Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Bluegreen143...I will get some pistachios tomorrow and give that a try🙂😋🙂

Bluegreen143

Argh car is still in the garage and not getting it back til tomorrow earliest.

That said, it forced us to walk the school/nursery run and as it was lovely and sunny, it made a great start to the day. It’s about 3/4 mile all downhill and the children were really speedy zipping down on bike and balance bike. 

I think I may aim to walk a couple of mornings a week which will get us all a bit of fresh air and exercise to start the day and save a tiny amount on petrol. The nursery are happy for me to leave both children’s bikes there in their bike rack (even though Monkey doesn’t go there anymore) so I can get them each day at pick up. 

The downside (and reason I haven’t been doing this) is that I’ll not get home til 9 where I usually try to start work by 8.30. However even when I drive it’s often 8.45 because of the traffic so I’ve begun logging in to do some work in the morning at some point between 7-8am, whenever I get some free time. If I’m diligent about fitting in half an hour earlier on there’s no reason I couldn’t walk and then restart work at 9am. 

Doing the afternoon run is trickier. It’s all up a steep hill home so while Monkey can easily manage on foot (albeit slower than I’d go on my own), it’s a bit much for Bambi whether on foot or by bike. Plus I would need to finish work about 15 mins early.

So I’ll keep driving the afternoon run in general, but for today I’ll walk down and take them to the park after school, and a bus leaves from next to the park at either 4 or 4.30 (depending how long they want to play) taking us right up to our estate. They’ll be delighted as not been on a bus for years 😂 it only saves 5 mins over walking tbh but it just means me not having to try to carry Bambi and her bike uphill!

MissRikkiC

Love the idea of a trip on the bus as something new for the children. We live about 4 miles from the nearest supermarket and always take the car. The bus could be great for my little as she loves spotting things through the car window! 

Hope your 2 enjoy it!

Bluegreen143

@MissRikkiC I would try it! My kids loved it today. They haven’t been on a public bus since before the pandemic (though Monkey gets a school bus each day) but I remember they always loved getting the bus when they were littler too. When Monkey was born I couldn’t yet drive so he went on the bus lots as a baby and toddler but I don’t think he remembers it now. 

The driver only charged me for my fare, not Monkey, I think because 5-22yos now get free bus travel in Scotland. But I’m just googling it and you are meant to apply for a pass for it so it was kind of him not to charge. I’ll put it on my list to apply tomorrow as it’ll be handy to have.

MissRikkiC

Well spotted of you that it’s needed but also kind of the driver. What a great incentive to reduce cars on the road up north though! 

Bluegreen143

It’s a great initiative! Otherwise I think one off bus journeys are rather expensive here. It was £1.70 for a single to go less than a mile. A lot of European cities seem to be flat daily fares for public transport which often seem much more reasonable. 

I used to have a monthly public transport pass before the kids and if I got rid of the car it would be cheaper to have this. But if you have the car (and so are paying insurance, tax etc already) then to get the bus doesn’t really make sense as it’s just extra money spent out on top of the car costs. Which is a shame as there’s no incentive to cut down your car journeys and get the occasional bus.

Bluegreen143

We got a Tesco shop delivered yesterday. Annoyingly when I checked it out, I didn’t notice it took out something which was no longer available, which nudged it JUST under £40 so I got charged £4 basket charge 🙄 lesson learned to be more vigilant as I’d have added a tin of something to take it up.

I’m going to break down my grocery spends to food, treats, household, pets and misc again to try to keep a closer eye on costs. 

Total spend £42

Food £29.66
Household £3
Misc: £4 (basket charge)
Pets: £2.25
Treats: £3.09 (cola and crisps for Red)

Mealplan 
M - carrot, lentil & coriander soup then apple sponge pudding (was delicious!) and ice cream

T - spaghetti & meatballs with salad 

W - chicken satay, rice, green veg 

Th - beef burritos 

Next shop coming on Friday (or if I don’t have £40 worth I’ll nip to Lidl). Apart from yesterday’s basket charge fiasco I’m really enjoying twice weekly shopping and I’m pretty sure it’s reducing waste. 

Bluegreen143

Got the car back today! Was £380 all in for MOT + repairs. It also has a slow puncture so will need a tyre replaced pretty soon too. Took the money from the conservatory fund rather than the emergency fund just because the emergency fund is in premium bonds just now - I’ll be replacing it in the March budget anyway.

Speaking of the conservatory, we have some VERY exciting news. Red phoned our mortgage provider today for an update, and they said everything’s been approved for our extra borrowing! We will apparently get a letter out to sign and return next week and then the funds will be released within 5 days 🍾 

Originally they said it would be 8-11 weeks for a decision 😮 so we are really chuffed they’ve turned it around in less than 2. The 8-11 weeks must be standard for new customers getting a mortgage with them rather than additional borrowing I guess?!

The conservatory company had been keen to get us in about April time originally (the hold up was us waiting for the extra borrowing to pay the deposit) so I live in hope it’ll all be done before summer 🤞🏼

MissRikkiC

Yay for the conservatory! How exciting! 

Bluegreen143

Thanks @MissRikkiC!!

Today was a great day - started off with the school run on foot again then had a really busy day at work (lots of meetings but fairly productive ones and lots of decisions made). 

SUCH a tasty lunch - a hot smoked salmon fillet in a ciabatta roll with salad, sweet chilli sauce and mayo 🤤 

The car wasn’t ready for the afternoon school run so I powered down there on foot then we all got soaked waiting at the bus stop but Red drove past in his van while we were there as he got out of work early! He couldn’t pick us up (not enough seats and no car seats for the children) but he did take the kids’ bikes which saved me lugging them on the bus. And by the time we got off the bus he drove past again but this time in the car which he’d just picked up 😂 the kids loved bumping into him twice today in places we don’t usually, it was so sweet how excited they were. 

He went to pick MIL up (she’s staying here tonight) and I bossed it bathing the kids, helping Monkey with some rather involved homework and making spaghetti meatballs for dinner. 

Then cleaned up, read bedtime stories, cooked chilli for Thursday (with the rest of the pack of mince I opened today) and baked cookies. And cleaned the kitchen again.

Wish every day was like today!! Though I’m now knackered 😅