Powers’s mortgage free thread

savingholmes

Well done on the shuffle and the savings.

What kind of volunteering do you do?

powerspowers

savingholmes said:

Well done on the shuffle and the savings.

What kind of volunteering do you do?

I volunteer for two youth organisations. One as group secretary and one as a group leader. I love it 😍 

powerspowers

Spends this week
£20 sponsorship to sister
£2.40 library fine / stupid tax! 

We’ve booked a ferry to Northern Ireland for summer holidays, my share is £274 which I’ll raid from holiday sinking pot. A bit of a shock to the system as we’ve had very cheap holidays the last 2 years but wanted to go a bit further afield. Exciting! 

powerspowers

Rain has stopped play today so I’m catching up with my goals for the year. 

OPs averaging £550pm in order to meet 1&3 yr targets (sub £100k and sub £75k)
January £625 🍏
feb £300🍋
march £660🍏

April £630🍏
May £665 🍏🍏
June £650🍏
July £630 🍏

Average £594 😀 
mortgage is very close to going under £104 so projecting to be sub £100k in November 😁 

Savings are looking good, I moved some in there but need to move back to pay for holiday. 

House projects- 
we no longer have a hole in the drive!! Need to call in a favour to get the waste pipe put up. 

Weve trimmed the hedge and done some tidying outside. This afternoons jobs are to hook up the water butt, roof the log store and plant pumpkin seeds (not sure if they are a bit late). Had brill crops from spinach and new potatoes. Courgettes are coming along. Beans got attacked by aphids and I couldn’t get on top of it. We had one crop but the rest aren’t ripening and are covered in washing up liquid and manly black stuff. Ah well. 

Eco swaps- cycled loads and been back to plastic free lady. I’m proud that I’ve hardly bought any clothes this year- pants, socks and one pair of walking trousers is all I’ve bought new. I’ve put a bit of weight on though so need to do a concerted effort to find things that fit without resorting to a big shop! 

Work- big news at work, I was successful in my fellowship application so I’ll be going back to uni part time in September and being paid to do so 😁 This is a big step for me, means I’m doing more of what I enjoy and less scope to be pulled in to things that aren’t my job! It does mean I’ll have a commute to uni and I might feel a bit more pressure on my work hours. The study aspect is really motivating for me, I never felt ready straight out of my degree but now I do 💪 🖊 👩‍🎓 

right, the rain has ceased. I better get back in the garden x

savingholmes

Great news on the fellowship and being paid to study!

Garden activities sound good to.

powerspowers

Thanks SH!

spendy Weekend!!
£36 roadstone to fill in the hole
£40 more pipes
£35 on a garden shade (from wedding gift money)

£26 camping gas 
£80 go outdoors- walking boots and 2x shorts that actually fit 😂 
£25 shoes and jeans from 2nd hand app but had £10 credit from selling a top
£20 in the range on bathroom scales and some cleaning bits

phew, need a lie down now and to not spend any money for a while. Although pipes etc came from house pot and boots and clothes have come from my other pot so a lot was accounted for already, I’m just not used to spending anything anymore 😂 

savingholmes

Sounds like you got value for money at least. If it most was budgeted - sounds pretty well done!

powerspowers

Spending has continued…
2x campsites booked for summer holidays ~£300 but I can’t remember 
£500 ferry to NI 
£175 second hand bike because mine is too Gucci to leave at the train station or get round mountain bike trails with the boys. 

All from holiday pots and saved money so not too bad. It does take a hammering this time of year. Car insurance is due next month which appears to no longer have a sinking pot. I got confused and thought it was in January but we had moved it in to my policy as a multi car, then got rid of my car. Should be able to scrape it together between us rather than pay monthly. 

We’re going to go look at windows and conservatory roofs today. Feels a bit anti MFW as would mean a change of plan but I think would make a material difference to the house and us living in it. The house is just too hot 🥵 will keep you all posted!

garden is managing to stay alive. Boys had the paddling pool out last week so I’ve been redistributing that round the garden and filled up the water butt. We’ve had loads of potatoes, there are a lot of beetroot and courgettes in
my near future! Tomatoes and celery are looking good too. Had a single crop of blackcurrants but no other fruit. The plum tree is covered in plums but they aren’t ripening 🤔 

not sure of rest of weekend plans. Probably pottering and trying to stay cool. T is drilling something somewhere which makes me suspicious. 

Stay cool wannabes x

savingholmes

Good luck with the window and conservatory plans. It's a balance between doing what works now and planning for the future.

Hope you're having fun. Paddling pools can be fun even as an adult in weather like this!

powerspowers

we saw we saw three local window companies on Saturday, 2 we have friends working for. We’ve asked for quotes for lightweight conservatory roof keeping existing conservatory doors and windows; new front door and 7 windows - the house had double glazing fitted in the 90s so not particularly good now. Got visits to measure up this week and waiting for quotes. 

The lightweight conservatory roof is expensive, I’m expecting quotes for £15-£20k. It’s comparable with knocking the whole thing down and putting in more substantial windows and a solid roof (one company is quoting for that as they don’t do the lightweight roof). We’ve asked a builder to quote for a single storey extension as well- just to get a ballpark. The lightweight roofs go on in a week though whereas an extension would take ages. But maybe is more future proof. 

Idk what is best really! A solid roof would make a huge difference for heat loss in winter and make downstairs more comfortable. I love the layout of the current conservatory, it works for us and we use it. It’s just freezing in the winter and effectely a big hole on the side of the house! None of the solutions would help with the heat in the summer and after the last few days that makes an extension more appealing (but 💰). Will see what comes back from quotes!