Easter 2025 I’m coming to get you!

Jessy103

So sorry to hear of the loss of Sybil, hetty ❤️

Winston is absolutely gorgeous! Well done on giving him such a good home and getting him in good health x I always feel super proud when we get compliments on ours when they have had such a rough start in life.

greent

Sorry to hear about beautiful Sybil xx🌈

Hettyhound

Yesterday we survived a trip to the Swedish blue and yellow pleasure palace 🤦‍♀️. Got out fairly unscathed and more or less within the budget I’d set following a heated debate regarding which desk chair I was willing to buy him.  I won £30 compared to £55 and he told me last night how comfy it was.  Spent yesterday afternoon flat pack building so now he has a desk for his schoolwork.  However he dropped the Chromebook down the stairs on Saturday…….been looking on Amazon warehouse for a replacement (for me) which is where the original one came from.  The broken taped together one still works but you can’t shut the lid.  He starts new school on Tuesday and although I’ve had a letter from the council with the name of his taxi driver the taxi company still haven’t been in touch about pick up times.  Will have to call them on Monday to sort out.  Hope they realise he starts Tuesday as only year 7 are in that day.  I won £25 on Friday so that will get paid off the mortgage as every little helps.  Thank you everyone for you kind comments about Sybil.  It’s quiet without her but readjustment is all part of the grief ❤️

Hettyhound

My son started secondary school today and loved it!  I also won £100 on the premium bonds which is auto reinvested.  I also won £25 last week on the greyhound lottery so that is destined for the mortgage once I get it along with some prolific and top cash back.  A good few days all round 😁

Jessy103

Ooo congrats hetty, some nice little wins there! Glad DS enjoyed his first day 🙂

savingholmes

Hope DS settles in quickly.

Sorry to hear about your cat. Hugs.

Hettyhound

Trying my hardest to get back on track as I feel like I’ve not been so hard up for years!  I’ve just overpaid £75 which was from a 25 win, some top cash back and prolific.  I wanted to move it where it should be rather than on other stuff.  Christmas is more or less funded via my sealed pot savings and my credit card is 0% so that takes the pressure off a bit.  I’m trying really hard with groceries as that seems to be an issue.  Spent a lot of the budget but the freezer is full and meals planned/ingredients got for the next 2 weeks so hopefully just a couple of little top up shops.  I’m waiting to hear on additional funding for my son and also if I’ve got a temporary position for over Christmas that we are allowed to do in addition to our own job (it gets advertised via work).  If obtained both of these would help.  We are not destitute by any means but I need to be careful in the run up to Christmas 🎄 

newgirly

Hi Hetty, I’m so sorry about your lovely cat Sybil, it’s a great age but it’s still so sad , like the end of an era when they have been with you so long ❤️

Winston looks like a star, what a handsome boy! He seems to have settled in well. Keep hanging in there with the mortgage it’s so close now, you can do it, all the best 😊

savingholmes

Good luck with getting extra income in.

Hettyhound

So I'm back to my poor neglected diary to admit I'm in a bit of a pickle with finances.  Not terribly and some others may consider my position to be OK but for me its worse than it has been for years.  So first thing first Easter 2025 being only 6 months away is not going to see the remaining £23,171 paid off unless I get a knock on the door from someone dressed in red (and I don't mean Santa) with a cheque for £30,000.  I am part of the MFiT challenge and its looking as though I will meet around 72% of my target come the end date in January 2025, which considering everything will be amazing.  My challenge for the next 3 years will be to clear the mortgage.  Several "end dates" I had wished for have passed by but my current financial situation has really focused me.  So good news; I got the extra funding to support my son due to his EHCP payable to May 2026; I have got a the temporary assessor position to do extra work in my own time over December; even though I have debt only the mortgage is currently charging interest; I am not overdrawn; there is money for Christmas thanks to my sealed pot challenge.

So CC1 the 0% will end in December but it only stands at £400 and there is enough to clear it in the EF if needs be.  CC2 is around £950 and is 0% until January 2026.  EF is only £500 and I would like it to be £1000.  "Big" savings (ie my 3 months salary) are £2,000 and should really be at least £6,000.  I owe a family member £9,500 on an interest free loan for the purchase of the new car, which I do hope will last me 10 years like my last car did.  Mortgage is on a tracker rate until 31/12/2024, currently charging 5.89% but will go to SVR (currently 6.99%) as due to the terms of the tracker deal I'm not eligible for another deal.  I'm hoping the interest rate will fall in November so the SVR should also.  I have roughly calculated I need to overpay the mortgage by approx £300 a month to take £500 off the balance.

As I say its by no means a terrible situation but there is just my income and I have a growing son to support and its getting ever more expensive.  I am permanently signed into the ProfAc site and have managed a fair few of those.  I'm also on a couple of other, slightly anonying survey sites but will stick with it.  I can't get registered for any of the receipt snapping apps and even though they put you on a waiting list when I've tried before its never come to fruition.  However extra bits always seem to appear; Octobers' pay will include 3 months of back pay for a pay rise the unions have just  agreed so that will be going to the mortgage as will the monthly pay rise amount as well.  I've never had it so I won't miss it but my future self will benefit.

So my priority is the mortgage as it charges interest and then also CC1.  It would be great to get CC2 paid off then that payment could be sent mortgage wise but I suspect I may have to use it again before I'm done.  The family loan has a DD set up at an agreed rate so I can kind of ignore that for a bit as we have a contract for it.  I also know I will not get any grief from them and they know they will get their money back.  What they don't know is I will be paying a terminal bonus to them for their kindness and the massive amount I will have saved in interest.  So I'll leave it there.  I've got the content of my brain out and I need to go and pick up my son from a friends house.  I will be trying to work out a few target dates and amounts and may need to jig around my spreadsheets but at least I've made a start (and just earned 15p from ProfAc while I've been typing this!).