Money-shuffling towards mortgage freedom

MeandO

Thank you savingholmes xx

MeandO

My garden is finally being started! Hopefully we will actually have a garden soon as we have had nothing more than a bit of waste ground out the back since we moved in and it was open on one side so anyone could walk in. It does mean, however, that I will be paying our more money imminently. £2700 went yesterday towards materials and an initial payment, the remaining £4050 will be paid upon completion. I also need to get fencing and a gate sorted. I have a pot of around £6k left excluding the garden, but the fencing will have to come out of that though. 

I’ve just sent another £100 to the mortgage after realising I had the money in the renovation account to cover it. £100 to go this month. I have a refund on the way of £59.40 so that will go towards it for starters.

MeandO

I’ve just bitten the bullet and sent the extra £100 to the mortgage now anyway. I have it in the account and the refund will go towards covering it. 

New figures:

Mortgage @ March 2019: £107K, Now: £78,000
Mortgage OP's 2022: £1499.14 
Total OP’s: £5290.83

I’ll just try and pay off what I can for the rest of the month now without making myself short. 

savingholmes

You sound like you are doing so well. I dream of my mortgage being that low. One day...

MeandO

The overpayments have ground to a halt for a little while now as money seems to be seeping out of my account left, right and centre. I have paid the second installment towards the garden and have £2700 left to pay upon completion which is currently sat ready in my 'house and garden' pot in YNAB. I also have the final payment for the new front door in that pot too so at least both of those things are covered.
The garden is looking absolutely amazing, I cannot believe how much they have achieved in less than a week. It has been transformed from an unuseable wasteground full of builder's rubble and uneven weed patches to a lovely tiered space with a patio. I am finishing one section off myself to save money, not sure what I'm going to do with that area as I don't really want a lawn. I am thinking of raised beds to grow veggies one side and some planting the other. Speaking of planting, I bought some cheap herbs and lavender plants from Aldi this morning whilst picking up some shopping. The plants are small but I will keep them inside until they are big enough to go out. Better than paying twice the price or more for bigger plants later on.
The original builder is returning next week to finish off a few small jobs for me and to put a final new piece of guttering up. I'm hoping his bill will be under £500. The last expense will then be fencing and gates - there are currently none of either and it is completely open to anyone (and next door's dogs who frequently mess in my garden. I had a quote this morning for 2 simple (but large) driveway gates for over £3k!!! I have looked on ebay and can get some made for around £500 - I know which I'll be going for. The fencing quote is yet to come in but I need it to be under £2.5k, I don't know if that's realistic or not.

It's been a stressful few days as DS had his procedure in hospital. He reacted badly after the anaesthetic and his airway was compromised twice. He is fine now other than a cough, but I am a nervous wreck, constantly checking on him. he has slept in my bed for the past two nights so I haven't ad a lot of sleep and am constantly listening for his breathing.

OH and I were planning on going out with friends next weekend but I am going to speak to him about cancelling it. I can't afford it at the moment and I know he is also trying to save money, so he will be fine about it I'm sure.

I am getting quite worried about the cost of everything now. Everything is creeping up as we all know and I'm worried about affording things in the future. I think I may start concentrating on saving a bigger emergency fund for a while now and just pay off little bits to the mortgage or perhaps split any money between the two.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Hi MeandO, gosh the garden sounds amazing, its funny how much outdoor space can improve your mood! Got everything crossed for the price of fencing, wood is expensive at the mo. When our fence blew down in Franklin we put stock fencing up, not the prettiest, and we didn't have the tool to tighten the metal properly, but it looks fine and I have planted some shrubs/hedgy plants. It has come in at under £70, I dread to think how much another fence would have cost. Not sure if that would be an option for yourself, but would definitely keep the dogs out! 

Aw poor DS, I am glad he is recovering well, I cannot imagine how stressful this has all been, you must be exhausted! The increases are quite scary aren't they, its so unnerving to see everything creeping up and no signs of stopping. I am doing an ostrich, sticking my head in the sand!

savingholmes

Glad DS is recovering. Sounds traumatic. Gentle hugs ((()))

Garden sounds amazing. I'd prioritise EF if I were you.

MeandO

Thank you Aimingforthegoodlife and sorry to hear about the expense of your fence too. The garden currently has no fencing up at all and is completely open to anyone to walk into, so I will be really glad when it's done!

Thank you SH and I hope you're feeing better now. I think you're right about the EF with everything that is going on in the World at the moment.

MeandO

I'm feeling extremely low today - cold, tired and just like I want to crawl back in to bed and cancel today. I'm not sure why as DS and I had a lovely afternoon and evening yesterday after he came home from school, but I didn't sleep well, so perhaps it's tiredness. I'm going to hopefully have time for a hot shower before I pick DS up today with the hope of both warming up and waking up a bit.
In money news, the front door has now been fitted and fully paid for. They found a different issue whilst removing the old door and frame which I am hoping can be easily fixed or, will be fixed by having the new door there now - I just have to wait and see or get the builder to have another look. 
I've shuffled the budget round today and freed up £20 to send to the mortgage. I know an EF is probably a better idea at the moment, but I will have around £5K left once everything's paid for (hopefully) so just wanted to send a little OP today to feel like I've actually achieved something useful and drop it down into the next thousand bracket.
I've listed a bag of DS's too small clothes for free on FB, I considered ebaying but just can't summon the will. I also have a few other bits to list but again everything seems like too much of a frog to swallow presently.
The garden still needs a bit of work to be completely functional, but I did manage to hang some washing out there today which gave me great pleasure - its the little things - although it equates to a big thing not having to use the tumble dryer with the cost of electricity at the moment. 
The increase in prices of everything is still scaring me as it is most people I'm sure. I've been making conscious efforts to turn things off and use the oven less as that seems to be the big cost. I do have a de-humidifier on today though to try and reduce a damp issue, so am nervous about the cost of that on the electricity bill.
OH and I have cancelled the night out with friends we had planned this week, we just can't justify spending the money on anything not-necessary at the moment. We both have a lot to pay out for and are trying to save money.
I've paid off the credit card today - I'd put the £500 gate on it for protection as bought online, but it's all cleared. Just the cost of the fencing to cover now. The timber and materials has come in at around £1700, now to just find out about the labour costs to install it all...

Honeysucklelou2

Wow, you have achieved so much...the garden being done, the front door fitted and reducing the mortgage! Well done!

Hope that you are feeling better soon.