Cottage Countdown

LeighofMar

Thanks, SH. I've been so busy, but haven't we all, really? 

Good news is my health has improved, had my procedure done and Dr. says everything's normal and I'm in remission again. Yay. 

Eye appointment is this week finally. I called three different places and there's apparently a vision crisis where I live as they were all booked 1.5 months in advance. I live in a city with a population of less than 50,000, weird. 

Mortgage is paid until August so I've been putting principle payments every week and we are now at $29,500. Goodbye 30k forever. 

Our company bought an investment property to rehab and sell and it is a challenging design, basically a star-shaped house. Small, cute, and a complete wreck. We love it. We will be turning it to a 2 bedroom, 2 bath house. It was 3 bed, one bath, but every room in the house is only 10x10. So we figured we can turn one of the bedrooms into the master with a small sitting room and its own private bath. Then the other bedroom will stay 10x10 but will keep its two windows and will have access to a new bathroom where the 3rd bedroom was. And half of that room will be the expanded back of the kitchen. Lots of construction. Lots of dirt everywhere. Lots of money flying out of the business bank account. And we couldn't be happier. We love it and this was always our dream. We hope to make a good sale with a decent profit and this will take us into our semiretirement. DH is so excited and looks forward to going to the site every day even though he's working harder physically at 58 than he ever did in his 20s, lol. He likes being in the best shape ever though,   I think I'll join him today and see if there's anything I can help with. I don't mind helping although the heat is a hindrance here in the South in the summertime with the mugginess on top of everything. But I can usually help with any task except anything to do with saws. I don't do any kind of saw. Other than that, I'm decent with a sledgehammer, drill, and shovels so I'll see what I can help with today. 

I hope you all are well. I keep reading conflicting news about the virus/variants that are threatening your area, so I hope you all are safe and healthy. 

savingholmes

Thanks Leigh. Glad you are ok.  Escaped c19 so far and DH and U both had AZ jabs. DS now had his first jab and DD just needs to book hers.

Your latest refurb and OPs sound good. Glad your health is improving

happymum37

Just popping on to say hello and I love your diary.  I travelled the USA extensively and just feel like I'm reminiscing reading your stories.  Xx

LeighofMar

Oh it's been awhile. Glad you and yours are doing well savingholmes.

And thanks for stopping by happymum37. Glad to hear you've been able to travel here extensively.

The good news is the refurb is going well with DH doing the majority of work by himself which he is loving. We hope to be finished by end of August, but we'll see. 

Mortgage is humming along. We are down to $28,550.00, payment # 252. 

Eye appointment went well and glasses only cost $310 and didn't make me sick. Yay!! But since my mother has just been diagnosed with beginnings of glaucoma, he says I should be tested in the next 2 years too just to be on the safe side. 

DH received his vaccine, 2 doses. No problem. Unfortunately, what I feared for me came true. I have been leery because of my autoimmune disorder but with DH being fully vaccinated, I figured I may as well get the shot as a precaution since I don't need him bringing any of the variants home as he's out and about all day. The first dose, no problem. I thought, good, my body will behave. 2nd dose, ugh. Sadly it has activated my immune disorder with a vengeance and I'm back in a full flare after just having my clean bill of health on May 11. Needless to say, I'm devastated and trying to deal with all of this. I'm resting a lot and just trying to take care of myself and get this mortgage paid. I was hoping that my remission would have lasted long enough to pay it off in the next 2 years. Meanwhile, I'm trying to keep up my exercise and my appetite and working in the garden. I figure if I have to be stuck at home due to another flare, might as well keep enjoying my space and keep improving my garden so I have beauty in the front and the back. 

Hope everyone is well and safe in the UK. Keep up the great work paying those mortgages. 

savingmore

nice to hear from you, glad you got vaccinated but sorry about the flare up, that’s difficult.  how long do your flare ups last?   beautifying your outdoor space is always a good thing, lots of refreshing times to look forward to...

LeighofMar

Thanks savingmore. I got two clumping bamboo trees yesterday and they will be part of my new courtyard. So excited. 

As far as flares, ugh they can last a couple months to several months. I'm trying to stay positive though so another Tilly Tidy of 18.48 to the mortgage. Balance 28,530.00. Off to prune my artemisia. Have a great day, all. 

LeighofMar

I was able to sweep another $35.00 to the mortgage. New balance is $28,495.00. Starting September, I hope to prepay the mortgage all the way through January 2022 so that for the last 3 months, we won't have any official mortgage payments due and can just pay direct to principal. We'll see what's possible as our main client just recently needed to reduce our weekly rate until work picks up again. Of course this comes as we are knee-deep in our renovation project for the investment property. But that is okay. I transferred 10k from our personal line of credit to let the business use it for cash flow and will pay it back with the sale of the property. Things are going well so far on that end.

Health-wise, I'm still struggling. I really hope I'm not one of those rare people where a vaccine completely messes them up for life. The good news is my appetite is still good and my weight is stable for now, so that's always a good sign that my body can fight and get better. Until then, this mortgage has to go. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

savingholmes

Hope you feel better soon. Well done on the OPa.

LeighofMar

September's Mortgage payment made today. The challenge begins now. The goal is for the 3 paychecks I will receive in September to pay the official mortgage payments for October, November and December. Then I will pay January in October. That should free us up to make principal payments for the rest of the year. It might be a little tight, but I'm determined to do it. 

Savings topped off today. Efund has $3200.00. House fund back to $2000.00 minimum and general savings at 12,500.00. I would like to hit $20,000 across these three accounts by the end of the year, but we will see what happens. Thanks to a bill passed through Congress, our healthcare premiums were reduced to $292.00 a month instead of the $475.00 we were paying. I'm very thankful as every little bit helps, especially when it comes to healthcare. And right on time as I did the two-week grocery shop today and my bill was $212.00!!! My budget is $200.00 and I'm usually able to get below that by a decent amount. Plus with the delivery fee and tip, I'll be at $233.00. I would pick them up for free if I felt good enough but I'm still dealing with my health issues. Thankfully, that tide is starting to turn, slowly, but at least that's something. 

Time to get back to transcribing. A few extra dollars for the month won't hurt. 

savingholmes

Glad your health costs are improving and that you are starting to get better. Well done on the OPs