The amount I receive will be going down by about £60 from now on, but it means I will be able to sweep an extra £120 into a savings pot or to the mortgage this month. I think I do need to make a decision as to whether it’s better to squirrel money away at the moment or to pay off the mortgage; the mortgage is costing me more in interest than any savings earn, but there’s always the security of a savings safety net... 

Oh, and the last news for now - I took the house off the market. There is no point in creating extra stress at the moment and now really is not the time to be buying or selling. DS needs as much stability as I can offer at the moment, so the move has been put on hold for now. It will be going ahead at some point, but when everything is near enough back to normal again, if and when that happens. 

Stay safe and well and at home everyone! Xx

Chrystal

Really glad to hear from you... was starting to get a bit worried
I think at the moment it's better to save the money rather than pay it off the mortgage.  You can always pay it when things have calmed down a bit and we aren't so worried about what may be around the corner.
Belated Happy Birthday, lovely that you had a nice day.  It sounds as  though DS is having a whale of a time.

Hope you and yours keep well.  (((hugs)))XX