Cottage Countdown

LeighofMar

All caught up now. I guess the stern talk had its effect. I Tilly Tidied 11.40 to the mortgage to bring it to 33,570.00. But the bad news is I got a bill for my mammogram that I thought was covered as it's preventative screening but apparently I still had to meet my deductible
They charged me 845.00. I was able to get the 20% off if paid in full so I paid 675.00 but it hurts either way. Now I have to pay this off, pay the new health ins premium of 475.00 by Jan 1st and the auto insurance by Jan 5th. All without any raise for next year as we can't afford for healthcare to go up if we can't sustain the pay raise. That also cuts into my OPs as I won't be able to OP much now until I get this all paid off. The good news is I redeemed our CC cashback bonus checks that we save until the end of each year. So I will receive 140.00 and DH will get about 265.00. These are treated as our bonus fun money to do whatever we want with. A new pair of earrings and maybe some luxury gloves are on my radar. 

My parents who I haven't seen in a year as we are all high risk for COVID decided to go for a drive to get out of the house and came here for a brief socially distanced visit. It was so great to see them. I ordered takeout for them and we sat in the parking lot of the library which is next to the river, them in their car and me in mine and just laughed and joked around. I made them banana bread and made my dad buy a .50 book from the library's book store so he can enjoy some fun reading during the pandemic. I've missed them terribly but I need them to be safe so it was a wonderful day. 

I guess back to the grindstone so I can earn a few pennies to pay all this debt. 

savingholmes

Ouch to the medical bill. Glad you were able to see your parents and got cashback too.

LeighofMar

It's a celebration. I made today's OP of $205.00 to the mortgage and that payment has all of year 2034 paid off. That means we've paid off 20 years in 5. Now to pay the last 10 years in 2. So excited. 

Made payment 2/3 on my mammogram. E-fund received 16.00. House fund received $14.00. General savings received 90.00. And I earmarked $288.00 for the new healthcare premiums starting in January. I figured if I take out $288.00 per check, it will be less painful than trying to pay 475.00 out of one check each month. Now I just need to sort some things out as the new health insurance sent me the invoice but said it's due January 31st instead of January 1st. I've never had that happen before and the last thing I want to do is pay at the end of the month and they cancel my insurance for nonpayment for the first of the month. I will call them and get it confirmed which date it's due. If it is by the end of the month, I'd be grateful as the auto insurance is due by the 5th plus I have to start making the official mortgage payments again. There's a whole lot of money that will be flying out the door this January and if I can set it up to better cash flow, I'd be grateful. 

It will be freezing tomorrow so we are thinking of roasting some hot dogs on the outside fire pit and I can make some honey-sweetened marshmallows for hot chocolate. You can tell we dine in style  

Still waiting on our cashback checks, but they should be here any minute. Transcription pot is up to $170.00 and I have a whole week before I cash out, so hopefully, I can get it to over $200.00.

Poor DS was hit by a red light runner and his car is damaged. He is going to have to sue the driver as the insurance will give him what the car was worth of course, and it was brand new, but he had negative equity on a previous car. So he will have to try to get everything he can in order to pay off the damaged car and put a down payment on another one, plus pay the lawyers, etc. I'm just glad he wasn't hurt. A few bruises. Material things can be replaced but I only have one son. And I hate red light runners because that's how people get killed. Rant over. Time to get back to work while I plot 2021's mortgage domination strategy. Have a lovely weekend to all and hope you are able to enjoy some fun and relaxation. 

SandyShores

Fantastic paying off 20 years mortgage in just 5 years!! Whoop Whoop!!!  You are giving me motivation to do the same.

Love that all the pots are coming to fruition and hotdogs/marshmallows sounds wonderful

Sorry to hear about your son's accident, but I'm glad he's okay.  You've reminded me to check my own insurance and the car break down cover - I've been pushing these things to one side until I have time (well, now I have time ).

Good luck with 2021's 'mortgage domination' - I'm going to borrow that phrase if you don't mind - it makes me feel that I'm in charge of it rather than the mortgage overshadowing everything.    And two  years to mortgage freedom, what a fab way to be going into the new year.  I will get there one day. 

LeighofMar

Thanks SandyShores. I'm definitely psyched and ready to be MF. I like what you said about feeling in charge of the mortgage instead of being overwhelmed by the numbers. Little by little, we'll get there. 

savingholmes

Sorry to hear about your son's accident. Hope he wasn't injured. Merry Christmas

ElmoR

Catching up on your diary Leigh.

Sorry to hear about your son's car accident, glad he is ok.

Your floor tiling is great - the Roman's would be impressed with that tiling!! 

And now you have an end date in sight too  It gets increasingly more exciting as the end gets closer!

Thank you for reminding me that our National Health Service is a treasure/gift and not to be taken for granted - had my mammogram last week, waited no time at all, in and out, squished boobs, letter within less than a week to say all well. Cost = free (well, apart from our National Insurance contributions and taxes obviously, which I do not grudge paying). Service = friendly, efficient and caring. I do hope this government doesn't dismantle our NHS.

Merry Christmas

ElmoRxx

LeighofMar

Thanks all for the well wishes for DS. Yes, I know no medical system is perfect, but boy I wish we had national healthcare here in the US like you do in the UK. It would be so nice to not have to worry about going bankrupt over something that you can't control like chronic illness, cancer, an accident of some kind. Sigh. 

Well, on that note, I figure if I do have a medical crisis, which the likelihood goes up with chronic illness, I want my house paid off. So today I made the last OP of the year of $44.54 to get it down to an even $33,300.00. Yay! 

Got everything sorted with the healthcare, and they said they did extend the due date to January 31st with COVID and the economy in mind. So lovely. So now I can better plan January's budget and won't be overextending ourselves or have money flying out all at once which I'm happy about. I cashed out my transcription money today of $200.00. I call it my pandemic pennies. Every little bit helps as I will take $50 cash and the rest will go into business savings. Want to up that pot too so we can invest in another house rehab locally. 

Now to make another batch of strawberry thumbprint cookies as SOMEBODY, I won't say who, takes one every time my back is turned.  Actually, I'll have him make a batch and then take all I want when he's not looking, see how he likes it.   

Have a lovely relaxing long weekend. 

savingholmes

Happy New Year. Glad you made it to £33.3K. Good you have your transcription money.

LeighofMar

Well, mammogram paid off. Half of auto insurance paid and the other half with next paycheck. Then I just got slapped with another bill. Apparently, not only was I billed for the privilege of having my boobs squeezed, but the radiologists who read the results are now billing me for that, $500.00. 
I just want to scream, but what can you do? Richest country in the world my boot. Oh well. I can't do anything about it until mid-February. I have my money laid out exactly the way I need it for everything to work and don't need this messing up all my efforts. 

February's official mortgage payment made, so we are good until March. Balance is $33,099.34. That odd number is going to bother the heck out of me, but I won't be able to make a $99.00 payment or even a $9.00 one at the moment. Squeezed out $20.00 for the house fund and $25.00 for the general savings, $16.00 for the efund. Happily, we are keeping our utilities in a reasonable range. I budget a whopping $350.00 a month for water, gas, and electric as the summers here in the South are brutal. But so far, only one month in 2020 we hit that number. The rest have been under, so I am happy about that. And of course, any further insulating we do will help those numbers. 

Today is pretty much a couch day as my body decided that by 4:00 am, I had had enough sleep   So annoying. I think I will cuddle up and watch a little TV as I'm too tired to do much else. Have a great weekend all.