Squirreling Away Those Nuts

Squirrelz92

Well today has proved interesting. Tried to go back to work after turning a corner from having the flu. Manager halted me at the door and told me I wasn't allowed on site until I had taken a COVID test... Ended up going to a drive through site (appointment only) which I didn't know about at the time so I got turned away. Had to book for a test at the walk through testing unit on the other side of the city.... Apparently I must wait 48 hours for the results. Also have to work from home until the result comes back negative. Can't lie, it is rather nice being able to blast my radio, have access to bottomless food and drinks and keep the dogs company. Even enjoyed spending my half hour lunch break walking them instead of spending it whizzing back and forth from the office to collect my lunch. 

On a financial note, I decided to round my October overpayments up to £100 so far, paying £31.62 today. Also managed to get my hands on a nitty gritty spreadsheet calculating absolutely everything to do with mortgage overpayments/interest in years/months etc. 

Gemma x

Squirrelz92

Decided to check out what this Prolific thing is that I have read so much about. Curiosity got the better of me so I signed up. Didn't expect much to happen from it but I actually managed to complete 4 surveys yesterday earning me a total of £7.56! Dead chuffed! Extra pennies for overpaying the mortgage. Shall transfer this plus whatever else I earn today this afternoon after work. 

Trip to L!dl needed. I have run out of bread and I don't have the time during work hours to do my weekly shop... need to make my meal plan list to prevent any overspending! I shall pop out shortly for that loaf (and of course the brownie the minions beg for every time I go). Mr Squirrelz is transferring his share of the weekly bill money to me today as he always gets paid on a Thursday. I feel so bad that he has turned down a good few opportunities to earn extra money this Saturday but he is adamant that he wants to spend it with me as I am child free for the weekend (very rare). Planning on a good hike  

Gemma x 

ruby_eskimo

Hope the Covid test comes back negative (I'm sure it will).  Never really had a chance to work from home until March this year and have to say I'm starting to like it - even if I have to share office space with my husband.  Well done on making so much on Prolific straight away, I think I average about £20 a month from there and add it all into the emergency fund at the moment.

Squirrelz92

Hi @ruby_eskimo I'm 100% sure it will come back negative. Sucks you have to jump through so many hoops to get back to work at the moment but it is a blessing in disguise! Will almost be sad having to return to the office either tomorrow or next week. Sadly I don't yet have a designated office space (currently taking up the dining room table) but perhaps one day once my living room partition wall is knocked down later this year I will have my own computer desk Every little helps when it's free money doesn't it? Sadly no surveys yet today but I think perhaps my fortune with them yesterday was 'newbie' luck! 

Squirrelz92

Well the weekend is here!  I am having one of those incredibly rare weekends off child free! I dropped my two minions off yesterday evening at the halfway point in Leeds with my Dad who is taking them back to his seaside town for a weekend of garden graft and beach fun (whatever the weather!). Me and my other half have been plotting for ages to get a good hike under our belt as we never have quality time alone. Lucky for me, my two have always come with me on my mad hikes so their bodies are like mountain goats, but its always nice to be able to go on an adult only hike. Have already packed the flask and our sandwiches to eat at the tops of Pendle Hill Cant wait! Meal this evening too just to take advantage of the child free scene. Plenty of studying required for my exam in December this evening as the last few evenings have gone adrift with the minions extra curricular clubs and house chores!

On a financial note, had to fork out £100 for the minions to attend a holiday club so I can work this half term as per usual. I tried to withdraw my £7.56 earned from Prolific yesterday but for some reason my Halifax reward current account is not programmed for instant transfers on PayPal... bizarre. So I have killed two birds with one stone and ordered myself a Starling Bank current account card so I am able to hopefully transfer funds from PayPal and to also use as my 'leftover money' spending card... my Halifax card shall be used for my salary and bills. I shall then transfer everything else not assigned to a bill to Starling. Quite excited for this!

Gemma x

Squirrelz92

Back to working 9-5... it's Monday  

Had a lovely weekend just us adults. The hiking expedition was brilliant. The mountain of steps that just kept going to the summit nearly killed me but the view is always worth it. Manjaros was as good as ever. Pepperoni topped parmesan was amazeballs! Yesterday we decided to have a 'bits and bobs' job day. I tackled all of the indoor housework whilst Mr Squirrel tackled the damp garden lawn and attacked the leftover bushes with the hedge cutter. The saw made an appearance getting rid of as much branch as possible before we attack the stumps with treatment. The house has a very 'rough around the edges' driveway because of these bizarre weed like trees so the mission is to have them die and decompose enough over winter for us to be able to remove them in the late spring and to tarmac the remainder of the front. Its the exact same at the back of the house. Bizarre looking trres have grown over many years and embedded themselves into the wire fence either side of the property. Absolute nightmare to get rid of with a chainsaw with the fence being inside of them all. No choice but to kill them off and let them rot for a few months. Cant install my 6ft fencing on all three sides before this Sucks that I am so impatient!

Finance wise, not a whole lot has moved. Waiting for my Starling card to come through the post so I can start transferring spending money and assigning other funds to pots. I paid off the rest of my carpets being the balance of £332 and booked an installation date being the 5th December, so now we are pushed to get all three bedrooms and the stairs and landing glossed, painted and wallpapered before then...

Bad news for Mr Squirrel as his workmate has tested positive for corona so he is having to self isolate for the next week. I have looked and luckily it doesnt affect me (yet) but we are hoping he doesn't develop any symptoms or me and the children will have to be off work and school for 2 weeks! Fingers crossed all is well

Gemma x

Squirrelz92

Afternoon folks

Still waiting for my Starling bank card to come through the post... I don't want to transfer spending money to the app without having a card to be able to use it. I know you can get contactless payments using your phone but I am terrified of setting it up just in case (hence my desperation for the plastic money)! This morning I decided to transfer some notes into each of my accounts. £50 to the reno fund, £50 to the emergency fund, £50 to the Xmas fund and of course £50 to my mortgage overpayments. That brings my October total so far to £150. My goal of overpaying by £200 a month is going well so far. I almost reckon I could stretch to pay off £300 this month but I want to be sensible and keep a little back as a float.

Mr Squirrel is still isolating after his workmate tested positive. Thankfully he has decided to put his DIY hat on and has cracked on with stripping away the remaining old wallpaper from a few rooms in prep for new decor (eventually) and is almost ready to start taking out the hideous glass block showerroom type window separating the two living rooms. It doesn't let any light in whatsoever and makes the living room so dark and depressing. Cant wait until it's ripped out! All we need is a plumber to disconnect the radiator underneath it and then he can rip the rest of the wall away! Cant wait for the other room window to finally light up the room!

Gemma x

Grogged

Just dropped by to say hi and congratulate you on the new house and what seems to be an exciting new chapter in your life!
Sounds like you have the OP bug bad! 😁
Lots of really good people here to support you on your journey.
We've been fortunate enough to make a big (for us) OP. This has reduced our monthly payments, so we've topped up our regular OP that goes on mortgage payment day to compensate.
You might want to do the same, as many lenders will adjust your payments annually to take account of any OP made in the previous year. This way you get to snowball your normal payments, as you were already used to making the payment anyway.
ATB,
G.

Squirrelz92

Thank you for stopping by @Grogged It certainly is an incredibly exciting chapter! A chaotic one, but all the same exciting. I have read sooo many MFW diaries over the last few months and it definitely inspired me to want to be able to do the same as the benefits to doing so are incredible when looking a few years down the line. 

Congratulations on being able to make a big overpayment on your mortgage! There must be no greater feeling! I think I like the idea of knowing that every time I make a small overpayment (normally £50 a time) that it decreases my interest ever so slightly from the day before. I am sure that the interest you pay daily would drop significantly if you made a huge overpayment and that would be sooo satisfying! Just wish I could save up a decent enough amount fast enough. It's just easier in my current situation to overpay little by little Best of luck in making more progress with your mortgage overpayments!

Well the wall was knocked down in the living room by Mr Squirrel yesterday. Completely unexpected when I rocked up home at lunchtime. I swiftly managed to find a plumber to come yesterday evening disconnect the radiator and remove the excess piping so that came to £70, although I am still waiting for him to send me his bank details! The living room looks sooo much brighter now light can actually flood into the whole room! Dead chuffed (pics below of before and after). I just have the task of attempting to place furniture... I have no creativity! I have had my heart set on a corner sofa but cannot find anything that will fit my measurements Might have to compromise and buy a 2 and 3 seater with a footstool instead. Any input would be great if there are any interior designer folks out there! 


Gemma x

ruby_eskimo

Wow, well done Mr Squirrel!  You can tell that having that wall down is going to make a lot of difference!  Sofa wise, we always wanted a corner one but ended up going with a two seater from Ikea and then bolted a chaise longue bit onto it so we have a three seater sofa with an extended bit and the foot stool making a U shaped sofa if we wanted to or we can move the footstool to the end of the chaise bit to get more of a L shape.  Gives us plenty of options when we have guests over (hahaha :lol) and we can each sit back and have our feet up comfortably.  Just an idea, but it works for us.