Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

missymoo81

Phew! Finally read your diary from start to finish! I’ve loved reading it, you’re so inspiring in all you manage to achieve! Have got so many hints and tips and recipe ideas, thank you! I hope you’re enjoying your Easter holidays! I’m dreading going back to work and ‘normal’ life next week! 

Bluegreen143

Ah thanks Missy!

I’m back at work now but it’s still nice getting a lie in as I don’t need to do the school run! Red is off with the kids and I’m not in the office at all this week.

Was annoyed to find my gas & electric bill was slightly more than last month so Red and I have agreed the heating is OFF now and people can put on more clothes if a bit chilly. There’s no need for it anyway, it really is warm enough not to need heating most of the day. Was chilly by late evening but I just wore a dressing gown and had a blanket on my lap while watching TV.

Pay rise 

This is such an expensive month. Luckily my net pay is going to be £500 more than normal - my merit based pay rise has kicked in (I’ve gone up two grades which is nice), our inflation based rise has kicked in (think it’s 6.9%) and the merit based portion has been backdated a month. Plus there’s some NI refund we are all getting (it’s to do with our pensions, can’t remember the details but something to do with the company passing on NI savings it gets from the govt). 

My net pay going forward (without the backdated bit and NI etc) with now be £180 higher than the past which isn’t too shabby at all. 

Outhouse work 

In terms of what I’ll do with the boost this month - it’ll really just pay for the remedial outhouse work we’re doing. We’ve spent around £400 on tools, wood, aggragate stones for drainage, steel support beams etc. Very much essential as otherwise the outhouse was in real danger and had developed huge cracks. It’s been caused by water ingress from the neighbour’s garden draining into that spot so we’ve had to access their garden and dig a huge drainage trench but they have been fine with it. 

It’s not just a shed, it’s a proper wee outbuilding and Red uses it as his man cave - both a workshop (which he obviously uses all the time) and it contains pool table, dart board, little bar etc for friends coming over. 

So he was devastated when he noticed the huge cracks, but my stepdad, who is a civil engineer, has helped him find the issue and come up with the plan to fix it. It would have cost thousands to get a professional in to do the work whereas Red thinks it’ll be about £500 all in with him doing it and my stepdad consulting for free! 

Savings

Emergency fund currently stands at £3,646 (before my payday tomorrow) which I’m really pleased about! Plus £2,700 in our Help to Save accounts. Slowly inching towards that 4-6 month emergency fund though it will take time.

Pleased we have so far cashflowed the emergency outhouse work rather than touch the emergency fund. 

Holidays and getting away

We are getting into the expensive season for this and have the following coming up:

- I’m going on a hen do next weekend (accommodation paid but all other expenses to be paid) 

- camping for a couple of nights  in early May (not expensive and we are borrowing the tent and some supplies but need to buy some other bits - if we enjoy camping we’ll go again in the summer)

- five nights’ holiday (at a Scottish loch) at the end of May (need to pay up the accommodation this month) 

- a week near the seaside in the Scottish highlands in July, sharing a cottage with friends (we’ve paid for our share of the accommodation already)

Looking forward to all of it 😍 but of course, it means the next couple of months, and then July, will be a bit more expensive. 

Wedding outfits

Nearly finished sewing the empire line maxi dress I’m making, and it looks acceptable to wear to my friend’s wedding which is a relief! As that’s what I was making it for. 

The wedding isn’t super formal, it’s only a handful of us at the registry office (Red can’t come to that bit as the room is too small) and then straight into an evening party and buffet in a room hired in a nice bar. So I don’t think I’ll get a fascinator or a hat or anything as might be a bit much. I’ve got my shoes already - pretty flat sandals from eBay.

Total outfit costs:

Fabric £30
Pattern £10
(Didn’t need to buy elastic or thread or sewing machine needles on this occasion as had all of these in)
Silky slip/underdress £20 (the dress fabric is bright and floral but has a white background and I don’t want it to be see-through!)
Shoes £11

Not too bad getting a whole new outfit for £71, and it’ll all be suitable to wear afterwards, and the slip makes a lovely nightdress if I don’t really use it as an underdress much. Plus it was lots of fun learning new skills to make the dress.

Red is hiring a kilt for the occasion which will come from the joint account as it was my idea 😆😂 so that will be £100 or so. 

I really wish he owned his own kilt and it’s something I’d definitely invest in if we came into enough money at any point (probably be at least £1k for the full set). I plan to do the traditional thing and get Monkey a kilt for one of his significant birthdays, probably his 21st.

I think with us choosing to send our kids to Gaelic medium education it’s also definitely made me come over all patriotic and want to celebrate our Scottish culture that bit more! 😅

Baileys_Babe

I love seeing men in kilts. 

When you hire a kilt does it come with shoes, jacket, socks, sporran etc or are these hired separately? 

Bluegreen143

I think you have the option of both with or without accessories (maybe?) @Baileys_Babe but as Red doesn’t own any of the stuff he hires everything.

Baileys_Babe

Could Red gradually acquire the accessories over time to gradually reduce the hire cost?

As this would be a long term project Red keep an eye out for sales etc.

Bluegreen143

I think it would be sensible, we’ll see what he thinks. He did previously have a suitable jacket & waistcoat which he bought for our wedding (just hired the kilt and smaller accessories for that) but they no longer fit 😆🙈 I can’t say anything as my wedding dress would certainly no longer fit me!!!!

Bluegreen143

On another note… I’ve given up on the long socks I was knitting, in disgust, as they weren’t turning out right 😂 BUT I’ve discovered a blogger/Etsy shop owner who has a huge selection of Outlander-inspired knits (shawls, jumpers, fingerless gloves etc inspired by what the characters wear in the show). So I’m
going to nip down to the yarn shop after work and pick up some yarn to make a crossover shawl as a payday treat to myself. 

Really enjoying knitting just now, the sewing is sort of enjoyable, sort of frustrating 😂 but I do like having a project on the needles because I can take my knitting along with me when I go out which you can’t do with your sewing machine! 

Pic is the shawl in question (the replica, not the one from outlander!). Looks outrageously easy. I saw someone selling made up ones on Etsy for nearly £300!!! While I know hand crafts are worth much more than people tend to think due to how long they take to make, I do think that’s ludicrous. I’ve priced up the yarn at about £20 so even if I couldn’t knit already I think I’d be learning rather than buying one!

Baileys_Babe

@Bluegreen143 I think I will be lost for months browsing that site, they have lots of lovely things.

I am a very inexperienced knitter and I have never crocheted but I would love to become competent at both.

£300 (insert blue shrieking emoji, if only it was still available) I would be getting very serious about practising my knitting or more likely begging my Mum to make it for me 😄

KajiKita

Congrats on the payrise! Going up two grades sounds like a significant achievement

KK 

Baileys_Babe

KajiKita said:

Congrats on the payrise! Going up two grades sounds like a significant achievement

KK 

Congratulations on the pay rise and the recognition of your good work, I should have mentioned that in my first post today but I was distracted by men in kilts 🤭