Climbing the Mortgage Mountain step by step

savingholmes

Glad the counseling is going well.

Hope you didn't suffer too much from the storm.

How lovely that your friend gifted you meat. 

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

@savingholmes, no further damage at home after the small fence panel came down, thank goodness.  I was on call all weekend but as an organisation we managed to get away without any major damage.

Had chilled weekend again due to being on call and the weather.  We had the rest of the beef stew on Friday night, OH bought some crispy duck with hoisin sauce and pancakes for a treat on Saturday night and I made a roast chicken on Sunday, we had the leftovers in a pie last night with leftover cauli cheese and roasties and the last of it will feed us tonight with some chips.  I need to organise something easy for the next couple of nights as I am having drinks with a friend tomorrow night and counselling on Thursday.

I had a bit of a sort out of my wardrobe on Sunday, gave a few bits to charity and identified a few items to sell.  I think I will start packing for my holiday this weekend, we are just taking carry on so I want to be a bit clever with it and ensure I have a capsule wardrobe where everything mixes and matches, I'll wear the heavier/bulkier items, limit shoes to 1 pair heels, 1 pair flip flops and wear my trainers.  I'm so looking forward to relaxing in the sun.

I have received my refunds from Seasalt and Adobe and have submitted my mileage claim today for £73.80, it all helps.  Payday next Monday, will be able to adjust my totals again, will be a very frugal month as not only am I going away but I have DS, DDIL and DGD's birthdays as well as Mother's Day!  I have bought a few items in the Next sale for upcoming birthdays and events, trying to get ahead of the game!

Have a great day everyone.

MvTMM

savingholmes

Good luck with the selling. Other stuff all sounds on track. When do you leave for your holiday?

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

@savingholmes, flying out on 14th and I can't wait, especially after all of this awful weather, get me some sun, sea and sangria!

So last night I had intended to cook toad in the hole and veg, but I went for a 'couple' of drinks with my friend and by the time I got home OH and DD had sorted themselves out so the toad and the hole will be cooked tonight and will do us for tomorrow as well.  My only spends this week, apart from the drinks last night, was been a very small shop in the co-op, £2.83 for some veg and a small bargain 4 x dairylea snackers (cheese and crackers with chocolate buttons!) reduced to 20p each so they have been my lunches.

I'm going to consciously fill the freezer with some homecooked meals for while I am away as I know that OH and DD just won't be motivated to cook every night like I do.  I know there is a spaghetti bolognaise, chilli, curry and chicken pie in there already, I need to make sure they are clearly labelled and all in the kitchen freezer rather than the garage one, DD can do a pasta dish another night and they can cobble together a roast on the Sunday.

I've got my counselling again tonight and I am actually looking forward to it, I think I have been sleeping better since I started this and I do feel like I am beginning to box stuff off, I'm hoping to leave the past behind once and for all, my present is so happy I don't want the negativity of the past to taint it or my future.

Have a great day all

MvTMM

savingholmes

So pleased the counselling is helping. Your holiday isn't far away now.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Hope you've all had a good weekend, we had really lovely weather, blue skies and sunshine and as our garden is a bit of a suntrap it was actually quite warm.  Oh and I spent yesterday in the garden 'pottering', lawns cut, leaves vacuumed, boarders hoed and hot tub emptied, cleaned and refilled.  OH had to work on Saturday so I sorted my clothes for my holiday and did the housework.  We did think about going out Saturday night but as it was only a DJ and not a band we didn't bother and had a couple of drinks at home instead.

We've eaten well this weekend.  I treated us to fish n chips on Friday night, Saturday I did homemade tandoori chicken which we had with wraps, salad and mango chutney, Sunday OH did one of his famous breakfasts which set us up for the day in the garden and last night we had Ostrich Steaks for the first time with broccoli and potato dauphinoise and mixed veg.  I have to say the Ostrich was nice, very tender, and was part of the gift of meat from my friend so a free meal in a way.

DD had a good clear out in her room so I have a pile of clothes etc for either work (I work with the homeless) or the Charity shop, some of the better items I will offer to my friend who has 2 girls slightly younger than DD and I know she will pass on anything they won't use.

Payday today so I am eagerly awaiting my pay to drop into my account, then I can reduce my totals again and transfer some to savings, savings pot is looking a little low as I used some to order my currency for holiday.  Savings pots all up to date, I added £2 to my toiletries pot as used up my No7 Hot Cloth cleanser and my L'Occitane Cherry Blossom shower gel, both of which I love and have more in stocks, have a few other items I need to UU too.  I tried one of the coconut shampoo bars from £land and I have to say I'm impressed as to how soft it left my long, coloured hair without using a separate conditioner, think I will take that on holiday with me.

Have a great day all

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Well, my pay finally went in at about 6pm last night so mortgage figures etc updated.  Popped another £2.40 into my 1p for 365 challenge savings, that's for today and tomorrow.  Round ups done on my banking, so far this year I have saved an additional £66 in my ISA by doing this.  Another UU last night Marvis toothpaste sample, lovely cinnamon toothpaste!  2 more UU expected tonight.  I did order a couple of payday treats from Amazon, some replacement facial cleansing muslins as DD has got eyebrow dye on most of mine (she can have those now) and some reuseable bamboo cleansing pads (instead of cotton pads), I just need to order my sunscreen spray now.

Last night I made a Keema curry, not something I do very often but needed something quick, it was really tasty but I forgot to put the peas in it!  Tonight will be pancakes, obviously!  Tomorrow DD is cooking, I have said she needs to cook one night per week and help me with a roast once a month to get her used to timings etc before going to Uni, she is making ratatouille this week, I was quite surprised as she claimed she didn't like it until a couple of weeks ago, luckily we have all of the ingredients in the fridge.

DD started her Student Loan application yesterday, she had done most of it my the time I got home.  She messaged her father asking again if he was planning to continue paying her the Child Maintenance but again he said they would have to discuss it in person, she asked if they could meet for dinner to talk it through and he ignored her, more mind games and in the meantime he is rapidly destroying his relationship with her.

We were a bit impulsive last night, we have booked a holiday for December/January as it is our birthdays around then and we decided at the start of our relationship that we would go away each year rather than buy gifts, obviously Covid put pay to that!  We have managed to get 1 week BnB in a lovely apartment, adults only complex including flights, transfers and hold baggage for £344 each, I've looked on other sites and the same holiday is at least £200 more each and on some sites it's double!!  We can pay £30pm each which is completely doable.

Must dash.

Have a great day.

MvTMM

savingholmes

Holiday sounds lovely.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Another wet, gloomy day here today but the forecast for the weekend is looking good. 

@savingholmes, I'm really chuffed at what we have booked and especially the price, haven't done self-catering for a long time, I always figured with the children that it was better to get a cheap all-inclusive, they could eat ice-cream and have drinks etc to their hearts content but as it's only the 2 of us now we will have a good breakfast (provided) and maybe just a drink at lunchtime and find somewhere reasonable to eat in the evening.

DD cooked dinner last night, ratatouille and sausages, it was lovely and she seemed to enjoy doing it, next week she is going to make cheese and tomato pasta for us.  It was lovely for me not to go home and start cooking, I sat with OH and had a glass of wine whilst she got on with things.  Tonight I'm going to make one of my broccoli and stilton flans and then tomorrow night we will either have the rest of the flan or eat out as we are going to see a band at a local pub, I have booked us a table so that we do actually go this time   I've invited some friends but not sure if they can make it yet?

I am getting slightly concerned as to how our finances will be affected when DD goes to Uni, I will obviously lose the Maintenance and Child Benefit but will be expected to support DD, bills are going up and up, OH has a 50 mile round trip for work so petrol costs are also an issue.  OH and I have already spoken about it, we will very much eat to a budget and have lots of early nights watching tv in bed during the winter to reduce fuel costs, DD is going to get a job local to Uni and hopefully her father will continue to pay some if not all of the maintenance.  I am currently trying to save the maintenance and CHB to increase the emergency fund and provide a buffer, I'm making big overpayments on the mortgage which if necessary could be reduced but this will be a last resort as I want to pay off as much as possible before the fixed rate expires at the end of 2025.  I know we are really lucky to have quite a bit of wriggle room as others are not so fortunate and are having to make some really tough choices.

In the meantime I keep trudging on up this mountain and the view gets better everyday!

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

The sun is shining and the weekend is in touching distance!

I made the broccoli and stilton flan last night, used up a head of slightly soft broccoli, the scrag end of the Christmas stilton (which had been frozen) and some slightly past their BBE date eggs, was lovely and very filling.  I have managed to reserve a ToGoodToGo bag from Mossies tonight so hoping that will provide lots of veg etc for the weekend as I want to get some meals made and in the freezer for DD and OH for when I'm on my holiday.

OH is going to sort out the rotary line this weekend and I have ordered a clothes horse for in the conservatory on those days where we can't hang washing out.  We have become very lazy and have been using the tumble dryer all of the time but with the soaring costs we need to make these changes.  The weather is supposed to be really lovely this weekend so I will be taking the opportunity to turn off the heating and leave it off for the foreseeable.

MvTMM