Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

carolbee

Ooh, what was the market like? I live close to Canterbury but not been yet 

newgirly

Hi Carolbee, some of it was shut but it was ok 🙂 not a massive amount of stalls mind. 

We are away again tomorrow for one night to Winchester for the market with best friend and her dh, however i need to pop to hospital first tomorrow and hope they will see me as I did a home blood test and it’s in an unsafe zone, not sure why though but I have to get it checked and dosage adjusted asap, probably back on the daily jabs now too 😒  

I’m too busy and too tired at the moment and it’s not been December yet 😆 This is the last time we are away until the week after Xmas (York again) so I shall try and take it a bit easier, no point in arranging so much it tires you out when all you want to do is stay in and watch rubbish on the tv, look at the Xmas tree and drink hot chocolate! 

A bit more xmas shopping has been done, I’ve also returned a few gifts and re bought them cheaper in the Black Friday sales 😬 I can’t help it, it’s annoying to pay more. It’s mostly done now, just a few left to get and all on budget (£100 pp for us, the kids and partners and a £30 secret Santa for my family, plus a few friends in-laws) I do save monthly for birthdays and Xmas presents and I’ve also saved £1 a day since Dec1st last year as I knew I would be hosting this year so that should cover it all. 

I’m going to check the accounts now and see what’s what, dh still hasn’t been paid yet this month, they do like to drag it out! 

skint_spice

Hope you get your bloods sorted out soon 🙏

newgirly

Thanks skint spice, I’m glad I went as it was just over the levels I would need daily injections phew! They don’t like me using a home monitor (only the second time I’ve used it) so the receptionist is saying don’t tell the nurse you checked yourself and the nurse told me recently to not tell the receptionist if I need to bring it forwards due to self testing 😆 I don’t self test instead of going though so I see it as a positive, if I’d waited until my appointment Tuesday I may have ended up worse but then. 

Winchester is a fantastic Xmas market, we have only visited briefly in the summer before, but it’s all round the cathedral grounds, many lovely things but strangely much dearer than say York/Canterbury/Nottingham where we have visited the markets recently. We had a really lovely meal at the Ivy last night and best friend and dh paid the bill before we asked for it, very kind. It was a thank you for booking the hotel for the night for them, which was thank you for all the support she’s given us this year. A thank you for a thank you 🤣 oh well it was a very nice meal, best friends dh has a snowman for dessert under a glass dome that “snowed” when it was lifted, the most amazing dessert I’ve ever seen! Dh and I need to start eating out in nice restaurants, it was great fun however very £££! 

We are home today, leaving around lunchtime so they can all get back in time for football, dh has been given a spare ticket for West Ham so will be going with ds1 ,dh however supports arsenal so MUST keep this quiet in the stands, ds1 has warned him of this as in his words, there are some nutters nearby to his seat 😱 so that’s now something I wish I didn’t know 🙄 
I’m planning on unpacking when home and having a rest, the last few weeks have been far too busy, with nice things that I’ve been itching to do this year but I think it’s a bit much for me still really so I will try and take it easy this week before it becomes hectic again. 

newgirly

How annoying I  just wrote a long post and got distracted and it disappeared 😩

Dh was out last night until 2am so I’m very tired, he was with ds1 and his friends at an indie night 😂 he’s not one for going out now so will be suffering today and he’s going into work when he gets up, luckily ds2 is helping and driving him in! 

Plans for today are to make plans and lists  😬 life is has really been way too hectic lately and I’m starting to realise it’s not always that good for me, so the plans of the plans will be :

- meal plan for the week, this is the first thing to suffer usually when I plan for others but eat badly myself 

- Xmas present buying list of what’s left to get 

- Xmas food list and estimate of costs 

- list of where I’m going and when, I’m THAT forgetful still 😳

- list of what needs doing and when before Xmas, ie. Find and wash posh glasses that are in the shed  etc. 

I’d also like to revisit the 2025 and probably 2026 financial plan for paying for the excess of holidays I’ve booked 🙄 then maybe we can start to work out what else needs paying for in the form of sensible things like house repairs and starting saving again, plus we have not really worked out when dh can retire or go part time. 

Time to get up and locate my three advent calendars 😬 I’ve a paper one from mum and I bought myself two this year as well, a national lampoons one and my first ever chocolate one, exciting times! I believe the Vicar of Dibley had thirty so I’m certainly not embarrassed having three 🌲☃️

Greying_Pilgrim

newgirly said:

- list of where I’m going and when, I’m THAT forgetful still 😳

Sweetie, if it helps, you ain't alone in that.  I am doing the exact same - plus where activities impinge on what we can/can't do in relation to any given advent activity. 

We just have to consider we are the CEO's of our own "companies" (family), and need to be diarised to assist with effective and efficient daily tasks 😉👍

Greying X

newgirly

Glad it’s not just me Greying 😆

Well it’s been hectic few days, instead of resting I decided to check the Xmas presents bought (and find them) which turned into a tornado of wrapping and mess 🙄 then various other annoying issues like not being able to log into the mortgage account online and them not knowing why, my @pple watch ecg still not working, etc. etc, I could go on! But much time wasted online and on the phone. Then I drove to pick up best friend to go to the gym and had a weird dizzy spell so didn’t go, it didn’t last and I did an ecg on her watch which was fine, however I think rest might have been a good idea really…

The end result is a very long call to the USA as the watch is out of warranty they want £318 to fix, (it’s a 7) the new 10 version is £399! Anyway I’ve bought one, almost through very under a different email for 20% off first order but they declined the order , must have recognised the name 😒 so now I’ve paid £379 on @mazon. It’s very annoying and I’ve not worked out how to pay for it yet, crazy I know. I just want to have the option to do an ecg when ever I want for reassurance. At this rate the mortgage is decreasing as fast as the cc is increasing 😂 

Other money spent was a whopper of a shop at sainsburys for us and ds2 and dil, £113.07 😱 and I’m about to book our occasional visiting dog (dil’s dads) an hour in a private field up the road for her Xmas present 😆 I think it’s about £12. She’s had a tough year getting through cancer for the second time and is stroppy with other dogs even though she’s tiny and old (she’s a rescue) so a run in her own field will do her good.

I’ve booked a sainsburys slot for the 22nd, I never do this as I feel like I’m fit and able with time so don’t need to, bit I think this year I’ll make it as easy as possible, I will still go out but won’t need to struggle with getting so much if the heavier stuff is done. 

Back soon with the mortgage update, figures got over the phone as online is still not available to me. 

newgirly

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙MONTH 26 OF THE 33 MONTH CHALLENGE💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Balance at start Oct 2022:                   £61,452.11

Balance at 3rd December 2024:          £9,996.81

Total since start:                                   £51,455.30

Total for November:                              £2,482.17 



Hooray, we are under 10k! We now have a four figure mortgage 🥳 only just and I now have a big credit card bill but still worth celebrating 😆

South_coast

newgirly said:

....various other annoying issues like not being able to log into the mortgage account online and them not knowing why

Not needed for very much longer though 😀!

newgirly

😆 kind of south coast, however we are on a five year offset fix that ends sept 2027 I think, so I need to keep a small amount in there so we don’t get an ERC, they can’t tell me how much that small amount should be though and I’ll have to work it out just over a month before 😩 but I get your point 😁

I woke up early worrying about the new watch, both getting the credit account declined, paying for it and the colour I’ve ordered (black) 🤣 so I think today is the day to do the lists I planned to do on Sunday before I got distracted with the Christmas wrapping. 

So lists for today :

xmas day food purchase lists (online delivery 22nd, Xmas collection m@s 24th and fresh on Xmas eve.)

Finances up to March and then for the rest of 2025 and 2026 (we have holidays booked for 2026 so need to budget for them) 

General to do list for December 

Packing list for York, we are going just after xmas for a few days, i love a clothes packing list and will get my bits and bobs packing done early- toiletries etc. 

Other than that it’s a lazy day indoors relaxing and maybe a Xmas film 😊