Climbing the Mortgage Mountain step by step

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Double whammy today, Friday and Payday!

Will update my signature in a minute, will try and pay off the extra £195 on the mortgage to get that down to the £107k's.  Savings have taken a battering, but I knew that would be the case, a week off, 3 concerts, our anniversary, paying for the flights for March etc etc etc!

Hubby and I had a fabulous time way for our anniversary, absolutely love it there.  We actually bought each other the same cards and the same present, although a slightly different version, how in tune are we!  

Roof has been fixed, only charging us £80, which is a win, we can now start sorting the conservatory.  Had the quote for the flooring, £3600 in total!  I was thinking £2500 so I think we need to look at more economical options.

Visiting family on Sunday but apart from fuel that should be a no spend day.

Have a great weekend all

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Can't believe it is a couple of weeks since I posted.  Had a really hectic time, not only was I on call but both parents were admitted to hospital, dad had a pace maker fitted which will hopefully alleviate some of his symptoms, mum discharged without knowing the cause of hers and then had to have some treatment for suspected skin cancer.  The weather continues to be pretty horrendous and we still haven't been out on the paddleboards and have only used the pizza oven once.  Work is very trying at the moment and I'm starting to feel a bit low with it all.

This weekend I am meeting up with a couple of old school friends on Friday night and hopefully (crossing fingers) having the kids round on Saturday and using the pizza oven, Sunday, to quote DH, we are doing 'sweet f a!!'    Tuesday myself, my best friend DD and DD's best friend are all headed to a Girls Night Out at the local theatre as part of DD's birthday celebrations.  I think having quality, fun times with special people might lift my mood.

Moneywise I seem to be struggling a bit, need to sit down and re-assess.  Everything is getting paid and I am saving each month but not as much as I would like.  DD's birthday presents are bought and paid for, she wants a Chinese on the day and to go out for drinks.  Mum's birthday is also sorted.

Have a great day

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Hope you are all well.

We had a lovely weekend, I met my friends, Chinese, karaoke and a few drinks and lots of laughs.  We had DS, his g/f and the children around on Saturday, made pizzas and the children played in the garden.  Sunday was a lazy day, long lie in, yummy brunch, a bit of pootling in the garden and then a roast dinner before watching the football.

Tonight we off to the theatre for a girls night out, part of DD's birthday celebrations, should be fun and another chance to put the glad rags on.  I'm driving, but I don't mind that.  DD's best friend can't make it now so DS's g/f is joining us instead.  DD then heads off to see her Uni mates for a couple of days and comes home on Friday for her birthday weekend.  It does mean that DH and I have a couple of days to ourselves, which is always nice.

Money wise we are trying to keep grocery shopping to a minimum and stick to a list.  Are also making inroads into the freezers, would be good to actually be able to empty one of them, kind of ridiculous that we have 2 fridge freezers and a small freezer for 2/3 of us, although we do only shop once a week so the extra fridge space is handy for milk, fruit/veg etc.

I'm keeping a hopeful eye on Base Rate and mortgage rates, my fixed rate mortgage runs off in 18 months and hoping things will have settled down and rates dropped a bit by then. As it stands my compulsory payments would double with the rates that are currently available, although in reality I am overpaying more than that anyway, just wouldn't be able to pay down the capital as quickly.

Better crack on with the day

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Well the trip to the theatre was a huge success, the show was fantastic, so funny and their singing voices were amazing, we laughed all the way through.  We pre-boooked drinks for the interval, which worked really well, no queuing at the bar, the drinks were ready and waiting for us in a separate room.  

DD has had a lovely birthday weekend, Chinese take away, prosecco brunch, her favourite birthday cake, night out and she absolutely loved her presents and all done without breaking the bank as I got some really good deals.

We have had quite a productive weekend, took down the fence panels at the front of the house as we are replacing them, popped the old ones on facebook and was surprised how many people were interested in them.  We have also taken up the kitchen flooring to investigate why it had risen and worn, we were worried we many have had a leak, but it is all dry so hopefully will be straight forward for the flooring company, we want to get them booked in as DH has decided to bite the bullet and get all of the flooring replaced as planned.

My old car is being collected by its new owner next weekend so a quick clean and tidy up will be needed before she is taken away, will also mean I will hopefully have some money to pop back into savings and can cancel the tax and insurance on it saving me approx £40pm.

Have a great day

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Well it's been a busy but spendy week.

Old fence panels have been collected and new ones are being delivered at the end of the month, DH has also ordered paint for the exterior walls.  New flooring is being fitted at the beginning of August, vinyl in the kitchen and both bathrooms and laminate throughout the lounge diner and hallways, more expensive than we had hoped but a 30 year guarantee on it so will 'see us out'!  I changed the handles on the kitchen cabinets last night, a small tweak but it looks so much more modern, I still think I want the doors either sprayed or wrapped though.

We will be spending the weekend emptying the cupboards in the lounge in preparation for the flooring, will be a chance for a good sort out.

We still need to sort out the conservatory, the wall needs repairing and I would like to retile the floor as most are broken, but that's for a month or two's time.

have a great day.

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

What a lovely weekend, so nice to see the sun for 2 or 3 days.

We had a really productive weekend.  Friday night I sold my old car, money has gone straight into the savings account, Insurance cancelled and DVLA informed, then we went with DD to see the new Deadpool and Wolverine film, it was great.  On Saturday DH jet washed the fence posts at the front of the house ready for the new panels to be fitted, the posts etc had previously been stained but we don't want the ongoing upkeep as we have a massive plot so jet washing has brought them back to the original colour, they look good as new.  He also jet washed the drive and brick edging.  All the lawns have been cut. I started sorting out cupboards ready for the flooring, threw a lot of stuff away and some for donations, freed up a trolley unit from the kitchen which DS is going to have. Yesterday DH painted the outside of the house and I re-stained the garden furniture, log store, shed etc and we put up my bargain station clock and thermometer, it looks really nice for £12.50!!

Tonight we need to crack on with emptying the lounge cupboards, we have loads of blue roll and plastic crates to load all of the glass ware books etc in, they will get stacked in the spare bedroom.  I'm going to have a good sort out whilst we are at it, clear out rubbish or things that haven't been used in a while.

Payday on Wednesday so I will update my signature then.  I need 2 or 3 low spend months to try and rebuild savings so will focus on using up what we already have, food, toiletries etc and getting the work finished on the house, repainting woodwork once the flooring is down, bringing the conservatory up to scratch etc with materials we already have.

Have a great day all

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Well we had another productive night last night, I started emptying all of the cupboards in the lounge and DH, who well and truly has the painting bug, painted all of the carport, our large entry way and the the pizza oven!  Then he treated DD and I to chips on the seafront before we crashed for the night.  Tonight we are collecting 2 really sturdy wooden chairs for the garden, found on Marketplace for £30 and match some that we already have, a quick jetwash and they'll be perfect.  Then more clearing of the lounge.

DH is hoping the new fence panels will arrive either today or tomorrow, we can get those installed then, posts are already in place so shouldn't take too long.  DD is keen to get the hot tub up and running, so I have said that if she helps we will try and do it tomorrow evening.  We usually have this set up from April til October as a minimum but due to the awful unsettled weather we just haven't bothered, which is very MSE as it has brought our electricity usage right down compared to last year!  We'll probably just keep it up until September when DD returns to Uni and after my Stepson and his family have visited, as they always love to use it.

Payday tomorrow, signatures will be updated then.

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Another busy night last night.  DH and I went to look at the chairs I'd found on Marketplace but they were rotten and wobbly, very disappointing, we'd thought from the ad that they just needed stripping and re painting/staining. We obviously didn't get them but it was nice to have a drive out, just the two of us, and DH said how we need to make some alone time for ourselves as we seem to be go, go, go at the moment.  Fence panels should be delivered today so that will be tonight's little task!

When we got home we boxed up some more of the lounge and moved some of the furniture to the garage and then put the curtains on the gazebo and set up the hot tub.  We were all tired and starving so DD and I quickly made some breakfast wraps (Sausages, scrambled egg, grated cheese and ketchup) which we ate in the garden, we were out there until about 10pm, it was warm and we had all of the lights on so a really lovely atmosphere.

DH and I feel absolutely done in, I think we both still have covid, but not ill enough to stay home from work, plus trying to get everything done, I feel like I could sleep for a week.  No rest this week though, flooring next week, then painting the woodwork etc and putting everything back, then the conservatory will need doing.  We do have a week off at the end of August which I think we will just crash and burn!

Payday today so I will do some juggling and update my signature later

Have a great day

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Feeling pretty rotten at the moment, cough, sore throat, mouth ulcers, swollen tongue so struggling to speak, headache, general aches and absolutely exhausted, think it's covid but still at work as no fever and not ill enough to be off.

Got home last night, new fence panels had arrived for the front garden/drive and DH really wanted to start putting them up but we looked at them (all 16 of them) and looked at each other and decided neither of us had the energy to cope with that.  Instead we tackled the last cupboard in the lounge, one full of glassware and ornaments, all wrapped and crated and stored in the spare room and the cupboard put in the garage out of the way.  We were exhausted after that but I was determined to get some nutrition into us so made some roasted vegetables (courgette, red onion, peppers and San Manzano tomatoes) which I then mixed with some cous cous and pesto, I served this with salmon fillets topped with sweet chilli sauce and baked, it was really yummy.  DD wanted to go in the hot tub but I didn't even have the energy for that!

Tonight is shopping night and then maybe fence panels depending how we are feeling, if not I may go in the hot tub with DD.

I'm going to update my signature now as didn't get around to it yesterday.

Have a great day

MvTMM

Me_v_The_Mortgage_Mountain

Hi All

Thank Crunchie it's Friday, this week has been really trying with customers, staff and just feeling generally under the weather along with trying to get stuff done at home.

Last night DH and I went shopping, with a list so didn't go mad plus had our 10% off at L!dl, we usually just about hit this, spending about £250 for 3 of us over the month which I've worked out it about £20 pp pw!  I do buy the odd bits and pieces outside of this, but very little, we usually just stick to our weekly L!dl shop.  Did treat ourselves to fish n chips on the way home.  DH then painted the trim on the pizza oven and decided to paint the front door and garage door too!

DD and I were going to go in the hot tub but took the top off and found it was only half full, with a little water near the pump, but not a lot, no obvious leaks, the sides were still fully inflated.  We drained it and checked everything over, still nothing obvious.  We have filled it to bang on the minimum line and left it overnight with out the pump on, I'll check when I get home and if still at the same level will turn on the pump and see what happens then.  We do still have the old one which hopefully we can cannibalise for parts if needed.

I've just had my lunch, leftover cous cous and roasted vegetables from Wednesday night, I really must get in the habit of bringing leftovers more often.

Tonight we are supposed to be tackling the fence panels.......wish me luck!!

Have a great weekend

MvTMM