Money-shuffling towards mortgage freedom

Chrystal

Hope you feel a lot better soon MeandO. 
You've been, and are, going through a lot of turmoil and worry.  Please be kind to yourself, you can't give anyone else water if YOUR well has run dry.  ((((hugs)))) XX

savingholmes

Hope you are feeling better. You are juggling loads - not surprising if you have wobbles.

Well done on the home improvements. Glad DS is well enough for school

MeandO

Thank you HSL2, Chrystal & Savingholmes, your kind words and cheerleading is always much appreciated. xx

Another week has passed and another £620 has been paid out to the builder for new gutters and downpipes, installing the cooker hood extractor vent (previous people didn't bother actually venting it out  ), the cost of a skip (which has been outside for a couple of months and has finally gone) and a few other jobs. He is coming back to finish a few things inside the house for me soon, then everything that needs a trade is done - other than the fencing which a different guy is doing. I was really hoping to have enough money in the pot to be able to rip out the makeshift utility room we have and to put a couple of simple units back in there and change the condenser dryer for a vented one as condensation is causing problems, but it will have to wait, as will tiling the hall floor. I've chased a timescale and total cost for the fencing but haven't heard back yet. I hope he gets back to me soon as I'm desperate to get the garden screened off and secure now as anyone can walk in at the moment. Oh, and I need to pay for turf too but will lay that myself to save costs. I laid a path and borders this week and used some cheaper paving slabs and gravel rather than extortionately priced stepping stones and decorative chippings to save some cash. It looks fine and will blend in better once I've planted the lavender borders I have planned for that area.

I've been making a concerted effort to conserve electricity and making sure the dishwasher is full before putting it on and spreading the washing machine usage out a bit. I've also been hanging clothes outside to dry as the weather's been lovely, but I have a makeshift and rather precarious clothes line at the moment until I can get to a DIY shop to buy some post-cement to put the line in properly. That's a job on my list for the next few days. I also turned our heating off completely a couple of days ago, so it is now not coming on in the mornings or evenings at all. I can't say we've noticed a difference at the moment, so I hope that's the last of needing heating until the autumn, but I just read that a cold snap is now predicted in April so may have to go back on that one. I've also got into the habit of throwing a couple of extra potatoes into the oven when I am cooking dinner so that we have jacket potatoes for the next day that we can just heat up in the microwave. Two small chocolate and cherry strudels from the freezer went in as well yesterday to fill a space on the rack, so we can just heat them up when we fancy something sweet.

I have been guilty of a couple of purchases for myself this week - some swimming leggings and a rash vest and new swim socks. I started open water swimming last year and have been using my old winter surfing wetsuit which is very tight and too restrictive for proper swimming really. My old boots are also proving really difficult to get on as I have one ankle which is much larger than the other due to an old injury and (much to my embarrassment) I have cankles... so I have been struggling to get them on. Hopefully this will all help me feel a bit more confident and allow me to get some much-needed exercise more frequently. The hassle and struggle of getting the wetsuit on and off has been putting me off! Talking of exercise and weight loss, I have agreed to start slimming world with a friend in a couple of weeks. It is extra money I really don't want to pay out, but I know I won't conquer my weight battle on my own. I need that motivation of someone weighing me each week. I'm suffering from heel pain and subsequent knee and back pain the past few months to the point where walking is really painful, so I need to do something to alleviate this. I've also spent £16.99 on a support and some physio items which are supposed to help the condition I have, hopefully that will reduce the pain a bit too.

I have a birthday this week and I've just received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my family far away which has brought tears to my eyes. My sister kindly sent me a box of treats which were also delivered yesterday, DS and I are going to have one each after school today. I'm  very lucky, my family are so thoughtful and kind. 

It's payday tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing how much back pay I receive from last year's pay rise. It will be going straight into the savings account for now to try and build up the savings again.

Drawingaline

Investing in your health is money well spent and will be a saving in the long run. I have been debating signing back up for WW but the classes are not really at a time that suits me. Will see how I go.

MeandO

Thank you Drawingaline, I hope you find a class at a suitable time, or better still, manage to do it by yourself without the spend! It's not easy though.

MeandO

It's payday today and I've received £269.61 extra from the backdated payrise, however, I've shuffled money around as normal and after allocating the right amounts for all my bills, it has literally been swallowed up and there is none of it left. I was so confused by this that I went through everything three times, but unfortunately it is correct. I had to top up a couple of budget pots from my spends and groceries first and have allocated literally every bill until next month instead of topping them up once the tax credits etc came in later in the month, so that means the tax credits, child benefit and maintenance should be able to be saved - theoretically - although I will probably need another £50 of it towards groceries and, as it's the Easter break, a bit towards more fuel and some fun days out for DS. And there was me looking forward to saving a bit more this month! 
I also realised today that I have only had one council tax free month this past year, rather than the two I was expecting. I've dug out my old bill from last year and realised it's because I moved mid year and they spread the payments out over an extra month. Has made me feel a bit flat now, but at least I have enough to pay for everything, save a little and overpay my mortgage a little, so I'm thankful for that. Talking of overpayments, I've sent the normal £83.49 OP to the mortgage (I round it the payment up to £500 a month), so the totals are as follows:

Mortgage @ March 2019: £107K, Now: £77,896.51

Mortgage OP's 2022: £1602.63

Total OP’s: £5394.32

I will keep that monthly OP going and anything else I have spare will go towards building my savings back up.

The builder came to measure up for doors today and I have chased the fencing guys. I hope they get back to me soon, I'm conscious that the back garden is not yet secure, so haven't put our tables and chairs or anything out there yet.

Bargainhunter30

Well done on getting all the work done. We have been through this in last few years and it can be so exhausting. I would recommend grass seed over laying turf. We've done both in last few years and the seed was so much easier and came up very similar. Much cheaper too.

savingholmes

That was a mammoth update. Great that your backpay arrived. I have to wait another month or two for mine which is ridiculous.

Great that most of your building work is done. We have done lawn seed in the past too. Worked fine and less labour as well as cost.

You are doing well on the OPs. 

Good luck with the fencing

MeandO

Thank you Bargainhunter30 & Savingholmes, I think I may go ahead with the grass seed in that case. I just need to get some topsoil or something as the current area is just hard, cracked mud with loads of rubble and stones that need raking out. I'm not sure about the most budget-friendly way of obtaining topsoil but will take a look.

I had a birthday this week and was kindly gifted some money by my parents and my sister. I have swept £100 over to the car maintenance pot as the car's electric window seems to have broken over the weekend and won't go up without continually pressing the button. I know the suspension will need looking at this year too. More expense there then.   
£50 has gone into a different savings post which I rarely touch, so that's brought that balance up to £1200.
I've also made a little 'tidying the balance up' mortgage overpayment of £16.51. Every little helps and all that.

I'm feeling really fed up again today, it's not been a great few days to be honest and I feel like I'm carrying the weight of the World again.
An incident occurred whilst DS was at his Dad's and let's just say, I had to tell his father to seek medical attention for DS. It's not the first time he has failed to do so. I have no confidence that DS would be looked after as he should be in cases like this, it is a massive concern.
Tiredness has been my enemy this weekend too and yesterday I felt wiped out. DS wasn't in the best of moods, was hard work and was shattered too - again usually coinciding with him coming back from his Dad's. It wasn't exactly the nicest Mother's Day tbh, although I'm not one to fuss about these things anyway, but would have been very much welcomed to have a nice day. My birthday wasn't the greatest either and, if I'm honest, OH didn't make much of an effort. Work is now miserable and I'm WFH as usual so don't speak to anyone, let alone see anyone. Money is tight, I'm chasing people to finish jobs and they're not getting back to me and my Mum is not good at the moment so the worry, anxiety and general feeling of cr&pness is through the roof! Sorry, rant over. I know I have no right to moan, there are far worse things going on in the World at the moment and I have it easy compared to a lot of people, I know. Just a week with no dramas, emergencies, illness and to be able to trust in others would be such a welcome change but I know it's unlikely.

Mrs_Money_Penny

So sorry to hear your feeling down. You have a lot going on as you have for a long time. Although it is easier to work from home I think everyone misses the interaction. Although some you can do without! Hope you feel better soon and the fencing people contact you. Then hopefully you can relax in your garden.Take care xx