Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

Cheery_Daff

Yes, I always curse myself when I don't track things properly as I go along! 

Glad you got out in the garden for a bit 😊 Shocking price of tyres at the big place 😱 I have all weather tyres on both cars - I never go out intending to drive in the snow, but if I'm at work and it starts snowing, it can be quite a lot worse at this end and all weather tyres give me a fighting chance of getting home without ending up in a ditch. We usually get Tyres on the Drive to do them, and they cost roughly the same as your local garage, pretty reasonable.

KajiKita

Cheery_Daff said:

Yes, I always curse myself when I don't track things properly as I go along! 

Glad you got out in the garden for a bit 😊 Shocking price of tyres at the big place 😱 I have all weather tyres on both cars - I never go out intending to drive in the snow, but if I'm at work and it starts snowing, it can be quite a lot worse at this end and all weather tyres give me a fighting chance of getting home without ending up in a ditch. We usually get Tyres on the Drive to do them, and they cost roughly the same as your local garage, pretty reasonable.

Oh that’s really useful feedback, thank you. They seem like good guys - very Forest, play a straight bat, lots of banter and obviously repeat customers etc, but it’s good to know the prices are comparable.

I’m very much the same with my locations - there can be barely a flake of snow at work and already 2 to 3 inches at home! 

KK

KajiKita

I have sat down and done my best to divvy up my savings according to planning ahead on YNAB principles. 

If I have got my sums right, as well as enough categories for the savings that I need at this stage e.g. being six months through the annual cycle for the hedge cutting that we have done once per year, then I have £4,470 in my emergency fund / new car fund. I know I shouldn’t combine these two, but until I have a lot more cash stashed then I will combine these two. 

Some things I have learned from this:
- my mobile contract ends in June this year, at that point I will ask my provider about a sim only deal - I am hopeful that will save me c. £15 to £20 pcm
- I suspect our homeband (MiFi) will also be up in June this year. We may or may not have fibre available to us by then (there has been much road digging up over recent months laying the cables etc but I’m not sure when the go-live date is) so I will have to investigate what the options are by then
- my annual Duolingo subs will be due in May - do I pay this or not …? Something to think about …..

Interesting exercise to do, to see how much of your ‘savings’ is already ‘consumed’ if you plan ahead. I know it will need constant updating and refining, but I hope I have made a reasonably good stab at allocating costs / funds, mainly from my record keeping throughout last year of ‘miscellaneous spends’ that were forever tripping me up! 

The next step, towards the end of this month, will be the allocating of all monies when I get paid. I will see how much of a gap I have then and if I am a month behind in cash flow or a month ahead. I suspect I am a couple of £hundred behind, but this will define it. 

KK
 

KajiKita

In other £cial news. Mr KK’s accountant died suddenly just before Christmas. His accounts have to be filed before the end of January. He’d given his tidy, organised, arranged as usual, ‘books’ to the accountant about 6 weeks before she died but didn’t know if she had filed his accounts before she died …. He looked into his HRMC online account this morning and discovered that she has, which is a huge weight off his mind. They are calculating his rebate which should be with him in the next 6 weeks or so. I am trying to encourage the paying of this into his savings account ….

He now needs to visit the accountant’s family to ask how to pay his bill and try to retrieve his ‘books’ …. Awkward.

KK

badmemory

If Mr KK keeps good orderly books is there any chance he could file his own return next time.  Once you've done it the first time its a doddle.  He could see what she has actually filed & hopefully work out from those figures & his books just what he needs to sort.  He must also disconnect the accountant from his HMRC account as at the moment she may be the only one who can actually do anything active on his account.  I stress may as not all do that.

KajiKita

badmemory said:

If Mr KK keeps good orderly books is there any chance he could file his own return next time.  Once you've done it the first time its a doddle.  He could see what she has actually filed & hopefully work out from those figures & his books just what he needs to sort.  He must also disconnect the accountant from his HMRC account as at the moment she may be the only one who can actually do anything active on his account.  I stress may as not all do that.

Thanks for the heads up on possibly needing to disconnect his accountant from his HRMC account - I will suggest he checks that.

I did already suggest to him that he could submit his own return. I expected a flat refusal as he’s not usually very confident with such things, but he seemed thoughtful rather than resistant. I’m sure between us we could figure it out. It can’t be that complicated as he is just a self employed, no employees or subbies etc. so it can’t be that difficult. 

KK

KajiKita

Even more proud of myself!

Cleared, photographed and listed the spare bed on FB MP and put all the stuff back on it, apart from a few bits which I have relocated in Mr KK's room (helmet) or binned (out of date hot water bottle).

One thing that strikes me is *why* in all the God's names do we have so MANY duvets .....???? Are they running a covert breeding program in my house or something??! 

There will have to be a 'site meeting' and a sensible discussion about what duvets we actually need.  Or maybe I will just have the meeting by myself, followed by a pre-booked tip run, as Mr KK can't seem to ever throw things away - which was fine when we lived in a house with a huge attic (not so good when it came to emptying it!!) but less useful when you live in a little cottage with limited storage options ....

KK

KajiKita

And finally, I will shut up eventually!   

I have also listed on FB MP the Bulldog cross stitch kit I bought from Etsi for one of my team for Christmas - very shortly after I ordered it she completely disappeared .... I never do cross-stich - does my head in following those chart things so I'd rather it was gone and turned back into funds in either my purse or my savings account. 

An NSD today - 6/15 target for the month   

KK

SandyShores

Hi Kajikita, with the surplus duvets - I've just done a similar cull.  We have a local gifting site and I advertised the surplus ones on there for free and they were snapped up.  I don't know if your local tip recycles bedding, but if they don't and if you can't give them away to someone who needs them, Dunelm have a Textile Take Back Scheme - you just pop your items in the box by the door https://www.dunelm.com/info/about/take-back-scheme.  My airing cupboard feels very tidy now - and I've used a black marker pen to mark the sizes on the labels so I feel very organised.  Not sure why most of my duvets don't show the actual size on the label. Well done on all the progress you are making.  Sandy

LadyWithAPlan

Lots going on at the KK household it seems.

I am currently decluttering and have a new to me bedside cabinet that I have laid all my makeup in the drawers, especially with my new xmas stuff, so much fun but much like your shower gels - with the exception of mascara I may not need any new makeup in 2023!

I have always filed my own s/e taxes - its easy as you do online and hmrc guides you through the process. Just have your figures ready before you start - it honestly is simple.