Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

Humdinger1

Cats were worshipped in ancient Egypt @KajiKita; what, pray, has changed?! Happy New Year to us all love Humdinger xx 

KajiKita

Humdinger1 said:

Cats were worshipped in ancient Egypt @KajiKita; what, pray, has changed?! Happy New Year to us all love Humdinger xx 

As far as Chloe is concerned, absolutely nothing, of course … 😉❤️😂

KK

MFWannabe

KajiKita said:

I have done the money shuffles post payday, set up a new YNAB sheet for January, a ‘Produce value tracker’ sheet for 2025 and moved excess current account cash to reasonable interest rate savings. 

Even with paying down my CC completely (ie. not waiting for the next statement / bill), I am running at 10.7 months EF. 

I think I am feeling confident enough now to ‘lock away’ £10K of savings (designated for next car purchase in c. 5 years or so) in a high interest, no access for the duration without penalty, account. I will have a look at what is out there for this.

Still not making any significant OPs or any transfers to pensions until I understand what is going on with my pay. Sitting on this is sooooo hard! 😂 Who knew I would become like this …. 

Had a £200 cheque clear in my current account a day or so ago that I posted to H@lifax back in early November, but it is so long since I ‘deposited’ it I’m not sure what it was for … ah, hang on, looking at the dates, it was probably a cheque from my mother for my birthday at the end of October. It is safely tucked up in savings now and will offset what I have spent on myself in the run up to and over Christmas with a little left over for renewing my Tr0pic products which will be coming up soon 😊

So, overall, nothing especially exciting happening here, but I am organised and have a clear slate for 2025. 😊 Very different to this time 3 years ago 😉

KK

Some of the 5 year savings accounts are worse interest rates than the easy access; the only way they are better is if the interest rates drop 
I have the bulk of my savings in a cash isa and I think I’ll look at increasing pension payments this year 

South_coast

Can you not pay in cheques via the Halifax app? 6 weeks to clear AND costing you the price of a stamp is a ridiculous state of affairs!

KajiKita

South_coast said:

Can you not pay in cheques via the Halifax app? 6 weeks to clear AND costing you the price of a stamp is a ridiculous state of affairs!

I tried via both the Halifax and nationwide apps but because of the way my mother writes her cheques with big black ink lines after the text they won’t accept them via app. It’s not usually this slow - usually it’s within 5 working days of posting them. I think my letter got forgotten about… 🙄 I won’t be sending cheques to that branch again! 

KK

Brie

KajiKita said:

South_coast said:

Can you not pay in cheques via the Halifax app? 6 weeks to clear AND costing you the price of a stamp is a ridiculous state of affairs!

I tried via both the Halifax and nationwide apps but because of the way my mother writes her cheques with big black ink lines after the text they won’t accept them via app. It’s not usually this slow - usually it’s within 5 working days of posting them. I think my letter got forgotten about… 🙄 I won’t be sending cheques to that branch again! 

KK

Deposit via the post office?

f0xh0les

Happy New Year!

I have been up a ladder all day.  Bliss!

KajiKita

I managed to get out in the garden for an hour at the end of the day 😊 Stripped all the tape off the cardboard I saved, pulled and cut down the top of all the weeds in the bed, chopped up the cardboard, laid it down, watered it, spread the HM compost I riddled yesterday over the top and weighted down the edges with anything I could find - mainly stone slab off cuts. 

Overall, apart from a huuuuge Sage bush, that is spreading wider and wider, the veggie patch is looking better than it has for the 5 years we have lived here 😊 And yes, there is more to do still, but it’s manageable amounts left now. Feeling very pleased with myself. 

Mr KK has been modelling (carefully) all day. His Beaufort torpedo bomber now looks like a plane ✈️ 

Before:



After:



The full veggie patch (spot the Sage bush! 😂)




KK

SandyShores

That's an amazing bit of work you've done on the veg. plot there Kajikita.  

@Brie I haven't deposited a cheque at the post office for about 15 or more years.  Didn't realise you could still do it, but I've checked and you're right you can.  You still need to have one of the special paying in envelopes.  I remember it being a fuss at our local PO as they didn't have any, so I got some from my bank and they didn't seem very pleased.  So whether they just didn't want to do it I will never know. I usually scan the rare cheque I receive, but I had one for £10k the other day and had to make the trip in to town but handy to know I could possibly pop to the PO.

I'm loving reading about your planning for 2025 Kajikita, and amazing you can put your money away for your car.  Mine has gone into PBs and I know an interest paying account will on average be better, but I like the thought of being in it to win it.

Here's to a good 2025 for us all.

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, excellent work there, and I'm glad Mr KK is feeling a bit better!