Cottage Countdown

LeighofMar

Another night of not sleeping well. I'm good and grumpy now. To cheer me up, I sent off $300.00 to my CC I used for my dental surgery. Balance is now $1976.00 from $3800.00. 

I pulled a permit for one of our clients. The website is so ridiculous as you fill out a form and then they tell you to use their portal and input the exact information you put on the form. And the website was not user-friendly so we will see if they process it. But it's nice that I could pull the permit from bed and earn an extra $300.00 at my grumpiest, lol.

Registered for 2023 for the business, $50.00. They offered to register for the next three years, but I always feel funny doing that. How do I know where I'll be in three years? I guess I'll just stick to registering every year. 

Mr. LoM renewed the business license in person yesterday, $189.00 as they did not have their fax anymore or an email to send it to and I didn't want to wait through the mail when it's just literally downtown 5 minutes away. I swear this time of year, money just flies out the door. But that should be everything. Auto ins, business license renewal, corporate registration, I hope I'm not missing anything else. 

LeighofMar

Permit pulled. Snafu between the homeowner and the county, not my problem though as they still have to pay. Another client also needed a permit, so I was able to pull that today and will put the money into the business credit card that has been steadily creeping up. If Mr. LoM is about to take a month's sabbatical, I don't want to be paying high-interest debt, so time to tackle this.

Payday today. The regular mortgage payment was sent off today. Thanks to all the overpayments, after this one is processed, it will only take another $45.00 to get down to the following payment on the amortization schedule. Then only one more payment before I'm done with the year 2039. Mortgage ends in 2045, so only 6 more years' worth of payments to be paid in the next 11 months    But I am determined to do it. 

House maintenance/upgrades fund was topped off at $25.00. Now that has an even $3k in there. 

General savings received $100.00. I've reached my goal of $5000.00 minimum and now it is $5100.00. This is probably the savings account I will use at the end of the year to clear the mortgage with whatever's left after I OP from now until then, so I will keep adding to this account as much as I can. 

Efund received another $20.00 for a balance of $4225.00

Business savings/investment received $260.00 today. Balance $53,765.00/$100,000.00. I am very pleased with this. Of course, business taxes come before personal taxes here, and we will see how much the government will want after we sold our investment property this year. I guess it's a good thing that the project did take over a year after all as we will pay long-term capital gains on the profit instead of short-term higher tax.

Very pleased with my grocery order. I had the $20.00 supermarket promotion credited to my shopping card, then an extra digital coupon for another $10.00 of my order of $75.00 or more. That's easy with ordering two weeks' worth. I stocked up on household goods, toiletries, meat, eggs, snacks. And I still have the $14.00 coupon when Mr. LoM goes to pick them up. So it stands at $185.00 now and after the coupon, $171.00 for all that I bought. And my budget is $250.00 which will leave me with an $80.00 surplus, more than enough to top off on fresh fruit and snacks or the misc item that I'm sure we've forgotten. I figure with prices going up as they are, it's better to stock up on as many household items as I can. 

I felt very weak and drained of energy yesterday, so I think I will take advantage of my body being quiet, for now, and do some Pilates to get rid of the stiffness. 

savingholmes

Hope you are recovering. All the rest sounds very organised.

Moneyfordreams

to cheer yourself up you paid your cc bill - fabulous 

LeighofMar

Thanks Saving and MFD. I am resting and staying on top of bills, which makes me happy. 

Good health days and bad health days, but I'm still here plugging along. $55.00 OP sent to the mortgage today. Balance $20,199.00. We are coming up on a 3-paycheck month in March so we will see what kinds of OPs I can make then. Work is going very well. I have several invoices out now, just waiting to be paid and then I can add to the business savings pot and put payroll away so Mr. LoM can have a good rest off. He is trying to finish the last of the jobs on the books now, but homeowners keep adding extras while he's there. He's happy to do it for the extra money but it's definitely not doing his chronic pain any good. A nice rest is really in order, plus he will need time to get to a doctor to see what's causing all his pain that seems to be spreading from neck to shoulders to fingers. 

In the meantime, I was able to do 20 minutes of a total body workout yesterday. Barely though. The 10lb weight felt too heavy so I had to go down to 8lb. I hate when these flares rob me of my strength and stamina, but it is what it is and I know if I don't do anything, I'll be worse off by the time the flare is over. 

Managed to make one dinner this week, Paleo Egg Roll in a Bowl. I was pretty proud of that and made the sweet and sour sauce too. It's amazing how once you start cooking this way, you realize how much you prefer the wholesome ingredients that go into your favorite foods and have no idea why so much sugar and garbage has to be put in the commercial stuff. I guess it's cheaper. But even if I didn't have to eat this way for medical reasons, I'm at the point now where I'll stick to it because everything tastes so much better and cleaner. I've even got my parents turning their noses up at the store-bought lemon pound cake or banana bread after they've had mine homemade 

Off to stretch my muscles and then rest again. 

Tahlullah.H

Still following LoM.  You are doing great, so impressed with your determination.  Looking forward to celebrating your Mortgage Free Day with you!

savingholmes

Well done on the payments 

LeighofMar

Thanks, Tahlullah and SH. I keep plodding along.

Oh, today may be my worst day so far. I feel like absolute garbage so I'm just going to update quickly and then go back to bed. Payday today. Today's OP of $200.00 brings the balance to $19,999.00. I wanted to get into the 19k bracket so I put in the extra dollar. So long 20ks. I will never see you again!

Efund received $17.65 to stand at $4260.00. I feel these days a $5000.00 efund will have to be the new minimum. Everything is just so expensive now. House maintenance/upgrades fund received $50.00. This is now at $3050.00 and Mr. LoM says soon I can start ordering what I will need for the bathroom remodel. I am so excited. We finally came on a design that I think I will like very much. The clawfoot tub will be in the shower room with one single wide pane of glass instead of a separate shower stall and tub. This should make the bathroom appear more open. It's already a huge size but wasn't appointed very well. A lot of dead space. Mr. LoM is thinking we can even put one or two windows in, which will be great as it is my dungeon bathroom. No windows and very dark It should look completely different by the time we're done. General savings received its usual $100.00 = $5200/unlimited. 

Business invoices have been collected too and I was able to add to the company savings $54,345/$100K. My hope is that whatever I get taken for in taxes can come out of the working capital instead of the business savings so that we can buy our next rehab project soon. We have a couple of good leads there but we definitely have to be careful as the market has slowed in our area, yet material prices remain high. We must do this smartly. Our colleague has had to lower his price on one of his finished houses by 30k. I don't know how much he put into it, but if he was hoping for pandemic-era profits, those days are gone now. 

I will see if DH can make the buttery garlic chicken and potatoes today. I have hardly been eating so it's annoying to be this sick as if I've been eating a lot, but I know I could use some good healthy food right now to try to quiet my angry body. Off to rest some more. 

Tahlullah.H

$19,999!  You have broken the barrier.  Way to go!  I hope to follow you to this milestone shortly.  You are doing great.  Hope you feel better soon.

LeighofMar

Thank you Tahlullah. I am starting to turn the corner just days after being convinced I was dying for sure. Feeling so poorly, I've gotten behind on everything besides the regular bills. I managed another 50.00 OP to the mortgage bringing my balance to 19,899.00. CC is down to 1410.00. My mother had commented how she wanted a Tiffany style light for her dining room so I found a beautiful one on Overstock for 285.00 all in. It's their 50th anniversary soon. Mr. LeighofMar will install it as they need some electrical odds and ends done and the goal is for him to install it while they're out of the house. I hope they love it. 

Business savings pot plods along to almost 55k. I have my eye on some properties and am waiting for DH to finish the jobs currently so we can move on. 

Bath remodel savings is up to 3100.00. Time to order the frameless glass panel and look at tiles. It's all so exciting. 

Time to rest again but I am thankful for these short bursts of energy considering I've been bedbound for several weeks.