Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

newgirly

Home now 🙂 
We were on the Regal princess, It went to Portland (we went to Weymouth) cobh for cork , Holyhead in wales, Greenock (train to Glasgow) and Guernsey. The weather was good for a few days and a bit dreary the rest of the time, we have been on the ship once before for a staycation trip- it was out 25th anniversary and 2021 so Covid times and was cheaper than a hotel in the uk 😆 and we loved the ship as we just chilled out most nights on the top deck watching films at night under blankets, however it was a different vibe this time as it was too cold 😩 
Great service and I think good value for money as we stayed in an inside cabin and it was £659 each for 8 nights plus £40 a day each for the drinks/tips/Wi-Fi package which we added on. No other spending really needed onboard and we didn’t bother with trips just got the train to Glasgow one day. Very relaxing but terrible for the waistline, I manage to put on five pounds and I don’t drink 😱

Still got the sniffles a bit even today so I’m taking it easy and catching up with the washing and the finances, back with a late update soon! 

newgirly

💙💙💙💙💙MONTH 7 OF THE 33 MONTH CHALLENGE💙💙💙💙💙

Start balance 1st October 2022 : £61,452.11

Balance today : £50,207.56 

Total reduction since month one : £11,244.55 

Total reduction for April : £1845.63 

The reduction figure is a little less than it should be as it’s later in the month as I’ve been away so a little interest has been added. Hanging on still but I’m in debt to myself 😩 I owe the current account over £300 (cat has eaten the paper with the figures on so I need to work it out again 😆) and I’ve used the £100 premium bond savings. 

This is the month I need to turn things around or I will never get back on top, also trying to spend £450 pm instead of £500 so I can up payments from June , as it’s the last bit needed to be able to clear in time for my 50th. 

newgirly

Figures done, I’m glad to see the offset pot building up as I don’t think things are going well at work for dh again. They have not done what they said they would originally to support the business and are basically running it dry and not investing in it at all, very frustrating. 

I’m also trying to think of the next steps ahead, should we stay in this house or move - not area but to a smaller property with a bigger garden which would be my choice 😁 or rent it out when the kids go and try and buy or rent a cheap flat and travel a lot more for a while. All ideas do seem a bit fanciful to be honest but we are kind of at a cross roads if we clear the mortgage, dd has left, ds1 will be gone inside a a year too probably, although ds2 and wife may be around longer term 😂 

I would love dh to take some planned time out at some point as he has worked for so long and I want to do things while we are still not ancient! We will see how things unfold I guess 😬

newgirly

Tired today after watching two films with ds2 at the cinema last night, the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold fry which was ok, and Renfield with Nicholas Cage which was fantastic! Worth coming in hours beyond my bedtime 😆 that’s three films so far this week so the pass is working hard. 

We are being given three sofas next week by best friend who is upgrading, I LOVE our old ones which we have had many years and we’re bought second hand on eBay looking brand new many years ago, but the devil cats have shredded them so badly the leather has gone on the arms 😩 she’s got 2 x 3 seaters and one 2 , we currently have a three and two arm chairs so no convinced it will work but I can’t say no to nice free sofas (she changes them way more than I do 😆) they are dark grey chenille fabric so I think they will go with the sage green walls ok, but I should probably freshen up the paint this week I guess. 

It also perhaps time to start painting the rest of the house and all the woodwork it’s all very shabby, I was also going to attempt painting the stairs as the carpet has gross! Decluttering and organising as well as decorating and minor repairs might be a good idea over the rest of the mortgage length, then we can decide what we will do at the end with a smart looking house 🙂

newgirly

Out yesterday as I took my Aunt to ikea, bought us a a sandwich there and got a couple of candles and a storage box too, has anyone ever been to ikea and not bought anything I wonder? 

£168.78 left of the (hopefully!) £450 budget so far this month, although we were away I left the card so ds2 could do a shop for them all while away. So there’s now £282.22 left until 3rd June. 

Over 22 days that’s £13.39 per day, which should be achievable, although I might need to buy some paint if there’s none left of the right colours in the shed, hopefully not though. 

themadvix

I have definitely been to IKEA and not bought anything... although this was in the middle of the kitchen purchase and I would storm in, use all the shortcuts, get cross with people meandering in my way and head straight to whatever it was I needed to look at/find the person I needed to speak to and head out straight away again... it was an hour each way to get there so a real pain! But generally, no, there's always time for some food, if nothing else! 😂

South_coast

newgirly said:

....has anyone ever been to ikea and not bought anything I wonder?

I did last month 😀! BF was buying though (he even impulse-bought some storage jars, which he is yet to unwrap 🤦‍♀️), so I'm not sure if that counts!

Staffordia

newgirly said: has anyone ever been to ikea and not bought anything I wonder? 

I've never been to IKEA, does that count?

newgirly

Ok maybe I’m the odd one then 😂 plus I went again today! 

Dh wanted to go for breakfast and the local cafe is a greasy spoon, local decent cafe shut on Sundays, local poncy cafe u need a loan and local garden centre average and expensive, so we went to try ikea out 😬 we arrived when it opened so it wasn’t too crazy and a normal breakfast was £3.50 and a veggie one £3 , this a revelation to me, the garden centre is £18 for two when on offer!

I’ve spent the rest of the day packing up all of my clothes except for my new capsule wardrobe, it was so good taking less away the other day I thought I’d have a go at continuing with it. I’ve tried this before years ago but did not do much research and it was a bit haphazard, I think I’ve got more idea now. 

daisy_1571

Cannae beat IKEA breakfast for value 

Dxx