Our Mortgage Free Journey

Ami-Rose

Feeling awful today, so dragged myself to the duck pond and then to Tesco for some juice. I don't even remember which brand I grabbed, but it was one of those 'immune system boosting' ones and I got 2 because they were half price for clubcard holders. 😂 Feeling completely depleted at the moment, exhausted and aching. Think it's part sleep deprivation from the tiny human and part flare up of health issues. Have asked OH to finish early with Flexi time, which isn't like me.

Got a few other bits while I was there to save going tomorrow (my intended day), so came to £10.45. Used the giftcard to pay and transferred the money to the furniture fund. Will result in another TT (55p) tonight too, so FF will be up to £435.58. It's growing steadily, but not enough for my liking. Too tired to do much about it right now though. Any spare energy will be going to tidying the house, which looks like a tornado has passed through...

Ami-Rose

TT was only 7p in the end. Still feeling run down and OH is picking up the slack, so McD's picked up the slack too on the dinner front... I'm GF though and we were out of my nuggets so ended up having Little's Ella's Kitchen nuggets. Not. The. Same!

Another hour of freelance work this evening while OH made up his Flexi time, so at least that covered dinner with a little extra spare...

Going to bed with a sore throat and headache makes me wonder if this is the lurgi and not a health-related flare up. 🙃

Grogged

Sorry your feeling under the weather, hope it's just a mild lurgi.
My weekly TT today beat yours by £1, I'm sure you'll have overtaken me by Friday!
Stay safe, G.

Ami-Rose

After 2 hours in bed yesterday afternoon and a full night (only one wake up from Little!) I was feeling closer to human, but have been struck down with a migraine instead. Also needed stuff from Tesco despite yesterday's top up. Need to go back to a weekly order, switched so that Little and I would get out of the house more (limited options in lockdown) but it's just costing more.

I did return some hair dye (£11.58) and finish off the gift card (£24.98) so didn't actually spend much. £17 was on a Christmas gift for Little so that came from her pot. Transferred the gift card equivalent to the FF too. Up to £460.08 in there now.

Stealing @helensbiggestfan 's idea of a use up month, so going to do a cupboard audit (realistically this might not be until the weekend) and then put a meal plan in place so I know exactly what to order. At this rate it might just stop us going over budget for the month, but if there is anything left by payday I'll sweep the rest into the FF. 😂

gemmm

Hi Ami,

Congrats on your new home! I’m also in my 20s, from NI and trying to pay off a mortgage. Although I’m 3.5 years in and only looking at understanding it and overpayments now so you’re way ahead of me! We started off with a lot of freebies from friends & family and got some stuff to make do...you’ll get there eventually.

Looking forward to following your diary ☺️

helensbiggestfan

Hi Ami....hope you are feeling better and the lurgy doesn't drag you down too much.  

Re furnishing your home.  I found people were very generous and offered me their cast offs.  I taught myself some basic furniture restoration and upcycling.  Even now I still love buying preloved furniture and doing it up.  Sometimes I sell the odd piece.  

Some charity shops sell furniture.......British Heart Foundation, Mind, Lighthouse, Salvation Army all have furniture outlets. The lady at the Sally Army told me December/January were good months because a lot of people like to do their houses up for Christmas.  Although not sure if it will be the same this year with Covid.  Also Facebook market place and .eBay.  

Any news on your moving date.   

Ami-Rose

Thanks @gemmm and @helensbiggestfan! Some great ideas for furniture. I've always wanted to upcycle stuff but never had the confidence. Maybe a project to get Little involved in though next year.

Still suffering with the migraine, so McDonald's supplied dinner again. It's not normally like this, I swear! We had dinner lined up and then the chicken was iffy and the bloody mini muffins turned out not to be free from. Discovered that too late so going to pay for that, ugh.

No news on a date yet, have been very patient and given the solicitor until tomorrow to get in touch or I'm chasing them again. 😂 Figured there wouldn't be much news over the weekend. Hoping they say later half of November, but only if it's past payday because we could really use one more pay cycle to boost savings before we go!

TT this evening of 73p so new FF total is £460.81. That's 46% of the goal done and I know my freelancing invoice will cover ~10% more. Plus our regular savings and we will be close, so want to find a way to push that last bit. If I could find a way to squeeze out an extra £150 that would be amazing.

FtbDreaming

Aww hope you’re feeling better soon. Just wanna say if you end up in maccies again before Saturday then order through the app and collect. You get 30% off. 

I’ve done a bit of upcycling over the years but in all honesty I really love the original vintage look of furniture it always gets wrecked when I paint it. If you do wanna pain it though have a look in Poundland and the range. They are both quite cheap for the chalky paint and spray paint. Oh and aldi too x

Ami-Rose

FtbDreaming said:

Aww hope you’re feeling better soon. Just wanna say if you end up in maccies again before Saturday then order through the app and collect. You get 30% off. 

I’ve done a bit of upcycling over the years but in all honesty I really love the original vintage look of furniture it always gets wrecked when I paint it. If you do wanna pain it though have a look in Poundland and the range. They are both quite cheap for the chalky paint and spray paint. Oh and aldi too x

Maccies 3x in a week? Never! *makes mental note to download app* 😂

Loving the upcycling tips! We have a Poundland nearby, not sure about the other two so will have to do some googling. I know there's a charity shop about 10 minutes away that might have small furniture pieces, but still on the hunt for somewhere with larger bits.

Ami-Rose

Up early this morning (7.10am - early for me I should say!) so decided to have 10 minutes just sitting peacefully in the quiet and then crack on with the food audit. Almost done now, but the rest of the family are up and I'm taking over Little responsibility so it could be days before I finish it. 😂

Realised that if our house purchase goes through after the 1st December we'll have another month of ISA savings and therefore an extra £50 bonus from the government. Not to mention our annual interest will be paid at the end of this month, so crossing my fingers for it all happening on 2nd December now. 😉

Little flew through far more milk than usual yesterday so it's going to be day 3 in a row of Tesco shopping. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Was hoping to leave it until tomorrow so I had time to meal plan properly, but guess that will be the goal for by the weekend instead.