The 'scenic route' to mortgage freedom...

PiggyBankShaker

Hi @savingholmes We both watched the recording of the show, although DH enjoyed the humour more than me. It was an hour and a half which will be cut down to 30mins and broadcast tonight. It was interesting to see the 'behind the scenes' processes.

DS cooked pesto gnocchi last night, with some help from his sister. They did a good job and I'm really proud of them. DD is cooking tonight, she has asked DH to buy some ingredients today. It will be a surprise, and a good one as DD is a great cook, and not just for a 13-year-old either!

We're firmly in the 'treading water' part of the month where payday still feels an age away even though it is in just a few days. I remember this feeling from before - when we used to be on the Debt Free Diaries board. On the one hand it is a good sign, it means that I'm keeping track of our finances and I'm not just being an ostrich about money. On the other hand, the feelings resemble low-level anxiety, which is unhealthy for me because it can easily spiral into something more serious.

In fact, I've been conscious that my mental health is a little 'strained' for a while now. Small things like obsessing over stuff, procrastination and avoidance, staying in bed, grumpiness. I put it down to stress about the extension and going back to work full time. But I need to keep an eye on it because I don't want to get ill again. Covid doesn't help, obviously. The extra uncertainty and risk attached to everything, a trip to the cinema or a meal out feels irresponsible and a holiday? Well, that positively reckless.

Anyway, I'm trying to keep positive so here's a small list of tasks I want to accomplish over the weekend.

• Tidy and clean my office
• Go for a walk 
• Spend 30 mins stripping paint off the front door

savingholmes

PiggyBankShaker said:

In fact, I've been conscious that my mental health is a little 'strained' for a while now. Small things like obsessing over stuff, procrastination and avoidance, staying in bed, grumpiness. I put it down to stress about the extension and going back to work full time. But I need to keep an eye on it because I don't want to get ill again. Covid doesn't help, obviously. The extra uncertainty and risk attached to everything, a trip to the cinema or a meal out feels irresponsible and a holiday? Well, that positively reckless.

Glad you both enjoyed the radio experience.

I have a DS that began cooking age 10 and never looked back. He's now 24 and still a really good cook.

I can really relate to this. I've booked to see a show - which I was happy with because of all the safety measures but if those measures are now cancelled I would be far less happy. This is the part the govt don't seem to get. For some of us - it's the measures that make us willing to pay the £ and do the stuff!!!

I think - for most of us - we are not having our usual pre-covid social contact - and therefore it's easy to blow things out of proportion. Hopefully you can find the balance soon.

PiggyBankShaker

Back in work today (1st job) after attending a 5 day training course last week lots of emails to catch up on.

Bought 3 books from Amazon this morning. The full price was £23 inc postage, but between a combo of gift card and voucher code I only paid 44p. And one is for DS's birthday in a month, so it feels good be getting the present hunting started.

We really are into the sharp end of the month now and both DH's account and the joint account only have ribblings left, seriously, I'm talking less than £5 combined. Partly my fault as I bought a new (old, reclaimed) door knob on ebay and I should have paid for it on the CC but I forgot and paid from the joint account instead. As a home improvement purchase we can just take the money out of savings, but we're holding off until its absolutely necessary. Also, I have 'bought' a sink on FB MarketPlatz, that DH is collecting on Wednesday. It is the identical one we were going to order from Wren, brand new in the box, retailing at £250 - for £45.  

DH has requested £20 from TopCashBank with should land in the next few days and by rights it should go onto the mortgage but we'll see.

Also later on we're having a recce at a piece of grazing land for sale (1.46 acres) which IF we get it will mean that at long last DD can have a horse. Apparently they had a few offers already, but we've got nothing to lose by trying.

That's all for now I think. Windows are still due on Wednesday which is exciting.

DH finished paint stripping the front door, I went for a nice walk but my office remains untidy and uncleaned. Another task for this week.

Stay safe everyone. 

Tartan_Mum

Hello! Just de-lurking to say that your comment on mental health really resonated. It’s as if I had written myself. It’s really given me something to think about. 

Loving your diary. Keep up the great work. It’s really inspirational x

PiggyBankShaker

Tartan_Mum said:

Hello! Just de-lurking to say that your comment on mental health really resonated. It’s as if I had written myself. It’s really given me something to think about. 

Loving your diary. Keep up the great work. It’s really inspirational x

Hiya @Tartan_Mum, thanks for dropping in. I had a breakdown about a decade ago, so I'm super conscious and protective of my mental health these days. Its such a precious thing. 

savingholmes

I agree MH has to be nurtured having had my fair share of troubles too. 

Field sounds an exciting idea.

PiggyBankShaker

Morning all,

Field is exciting! We've sort of casually been on the lookout for about two years but nothing really gets advertised. Last summer I did find out who owns a scrappy bit of land about 2 mins walk from our house, which is a about half an acre, but when I met with the owner to make an offer it was clear he was deluded. He wanted £100,000 - because that's what it would be worth IF the land had planning permission. When I pointed out that he had planning applications turned down twice already because there's no access he said that all he had to do was convince one of the neighbours to let him shave a bit of their front garden off to widen the access and that the guy should do it for him for free because he owes him a favour... I offered him a clawback agreement but he wasn't interested. Like I say, deluded. We also looked at some plots that went to auction and they went for crazy money.

Anyway, our offer has been passed to the vendor this morning. I'm not terribly optimistic to be honest. If the person who is already using it for grazing has made an offer I would imagine the vendor would give them precedence over us, because doing anything else would be tantamount to evicting them and if they were that money-orientated then they would probably be the sort of people who would apply for a change of use and try to maximise the lands value, like crappy land man. I'm not fussy! I'd rent, I'd share, I'd buy, it doesn't have to be in great condition, I'm happy to do improvement works. We don't even live in a particularly urban area! But every time I see a horse in a field, I feel like a failure.

Rant over. Onto more positive things. Less than a week until payday. The window fitters should be coming tomorrow and another benefit of the new windows is they will be more thermally efficient than the current ones so the house should be a bit warmer. DS let me cut his hair last night and I managed to do a good job even with him squirming around and moving his head every four seconds. The Spanish flashcards I made for DD for free are working really well and the new vocab is going in and she's stopped resisting the exercise because she's realised it only take 5 mins per night.

The biggest news is that DH and I booked some more flights. We're (hopefully) going to Cyrpus in November. Flights were £117 return for all four of us. Accommodation will be booked later. We've never been before so after a bit of research we though Limassol looked best for us. The plan is to hire a car and see the archaeology with some beach time thrown in if it is warm enough.

That's me. Off to work now! Have a great day, gang.

savingholmes

Cyprus deal sounds amazing. Good luck with the field.

PiggyBankShaker

Very quick check in from me because I have to get my !!!!!! in gear this morning. I'm excited to say the window fitters SHOULD be coming today! But if they don't show, I will literally cry. 

On the holiday front I'm cautiously optimistic that at least one of the three we have booked now should be able to go ahead with the ever changing covid regs. Even if all three are cancelled we will have lost less than £400 so I think on balance the gamble is worth it. Pre-covid we had a 'plan' (plan is a loose term, maybe aspiration is better) to take the kids to every European country before they turned 18. To date we have been to 25 of the 49 countries, we had booked to go to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan when covid struck but we ended up staying home and going to my mother's funeral instead. It's been a hard few years and even if things get back to normal they will never be the same for us again.

Right I really must go. Stay safe everyone. 

themadvix

Fingers crossed for the window fitters!

I love that aspiration to take the children all over Europe - fantastic! 😊