Cottage Countdown

LeighofMar

savingholmes said:

I don't know if it is the same where you are but new houses seem to be getting smaller

So true Savingholmes. Our dream location in the Smoky Mtns of Tennessee just had an adorable cabin on the creek, 776 sq ft for 250,000.00. 😵 I nearly fainted, lol. Looks like we will pay off our house and visit the Smokies often. And you're right about finding the quality elsewhere. At least I know my house's quirks and what needs doing. I don't like the idea of starting a mortgage all over plus the repairs/projects the new place would need. But yes, the fence is up and absolutely adorable. Time to get nesting and plan on being carried out of this house feet first 😛

LeighofMar

Pay day today and won't be paid again until March 6th, so mortgage payment made with $97.59 OP. Balance is now $40,539.23. Oh, I really wanted to be in the 39K bracket by now but with work slowing down, I just have to keep making smaller OPs until we get past tax season and the real estate investment slow down and ramp up some business. The good news is we are still moving ahead one payment at a time. We are on payment 190 out of 360 with a date of 09/2031. Still aiming to have the mortgage gone in three years when I'll be 45 and DH 60. That would be such a nice present to ourselves, retirement for him and peace of mind for me. The other savings pots received 160.00 between the house fund and the long-term savings. The E-fund received $265.00 for the medical deductible and incidentals. Groceries came in on budget and I plan to pay the fence off my CC next paycheck. I also received my Rakuten check for $161.00 last week. Time to buy some workout wear and spring/summer pajamas. So far Amazon still has the best prices on that sort of thing. Off to online window shop. 

LeighofMar

OP of 77.7 yesterday and I had $25.00 on my rewards CC that I put towards the mortgage today. Balance is $40,435.00. The goal is my next payment to move us 2 payments ahead and then finally break into the 39K bracket by mid March. I think psychologically, that will be so thrilling and motivating for me. Retirement accounts received a deposit today, right on time while the stocks are tanking due to coronavirus  Oh, well. Perhaps some funds will be on sale and I can take advantage of the dip. My tub faucet in my master bathroom is leaking something fierce so replacement should happen this weekend. Also, we need to prepare for Spring with weed control, mosquito control, and some planting. So excited. I love the rain but even I've had enough. The garden is so sloppy and muddy, we definitely need a landscaper this year to put in a drainage system and reseed the lawn. Must save up the pennies for that. Now I just need to drop off my business taxes and I will be done with all the things I've been procrastinating with for so long. I'm in the mood to go to a beach and hear some waves, so maybe a short trip to Florida is in order. 

savingholmes

Well done on the OP -- you are getting very close to getting under the £40K mark now. Good luck with the lawn. The weather here has been atrocious too. We're not flooded but some neighbouring counties are.

LeighofMar

Very close. Balance is $40,100.00. Next mortgage payment will have us leaving the 40K bracket forever! Yay! Oh, what can I say? It's still raining and flooding and muddy and sloppy and dreary. And now, of course, COVID19 had a confirmed case in our sleepy little town so schools are shutting down for the next two weeks, our religious services have been canceled. Hubby is taking the time to work on our little travel trailer since the wet bath has problems draining. He's taking care of that now. As soon as it's fixed, it may be time to get away from the craziness for a bit. A beach is definitely calling my name. 
Business taxes all taken care of. Didn't owe too much although it drained the business coffers. Real estate project is dead in the water so won't be getting our money back from that anytime soon. And just in time for our biggest client, who's still slow, to tell us he might have to reduce our pay too. Parents' anniversary is this month. I am trying to send them to Asheville, North Carolina for a few days. I was able to use some travel points and got them a nice room close to all the venues. I just hope that they can have a nice time without having to worry about virus hysteria. The good thing is this time I did get travel insurance so I can cancel and get a refund if anything happens, although so far so good in Asheville. I just planned to give them a gasoline card and some spending money and the rest they can do at their pace as my father can't walk a lot anyway because of his knees, but I figured if I don't send them someplace, they'll never travel. And since he loves pinball, I know he'll thoroughly enjoy the pinball museum like we did last year. Who knows? Maybe we will even meet them up there as a surprise and play sudden death to see who's the real champion. 
Off to check my pantry items. I know I have plenty of food for this week and will order some next week. Tonight is sweet potato nachos with guacamole and we will do BBQ pork chops this weekend with garlic green beans and strawberry cupcakes with chocolate frosting. All Paleo. All delicious. 

savingholmes

Glad you're okay. Hope the local case recovers well. Hope you manage to enjoy some time away as well as your parents. It's a strange and very connected world now isn't it.

LeighofMar

savingholmes said:

Glad you're okay. Hope the local case recovers well. Hope you manage to enjoy some time away as well as your parents. It's a strange and very connected world now isn't it.

It truly is SH. Thank you and I hope you all are well over there too. We read how China has already recovered, but of course, you don't hear that in the news too much as it's not sensational enough. So hopefully, it'll pass soon enough and we can all get back to business. We might have a few hours of sun peeking through today. So I'm going to take advantage and plant some dandelions my neighbor gave me. 

savingholmes

Seriously why would you plant dandelions? Over here they are a weed and considered a scourge of the earth! Hope you and yours are doing okay. We are both working from home now, DH collected DS from uni Monday after DS had had a week's isolation for a cough and DD is now also off school. Interesting times.

LeighofMar

Ah ha ha. Foggy brain. I meant daffodils. I am glad you are able to work from home now and hope everyone is well. Our client lost one project that they just started but another one is still going. We will see if we get any more checks coming in. The stimulus package has some provisions for small business so if the work dries up, we will apply for that. Good thing I have prepaid the monthly payment for the mortgage until June. I may pay until August to have peace of mind until this thing blows over hopefully by then. I hope everyone over there is able to keep healthy and entertained while under lockdown. I bet even skeptics from before might begrudgingly agree that having a paid off mortgage now would be preferable to paying as normal.

LeighofMar

Oh forgot to mention we made it to 39,650.00 mortgage balance. Yippee!! Goodbye 40k bracket. Onwards and downwards, I guess 😛