Money-shuffling towards mortgage freedom

MeandO

Thank you Cornish_Mum xx

Long time, no post. I just haven’t felt like it to be honest as I haven’t been able to send any great amounts to the mortgage and money has been tight. I was paid only 4 days ago and money has already been flowing out like water. 

I bought DS’s new school uniform for going to secondary school. The ex did agree to pay half so at least I haven’t had to fork out for it all myself. I just need to buy a few more pairs of trousers and some shoes nearer September. Likewise, the ex agreed to go halves on extra tutoring for DS in a subject he is struggling with. I really hope it helps DS’s confidence.

I hosted a sleepover for DS and a couple of his friends at the weekend and took them to a local activity and then ordered pizza. To cut the story short, it has ended up costing me around £100  in all but DS really enjoyed and I have been promising him he could have a sleepover for some time. There won’t be another anytime soon though!

The two pairs of trainers I ordered some time ago finally came and both were too small so they are packaged and ready to return tomorrow. That will be a refund of about £78 so will help towards costs. I still need to buy a new pair of trainers but it will have to wait for now.

I have also joined a gym/pool to try and help me get fitter both physically and mentally. It’s £30 a month, so a big financial commitment for me but I’m impressed with them so far. I’m planning on going as often as possible to get my money’s worth. 

I finally have a doctor’s appointment booked for tomorrow rot discuss the pains in my heel, my knee, the headaches I’ve been getting for a week or so and the absolute exhaustion I’m feeling permanently. I did warn them I had a bit of a list…

I paid £16.51 off the mortgage today to round it down to £76,500 exactly. I already sent the normal £83.49 I overpay every month too. The mortgage payment will come out of the account within the next few days so I’ll be able to round the balance down a little more.

Definitely in need of a lot of beauty sleep, so that will do for now. Night all xx

savingholmes

Good luck for your appointment.

Well done for holding steady.

Honeysucklelou2

Just catching up MeandO...hope the doctors appointment is helpful. 
Well done for making those overpayments. 

Mrs_Money_Penny

Good luck at the Dr’s today xx

Mickyh-s

Hope all goes well at the doctors.

I had a tutor for my ds for English and science GCSE. We needed good grades in science as he wanted to study engineering - he passed both so money well spent.

MeandO

Thank you for your kind words savingholmes, Honeysucklelou2, Mrs_Money_Penny and Mickyh-s. 

The doctor was quite helpful and has arranged for me to have an X-ray on the knee and to have various blood test taken. He also gave me some stronger painkillers and Omeprazole to avoid issues with the painkillers, but I’m not entirely sure I really need the painkillers at the moment so won’t take them unless I really feel the need.
He has emphasised the need for more exercise, which I’m trying, but lack of childcare is making it impossible for me to get to the pool so far this week. All of the ex’s ‘new family’ have now tested positive for Covid so DS will be with me for some time now which is lovely, but means no chance to use that gym/pool membership I just signed up for unless I take a day off work.

Thank you for sharing your experience with the tutoring Mickyh-s, good to hear it helped your son. My DS has gone from being selected for an excelled learning group in maths as he was achieving above the class to having absolutely no confidence and struggling, so I think the tutoring is a good idea and will be worth the money. 

Today we collected two magic bags which were an amazing buy. Lots of sandwiches, filled rolls, pasties, pasta & salad bowls, fresh fruit and, much to DS’s delight, iced filled doughnuts! 

I’ve frozen what can be frozen and shared our haul with OH so he will have some nice treats for his lunch for the next few days too. I will drop some sausage rolls over to OH’s parents tomorrow as they are partial to a sausage roll and there were three in our bags. 

I contributed towards something for DS’s school leavers party today at a cost of just over £15. Tomorrow I need to pay for school leaver’s photos they’ve had done. They certainly know how to fleece parents at the moment… I didn’t bother buying the last school photos as they were awful! These are lovely though so will buy the cheapest option I can of these. 

I also need to pick up some more trousers for DS for his new school, perhaps we’ll go one day after school this week to get it done. He’s also going to need costumes for a school production they’re putting on soon. 

I posted the trainers for refund today so hopefully that money is credited soon. 

I also made a compliant recently about our bath - it’s no longer holding water as the seal around the plug has failed but it’s all built in. The whole bathroom is less than a year old and so the company I bought the bath from have agreed to send a replacement part which I’m really pleased about. 

Off to sleep now, hope everyone has a happy Thursday. 

savingholmes

Well done for tackling things that needed doing like the bath. 

Magic bags sound great.

At least you get a short break from Ex.

Chrystal

Haven't heard from you for a while.  Hope everything is OK?  XX

Mrs_Money_Penny

Yes hope things are ok with you xx

MeandO

Hello everyone, sorry for being MIA. I have been here but I don't seem to have had time to think lately let alone post and nothing very positive has happened on the money front, quite the opposite.

The Summer holidays have been lovely so far but tiring. We've been away every week either staying with my parents or in the area they live (OH and I camped one week), so it has been so wonderful to see everyone for a good length of time but I'm finding it so very hard now we're back. I miss them all so much, as does DS. I REALLY want to move back home now more than ever but it's not possible for several reasons so am trying to throw myself into other things to keep busy so I don't feel so homesick. I have been driving back and forth every weekend so have spent a small fortune on fuel but grocery spends have been low in comparison as we've not been at the house much.

I haven't been able to overpay the mortgage by any considerable chunks but have been sending little bits to it as and when I can. Just under £10 was sent today by rounding down the bank account. I have also upped my monthly regular OP slightly as the new mortgage rate kicked in and the mortgage went down a little to £414.26 a month so my OP is now £85.74 to round the whole thing up to £500. I try and ensure I OP at least £100 off the mortgage a month if I can.

The savings have taken a hit the past few months with some unplanned spending from loosening the reins a bit and I'm now down to under £4k. It hasn't been spent on 'stuff' though, but mostly some activities and having fun so I'm trying not to beat myself up too much. I have made some savings on some bills the past month by switching broadband/phone/TV to sky via TCB (£130 CB due) and also savings just over £20 a month. Unfortunately the engineer drilled right through a water pipe in my kitchen during the installation  - it could only happen to me - and so I am still chasing them doing the final fix on the repairs to the damage caused. I've saved £9.50 on boiler and central heating cover and lowered my gas & electric DD by £20 a month as I had already built up a £200 credit. We are using less than half of what they were charging me for. So, from all of this I am £50 a month better off from next month which is going to go straight into the premium bonds account to try and build the savings up a bit quicker. I am also due a refund of £150 from the credit built up which will go towards paying off the credit card for a hotel stay OH and I have booked for this week.

DS sorted his bedroom out a couple of weeks ago and (tearfully) decided he was too old for his teddies  and loads of toys. He decided to give some to a charity that we support, some to a family who were very grateful for them and we have sold some of the more valuable items making around £80 so far with around £40 more still advertised if it sells. We also sold a piece of storage furniture from his room that was not really used anymore and re-purposed a lovely desk from our old house which didn't fit anywhere else in this house and was otherwise going to have to go. I bought him a desk chair (partially using my nectar points to bring the price down) and some desk accessories and he is now really pleased with his new grown up bedroom. My sister has very kindly paid for a laptop for him for schoolwork too. 
Today I need to bank the cash DS has made, along with some pocket money relatives have kindly given him and split it between his spending account and savings. I also need to post the old BT equipment back so they don't charge me and try and get some embroidery done on DS's new school uniform. I've taken some magic bag paninis out of the freezer for lunch for OH and I and some YS chicken out for tea tonight which we'll be cooking with lots of veg in the fridge to use it up.

I hope everyone is doing ok and life is being kind to you all,

M 
x