Cottage Countdown

LeighofMar

P+I payment of $318.60 sent today. We are now on payment 168 with a payment date of 11/2029, 10 years and 1 month ahead, woo hoo! As of October 1st, we should be on payment 47.;) My next mini goal is to get to payment 180, the official halfway mark of the mortgage. And I'm so glad. I'm not sure whether a recession will happen or not, but for sure, interest rates are starting to drop. Not by much, but a little bit. Our savings interest over here was at 2.25% and now they very quietly are at 2%. So in case there is another recession, I would really like this mortgage gone or at least very close to it as the interest rates might remain low and of course the stock markets will go through a muddling period. Funny how costs of everything else keeps rising though :cool:

E-fund received its $16.00 deposit. House fund received $100.00 and general savings received $100.00. Credit card for our vacation campsite is all paid off. And my line of credit for my car repair is paid. Whew! It doesn't leave me with much for the next two weeks. Just enough for groceries, a little gasoline and a little weekend stuff, will have to be frugal, but that's ok. I'd rather have all the debt paid, an OP to the mortgage and money in savings. I usually like my general savings to not be less than $10,000.00 and I'm almost there, just $600.00 more to go. But I think I'd probably be more at ease with a $20,000.00 savings. It's sad when you feel that $10,000.00 just doesn't go as far as it used to

Well, off to deliver a copy of my husband's driver's license as he seems to have misplaced his wallet AGAIN!! I don't understand how this happens. He says he bought something at the grocery store and put his wallet in his front pocket. Would you not feel a wallet coming loose? In 24 years of marriage, I have never ever lost my wallet. I just don't get how people do this and this is the 3rd time in six months, though one of those isn't really his fault. The mechanic had put a cover on something he was working on and the wallet was in there and covered up. So technically, that wasn't his fault. But still. I hope when I get there, I'll look in the van and see it in the one place he didn't look. That would be awesome.:)

LeighofMar

:j Finally cooler weather. Its overcast and cool but after 3 months of nonstop 90+ degrees, we'll take it. DH got his new grill today so we are firing up the grill today rain or shine. It was 100.00 but as long as he's cooking, it's worth every penny.
I'm making bbq sauce right now and my grain-free candy bars came out perfect last night. Date caramel is my new love. So excited for autumn and cozy fires in the outdoor fire pit, grilling, baking and fleece blankets. Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

Moneyfordreams

Autumn is lovely... do you have cold winters?

LeighofMar

"Autumn is lovely... do you have cold winters?"
Our winters in the south are finicky. Sometimes they're mild with some really cold days. Other times they're wet and mild. And some years it's just cold all the way through. I personally enjoy the snow but we don't get much of it. Maybe once or twice a year. Last year none . My dream would be to move to a state with all 4 stereotypical seasons but our business is here and would be way too much trouble to relocate and start over. Sigh. But I'll make do and enjoy autumn while it's here.

savingholmes

Glad you managed to get away despite car trouble. It sounds like you live in a beautiful area.

LeighofMar

81.40 OP today bringing the balance to 44,100.00. By the end of October, we hope to be in the mid 43k bracket. My Rakuten cash back account is now over 300.00 and there's still pending cash back so by the time they cut me a check in November, I hope it will be 350.00 to 400.00 which would be great bonus money to put towards the mortgage. My goal is still to be at 40k mortgage balance by the end of the year, but so far my calculations show I may miss it by 1400.00 to 2000.00.
Our new business venture has officially kicked off. We are funneling money, labor, and supervision into a real estate restoration project for resale, our first project. We are excited as DH wants to transition to this where he can semi retire and do these kinds of projects. So far, so good. The usual unexpected expenses come up but since we've been in construction forever, they don't faze us. We definitely will not get rich doing this, but we hope to keep the status quo with the advantage of being able to pick our projects, work on our time, and enjoy the rest of our lives doing what we love.
Now off for a morning walk. Enjoy the day.

LeighofMar

Made it to the 43K bracket today!:j With an OP of 318.60, we were able to move two payments ahead. Officially, we are 10 years and 4 months ahead of where we should be. We are on payment 171. Mini goal is to get to payment 180 the halfway point of the mortgage. I feel we'll hit that this year if all goes well. I would like to travel at the end of this month for a quick overnighter during Oktoberfest, but it appears everybody has the same idea and most of the campsites are booked. But since OH says he's going to be busy for the next 3 weeks, I don't think there's enough time for him to finish his projects and plan a couple of days away. It's only to a city in the mountains about 1.5 to 2 hours away, but it still might be too much for him as we're supposed to install our fence this month too. I hope that won't get pushed back into next month as we've been wanting to put this up since spring started. Oh well, I guess that's the downside of homeownership, never being able to start and finish projects on time because something else always comes up.
Groceries are ordered. Now that fall is here, I am planning some nice warm, comfort meals like butternut squash and sausage bake, bbq ribs, mustard chicken. I'm about to bake a nice warm apple crisp. I love when my house smells like apples and cinnamon.
Retirement accounts have been contributed to. House fund received $50.00 today. Savings received 86.00 and E-fund received 68.00 today. CCs are paid off today. It seems sometimes it takes forever to build up these savings and only a moment to blow it all. Sigh. Slowly but surely. I just paid $250.00 yesterday for a steering pump on my car. It'll come out of wages though and not savings, so I'm grateful and will just pinch pennies for the next two weeks.Other than an assembly this weekend, we have the local arts festival coming up next weekend. That's only $10.00 a person and we love to go every year and watch the concerts, shows, and walk the booths. I usually just buy a candle or a sweet-smelling soap to feel like I'm contributing to small business, but we really just go for the atmosphere. I hope we don't get rained out or frozen like last year.
Off for another walk. Have a great day everyone!

CosmoCat

All the food you've just listed sounds so scrummy, therefore I am on my way for a slice of pie! lol

Seriously, well done on all of your efforts, it really sounds like you're doing brilliantly!

LeighofMar

Thank you so much Cosmocat. My apple crisp came out perfect and I even made my own vanilla coconut milk ice cream to go on top. Of course I need to walk a little farther now to burn all this off .
The house is nice and cozy right now as the temperatures drop but I really would like a wood burning fireplace. This house had one but they removed it for whatever reason. So plans down the line, I would like to build a small sunroom and put in a cast iron wood stove in there. I've always loved the conservatory style you guys have in the UK. It's so pretty and I love the idea of having my furniture, plants, and fireplace in something like that. Funny enough, you don't really see conservatory-type sunrooms here in the US unless you custom build them. It wouldn't be huge, no more than 12x12 so hopefully it wont break the bank. I'd like to keep it under 10k but I don't know how reasonable that is. Time will tell.

Happy Friday

LeighofMar

A little OP of 81.40 today brings us to 43,700.00. It has been a good month so far with OPs and catching some great sales on needed items. We ordered the arbor for our front garden and it should be here this weekend. So excited. That will be the anchor piece and then the picket fence built around that. Then we will need gravel driveways, although the one to the back of the house will have some concrete, and I can do my fall planting. I hope to have one Japanese maple, one medium-sized shade tree and two blue Chinese wisteria. Maybe some type of thin evergreens to create a green wall on the side where I park my car. I'm so new to gardening so I could be completely screwing this up, but at least I get to learn by trial and error. The local arts festival is this weekend, but it looks like it will be rained out again. Either way, DH and I will probably just grab some umbrellas and go as they say they'll be there rain or shine. Maybe someone will have some local jam, sugar-free of course.:D
Well, I just took a wonderful brisk morning walk, secretly spying on some of my neighbor's gardens for ideas . I am looking forward to this weekend where my honey and I can sit in the backyard, light the fire pit, and have some cocoa while we snuggle :kisses3:
Have a great weekend all!