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  • newgirly
    newgirly Posts: 9,347 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper
    Apparently it’s lucky if it rains on your wedding day, we got married in August almost 27 years ago and it rained on and off all day, not sure if dh would agree it’s been lucky or not 😂 Hope the plans are going well, glad you have physio booked in now 😊
    MFW 67 - Finally mortgage free! 💙😁
  • Jessy103
    Jessy103 Posts: 2,246 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks NG 😂 Whether it rains or not, we're getting married but I'd prefer the ceremony to be in the gardens. Then it can rain as much as it wants! 😂

    Busy day at work today as one of my team called in sick but it did make the day go quick. Only 4 days until payday and it can't come soon enough. The cupboards are getting bare. 

    Yesterday, I filled up the bird feeder and we had a spare dog bowl which I filled up with water for the birds, was lovely seeing them splashing in it and it must have felt nice for them in this heat. There's always one big fat pigeon that scares all the little birds off though, blooming thing! 

    I had a tidy up of the cupboard under the sink and moved some bits from the storage cupboard in there to make way for the fridge freezer. There's still quite a bit to sort but there's no rush. 

    I did quite a bit of washing over the weekend with it being so hot, we also had fans on and then because we didn't go out much our electronic devices being on has made the electric shoot up so I'm going to try and cut that down a bit in July. Instead of having the tv on or just mindlessly scrolling my phone, I should read one of the many books I have.
    Mortgage Balance as of July 2025 £14,900.
    Starting Mortgage Balance (June 2019) £72,000.
    Aiming to be mortgage free by my 40th birthday, June 2026!
  • ladyholly
    ladyholly Posts: 3,938 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    It's my birthday on Friday as well. It must be a really popular day as I have met several people over the years who also have the same birthday as me and you.
  • HotDog2020
    HotDog2020 Posts: 593 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Well done Jessy103 it sounds like you are really going for the mortgage free status. I hope you ankle has improved a lot and good luck making more O/Ps and saving for that wedding.
  • Jessy103
    Jessy103 Posts: 2,246 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks ladyholly, I do like having a summer birthday, breaks up the year nicely between birthday and Christmas 🙂

    Thanks hotdog . The ankle is loads better and I'm starting to feel normal again x

    It's been a busy week as I still have a team member off sick, so I'm doing two people's jobs and now this week a colleague is on holiday and although she prepares really well for me, I will be the one expected to sort anything out that goes wrong by our boss! I'm most definitely in need of a holiday! 

    It's been a nice quiet weekend though, with nice dog walks and then streaming both days. I will receive a pay out from that this week, which will make a nice little overpayment to the mortgage. 

    I will receive my refund from sky this week too, so that will go into savings. I've now got £100 in premium bonds and I set up a new nationwide savings account that has a 5.25% interest rate but you can only put £25-50 a month and you get entered into a prize draw to win £250. 
    Mortgage Balance as of July 2025 £14,900.
    Starting Mortgage Balance (June 2019) £72,000.
    Aiming to be mortgage free by my 40th birthday, June 2026!
  • newgirly
    newgirly Posts: 9,347 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper
    Sorry I just realised it was your birthday Jessy, I hope you had a lovely day 🎉😊
    MFW 67 - Finally mortgage free! 💙😁
  • ladyholly
    ladyholly Posts: 3,938 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Hope you had a good birthday.
  • Jessy103
    Jessy103 Posts: 2,246 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks NG and Ladyholly 🙂

    Well, it has been a truly awful week at work. My team member didn't come back from sick leave until Wednesday and a colleague was on holiday, so I was doing three people's jobs for the first half and two for the rest of it and I was exhausted! I even looked for and applied for a few jobs but nothing heard yet and although I've had a bad week, I'm hoping it will start to improve now. It's not all bad anyway, I'm on the most money I have ever been, I have no travel expenses, I only work 35 hours a week now and my boss is fairly laid back, so I should stick with it really.

    Me and BF have been talking about plans for our money once the wedding is done and obviously for me it is to keep ploughing on with paying off this mortgage. For him it's all about savings. We love going to a place not far from where BF is from in Suffolk and we've toyed with getting a holiday chalet there on one holiday park in particular where we have stayed previously. They range from £90k-£130k depending on whether you get a 2 or a 3 bed and how modernised it is, there is 11 months occupancy, which is fine as we'd be using it as our little getaway for weekends and holidays and the ground rent is very very reasonable at £400 per annum. Downsides are that we possibly might not be able to get a mortgage with it being a holiday chalet and we still wouldn't have our own private garden which I would really like, for me and the dogs.
    The other option is to buy an actual house there. A 2-3 bed terrace will set you back £170k-£210k, which would mean quite a big mortgage to pay off (in comparison to our wages) but it would be ours to go to whenever we want, we would get a garden and parking and we could retire there, sell off our little bungalow that we're in now and use the money to live off. 

    I'm leaning towards the second option but it would take longer to materialise and longer to pay off, meaning more work. Thoughts welcome! 


    Mortgage Balance as of July 2025 £14,900.
    Starting Mortgage Balance (June 2019) £72,000.
    Aiming to be mortgage free by my 40th birthday, June 2026!
  • themadvix
    themadvix Posts: 8,776 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Mortgage-free Glee! Photogenic
    Definitely be aware that a chalet is likely to loose money and be a bad investment. That’s not to say don’t go for it, but you need to go in knowing you may lose a lot of money when the time comes to sell.

    I hope this week is better for you work wise!
    Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days

    'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway


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