Twinklie returns to the property ladder

twinklie

Daily mortgage interest is now down to £15.71 per day which is a reduction of 74p since the start of the mortgage.
We now own 14.5% of the house and have paid of 4.5% of the mortgage!

I suspect our utilities will go into debt this month because DH has been home a lot and it's BITTER cold. So the heating has been on a lot and the heater in the playroom too.


I'm off for the 2 weeks of Christmas with the boys, so that should reduce my travel bills quite a bit this month. We have very few plans for the holidays. Just relaxing, it's a tough time of year for us (autism and the crazy at school this time of year brings causes lots of anxiety and meltdowns).


Although interestingly DS2 has his ADOS (autism assessment) this month, so that will be interesting. Nursery are taking them to do a carol concern at the old peoples home next door, but I'm going as his 1:1 because he won't cope. He didn't cope yesterday at our favorite SEND playgroup and went into crisis.


I'm sort of looking forward to January because I'm going to transfer my DFW information into this thread and just update this one, rather than have two. It just feels more streamlined. I need to decide if I'm going to include DH's debts into it as well (small CC bill and car loan).


The elves landed at our house so the Christmas magic is in full flow here. We can't decorate until DH has had his exams next week and his birthday on Thursday. With that in mind, we were looking round and are finally going to pay out for some new storage (we held off so we could save for it rather than pay it on card). So once we've done that we'll get the living room cleaned up and then decorate. I'm really looking forward to it. :j


Once the living room is sorted my next room to tackle is the hallway to make it look more inviting and less like a dumping ground, but we need more furniture for that too.

twinklie

Eek! The MSE energy club has alerted me to the fact I could save money if I switch, compared to the tariff I'm on now.


The options are:
1. People's Energy - Saving 116 per year, Early Exit Fee 60, fixed 12 mths.
2. Utility Point - Saving 62 per year, Early Exit Fee 72, fixed 12 mths.
3. iSupplyEnergy - Saving 29 per year, Early Exit Fee 60, fixed 12 months


Has anyone used any of these. I've not heard of any of them. I'm currently with Arvo and have no exit fees, fixed until Oct 2020.

twinklie

Well with the exception of People's Energy all of those offers have been removed. The next best saves 21 per year but only after cashback and has early exit fees attached, so I've decided to hang fire and see what comes up further down the line.

I'm getting super excited to do my 2020 start of the year post. I'm hoping to know exactly where I am with things and have a target in mind.

Spent a fortune this month on going out (was hubby's 50th), well for us anyway probably just the cost of a normal weekend for most people. We've all been under the weather so have had a few extra takeaways (includes store bought curries) rather than cooking from scratch.

We also went to IKEA the other day and spent £300 on furniture for the house, it's much needed though and we've been planning to do it for months. So we'd saved the money for it. Just means my expenses spreadsheet shows we've lost the plot this month and will have overspent by loads. But at least I know what's gone on and we've used savings rather than relying on plastic, so it's ok.

twinklie

What a weird week its been.
Monday - was a normal day to be fair.

Tuesday - DS2's nativity. I went into nursery with him to watch him and make sure he did what he needed to do whilst they got the other kids ready. He was the only kid not in costume because he had come as DS2. :rotfl: He led down between the benches with his ear defenders on and never made it to the stage. His teacher was however, very impressed because he stayed in the room - it does beg the question what does he normally do?

Wednesday - DS2's ADOS (autism assessment). It was interesting to watch, now we just wait to see what the outcome is. We'll have our feedback appointment hopefully in January.

Thursday - DS1's end of term assembly where he got the star of the term award. Very proud parents. He really struggles at school so I'm so so proud.

Friday - Playgroup was dead, DS1 finished just after lunch and so we went to the library for a chill out and to swap our books. DS2 was moved up a class in swimming to try and push him more. Again, very proud Mama. One of his sensory issues is water related, so this is really impressive.


Add to all that I was working as well, I'm definitely ready for the 2 week break. I'm off for the whole two weeks, so feeling pretty good right now.


I've finally managed to cash out on YouGov, cashed out on Quidco and TopCashBack too. So that's come at a good time. Whilst I'm not paid until the end of the month I've been able to check my payslip and that's my healthiest one of the year. With January being such a long month it feels very well timed!

twinklie

Well I had a lovely Christmas. I hope you all did too.

I’m finding however, that I’m spending my time waiting for January 1st so that I can post my goals for 2020 and figure out what progress I made in 2019! :rotfl:

Still, I’m off work until January 6th so I need to stop wishing the time away. I’m exhausted and just need to rest and mooch before getting back to it when we launch back into the daily grind! Just hope I remember that DS2s swimming lessons have changed day/time.

BVic28

I’m the same! Want the month/year end to come so I can sort out next years goals/find out what this months mortgage interest has been haha

twinklie

As long as its not just me then. I’ve signed up to 20 in 2020 to try and motivate myself and it gives me something extra to track.

Saw a fab idea on MSE that I'm going to implement this year...who'd like to join?

The idea being a list of things you'd like to do/achieve in 2020 that involve 20's

Top ideas are saving 20 x £20 notes

Saving 20 of each coin denomination

Reading 20 books

Putting electronics/phones down/off by 20:20 in the evening.

Having 20 free days out

Etc etc...

This sounds for more focussed than resolutions for me and my list of 20 things has been written. I think I’ll post it here but not until the New Year. I love tracking things so it will be my little project.

BVic28

I saw this and was really tempted but I always start these things then lose focus and completely forget about them

twinklie

Well I’m thinking I can turn my monthly posts into a one stop shop for accountability. So I’ll post my mortgage update as per. But also add my outstanding debt (might include DHs too). And then can add my 20 in 2020 for additional accountability. I currently have 2 diaries one here and one on DFW, but I just think it will be easier to have it all in one place.

I’ve chosen 3 categories for doing it: financial, things to improve quality of life and selfish things for me. I’ve tried to make it fairly achievable for the most part. Some things I expect will be easy, others quite difficult.

twinklie

Took the kids for a 5 mile walk to knock some of their energy out of them, which seemed to work quite nicely. Then decided to do some tidying of the driveway and front garden, followed by a tea of leftovers.

DH is back at work tomorrow so a chance to get back to normal a bit. So going to get back on top of some of the housework. And maybe do some work in the back garden. I also want to start planning my garden grow your own type stuff.