Cottage Countdown

kaycastle

I absolutely love wisteria - it just smells so beautiful. Can't wait for english heritage/national trust to open up again so I can wander in some beautiful gardens. 
Its so interesting to hear the different garden maintenance required where you are - mosquito treatment for instance. 

You are doing so well on the mortgage - I often look at what my budget would look like without the mortgage as well. We'd have so much more freedom as a result. 

bit_by_bit

Thanks for popping over LeighofMar. read the whole of your diary. You have done so well. Each 1000 down is such a relief. Well done.

LeighofMar

Thank you all for stopping by and your lovely comments. It is so interesting to learn about your pension schemes in the UK. I wish we had those options here, but I will make the best of what we have. Here, we have something called an SEP-IRA for self-employed business owners like ourselves. The business can contribute a percentage of our income directly into the retirement account, and we pay taxes on it when we withdraw at 59 1/2 years of age minimum. It's not bad, but obviously, the more you make, the more you can put in. But since we are also investing in the business trying to expand some opportunities, we don't pay ourselves much, so we can only put in a little. But hopefully, we will be able to contribute more soon. 

Kaycastle, I have only seen on TV the absolutely gorgeous public gardens in the UK. They would have to throw me out as I wouldn't want to leave by closing time! 

Hope everyone has a great day.

savingholmes

I too am benefiting from earlier pension pots.

LeighofMar

Thursday's OP was $200.00 bring the balance down to $38,594.91 and will Tilly Tidy the $4.91 today. So far, my calculations look like I can hit the high 37k bracket by the end of the month. And when I say high, I mean it'll probably look like $37,999.00 as I may only get there by a dollar or two  But it's all good. 

The investment property is nearing its final stages. All final inspections are happening today. AC is being added next week and hopefully, it will be on the market soon. Even with COVID, our little area has a very weird real estate market. Houses that you wouldn't think would interest anybody will sell. This house is on a beautiful wooded lot, 2 bed 1 ba with a storage basement and no close neighbors. Fingers crossed that it sells and we can get our investment back plus some profit. As much as I would love to take the profits and pay off the mortgage in one swoop, our business is incorporated and completely separate from our personal, so not going to happen. Boo! But we can probably get away with putting in the separate driveway on the right since that's where the work van is parked and the shed that has his tools and material for projects. It's probably a stretch tax-wise to say it's a business expense, but I think it'll be fine. Of course, my own personal driveway on the left comes from our own money. But that's a way off. I still need to budget for new tires for my SUV and get an eye exam and new glasses probably. Those will be crazy expensive, so I hope it won't affect my OPs, but they do have to get done. I would love to do those online glasses delivery, but my eyesight is so complicated and expensive, it's just better to go to the eye doctor and order them there so they can fix or adjust my prescriptions if needed right then and there. Looks like it may rain on and off today. I think a bike ride is in order soon if the rain cools things off. 

savingholmes

Hope all goes well with the sale.

debtfreeoneday

Fingers crossed the sale goes through. 

LeighofMar

Woo hoo! Mortgage OP of $318.60 today brings the balance to $38,271.40 and moves us 2 payments ahead. This payment corresponds with October of 2032  which means only 2 more payments to finish the year 2032 altogether. And I should have those by the end of this month if everything goes well. So exciting. Right now we are on payment 203/360, slowly but surely. 
Investment property is receiving its final touches today. Just cosmetic changes as the new AC is in, and they are fixing up fence posts where needed, cleaning the grounds, etc. Projected profits could be 15-20K, but I won't speculate until everything's signed on the dotted line. 
My other savings pots received their deposits today. I sent 60.00 to the general savings, 16.00 to the emergency savings, and 100.00 now to the house fund. I told myself after I hit 10K in the general savings, that I would start putting 100.00 a paycheck into the house fund as we will need a roof and some drainage issues taken care of. So that's what I am doing now while still putting in a little bit to the general savings. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the amounts. 

Client's checks are still late and messing up my cashflow. I still need to make the retirement contribution for May, so I'm a little annoyed at that. But if they come this weekend, hopefully, I can get back on track. I've projected with all my upcoming bills and it looks like we will have over 500.00 for disposable income this month. As much as I'd love to send that to the mortgage, I need to just hold onto it, use some for my garden projects and hold the rest as with the client's checks coming in slow or not at all, I don't want to be completely caught off guard by next payday. 

Forecast is nothing but sunshine for the next few days and warm. Hope everyone is well and healthy. 

debtfreeoneday

Great progress. 

savingholmes

Glad most things are going well. Hope your client pays up soon