Two years to mortgage neutral...

curly_moose

Thanks @South_coast, my mum is pretty placid too and not super mobile. It does make things easier, as we aren’t worried that she’s going to do something that’s a risk to her or anyone else. But it is still rubbish; I’m sorry you and your family had to go through it with your gran.

My ‘lose weight to save money’ plan hasn’t been going well. Mainly because it was more of an idea, and less of a plan. I’m going to regroup over the long weekend and work out what I’m doing with it.

It’s been a pretty indulgent week. I ended up in London for work last week and made a long weekend of it with a friend. Even staying at hers, I probably spent £100 on eating out, takeaways, travel, etc. My ‘food’ and ‘fun’ pots are looking a little sad for the rest of the month, but totally worth it. We had afternoon tea at Kew Gardens and it was the loveliest thing. If I lived in West London, I’d be there all the time!

There are going to be a few more trips down because of a specific work project (including today - I’m happily ensconced in First Class, because somehow this was the cheapest ticket). I’ll need to be a bit more restrained, but I’m going to see if I can maybe catch up with a cousin while I’m down at some point too. I used to take travel so much for granted, and when we were locked down I really regretted not making the most of the places I got to go to for work, because I always thought there’d be another chance to go there.

curly_moose

So, I feel like I should talk money. I get paid mid-month, which I use to work out the budget for for the next month. I'm about £40 down in May because of the NI increase. I'm trying not to resent the billions wasted over Covid through test and trace, bounce back fraud (which apparently we've written off, even though we'll pursue benefits overpayments literally years after the fact - I don't necessarily think this is *wrong*, but it is inconsistent) and the contracts handed out unlawfully through the 'VIP fast lane' to people who weren't equipped to fulfil them. 

May isn't actually looking too bad. I'm going to use the council tax rebate towards replenishing the savings that went on my new boiler. I reduced my mortgage overpayment by £300 in March and April towards this as well. After this I'll be £990 down from where I started.

I've upped my energy direct debit a bit. It's probably not enough in the long term, but I've got a fairly decent chunk of credit in the account, so I'm just going to keep an eye on it and see how it goes. I'm going to cancel the RAC cover, because I can get it free through work. I'm thinking about cancelling my contact lens scheme too.

Yesterday was fairly good (£1.55 on an egg mayo sandwich for lunch), but today's been spendy-ish. I walked into town and spent £25 in L1dl. £8 of this was a bottle of Rheingau riesling, which looked really good though. I got some brow gel since it was 15% off beauty at J0hn Lewis. I've got £51.88 left to get me to the end of the month. 

badmemory

I too find it irritating that they can chase someone who makes a DWP type error & even take it from their state pension if they have no money before then, but someone who doesn't pay the massive amounts they owe in tax or steals the bounce back loan gets away scot free.  A friend knows 3 people who took the max £50k loan, shut their business down, sold their houses & went to live abroad, breaking all contact with the UK.  Disgusting behaviour.

curly_moose

@badmemory that's awful! I know someone who knows someone too. Cynical me wonders if pursuing it would mean closing some of the loopholes that our current crop of politicians and their friends also benefit (or have benefited) from and that's why there isn't the same impetus to protect 'tax payer's money'.   

curly_moose

Where did that go?!

I've been trying for a lowkey month, because June and July (and August 🤦🏻‍♀️) are going to be spendy. The most exciting thing was seeing Kit Harrington as Henry V in a National Theatre Live thing. My lovely friend bought the ticket for my birthday and then unexpectedly treated me to supper out when we met before the show. 

Things are a bit better with mum and dad. We managed to sort some self-funded respite a couple of weeks ago, so he got his first proper break since the early 2020. And I feel like everything's a bit more manageable when the sun's out.

I've started trying to get rid of some clutter on V1nted. I've been holding out, because the adverts everywhere are the *most* annoying, but they won me over with no selling fees. So far I've sold some random salt and pepper shakers and a hair potion for a princely £11.

That can go in the 'free money squirrel fund' when it comes in. I've been clearing whatever I haven't spent at the end into there too (I've got my eye on a treat for my next big birthday), but I'm going to let it build up in the categories now. Over the next few months I've got afternoon tea and a show in London for a friend's hen do, a trip down to the south coast, and I've booked a paddle boarding holiday in August. I am *so* excited about this. I did some last Summer and it was the best thing, but I've only paid a 30% deposit so that's going to come due in July too. 

Ooooh, and I forgot the main thing I logged in to report - I've officially paid off 60% of my original mortgage! 🥳

savingholmes

Well done on the mortgage. 

Lovely that your friend treated you.

Sounds like you and your Dad are dealing with a lot. Glad there was some respite.

Just wanted to wish you good luck on your journey.