The Piano Diary

savingholmes

Well done on volunteering. That's some reduction in commute. I am with you on money seeming largely irrelevant right now - that's dangerous for me though - so need to try and get back more on track. I did spend some time making art today - acrylic pouring - it was fun!

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

This week has again been busy work wise. I have improvised a standing desk after developing a bit of back trouble due to poor posture. I usually walk around quite a lot in a working day between buildings etc so sitting down all day I forgot to get up and stretch etc. Really impressed with the students the way they have been coping and dealing with this situation.

Went shopping to S*bury yesterday for ourselves and for my in-laws. It was good how they have introduced measures to keep everyone apart the appropriate distance and everyone was behaving really well. We hadn’t been shopping for a week. We spent a bit more than usual because a lot of the normal lines were missing and we had to go for a more expensive end.  I find myself craving the odd treat. Anyone else finding that? I have developed a real fresh coffee habit. I have a coffee grinder and I’m grinding coffee beans. Its substituting for my coffee on the way to work.  I bought a box of wine. I know from experience this is probably a bad idea, but I’m finding a glass at the end of the day is what I need right now. Need to keep that under review!

Yesterday we logged into the NHS volunteers app. We haven’t been given any tasks yet, we received an e-mail saying that they are only releasing a certain number of tasks and not to be concerned if you don’t get asked to do anything yet. What is really heartening is when you log into the app you see all the other volunteers in your local area on a map and there are so many people signed up. I’m taking the week off after Easter so that will be a chance to get more involved hopefully.

Finances are ok at the moment. Groceries are up on normal, but not too dramatically. The other day my mortgage balance was bugging me as it was a few hundred above £60,000 so I made an OP and it now stands at £59,999! Only people on this forum would get why I did that. But I’m determined to stay focused on the goals I set myself 3-4 years ago despite everything.

Its going to be a lovely day today. I hope you all get out somehow safely in the fresh air following the guidelines.

 

savingholmes

Glad things are still going well for you. Good to make any OP no matter how small.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

It’s good to get to the weekend and Easter. I know it’s not normal, but I have been looking forward to this break since Christmas so glad to get here all the same. A busy day yesterday as we went through all the teaching plans at our Uni for our department. There is much uncertainty of course about how things will play out. They are worried about international student numbers. This is a major source of income. Both OH and I have booked next week off. It’s not ‘holiday’ as in we are going away, but it is a break from work. I’m going to try and recharge over the weekend with some reading, catching up on the piano, pottering about the house. We never go away at Easter so in a way this is not that different. I will have to do a supermarket shop tomorrow. This is for us, a neighbour and the in-laws. Next week I’m planning to do some volunteering. It will keep me active and doing something useful. DS is still at his Uni and seems to be ok. We managed to find a game on the Playstation that we could play together online, that was fun. Money wise we are spending less. Its making me wonder why we spend so much in normal times. We are saving into our EF at the moment.

Have a great Easter everyone!

savingholmes

Glad you are managing your money well and staying safe and well. I too am taking a break - I was struggling to concentrate anyway. I've been able to get into the garden most days this week for at least an hour doing odd jobs. Our homes and gardens will hopefully be more spruced up by whenever the end of lockdown comes. We will emerge blinking into the light as if a wall was taken down..... think hunger games or allegiant....

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

It seems strange to think about longer term goals at this point. There is much uncertainty, but I can only work with what I know. At this time of the month, we get paid, the mortgage goes out and I am usually tying up the last few transactions on YNAB. I make the savings or OP’s depending on what is left over. Spends in April have of course been down, no eating out, clothes, haircuts. We have spent no cash. Groceries slightly up but not surprising since this now has to cover all meals and snacks for both of us. This month the increased pension contributions have gone out from my salary. These are now at 25% and so take home pay has reduced accordingly by just over £300. I need to increase the pension because I want to retire at 60 latest and maybe earlier if possible or at least go semi-retired. We are also OPing the mortgage £300 per month so total mortgage payment is £1350. Mortgage now stands at £58,775. The goal remains to be mortgage free in 4 years or less. Savings are at £3000, we will save any extra each month and try to build the EF up through this year. At this rate, mortgage will be below £50K by the end of the year, that is a good milestone to aim for.

savingholmes

I think when you have a plan it is good to keep going with it. Your  pension contribution will be able to buy more than normal so it should all work out.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

We have made it to the weekend! I have cancelled the summer holiday in August. It was going to be a rail trip in Sweden, we were really looking forward to it. We took out cancellation insurance, but when you get within 90 days of the travel date then you start to start to have to pay some kind of % or at least that is how it reads to me. Anyway, its academic as I don’t think we would be able to go anyway. On the positive side, it saves us around £2,000 and we would also have had to get to Sweden as well which would have cost more on top. OH pointed out to me that next year is our 25th wedding anniversary so maybe we can rebook or organise something to celebrate depending on what the situation is when we get there!

I think instead we will focus on building up the emergency fund. At the moment it stands at £4450. I have done a calculation on our outgoings. A normal month is £3500 but I also did an austerity budget for what would they be if we really cut back. This comes to £2500, in this case we would cut back the mortgage payments. I would like to build up the EF to say around 3 to 6 months of expenses which would be 3 months (£7.5K to £10.5K) or 6 months (£15K to £21K). At the current rate of saving we could get to around £12K, but I think £15K would be a great number to aim for. This would be a mindset shift for me as in the past this I would have seen this as excessive but I think this is what we need to do. At the moment we are both continuing to work but who knows what is ahead.

Today is supermarket day, we now have a routine, OH shops for her parents, whilst I shop for us and the neighbour. It takes around an hour and a half because everything is slower due to social distancing. I make my list in the order that I come to things in the shop to make it more efficient. I am starting to wear a snood which I use for running. I must admit I hate not being able to smile at people, this can be helpful when there is an awkward moment in the aisle and you just want to let someone know everything is ok by just making eye contact and smiling. Another thing we are going to have to get use to.

Weather looks lovely so maybe we will go for a walk later.

Have a great day all!

South_coast

I find myself still smiling, even though I then realise my face is covered and they can't see it - hopefully it shows in my eyes! 

glass_half_full

Hi South_coast, I know what you mean, I was doing that too! And then doing thumbs up just in case.