Climbing the Mortgage Mountain step by step

savingholmes

You know what feels reasonable to you - and what will help keep your books and his balanced. £300ish a month seems very reasonable to me.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Bit of a miserable, murky Monday morning here, I really struggled to get out of bed today.  

Had a full on weekend with DGD, she's lovely but is go, go, go all of the time, DH and I have decided to take a bit of a step back at weekends, that is our time, really happy to be hands on the rest of the week to help out but we do need time to do our own things.  DS went out on Friday night as he didn't have DGD so DH and I had a chinese takeaway and chilled.  We spent Saturday and Sunday in the garden giving it a good tidy up after the winter, grass cut, pergola trimmed back, leaves cleared, borders weeded and decking sprayed to get rid of the moss and algae, it looks cared for again now.  Saturday night I made us chicken tikka style wraps and yesterday we had a chicken roast.  I also made some Ba!leys crème brule and tried out the new blow torch DH bought me.

I had intended to list some more items on V!inted but didn't have the time or the head space, I might get some done tonight as I really want to take advantage of people buying on payday.  I tackled the hallway cupboard on Saturday and we have put some items from there up in the loft (Halloween and Christmas stuff mainly) which meant I could clear some of the stuff I had dumped in DD's room, it also freed up 2 nice grey storage boxes for DS to use.  I really need to clear under his bed as he wants to change the room around to get his tv on the wall, he has the smallest room but it is workable and we had planned on decorating it this year any way.

@savingholmes, thank you for your input, I think £75pw is reasonable as he will have to pay some Child Maintenance and I also want him to be able to save for a deposit etc.

No money related news from the weekend, just waiting for payday now to update everything.

Have a great Monday

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Payday here, thank goodness.  Transfers done and signature updated, just need to update the mortgage when that goes through.  I have just bought my travel insurance for my upcoming holiday (yes, I know I should have done it before!) and ordered my suntan lotion, I have everything else I'll need.

Another item has sold on V!inted so I've made £35 so far, really hoping to try and list some more tonight as I have to finish work in time to pick up DGD and so will be home early.  I need to show DS how to sell things too.

Have a good Tuesday

MvTMM

savingholmes

Well done on the sales. 

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Happy Thursday/World Book Day, seeing all the little ones dressed up certainly put a smile on my face this morning.

I'm feeling constantly tired at the moment, sleep is a bit hit and miss, work is draining and whilst home life with hubby is blissful, we now have DS and DGD to consider and DD will be home tomorrow too!

I did clear DD's room yesterday, all the stuff I'm selling has now migrated to the conservatory and I will be tackling it this weekend, either listing it or bringing it in to work.  DS is away Saturday night so I am clearing underneath his bed so that we can then dismantle it and rotate it 180 degrees and put a tv bracket on the wall for him for his massive tv.

As soon as DD returns to Uni I will be putting my suitcase in her room and packing as I will only have 6 days until my holiday, I am so in need of that!!!  There is a danger that I could end up sleeping the whole week away!

I've just noticed my N@twest digital saver got £8.09 interest for February, very happy with that, I pay in £150pm which is the maximum, I've also got my new regular saver with Y0rksh!re BS and am paying £300pm into that, also the maximum, will be interested to see how the interest payments compare.

I've paid the odd £6.26 off of my mortgage balance to tidy that down to £113,500, still nibbling away at it whilst clearing my CC.

Shopping tonight, 10% discount earnt on the Lidl app, will then have fish n chips for dinner, No DGD tonight so early night for me and DH and no school run in the morning

Have a great day all

MvTMM

savingholmes

Lovely to earn interest.

Enjoy your holiday.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Hope you have all had a good weekend, mine went far too quickly!

DD is home, arrived back on Friday, requested her favourite Cheese and Tomato pasta bake for dinner which is also DS's favourite so he and DGD also tucked into that.  DS was away most of the weekend which meant we didn't have DGD either so tackled their room, emptied out under the bed, sorted out items for binning, donating/selling and keeping.  Turned the bed around so that he can put a bracket for his huge tv on the wall, DH also found a shelf to put up for his Xbox etc.  The room looks bigger now, which is odd?

I also managed to list some more items on V!nted, have about 40 listings at the moment, still loads more to put on there.  I did succumb to buying a pair of R0bert Clerger!e sandals with a small amount of my proceeds, but they were such a bargain I couldn't resist, I have wanted some for a while but never would have paid the normal second hand price, let alone the full price cost!! 

Foodwise, we had a port and cheese night with DD on Saturday, still using up some Christmas Cheese and a 49p reduced camembert which I baked in the airfryer.  Sunday I put a beef joint in the slow cooker with some Gu!ness cooking paste I got in a Degust@ box, used the resultant liquid to make gravy, which was so good I have frozen the leftovers.  We had the works with it, cauli cheese, yorkshire puds, horseradish, roasties, honey roast parsnips, broccoli, brussells sprouts, carrots, it was yummy!  It was really nice having both DS and DD at the dinner table, despite the circumstances.  I think tonight I will make a curry with the left over beef, chickpeas and some fresh spinach, I'll serve it with brown rice and mango chutney.  Tomorrow we have DGD so It will have to be a child friendly dinner, not sure what yet and Wednesday I might roast some veg for gnocchi as I have an aubergine and courgette that need using.

I've got the roofer coming round tomorrow to look at our leaking roof, I'm hoping it's nothing major but at least once he's been we will know and can budget for the repairs, thank goodness I have an emergency fund!  We also want to get the patio re-laid, it's needed doing since we moved in, very wobbly and loose slabs, DS and his friend will do it for us so DH and I will go and price up some slabs once we have dealt with the roof.

Oh and forgot to update, DS has started paying £75pw which we are both happy with, will help with the increased bills and food but also allow him to save towards his own place.  The agreement is that I'm more than happy to cook for him and DGD as it's no more effort than cooking for myself and DH but if he doesn't want what I am cooking he'll do his own thing.

Have a great Monday

MvTMM

savingholmes

Glad you got the money side sorted.

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Morning all

It's cold, wet and miserable here this morning.  The roofer is coming out this afternoon, which is good timing, as after several weeks with no real rain, it is actually raining today so more chance of him finding where the water is getting in.

Yesterday was stressful, I nearly walked out of work after a conversation with my Manager which totally moved the goal posts, I was then late getting home only to find DS's ex was being very difficult and causing him problems and upset.  I don't understand when one partner decides to end a relationship and then proceeds to make things as awkward as possible for the other partner, the one that didn't chose this life path.  My ex was the same, dictating what was going to happen when and refusing to to be reasonable, especially when it came to our daughter.  I was too tired to cook when I got home, DD had already fed herself and DS so I had a nice hot bath to de-stress and then made some bubble and squeak in the airfryer which DH and I had with mixed cheeses and pickles.

DS and his best friends went out for a couple of pints and so DH and I put up his massive tv on his bedroom wall, he was so surprised when he came home and saw it, it really cheered him up, he has DGD tonight so they can sit in bed and watch a film together

No huge money saving news to mention, trying to save as much as possible, carrying on repaying my credit cards (which still really annoys me), sticking to my £50pm personal budget which seems to be working well and focusing my mind on what I need rather than want on a whim.  I do need to update some of my spreadsheets (paper ones not virtual) to check which way everything is heading, I just don't seem to have had the headspace to do that lately.

Have a good day.........it's nearly friday!! 

MvTMM

savingholmes

LOL at nearly Friday