Cottage Countdown

savingholmes

Great progress. The finish line is in sight

LeighofMar

Thanks, SH. I'm grateful to be where I am in the mortgage-paying process. Almost there. 

Yes, @family355, you are so right about appreciating the NHS. I've said before that I know no system is perfect, but I can see where the citizens can be healthier knowing they have access to excellent healthcare that won't bankrupt them in the process. January was so interesting. My cashflow strategy went something like:

1. January 5, paid the car insurance on the CC for $442.00 
2. January 8, payday. Paid $221.00 of the car insurance off the CC. Put $238.00 which is 50% of the healthcare premium in savings for when it was due the end of the month. 
3. January 22, payday. Paid the remainder $221.00 of the car insurance off the CC. Then found out that healthcare premiums were only extended to the end of January, not the end of all the other months. Paid the healthcare premium on the card and then paid immediately with the savings. 
4. January 27, paid February's healthcare premium on the card and will pay it out of January 22nd's paycheck in full.
5. Next payday is February 5th. Will need to pay mortgage, groceries, water bill, 50% of healthcare premium to the savings and put the new radiology bill on the CC, then pay 50% of that, $250.00 from same check. 
6. February 19, payday should be able to pay last $250.00 from the radiology bill and done, done, done with medical bills. 

My eyes are spinning from having to figure all this out. But the good thing is, it's all accounted for and barring another catastrophe, I should be able to manage it all. But yes, definitely crazy as you can see how we have to find the money over here to not get ourselves in trouble. And we make an average wage. Not rich by any means. I can't imagine how hard it is for lower-income people who don't quite qualify for assistance but don't make enough for healthcare. 

savingholmes

Glad we are not facing those kind of bills. Our waiting times for treatment though can be horrendous - and the pandemic has exacerbated that.

ElmoR

Yay! to dropping down into another 1,000 category!!

caeler

That's a big money shuffle @LeighofMar but glad you have it all covered/sorted.

savingholmes

Imagine how life will be when the mortgage is gone completely. So much more freedom.

LeighofMar

Thanks all. I am one step closer to freedom now that I paid the radiology bill on my card. Will pay 50% of it this coming Wednesday and the remainder on the next paycheck. Then I can get back to regular OPs, yay!!!

Payday today. I paid the regular monthly mortgage payment for March. So now we are good until April. A two-month buffer is nice, but I think I prefer a three-month and will work towards that. Savings topped up. $16.00 for the Efund, $240.00 for half of the medical insurance premium, $95.00 for the house fund, and $65.00 for general savings. I have cashback on my CC with $50.00 available. So I will save those for my alternating OPs weeks and redeem to the mortgage. And the best thing is this card had for this month the same coupon offer as last time where your first grocery and gasoline order, you get 10% cashback!!! Since this is a grocery week, I've just ordered my two weeks and it was under budget at $175.00. But I'm even more thrilled to be getting $17.50 back for OPs. It'd be great if they did this every month, but I will just enjoy it while it lasts. 

In other news, we seem to be getting a whirlwind of work all of a sudden. DH is happy with that but even he's a bit overwhelmed. First time in our lives this has ever happened was we received a knock on the door and a Spanish gentleman asked for DH. I assumed DH knew him and the man said he needed electrical work. DH was getting ready to go to bed early so he gave him his card. We have never ever had someone come to our private home before. I told DH maybe we should consider putting some nice fancy outdoor lighting in the garden as kind of like our showcase if people are just going to drop in or drive by, lol. It's all word-of-mouth in our small town, and since we ourselves are Spanish, we can service multiple communities, so it's all good. Will bring some snacks to DH who forgot to bring any with him while he's working and then I will take a walk in the cold and try to figure out what to make for dinner. I bought dried figs for the first time though and hope to make a Paleo version of fig bars this weekend. I miss those so much. Wish me well. 

savingholmes

Good that you are getting more work. Money seems to be going well. 

LeighofMar

A $50.00 OP today wraps up the week. $25.00 from checking and $25.00 redeemed from my CC cashback. Balance is $32,540.00. We are on payment 233/360. Only 127 payments to go. Still sounds like a lot, but it's less than half so that's something. I would love to be at $20,000 mortgage balance by the end of the year, but we will see what's possible. With the way the measly interest rates are on savings accounts, my plan is to pay off as much as we can through overpayments for the next 2 years and then pay off any remaining balance with savings on hand. 

Transcription earnings are at $115.00 so far. Fair amount of work lately during my downtime. Keeps the blues away with the dreary weather. Off to cheer up with some coconut milk vanilla ice cream and one of my peanut butter blondies that I baked. Have a wonderful weekend to all. 

savingholmes

Well done on the payments and the earnings. Food sounds yummy.