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Prosperous soul embraces creativity & mortgage neutrality
Comments
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Oo we must have cross posted - well done on the steps.Mortgage OP 2025 £6250/7000Mortgage OP 2024 £7700/7000
Mortgage balance: £36,210
Money making challenge £38/400
”Do what others won’t early in life so you can do what others can’t later in life” (stolen from Gally Girl)3 -
Great bargains! Glad you had a day out, shame the property was disappointing. Hope you enjoyed your quiet evening."Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee1
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hey SH - was just posting on my diary about renewing my disabled persons railcard (for me hearing aids). I noticed that if you get PIP you are also eligible which I didn't know.
The benefits are the railcard discount of 33% plus you can use it peak, and you can take a carer (!!) along if travelling together.
Here's the link https://www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/are-you-eligible/Is this Railcard for you? A quick check to make sure you're eligible…
You are eligible for the Disabled Persons Railcard if you:
- receive Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Adult Disability Payment (ADP)
- receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Child Disability Payment (CDP) at either:
- the higher or lower rate for the mobility component, or
- the higher or middle rate for the care component
- have a visual impairment
- have a hearing impairment
- have epilepsy
- receive Attendance Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance or Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP)
- receive War Pensioner's Mobility Supplement
- receive War or Service Disablement Pension for 80% or more disability
- buy or lease a vehicle through the Motability scheme
I think I saw you in an ice cream parlour
Drinking milk shakes, cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine3 -
Thanks Skint, Jwil, MF and @mark55man
I'll check into the railcard - thanks Mark. I've got a list of things I need to do linked to pip but not done yet.
I've bought these curtains (photo not my home) for my downstairs office for winter as part of being more energy saving. RRP £60 original price, new (open packet / possible seconds) £35, offered £30 on fleabay and got them so happy with that. The stripes follow the flooring too so it ties in the room. Just hope they are okay when they arrive. Currently don't have any curtains in there. I have a yellow version in my living room that I also really like.
About to have some chicken casserole with roasted parsnips for lunch.
My £co payment for taking out the Mr T CC came through - they knocked £5 membership off it sadly - but still got £17.50 so happy with that. Will get an Am**** voucher with it so will get 2% more than that. I still need to chase where my T card points have gone as they are not showing on my statement... Need to ring customer services I reckon...
I still need to chase my missing £40 voucher from MnS as not got anywhere so far...
Been losing hours to RM today... I'd love to pick up my existing house and just plonk it elsewhere... Alternatively - I'd like a place with my own land... It always feels tantalisingly just out of reach... I mainly want the land for the privacy aspect... I hate being overlooked. I'm not overlooked at the front - but I am at the back where it matters more... It reduces how much I use my garden which is a shame.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
2) £1.6K Net savings after CCs 14/8/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £25.3K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.2K) = 31.1/£127.5K target 24.4% 15/8/25
4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
5) SIPP £4.8K updated 29/7/254 -
I don't like being overlooked either. Our garden was quite enclosed until the house at the back got renovated. That encouraged me to address the wild ivy - the rotten trees and the lack of fencing. It's still not great. The stuff we've planted will take years to shield us again. I would love to be detached but I don't think I could tempt OH to move again.
Curtains look goodMortgage restart June 2018 £119950Re mortgage August 19 £110470, … Mortgage November 22 £85600 final 0% CC 3300Home renovations - £65000, mid 2018 - mid 20224 -
It might be just out of reach at the moment but look at how much you have done in terms of your other goals. It's probably doable in the future.
Can you imagine if the money situation with your sis had happened a year ago? You probably wouldn't have been able to pay it back. It's not great that you're having to do it but you now have choices of ways to get the money together.Mortgage at 12/07/2022 = £175,000
Mortgage today = £161,690.76
300 271 payments to go.House buyout fund £21,000/£40,000
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I've been wandering around RM today too - I'm away on holiday and marvelling at the difference in price from home to here.
some great food bargains in your shopping - glad you enjoyed the sea bass and veggies - very healthy.
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@Blackcats RM can be so engrossing. There's the real contrast between the people who 'stage' their homes and the people who just leave all their clutter on show. That can be as fascinating as anything else!!
@Moneyfordreams You've done so much work on you home that I hope you get to reap the rewards for a while now and not rush off elsewhere.
@girlatplay Yes - it's possible I could borrow the £ if I don't have enough equity - but I keep having to remind myself that would likely sabotage any change of retiring early...
DD came home briefly yesterday and then I dropped her back at the station as she went to visit a lonely uni mate who's only just gone. She was going to enjoy some of the freshers experience and clubbing in a big city. Just hope she's safe - not heard anything which hopefully is a good sign.
I feel I have spent a lot of the weekend just relaxing and processing. Must have needed it.
Song Friday was Bird Set Free
Song today was Never Enough - but although there's a line in it that says without you - I think for me it's more no matter what is going on I struggle to find contentment and I need to.
I have also been listening to a book called Think 1ike a M0nk - It's about mindful living. It's thought provoking. I started listening to it a while back and found it too much - but having had a break from it - and having the space to ponder on it - I've really been enjoying it the last few days. The author hosts a pod cast show on Utube which I also like...
I made flapjacks yesterday with a teaspoon of chopped ginger. I've not made any for years so I put them back in the oven....
Oops - they are now more like biscuits but super tasty - I'd make more but next time use the recommended greaseproof paper on my dish...
I moved a couple of baskets off the landing window sill and my landing is flooded with light again. It's amazing how different it makes the room. I looked at my future art room yesterday - and there's still too much stuff in there. Other than a rug and a roll of underlay it mostly fits on the desk - but it covers it. I have further to go than I imagine. Still - I'm inching forwards.
I'm going to make some art using tape today so looking forward to that. Have a good day all.
Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
2) £1.6K Net savings after CCs 14/8/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £25.3K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.2K) = 31.1/£127.5K target 24.4% 15/8/25
4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
5) SIPP £4.8K updated 29/7/256 -
On the RM thing - I also found some houses that were equivalent in price or likely to be slightly cheaper closer to home. Their gardens were much bigger than mine and the views better - but the homes themselves were worse than mine - as a lot are in the locations I look at. If I bought a house with a bigger garden - I'd likely have more maintenance costs too... Which brings me back to the question - what is the real reason I want to move?
- Do I want to live by the sea? In which case I need to move far away.
- How close to the sea or lake would I need to be and why? E.g. Do I want to slim down so I could kayak or paddle board (never tried the latter) - and in which case would I always need a car to get there anyway? Is that even realistic given my current health / disability / weight etc
- Do I just want nicer views?
- I could get nicer views within 10-20 minutes of where I am - so what's driving that desire to move much farther away? Is it just escapist? As GAP indicated - it was originally that I couldn't afford nicer views where I am but that's not necessarily the case now. I've found two houses recently I'd consider moving to locally - but although they'd probably be smaller than this home - they wouldn't offer any saving in cost by the time I take the cost of the move into the equation. This house is relatively new - those houses are much older so from an energy efficiency perspective could be a lot more expensive than they appear...
- Do I want to be a hermit and draw up the drawbridge? In which case that doesn't seem that healthy a life choice...
- Am I still in recovery and therefore want to draw up the drawbridge temporarily only?
- What do I really want from my life?
Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
2) £1.6K Net savings after CCs 14/8/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £25.3K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.2K) = 31.1/£127.5K target 24.4% 15/8/25
4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
5) SIPP £4.8K updated 29/7/256 -
just to add a clanger into the works you dont have to be slim to kayak I'm very overweight and I kayak a lot ... same for paddle boarding8
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