Adventures and Overpayments

chicker

So I thought it was about time I mentioned the mortgage 🤣


We bought our house in August 2020 with a mortgage of £240,945 fixed at 1.45% for 2 years. 

Our monthly payments are £825.78 (thank goodness we didn't borrow the full amount we were offered!)

The current balance is £232,569.55 and we have made three overpayments with a grand total of £285.68

I've worked out that our daily interest is £9.44


I'm a bit worried about interest rates going up before we remortgage next year but I'm hoping our LTV will be better by then which might help in getting a better rate. According to our mortgage app our house value is estimated to have risen by £35,000 which puts our LTV at 69%.


We also have a £6000 emergency fund and £16,000 saved in premium bonds which will mostly go on a new kitchen at some point.

 

I've spent some time working on our new budget and it looks like we will be able to make a small OP at the end of the month. I realise I had fallen into the habit of over-simplifying our budget because we had a comfortable and consistent income and could save easily without being too careful. 


It's been a good day money-wise as we sold our old pushchair for £150, a few small ebay items have got bids on and I've had a few surveys on Prolific and Influence. 

chicker

Ooh - getting serious now. I just made a signature 🤣🤣🤣

chicker

It's lovely and sunny but very cold here today.

Monday is always a busy day as my mother in law comes over to play with DD in the morning so I can work and I try to do most of the weeks cleaning while she naps. This afternoon I need to post a pile of things we sold on ebay over the weekend.

I'm feeling a bit exhausted and frazzled if I'm totally honest. It feels like it's been really full-on here for weeks, DH has been working a lot and I've got a never ending to-do list. So this week I'm going to focus on getting to bed at a sensible time and not mindlessly scrolling on my phone. 

I'm really looking forward to the end of the month as we have had a good month in terms of extra income and I can't wait to allocate it to the various savings pots, and of course make an overpayment! I hope to read a few more diaries this week too and get some more tips and motivation 😊

Have a good week everyone. 

Chicker

savingholmes

I think it's easy to get caught up in being busy, busy, busy but it's best to step back and relax before your body forces you to... 

Glad your income has gone well this month. Looking forward to reading more of your journey.

powerspowers

Well done on your extra earnings, I love the prospect of an OP 😃
hope you can get some rest this week xx

chicker

Hello savingholmes and powerspowers! Thanks for visiting my diary 😁

I've been sleeping a little bit better and I'm feeling a bit better today too, although there is still room for improvement! 

So far this week I have only done a little bit of 'work' work but I've also posted a load of ebay parcels, paid in some cash and moved a load of DH's money around after he got paid for a couple of private jobs. I've also just paid in a cheque from our pet insurance which will go straight back into our emergency fund. It's not really an emergency but her medication costs nearly £70 every other month and it takes a couple of weeks to come back from the insurance.

I had a couple of really good days on prolific and influence so will be getting more than £10 from each of these before payday.

Finally, I managed to clear two things that were really weighing on my mind. Firstly I have given our dogwalker 2 weeks notice which will boost our budget by £40-£50 a month. I was so worried about talking to her because she's so nice, she's been walking my dogs for 5 years and I didn't want to upset her! Secondly, my hospital appointment has been cancelled until after Christmas which is great because I've been dreading it. 

Anyway, better make the most of DD actually having a proper nap and do some work!

Chicker

savingholmes

Well done on tackling the dog walking. That's a big amount to go back into your budget. I felt the same when I reduced my cleaner's hours but it actually suits her.

chicker

savingholmes said:

Well done on tackling the dog walking. That's a big amount to go back into your budget. I felt the same when I reduced my cleaner's hours but it actually suits her.

Thanks! I know it sounds silly to feel so emotional about it but it's been such a long time and she's been wonderful. She was also the only person I spoke to some days during the last two lockdowns when I was stuck at home with a baby. 

chicker

Busy day! Thursday is my day without DD at home so it's always a bit manic.

In no particular order:

- Tesco delivery
- Work zoom call and few bits of work completed
- Changed our buy to let mortgage direct debit into our Santander bills account to make the most of the 1% cashback
- Filed a load of paperwork but didn't do the shredding (I hate shredding! 😒)
- Did some washing
- Cleaned out the robot vacuum 
- Mopped the floors
- Sorted out DDs clothes that are now too small (still need to sort a mountain of these piled in our third bedroom and pack them away!)
- Paid my overdue tax bill of exactly £2 🤣 which I had somehow forgotten about

I've had a G&T and am going to relax for a bit of TV while perusing a few diaries on here, Still feel a bit overwhelmed by my to do list but I think it's just the time of year...

savingholmes

I would really miss my cleaner if I let her go altogether so get what you mean.

I think if I did ever stop the cleaner - I definitely would invest in a robo vacuum but I'd want one that could do stairs too LOL.