Twinklie returns to the property ladder

twinklie

So we decided to postpone the holiday to August 2021, and we don't need to pay the balance until July 2021 so that's a bonus. 
I've upped savings payments by 50 per month, may up it more but will see where we are after car insurance quotes etc. 
Then its overpaying debts and deciding whether to put more into OPing mortgage, AVC's etc. Being a grown up is hard work sometimes. 
My garden based fruit an veg empire has given us some more beans, radishes and sooooooo many raspberries. Think I'm going to have to make jam or freeze some to stop them going to waste. 

twinklie

Managed to save 200 quid of the renewal quote price of my car insurance and that's without taking the Quidco cashback into account!
I actually don't think I've ever paid so little for my car insurance and the tax was only 30 quid. Just the MOT to get through, but I genuinely don't see that being an issue the cars in wonderful condition. If only all years worked out so well. 

twinklie

It's time for the first of the month post...a few days late.

DEBT
DH's CC -  Was £326.33 - Now £0

My CC - Was £1,338.94 - Now £796.92

Car Loan - Was £8,602 - Now £7,718

My Loan - Was £125 - Now £0. 

DH's Phone - Was £194 - Now £152.38

My Phone -  Was £27 - Now £18.60

Total debt at the start of 2020 = £10,613.27 - Now = £8,685.90
Total reduction this month =  My update last month included parts of the payments for this month so I'm ignoring this bit this month because it won't give a true picture. 

Total % of 4K reduction = 48.2%

  

MORTGAGE 

Current daily interest is £15.30

We now own 16.70% of the house. 

2.5 rooms owned.

Paid off 6.95% of the mortgage. 

Current MF date - Oct 2037.

SURVEY sites

 YouGov - June £5.20 - July £6.45-  increase £1.25

 OnePoll - June £20.30 - July £20.40 - increase £0.10

 OnePulse - June £11.06 - July £14.49 - increase £3.43

 Swagbucks - June 701 SB - July 753 SB - increase 52 SB

 AirTimeRewards - June £2.77 - July £0.66 - increase £7.89 - cashed out £10.

SweatCoin - June SC 513.23 - July SC 526.04 - increase SC 12.81

 Shoppix - June 9710 - July 10040 - increase 330

 ZIPZERO -  April £0 - May £0 - increase £0

Total cashed out in June- £10.

Cashed out Quidco - £0. 
TopCashback - £88.98
Scan and Save - £0
Total cashed out - £88.98

Feel like we've done ok and we are half way through the year and nearly at 50% of the 4K I wanted to pay off. I was always expecting to pay more off towards the end of the year so I think I'm actually ahead of schedule really. 

It's my birthday month and I've gone for a bit of a splurge at the NEXT sale and getting myself some new Dr Martins - I haven't had any new ones since 2003 and the cashback has paid for them with money left over so I'm pretty happy about that. There are some red ones I really want as well, but fortunately they aren't in my size. 

twinklie

This weekend is all about reorganising the house I think. We are going to create a study/work area in our bedroom today. I’ve already cleared the space, dusted and hoovered. Hubby will use it to study initially, when his exam is out of the way towards the end of the month I will use it as my work space over summer. It’s just to be out of the way of the kids. 

It also means the furniture we had lying about that we were going to sell is going to be repurposed now to another part of the house. So it’s fairly MSE because I’m pretty sure it would cost us more in paying out for furniture than we would have made from selling it. 

And the additional bonus is that it will clean up my hallway which is currently a giant dumping ground of old furniture which has no home. 

twinklie

I’m finally in credit with the utilities! £29.18. 

We’ve been in debt ever since we first moved in Nov 2018. 

Managed to chuck £200 at my credit card too. 

twinklie

Ikea TV unit put up For sale and hopefully someone is coming to collect it tomorrow. £35 for the kitty. 

twinklie

They came they collected and I reclaimed my hallway! 

The climbing frame is being built too so reclaimed more space and lost some garden, but I’m sure it will be worth it. 

twinklie

So I've spent this morning sorting savings out. My savings account messaged me to say they were reducing the interest to 0.7%, so I've promptly opened up an NS&I account because their interest is 1%. So as soon as this months interest goes on the old one, I'll swap it all into my NS&I one and close it down. 

Nothing massive to report atm, the kids are living their best life on the climbing frame - so well happy we got that. Means they aren't missing soft/sensory play or the park. We've been doing lots of walks "dragon hunting" and spending lots of time enjoying the garden. 

The veg patch is producing well, peas, courgettes, broadbeans, lettuce a plenty. Lots of tomatoes on their way too but they are all green at the minute. 

I'm looking forward to my monthly update because I feel like we've made progress this month, so will be nice to calculate it all properly...I will resist until next weekend though. 

I've finally started using the office in our bedroom, which is a different world. It's so easy in comparison to trying to work with the kids dancing around me, so I'm super pleased we've sorted that out. Fingers crossed the pandemic situation doesn't cause too many problems over winter (I'm not holding my breath), being able to utilize the garden made such a difference for us in terms of burning off energy and maintaining sanity over the lockdown period. I'd dread to be lockdown again over winter. The youngest has a sensory issue related to wind and water (inc. rain), so outside and winter don't mix overly well. 

twinklie

DEBT
DH's CC -  Was £326.33 - Now £0

My CC - Was £1,338.94 - Now £577

Car Loan - Was £8,602 - Now £7,552.80

My Loan - Was £125 - Now £0. 

DH's Phone - Was £194 - Now £145.45

My Phone -  Was £27 - Now £17.43

Total debt at the start of 2020 = £10,613.27 - Now = £8,292.68
Total reduction this month =  £393.22

Total % of 4K reduction = 58% - very much on target.

  

MORTGAGE - not done yet

Current daily interest is £15.30

We now own 16.70% of the house. 

2.5 rooms owned.

Paid off 6.95% of the mortgage. 

Current MF date - Oct 2037.

SURVEY sites

 YouGov - July £6.45 - Aug £6.95-  increase £0.50

 OnePoll - July £20.40 - Aug £20.85 - increase £0.45

 OnePulse - July £14.49 - Aug £18.19 - increase £3.70

 Swagbucks - July 753 SB - August 68 SB - increase 68 SB - Cashed out £10 Amazon voucher

 AirTimeRewards - July £0.66 - Aug £0.66 - increase £0

SweatCoin - July SC 526.04  - Aug SC 526.04 - increase SC 0

 Shoppix - July 10040 - Aug 10040 - increase 0

 ZIPZERO -  July £0 - Aug £0 - increase £0

Total cashed out in July - £10.

Cashed out Quidco - £2.16. 
TopCashback - £22.86
Scan and Save - £10
Total cashed out - £35.02

twinklie

Pinch, punch, first of the month. A weird one for me. We are doing ok financially, but we are on notice for imminent lockdown as everywhere around us went into increased lockdown measures on Thursday. It's sad because we've been essentially shielding this whole time and were just contemplating doing more, I saw my parents for the first time since Feb last Sunday in the front garden (completely unplanned). So I'm glad we got that in, but I was hoping to have a socially distanced picnic with them in our garden and now we aren't allowed (although it's not enforceable at this point...yet).
Not really sure what to do with the kids in terms of preparation for everything because I don't have a clue what I would be preparing them for. 
I'm using a computer desk upstairs in my bedroom for work, but it's still not ideal, I'm balancing things half on the desk and half on the window sill, plus my legs don't quite fit under so I'm sort of sat at an angle. So I'm contemplating waiting until autumn to see what the crack is with work (I'm presuming I will remain wfh) and then reevaluate whether I need a better desk or not. We shall see. 
Hope everyone that reads is safe and well.