Thirty something dreaming of not paying mortgage

kaycastle

Thanks. I will be putting more in pension now so I won't have as much spare but will see how it goes when my 14% salary sacrifice starts.

So as predicted we did some unplanned diy yesterday and turned the house into chaos. Our family member brought along a proper steamer so we got rid of all the artex on the walls of the living room. Stripped in one day and I am so sore all over.
To our surprise the walls are great underneath and really smonth.
I wasn't expecting to do this task for years as even if we aesthetically hate it it's not as important as some things. But we had a free steamer available for the day so
So now we are just going to wash the walls and paint it white and move back in as my husband wants more planning time for how it will finally look. As we will need to do floor as well. Which works well as we already have this great big pot of white paint my dad gave us ages ago. I just want to buy some of those roller things to do it quickly. We usually always paint with brushes but this is a huge room and not the final stage. So all in all quite cheap for a good improvement.
But yes house is chaos and dining area piled high with our books but all for a good cause.

kaycastle

So it's been a long week of going to work and then diy in the evening. And I am so pleased withe results.
All we have done is get rid of the nasty textured artex and then painted it how we want and it just looks so much more fresh and nice.
That was like the last super mucky job (famous last words) and wasn't even planning on doing it for ages but now it's done. And never have to do it again. Oh it was horrible and I hurt all over.
We decided not to spend anything more on the rooms decoration for now and make proper plans slowly now the walls are lovely.
There are just a few tiny things to do before mortgage valuations this year to make sure the house is looking lovely.

I really want it to stop being so windy so I can get to clearing the garden and potting but it's just impossible until this wind goes.

Also from April I will be up to 14% for salary sacrifice pension so we will see how that goes wih budgeting. Still doing my £300 a month overpayments.

Hope everyone has has a good week

Mortgage_Minimiser

Hi!

Great progress with the savings! :j

Isnt it amazing how 'small' (although painful) jobs can make a huge difference to a house! Makes you feel so much better too. Enjoy the new look!

MM
x

LeighofMar

Mortgage_Minimiser wrote: »

Hi!

Isnt it amazing how 'small' (although painful) jobs can make a huge difference to a house! Makes you feel so much better too. Enjoy the new look!

MM
x

And it's always money well spent. When you feel cosy in your own home, it's worth every penny.

kaycastle

Thank you and it's just so nice when it's over. X

I've had a few nights out, not much, just a few beers each night but I need to get back to cutting down so I can lose weight. Because I've been doing frequent periods of cutting out alcohol I really notice the difference even a few have now. My main problem is that don't really like fizzy drinks as an alternative and juice I find too sweet. I would genuinely prefer water but can't do that all night so I invariably land up back on the beer because every soft drink in a pub seems to be so sweet, I can't stand it!

So now my pension will be 20% from next month. I'll be so relieved once the first month goes okay, right now I feel nervous and I keep double checking all my calculations.

I've also started to read about investing and vanguard. It's all very interesting.

greent

What about soda water with lime? - not *too* sweet and a bit more interesting than just water all night?

gallygirl

In Spain we can get GinSin (= Gin without, i.e. alcohol free) in some bars and also in supermarkets. With a sugar free tonic it's virtually calorie free, not sweet at all and looks/feels like a 'proper' drink. Don't know if it's available in the UK?

Vanguard funds are great. Pick your sector/risk, bung the money in and forget about it, no trying to pick a winning fund :T.

kaycastle

I'm not a fan of soda water and lime
Intrigued by the gin sin.

I treated my husband and I to a meal out last night as we both had tough days and I honestly can't remember when we last went for a meal, probably not since the summer. Only cost £35 for 2 courses each as it was a weekday deal.
Really was so nice to spend time on us.

I think I might have some good financial things happen next week but we shall see as I don't want to count my chickens.but fingerscrossed.
I'm going to wait and see how the next few months go with new income and then start exploring vanguard.

greent

I have 2 Vanguard funds - 1 has lost money virtually from day 1 The other has done the opposite - and more than made up for the losses of the first one in %age + money terms :T (I should add that the losses are small both in terms of % and actual £s, as that fund has less than £2K in)

Dave_Saver

Love your diary, I wish I was as switched on as you are at your age.