Money-shuffling towards mortgage freedom

MeandO

Thank you Merlin's_Beard, savingholmes, Cornish_Mum and LadyWithAPlan. Your kind words and support are ever appreciated. 

I'm struggling to achieve much today and feel a bit like I'm wading through treacle. I've not been sleeping much for the past ten days as I've had a cough at night, so I'm sure that's not helping. I feel like I just want to curl up in a ball and hibernate. All I seem to have been doing is eating, which isn't good for me either.

I managed to save the washing from the rain (which again wasn't predicted on the weather forecast!) and what's damp is now drying in the sunniest spot in the house. 
I've planned an easy tea for DS and I and have taken some YS Italian chicken chipolatas out of the freezer to cut up and add to a pasta bake. It should make enough to freeze a couple of portions too. I really hope my little man comes home in a good mood tonight and isn't grumpy with me again as he was on and off this morning. Current tiredness levels are not going to help me cope with that very well if so and I'm close to tears already today so I really would love a nice evening with him.

I've contacted Sky again today to request someone comes and flushes my central heating out after it was drained when they drilled through the pipes. The plumbers were not the best and just patched the pipe up and left which I'm not happy about. All of the anti-corrosion additive leaked out and I think they should be responsible for making sure the system is as it was before they damaged it. They've said they'll contact the insurance company... cue another long wait. The builder only just finished repairing the wall today - over 2 months after the damage.

I've sent a small OP of £10 to the mortgage today. I know I said I wouldn't OP at the moment, but I'm just going to send little bits and pieces when I can to make me feel like I'm achieving something positive. I'm also OPing a different sub account than I normally do now with what's going on in the world of mortgages and interest rates. It's the one with the lowest interest rate, but it's the fixed rate that expires the soonest, although not for another 4 years. There is £22,000 left on this sub account so I'd like to get it as low as possible within 4 years. I don't know how well I'm going to do with this with money being so tight, but it's something to aim for anyway. 

badmemory

Does he actually know that he is being a less than polite person at times.  My DS at much older than yours was struggling & like many was taking it out on those nearest.  Perhaps a reminder that we should at least pretend to be polite to those we live with might be in order.  It may make him think of others a little bit as it certainly did my DS.

MeandO

Thank you badmemory, he got in the car tonight when I picked him up and the first thing he said was ‘I’m really sorry I’m so grumpy in the mornings, I don’t mean to be’ so it’s obviously been playing on his mind today. I told him it meant a lot to me that he apologised and that he acknowledged he wasn’t being so kind and we had a little chat about how to make the mornings better. 

I think the trouble is he is so tired as his iron is low and comp is proving to be a big step up in terms of work and organisation for him. He genuinely is the kindest, most caring child and I always say how lucky I am to have him as my son. Moodiness is so out of character for him and I think that’s why I’m finding it hard to cope with. 

Unfortunately, I notice a huge change in his behaviour towards me when he has been with his father and I am seeing that more lately. His father is a classic narcissist and DS tries to do all he can so as not to ‘let his Dad down’ which is sad. He knows he doesn’t have to do that here with me and he can just be himself but the period in between when he arrives back from his Dad’s or has spoken to him at length can sometime be testing. His condition has been giving him pain and discomfort at school today too, poor thing, and he said he has appreciated coming home to a hot meal waiting for him, a hot bath and some cuddles tonight so I guess we both just needed a hug. 

MeandO

I have finally given in and agreed to join slimming world tomorrow with a friend. I was trying to avoid paying out for it but I am feeling so low about myself and struggling to do anything remotely physical that I’m worn out all the time. I guess it’s investing in myself a bit. I need to stop eating so much, basically, that should save me money eh?

After work today I really needed to get out of the house so I took myself off to a large local charity shop to find myself a new book to read. I bought two for £1 and also a smart top to go to an event with OH and some of his friends this weekend for the grand cost of £3. I don’t really want to go to this event tbh as I’m so tired, but it means a lot to OH so I will. I also picked up a waste paper bin for DS’s room for a few £ in a different shop. 

My tyre warning light came on a few days ago so I also put air in the tyres today but it didn’t cost me anything. It used to be 20p a go at the local garages for air but this has recently gone up to 50p and £1!! Both my car and OH’s car frequently need air in the tyres - the sensors seem to be so sensitive or we have dodgy valves or something - so a few months ago I bought a little plug in air pump compressor thing from Amazon for £20 to save keep paying out all the time. I’m pretty sure I’ve already saved the money I spent on it between us. 

savingholmes

Glad your DS apologised. 

Do you need to talk to your GP about how you are feeling? Is there any support you can get to make life easier?

badmemory

Just to say my tyre light comes on whenever I go from cold overnight to going quite fast on an unrestricted road.  The only time it ever meant anything was when it just came on with no speeding involved.

Drawingaline

I never had a car with tyre warning lights before this one, when it came on I totally panicked! However when we could stop I simply got out, gave them all a kick, they looked fine so I just reset it on the menu thing. 

Then it did it again after I had two replaced, so just reset it.

Having had older cars with obvious issues with tyres I can spot one that's not right.

MeandO

Thanks all. The tyre monitor is very sensitive on my car and I do have one dodgy valve on a tyre I think, but it’s fine for now.

SW has gone ok this week, although I have struggled a little more with snacks the past two days. I’ve enjoyed eating different meals and being more in control of what I’m eating and my scales tell me I have lost weight. We shall see how the first weigh in goes tomorrow. 

I’ve had an awful week at work and there is a horrible stressful situation going on which is affecting three of us in our department. I won’t go into it, but it has made the three of us extremely angry and it also means my extra hours may now not happen. It kicked off on Monday and had me in floods of tears because of it, I was so angry and disappointed and it seems to have dragged on through the week. 

There has been some difficult DS times this week. He has been struggling with the amount of homework he now has and is extremely tired which equals moodiness, but I am trying to keep the atmosphere as calm as possible. I love him so, I just wish I could make everything better for him. 

His friend and associated Mum brought him home from school today and they stayed for a while which was lovely. So nice to have someone pop in for a cuppa and a chat. DS loves his friends being here too.

The child benefit and tax credits have come in so I’ve spread those amongst various pots. The groceries and misc spends needed topping up as hadn’t allocated much previously. Another £50 has gone to the credit card, £20 to DS’s clothes pot and £30 to his school dinner money. The mortgage is currently at £75,100 and I am so eager to pay off the £100 and get it into the £74,000s, but can’t really afford it unless I take it from savings at the moment which I don’t want to do. I might start listing some bits on eBay tomorrow and see if I can make some £’s instead. 

I have booked a boiler engineer to service the boiler and check the central heating next week. Sky have said they will pay for this to be done after the central heating pipe issues, so I have to pay it and submit an invoice for them to reimburse me. I hope they stick to their word and do so. 

DS’s procedure is on Monday and we have to prepare this weekend by him following a special diet and taking loads of laxative medicine they’ve given him. I am dreading it. If I could go through it for him, I would. I am going to be a nervous wreck on Monday. It was awful last time leaving him whilst the anaesthetic was kicking in. Now I know his airway partially closed twice afterwards, I’m feeling so apprehensive as to whether this is the right thing to do. I am absolutely terrified. 

savingholmes

It sounds like a scary time for you as a Mum and your DS as a patient. No wonder you are both feeling out of sorts. Be kind to yourself. You can only do what you can. Don't try to over-stretch yourself to be MFW - having savings preserves cashflow later if needed. I think Sky will reimburse you if you've had it in writing from them that they will. 

Drawingaline

Is you ds year 7? My oldest son really struggled with that transition, was hard on everyone!

Hope the procedure goes well, its tough trying to find the balance. My oldest son may require quite an extensive operation, but it isn't actually urgent, but would benefit him in lots of ways. We have an appointment at the end of the month to talk to the surgeons, atm I am encouraging him to go ahead with it, but hubby thinks he shouldn't bother with it.