2019 Transforming and Becoming Mortgage Free!

[Deleted User]

Thanks everyone for your support!!

I seem to have fallen at the first hurdle not updating daily!! :rotfl:

Good reasons for it though - couldn't get onto the machine (still not sure why as it seems to be working now but that's technology for you!) and also I've been unwell for a couple of days - I've spent the last couple of days in bed with my head in a bucket (far too much info but I have a tendency to overshare! )

However, I'm back to 'normal' now so onwards and upwards!

Money saving - I've not been out of the house since 22nd so I've had 4 NSD's :j
House - well, not a lot really, not easy to do anything when not well but we have decided on our plan of action regarding the rest of the decorating so have done something at least!

Today, I am going to finalise my budgets (almost done but haven't been able to complete due to limited access to internet) go to the shops to get the remaining decorating stuff and then I will get on these boards later and completely update everything and catch up on diaries!

Have a fab day everyone!!

julicorn

Happy new diary squirrelgirl! I can't wait to see how you get on in 2019 - wishing you all the best!

[Deleted User]

Didn't get back on here yesterday as was at the shops for a lot longer than expected!!

Finished getting the rest of the paint etc, ordered the new beds for the two main bedrooms and got the curtains sorted for the front room and both main bedrooms! :T We also have looked at carpets but the salesman was so pushy I had to walk away before I said something unpleasant!!:rotfl:

So, spent loads of money yesterday but nothing above what I was expecting - I've decided not to count buying for the renovations as spend days because it's part of a project, not just general spending. However, I did buy some fizzy water yesterday so it wasn't a NSD anyway

I have finalised all the budgets now and have updated my signature - the house renovations will cost an additional 21k and the mortgage is at 16k - I have some money towards the house renovations now and my first mortgage payment will be done on 1st of Jan.

Anyway, not going to rattle on as I want to catch up on other diaries and join some challenges before I start the decorating! Hope you are all having a fab holiday period!

359 days to go.......

the_cross_rabbit

I've joined the frugaldom challenge 2019.
CRx

the_cross_rabbit

Happy New Year Squirrelgirl
CRx

[Deleted User]

Well, January was a total nightmare!!:eek: Hence being awol pretty much all month

I'm not going to bother boring anyone with the details but I am really glad to see the back of January and will hopefully have a much better February - I didn't do too bad on the finances really with all things considered (had money still left over from the grocery budget and the petrol but not sure how much yet as I haven't had an opportunity to balance the books)

The house is coming on okay - it is all but decorated now (just a couple of bits left to do), the electrics are almost sorted (I'm sure that this is the longest job in history!! ), the storage in the utility is almost completed, the architrave is coming along, the skirting boards have been delivered today and I have curtain poles and curtains in all the rooms now too so it is looking a bit more like a house and less of a building site!! I have bought the tiles for the hallway - they are being delivered this week and the tiler will come and quote for doing them in the next week or so. The next 'job' is to find the newel posts and handrail for the stairs - I know what I want but finding them is proving tricky!!;)

I have had to make purchases earlier than planned on some things and put off others to accommodate this so nothing is quite where it should be at this point but I'm still determined to have it all done by the end of March....whether I achieve this is definitely open to debate but I'm going to have a good try!!

Being off the boards and dealing with other people's chaos has really impacted my plans- I know that it's only a few weeks that I have had to lose the momentum but I can't afford to let it happen again. I've let myself get sucked in to things that I really shouldn't have but I have spoken to everyone involved now and told them that it's the last time I bail anyone out - although it has been difficult for me to say, I do feel that a weight has been lifted in some ways; I've really been brutal with what they can and cannot expect in the future so hopefully, I won't have to repeat myself!

Anyhoo, I am going to spend my free time in the next few days catching up on diaries and balancing the books - by the end of this week I intend to be back in control and moving forward!:D

Hope everyone is okay!!

320 days to go!!

[Deleted User]

Almost caught up on all the diaries now! Still have to do the book balancing but I will wait till the weekend to do that when I have a decent amount of time....

Despite the obvious difficulties of living in a building site, I've really let the house slide cleaning wise over the past few weeks some of this is due to the dramas and some of it due to feeling pretty rubbish health wise but predominantly, it's down to being bone idle!! I've made my mind up that I will rectify that today and have a good clean up - it will also mean that I can get the debris of the renovations into some semblance of order too and make the space more liveable

I've made a meal plan to use up the fresh food in the house over the next week - other than having to buy soya milk and cow juice for dh I really shouldn't need to buy anything else for at least 10 days - I am determined to get back on track with the finances! Although I had money from the grocery budget left over at the end of January, I know that it could have been a lot better - admittedly part of the drama was having to accommodate a teenager who ate for Britain and wouldn't go near anything vaguely vegan so I had to purchase stuff that I wouldn't have spent out on in a million years under normal circumstances - but some of it was just getting stuff because I couldn't be bothered trying to fight my way through the debris to the cupboards!! :rotfl:

House wise, the bonding is being done ready for the skirting boards to be measured and cut and the sparky assured me yesterday that once he has been on Saturday the electrics will be finished!! :j:j:j I am incredibly pleased about that - it has been going on for months, literally!!

Self care just hasn't happened I'm afraid - I was confident that I would be able to get myself organised and start looking after myself but with everything that has been going on I think I've been worse than ever! I have decided that I will get this week over and done with which will bring me back to being in control and then start a proper self care routine next week. I know that until I have everything else sorted, thinking about what I need to do for me just won't happen so there is no point in adding unnecessary stress or a feeling of failure;)

Mortgage wise, dh has had a small pay rise which he is going to pay direct to the mortgage balance - we did have a moment of 'should we just put it to the house renovation fund' but I really need to see us having some impact on the mortgage balance while the renovations are ongoing - it's not a lot, but it all helps and I don't feel that we are neglecting the mortgage for the first six months this way - I know that we can still clear it within the time frame if we don't put the pay rise to it, but it makes me feel better!

319 days to go......

[Deleted User]

I've spent the day sorting the renovation budget and spends...scary stuff!! :eek::rotfl: In all honesty, its pretty good really - I'm still on budget targets so that's a major plus, it's just that the sequence changes have thrown me a bit...I also seem to forget that I'm only six weeks in so can't expect miracles! Hoping to sort the food and petrol budget later tonight, that way I can start tomorrow fresh

On the 'you've got to be kidding!!' side...my netbook has decided to die completely today :mad::( it's been struggling for a while so no great surprise but it means that I'll have to just use my phone for a while...really can't justify buying a new one this year! Oh well, these things are sent to try us!! :rotfl:

the_cross_rabbit

and try us they do!
CRx

[Deleted User]

They do indeed CR! :rotfl:

On the plus side, I have sorted the grocery and petrol budgets from January - pretty good really as I had £30 left over from the grocery budget which is surprising and £3 from the petrol budget which is really shocking as I had a visit to a relative included in that which is a 500 mile round trip! :j

The surplus has gone into the renovation budget - mainly because we needed some bonding yesterday and it was easier to use the cash than to transfer it I'm fairly hopeful that I will have a reasonable amount from the budgets this month but with another trip away and a couple of birthdays it's an outside hope!

House - tiles for the hallway are being delivered today, the bonding ready for the skirting boards is currently being done and the electricity meter has finally been changed! This means that I will actually be able to put in meter readings from now on - it's been a saga going on for two years or more so I'm glad that it is finally over :T

I've started to clear out the freezer now that I can open the door - got some things in there which have been lurking for several years and are so freezer burnt its just not funny most of the stuff is okay, but I have decided that I really need to have a better system and chucking stuff in there and forgetting it exists is no longer an option I've started a list so that I can add anything that I put and make sure it's used up in good time.

All in all, pretty good day - I'm feeling back in control and ready to make every day count!

318 days to go......