Cottage Countdown

LeighofMar

Ellie78 said:

Congrats on reaching the 34's!  

Thanks @Ellie78. I'm impressed with your remaining mortgage too. I figure right around $25k is when my knees will start knocking and not stop until I've paid the whole thing off 

Baby OP today from my savings of $14.50 sent to the mortgage. Balance is $34,975.00. The good thing is I should be able to pay for DHs speakers from our remaining money until our next paycheck and then pay off the TV with that check as well. Then finally I can get back to larger OPs and repaying the savings account. But overall, it's been pretty good. I invested our retirement money this morning. It always makes me laugh when I'm investing as if I'm doing something major and then realize I only bought 5 shares of something. Oh well, we're not a global conglomerate by any means. But it's my measly 5 shares and makes me proud that even with the little amounts, we can grow our retirement accounts to have something rather than nothing. 

DH made a store run last night and purchased $32.00 worth of stuff.    I was so happy to come under budget last week at $185.00 but his protein powder for his workouts alone cost $20.00 and he went through all his granola and trail mix type snacks, so there went my budget. I guess we won't eat out this weekend at all except maybe for some cheap burgers. At least I don't have to cook tonight. I made turkey chili last night and cornless corn muffins which were great. I will see if we can do bbq ribs this weekend and that will keep us from eating out as he loves my bbq sauce. I'll probably make one of his favorite desserts and entice him to watch something on Netflix on his new TV so that we get to stay in and not spend money. 

Off for a walk on this gorgeous day. 

LeighofMar

Boo to not sleeping well. I feel so off. Can't wait to lie down again. But for now, the payday money shuffle. $200.00 OP sent to the mortgage finishing October at $34,775.50. I am on payment 221/360. $16.00 sent to the Efund. Paid off the TV and the speakers on the CC $670.00, but DH is happy with his room, so I can't complain. We've already had some fun watching movies in there and jamming to music together. Workwise, it hasn't been bad. Our friends around the corner tried to wire their house by tapping into the circuit for the washer and running cables outside without any covering. DH told them to rip it all out and he would do it for them for nothing except material. It's probably valued at around $800.00 job. They cooked us a terrific meal, including for my special needs, and served it in 7 takeout containers. You would have thought a catering company had sent food to us. Then they called to tell me they had leftover porcelain grey tile and they would be here on Friday to put it on our kitchen floor. Just like that. No arguments. Sweetest people ever. So we will finally be ripping up the god-awful linoleum and have the grey tile installed. It definitely pays to have friends in the trades. So grateful for them. My illness is still trying to flare, so I'm trying to take it easy. Very thankful I work from home as I've had to work from bed or the recliner lately feeling so poorly. 

Groceries ordered and was around $220.00 for the two weeks. Yikes! But I did stock up as the elections are next week and with all the frenzy of the pandemic going on, we've been advised that if you can buy a little more in case of supply chain interruptions, to do so. So we should have enough of everything to last us in case there's an interruption of some kind. 

Transcription cashed out today was a bit over $250.00. And there's plenty of work for now, so while I can stand it, I will keep going with plenty of breaks in between as I'm just so tired. I've taken my iron but I really need a full night's uninterrupted sleep if possible. Maybe that will happen once I pay off my mortgage   

savingholmes

Hope you feel better soon. Well done for helping out friends. Glad the favour was returned. Kitchen floor sounds fab as does the food. Virus situation is sad. We have extra in - never know what will happen. I figure in the unlikely event either of us lose our jobs - we've probably got at least a month's worth of food... that's a tangible EF

LeighofMar

You're so right @savingholmes. A tangible EF is a good feeling and very practical. 

OP of $50.00 sent to the mortgage yesterday bringing balance to $34,725.50. We just looked over the enrollment for healthcare and next year's premiums will jump from $145.00 to $530.00 a month. Sigh. We knew the $145.00 was a fluke because the President had done something which created a way for a gold healthcare plan to be cheaper than a silver. But we knew it wouldn't last forever. Still, it's going to hurt to pay that much per month for healthcare. The consolation is we are getting a small pay rise for next year, which just allows us to pay that and break even. So a 10% pay rise each sounds good on paper, but doesn't mean much when all it does is keep you at the status quo. So disappointing. The healthcare premium is laughably more than my mortgage and now I wish to God this house was paid off. But it seems it wouldn't matter as all I would do is replace the mortgage with health insurance costs. I know I'm venting. I'll stop now. 

In other news, we are looking at decorative tiles to go around the tiles our friends are going to install on our kitchen floor. My house is a bit of a construction wreck right now with us pulling up the old floor but it will be so worth it when it's all done. And best part is the refrigerator is temporarily in the living room making it even easier to access snacks  

Still fighting the flare-up. Some days I feel I lose and other days I win. The joys of chronic illness. But I was able to do a quick trip to the library and pick up some books I ordered. I've been able to walk in my garden or sit on the back deck and get some sun which is always nice. DH has been in charge of cooking and baking since I've been down. Love that. Today is takeout Friday and I'm in the mood for pizza, gluten-free of course. First I'll do some exercises, nothing too strenuous as I have very little energy but maybe some stretching and light cardio just to keep me moving. It's terrible when everything hurts and you feel you're dying but know you still need to keep moving or it'll hurt worse. But I will do it and the pizza will be my reward  Have a wonderful weekend to all!

LeighofMar

Lousy night. Feeling awful today. But friends are here laying the kitchen tile and DH is helping them. I was able to get an hour's nap which is rare as I don't nap. The kitchen floor will be a surprise for me as I haven't been able to get up this morning at all to watch its progress. We will get fast food for everybody in a bit as they just want something quick. As crummy as I feel, I love that the heart of my home is getting some major work and am so excited. And knowing DH, he will want to tackle the cabinets after the floor is in so I may get a new kitchen sooner than anticipated. Would definitely love that as cabinets are dated dark brown. New cabinets will be a light spring green to lighten up the space and make it more airy. 

LeighofMar

Well, my kitchen is a wreck as it's still only half completed. I haven't had a stove in a week, which is nice as I haven't had to cook, but not so good when I didn't feel good enough to get anything while DH was working. I broke out my crockpot, threw some chicken thighs in there with a dairy-free garlic alfredo sauce and let that cook on low for 4 hours. Threw in some veggies and a 4-cheese blend. Delicious garlic chicken and broccoli alfredo. I was pretty proud of that. DH came home, piled on some rice and ate the leftovers quickly. I'm hoping the tile work will be finished this Sunday at the latest so I can get back to a sense of normalcy. But I can see how nice it's going to look and can't wait. I'm starting to feel a little better but still constantly fatigued as my body keeps fighting. The only thing that can make me feel better is being one step closer to mortgage freedom.

So with that said, payday today. An OP of $318.60 sent to the mortgage and a Tilly Tidy of $6.90 from savings to get it down to $34,400.00. We are on payment 223/360 and currently paying June of 2034's payment. Thrilled with that. If we had never made an OP, I should be on payment 60 and still owe $58,810.00, 5 years into owning the house. No thanks. My other pots can now get the attention they've needed after all the spending from October. $16.00 to the E-fund. $400.00 repaid to the savings account where I used some of it for the tree trimming. Only owe $1000.00 back to the savings now and then I can resume normal monthly deposits. $25.00 sent to the other savings, the house fund. All CCs paid. But I have to pick up my meds which will be another $50.00. However, my grocery bill for the 2 weeks was low this time at around $130.00. I consider meds and groceries as one bill anyway. So still within budget. 

Right now it seems DH has more work than he can handle. We're grateful as we don't know what winter with the Coronavirus will look like anyway, so we're happy to take it now while we can in case we have scarce work in the next few months. And my transcription pot is plodding along, so far at $140.00. Hope to have at least $250.00+ by the end of the month. Every little bit helps. I really wanted to be at $30,000 even for the mortgage by the end of the year, but there's no way that will happen now. I think the best I can hope for is to be in the 33Ks by year's end. $33,500.00 will be 50% of the mortgage paid, so I guess I can live with that if that's the balance by Dec 31. Must keep going. Enjoy the weekend!

ElmoR

Happy arrival in the 34s!

I'm with you on the big TV v pay off the mortgage balance sheet. Our TV is regular sized and over a decade old, oh,  and something had to be done to it to get the free TV programmes here?!  I remember back to my first telly in my own room as a 17 year old - a black and white thing (Grundig I think?), four channels too. Luxury! I used to watch The Tube (young Jools Holland and Lesley Ash, Paula Yates?) and Max Headroom. Doubting they made it to US TV mind you!

What sort of stuff did you watch as a teenager?

ElmoR x

LeighofMar

Yeah @ElmoR, he loves his TV and it has been worth it. TV as a teen was all about MTV when they used to play music and VH1. And of course the murder movie of the week I would watch with my mom. Probably didn't sleep well from age 13 to 15 because of those movies

LeighofMar

Kitchen floor is 95% done. Laundry room still has to be done, but DH is up for the challenge. He loves working with his hands and doing new stuff so he feels confident he can finish it, which he should be able to as our laundry room is small. I'm so excited. It has brightened up my kitchen so nicely. And my evil plan is working.  DH agrees the nice new tile floor shows up our old dated cabinets, so he's happy to think about putting up new fresh cabinets. Score!!! I have my oven back too so I can cook again. Not sure if I should cheer on that one. But today's dinner was Paleo sloppy joes stuffed sweet potatoes. Delicious and super easy. I need to make some yogurt and then maybe a coffee cake. 

I will try to find in my budget this week $65.00 for the next OP so I can move one more payment ahead on my amortization schedule. DH has such trouble sleeping due to sleep apnea and chronic neck and shoulder pain, so I ordered him another pillow on Amazon that supposedly helps with that as it's adjustable. You can remove memory foam blocks to adjust the height. Maybe that will help him, poor thing. That pillow was $42.00 but I guess you can't put a price on chronic pain. I mean, you can but this is reasonable enough to try it. If it works for him, it's money well spent. I am ready for a new bed and since DH has his own room due to his sleep apnea and insomnia, I don't know if I should keep a king-sized for me or downsize to a queen. My room is long but not wide, so I have room at the foot of my bed for a small sitting area, which I would like to read my books and watch TV. However, if I did go to a queen, I would have room on one side of the bed for a chair there, which might be nice to have next to the bed instead of the foot of the bed. We'll see. I want a color bed this time, sage green headboard or antique white or grey, something that looks antique. I'll have fun shopping for that. 

Transcription pot is up to $165.00. Time to get back at it. Days like this when I do some of these audios, I remember why I swore never to go back to customer service. I can't believe the way some people talk to others. Actually, yes I can and you couldn't pay me enough to ever do it again. 

LeighofMar

My budget allowed for the $65.00 to come out of my regular checking. So that OP was sent this morning. Balance taken to $34,335.00. I'm still waiting on a cash-back bonus check from Rakuten that should be for $23.00 which will go straight to the mortgage. I moved up a payment on my schedule to payment # 224/360 which corresponds with June 2034's date. I hope to pay all of 2034 by the end of this year. I wanted to pay all of 2035, but I would need almost $3500.00 from here to the end of the year to accomplish that. Not happening. Transcription pot is almost at $200, and I don't cash out until next week, so hope to reach my goal of $250 and up. And attempting to make a Paleo Mongolian Beef dinner for today in my slow cooker. I've already cut the steak into strips, added the sauce ingredients and set it on low for the next few hours. Hopefully, it will be just as good as it looks.