The second hurdle - Nichelette v the huge mortgage

Nichelette

So quick one, but month hasn't been great so far 🙃. Am still quite overwhelmed with life and getting behind with everything. DS2 hasn't had a flu vaccination because I can't get him to the says they offer easily because of work (wish they'd just go into nurseries the way they do with schools), and both need dentist appointments. DH took DS2 into central London for a 9am hospital appointment which was supposed to be post operation, so that was a massive waste of time and money (early morning, half day of nursery fees, day off work and £30 for peak train ticket). He has another one at 11 on Monday which I need to call about to see if it's actually necessary still, but if it's is that's another £30 for the train.

I got DS1 nursery deposit back so that has been put against DS2 nursery fees. 

DH saw dentist and hygienist last week (£100ish), now having a crown which is over £300, and got a flat tyre taking DS to a birthday party (over £300 for AA and new tyre). Tyre was only 2 months old and a decent one so complete waste. His car only has a puncture repair kit which is obviously useless on a wall tear so he had to be recovered. So yes, all in all we were paid a week ago and already have an extra £700 in unexpected bills. 

Oh, and I've also been given job of pregnant lady on top of mine as they won't give a secondment. Couldn't have come at a worse time as having both kids in two places is really hard, and personally I'm finding it hard as they're also both having me up in the night so I'm not sleeping well either. I feel like I'm living in a dump (had to rescue DH and take kids to party myself so I lost time I'd put aside for cleaning on Sunday). I signed up to an open day at uni for midwifery, but the teaching time is basically full time every day and I'm too far away with the travel time to make it work with the kids (rush hour travel would mean 3+ hours which I couldn't manage), so am back to looking for something else. 

Cherry on top is DS1 got a sickness bug and was ill yesterday. He's okay today so he'll be back at school tomorrow. 

beanielou

There’s a lot going on. Keep plodding. 

Nichelette

Short update as haven't done one for a while (again). Suppose biggest news is we're into the 180's bracket 🥳. 

Sorting house is a slow process as we're so time poor, but at least the hob has been replaced now (can't remember if I mentioned before but it got cracked ages ago). I'm trying to declutter as much as possible gradually. We've got an ottoman bed and I spent a couple of hours doing half of that yesterday. It was a mess because we have a tempur mattress which weighs a tonne and the gas struts won't stay up with it on anymore. I can't move it myself as it's so heavy so we have to take it off the base entirely if we want under it for any length of time. Hopefully I can do the other half next weekend...

Have tomorrow off work to hopefully try and get the bulk of Xmas shopping done. Am struggling with what to get my sister's kids a bit as their birthdays (4) all fall from 5th December to 7th February so I'm having to get them Christmas things too. They're not the only birthdays that fall then either 🙃. Am going to do my best to be sorted early though so that can hopefully try and enjoy Christmas a bit. 

DH is getting some extra money from overtime now, though poor thing is exhausted because he's doing 3+ jobs simultaneously and it's too much for one person really. That said, half the time I'm almost asleep at 8 nowadays 🫠. He crept into higher tax where thresholds haven't moved so that is still taking a big chunk. 

Now have 2k in moving fees fund but no PB win this month!

Oh, and lastly I'm an idiot and have accidentally gone over 1k in prolific earnings (had planned to stop under small earnings exemption). There is no quick way to check without downloading the spreadsheet and calculating it. I thought I was further away than I actually was and when I checked I was on £1200 😭. I didn't want to go over because I think I now need to register as self employed and do a tax return which I know nothing about, so I'm now going to have to learn which is more time I don't have and why I didn't want to go over. Am also scared about it screwing up tax on my salaried job because obviously the amount I'm making from surveys is nothing compared to that. Only slight silver lining is I can do as many as I want now. 

edinburgher

I had to do a tax return last year because of Prolific. It was a bit of a nuisance. Not too challenging, but I owed the gummint more than I had expected (they take tax + NI from you). I now maintain a running total of earnings (nothing fancy - date/amount withdrawn/amount in £ cashed out of Paypal (as so many of my studies are paid in $ these days)). If I go over £1,000, I will be sure to keep back 40% for tax + NI.

debtfreewannabe321

You've had a lot going on @Nichelette I think you're coping with it all admirably. Hope you get the Xmas shopping sorted out soon so that can be ticked off!

Sammie_1985

Just found your diary and following along with your journey. 

I’m also 40, bought our house in 2019 and have a similar amount left outstanding! 

Hope you manage to make a decent dent in the Christmas shopping tomorrow. 

Merlin's_Beard

Remember if you go over the tax threshold to reclaim any pension contributions back - 20% comes back automatically into the pension fund but you can claim the other 20% back as well and it's just an online form if you're not otherwise doing self assessment

Nichelette

So managed to do quite well with Xmas shopping. I've wrapped what I did get and it's in the loft now. DH was supposed to come with me but had to cancel his day off as was too busy with work 🥲. 

Welcome  @Sammie_1985. I was looking at what we've overpaid over time. Seems to half every time we remortgage 😅. To be fair that correlates with going up to 2 nursery bills and now the higher interest. Not even going to look at what we'd be paying at old rates! To be fair we did make the best of it and OP as much as we could whilst rates were low. 

Last few days have been an utter disaster. 

On Thursday DH went to London for work and stayed on for their Christmas party and missed the last train back. Taxi was £170 and eventually rolled in at 3.30. Have been told he can claim it back through expenses so will see if that materialises.

Had a hospital appointment at 10 so he was still in bed when I left. Consultant went to wrong hospital so that was an hour late. They found a lump on an ultrasound (precautionary due to sore boob), neither of the doctors or I could feel a lump but turns out it was quite deep in there. Have had biopsy and they've said it's 50/50 whether it's malignant or not so now I've got a 2 week wait to find out. Is quite sore 🙄. DH has gone into meltdown so I'm trying to deal with that alone. 

When I got home DH tells me he left his phone in the taxi. Expect we'll never see it again but luckily via his dentist we've got number of taxi driver and he's had to drive into London last night to collect it. He starts driving and gets another puncture so that's another new tyre. Has to take my car (which fortunately made it back in one piece). I'm not getting another decent tyre. Pot holes are so bad around here it happens constantly. 

To top it off yesterday he got 2 dart charge fines as he forgot to pay the toll last time he went to London. One has been waived if he pays the toll as it's first time he's forgotten, but it's a bit of a swizz because you have to pay in both directions so as most people will go both ways it's 2 toll charges. 

beanielou

Jeez. That’s some week. Sorry to read about the potential diagnosis. Take each day as it comes. 🤗

Merlin's_Beard

That's a hell of a week. Take care of yourself as best you can in the circumstances!