Oh pants I messed up BIG!!!

Sarahwithlove

Clothes are never a waste if you need them you'll get a chance to use them later in the year I am sure. 

abba1772

pretty flowers can't wait for our burst of colour to come out in the garden xx

Broke_Bear

Thanks Sarah, looks like the shorts will get used this week 🤞
Thanks ABBA, the camellia is one of only about 3 things in flower at the moment, I can’t wait for the garden to really get into its stride 😀

well yesterday was busy but relaxed if that makes sense!
started off by popping to the local shop to pick up some necessities for my lovely Mum who is shielding, got the few bits we needed at the same time (bread and milk plus tonic water for my weekend tipple). Home for breakfast then onto the clothes washing, tidied the kitchen and living room - just needs a wipe over surfaces and windows to be done now.
Tidied our bedroom and got all clothes sorted and put away then down for lunch prepared by himself.
in the afternoon I managed to catch up on diaries, complete my french lesson and bake a batch of fairy cakes before doing the roasties for dinner. With OH now starting work at 4am we have dinner early and he is off to bed by 7 at the latest. I then got all the dishes done, and settled down with my damson gin ( home made by lovely mum) to watch some Real Gardens on channel 4 Catch up, it is a series from the late 90’s with St Monty of Don and Carol Klein then off to bed for me too.

Today has been a relaxed start so far, dishwasher on, cat fed, me fed, watched a random telly programme, completed french lesson and caught up on diaries.
jobs list today is potting on the rest of the peppers/chillis and getting them out to the greenhouse, starting the potting on of the hardier plants in the greenhouse to go into the cold frame. Sowing many more seeds of veggies and possibly some flowers too.

better go and get dressed and ready to make a start then!

see you all later x

Broke_Bear

Happy hump day!  2 days till the weekend even if it doesn’t really feel like it! Had a bit of a work wobble today as the pressure of doing the work of 3 people got to me a bit, my other 2 colleagues have been furloughed and there is just me doing the work which hasn’t really slowed down any 😩
Had a scheduled call with my boss to go through the bits we have to do together and let her know how I was feeling. She was amazing and made me realise it was me putting the pressure on myself not the company as they know I am doing an amazing job in the circumstances. Bless her she made me wibble with gratitude and it helped me get my head back in the game.

Well I managed to get all the chillis potted on and out to the greenhouse and all the broad beans went into the veg beds.  This weekend I plan to pot on the cosmos and zinnia which need growing on a little more before they go out into the big scary garden after the frosts.  I am loving the small newspaper pots I make from the kit I got for my birthday as they are great for just pricked out seedlings but I think I will be slowly investing in decent 10cm reusable pots, after lockdown, for growing on as the paper ones at that size are a bit of a pain.

DSD has come to stay with us for a while to give her a break, a different four walls and some peace and quiet from her little brother. She is proving very useful and has already made a batch of fairy cakes which we polished off today (I have taught her well 😜). I think her dad and I are so laid back compared to her mum’s house she appreciates the rest! She will probably be with us for a week or two before going home but she knows she is welcome to stay as long as she likes or go home to her mums whenever she is ready (she misses her mum terribly after a week or so usually).  We haven’t seen her for a month since this started as we all agreed it would be better to do longer visits and less travelling/ journeys etc during the lockdown period.

Oh is back in work tomorrow after his 2 days off so he has already gone to bed and will be up at 2ish when the alarm goes off 😖 hopefully I will get back to sleep quickly. Better think about heading up to bed too soon... I am shattered.

night all xx

Broke_Bear

Oh wow! cannot believe it has nearly been a year!
Still carrying on with my DMP and the numbers are coming down slowly.  Will update my totals soon but I have over 7000 posts to read through first, suffice to say I am now in the 27's which is amazing compared to where i started from!

off to do some catching up....its good to be back

Broke_Bear

Well 2 more years have passed and it has been a mixed bag of some good, some totally awful!! 

The good: 

DMP still going down and ticking along, now at £23,850 and that puts me at 23% paid off!!
Changed jobs and now working in a vet surgery who will be putting me through vet nurse training (Care assistant training first then vet nurse so will take about 5 years to be qualified ... I will be 50 when I graduate!!!)
We got a new puppy last May, she is now 15 months old and sooo adorable.  Delicate is now 5 and is still avoiding the pup at all costs - Delia lives upstairs and goes out through the bathroom window rather than coming down and using the cat flap.  I live in hope they will settle their differences but somehow I think this will remain the status quo.

The Best: 

Got Married after 10 years of being with OH he is now officially the Hubby - still makes us both so happy

The Worst:

My lovely Mumsy passed away in November last year 2 weeks after the wedding.  I am so glad she got to see me married as she had been saying for years that she wanted to see me married before she was in her box!! It was totally unexpected and breaks my heart I can no longer see her face.

We are currently working through mums things and financials with my siblings but it is slow and painful going.  When it is all sorted the DMP will be paid off from my inheritance and we will be debt free.  We are hoping to buy mums house as 1/3 of it is already mine and the sale of our house would be just over another third.  We would have to try and get a mortgage for about 80,000 ish and I just don't know if that will be doable with my credit rating let alone the horrendous mortgage interest situation at the moment.  We don't need to think about it for another 6-12 months though as My brother and his wife are living there while their house gets renovated which will take a while - the longer the better as far as we are concerned as this will help us be in a (slightly) better position the longer it is after the DMP is paid off.

So this is the current situation - I will update my signature now to reflect the current status.

Hope everyone out there is doing OK in the current climate.   xxx

dawnybabes

So sorry to hear about your mum but all the other news is good 😀😀😀

Broke_Bear

Another 9 months gone - how did that happen?

Well I am finally debt free!!!  Woo Hoo 
To be fair that happened just before Christmas but who's counting!

I have started my Vet care assistant training and oh my days essay writing again after 20 something years has been a shock to the system! it has all changed.  Last time I wrote an essay the internet was dial up and Google may not even have been a thing 

So we have pretty much sorted Mum's estate bar the house - brother and SIL are still living there but should be moving into their newly renovated house in the next couple of months.  OH and I have decided we will not be buying much missed Mumsies house and will stay where we are for now and get some much needed renovations done here - The kitchen sink is still currently propped up on a piece of 2x2 as it has been foe about the last 8 years or so... EEEK

Not moving will also mean we will be able to clear off the mortgage here and be completely debt free, house and everything.  I am so looking forward to not owing anything to anyone for the first time since turning 18 in 1996!

Little pup is turning into a lovely dog and I cannot believe she turned 2 in March.  It has been hard work but we go to weekly obedience and agility classes and they are paying off - she mostly listens...mostly 
Delia the cat is still maintaining the Cold War status and avoiding the dog at all costs, I think this will remain the status quo and I am not going to force anything as the last thing I want is for either of them to get hurt or for Delia to up sticks and move out just to avoid the dog.

So what now?  I need to start planning what to do with the house sale monies to save it/invest it and how to go about this to ensure I cannot go back to silly spendy ways.  some will be allocated to paying off the mortgage and renovations but there will still be a goodly chunk of pennies to deal with and if I don't have a plan for them they will dwindle away on living above my real means and I will..more quickly than you would thing.. have nothing left.  This would definately not be what Mumsy intended her legacy to be so I have to have a plan for the long term.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If it is ok with you all I will continue my occasional ramblings on here as it is a lovely place to be and I am so grateful for all the helpful advice and comments along the way even if I don't get on here much (I am hoping to be on here a little more regularly now I am using the computer again for college it gives me a reason to pop on and see how everyone is getting on).

Love to all xx

enthusiasticsaver

Congratulations on being debt free but sorry you lost your mum.

It is probably best to take your time to think about financial goals and in the meantime put the inheritance into savings. 

hugheskevi

Broke_Bear said:

So what now?  I need to start planning what to do with the house sale monies to save it/invest it and how to go about this to ensure I cannot go back to silly spendy ways.  some will be allocated to paying off the mortgage and renovations but there will still be a goodly chunk of pennies to deal with and if I don't have a plan for them they will dwindle away on living above my real means and I will..more quickly than you would thing.. have nothing left.  This would definately not be what Mumsy intended her legacy to be so I have to have a plan for the long term.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

(1) Emergency fund in place
(2) Insurances - life, redundancy, and income protection in event of ill-health (and maybe pet insurance)
(3) Ensuring maximising workplace pensions, eg, any possible matched contributions
(4) Ensure no unexpected debts remain, eg, estimated utility bills using underestimated values, car finance, etc
(5) Wills in place, and maybe power-of-attorney if desired
(6) Check State Pensions and any need to make voluntary contributions
(7) Any changes to house ownership status (eg maybe changing single ownership to joint ownership or tenants-in-common) that may be desired following marriage and inheritance and repaying the mortgage
(8) If OH is under 40, consider opening LISA as an additional pension option
(9) Review your health and things you might want to do to improve that (eg swimming membership, gym, maybe medical insurance depending on the state of the NHS near you, healthier food, weight loss, etc) - investing in your own health when in 40s is a great long-term investment, the higher the starting point to decline from in your 40s, the better you are likely to be when you head into old age
(10) Reviewing all major things which might come up, and maybe doing as part of renovations or having a funding plan in place for them alongside emergency funds, eg, roof, boiler, car, computers, phones, white goods, etc

After doing all that, it would be a very solid foundation, then make a plan for retirement which will determine how best to direct funds - probably into a pension (or a LISA if available), but a Stocks and Shares ISA may also be suitable depending on circumstances.