So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks L9XSS It's good to know you're doing OK with no dig! 

Slept well last night, so feeling much more with it today. Also feel like there's a hundred things I could be doing for different projects/things happening and not sure where to start (I am, it starts with paying myself!). Am going to attempt a mega list of all the different bits for different things and try to prioritise them. 

Managed to go overdrawn on one of our bills accounts this morning, due to fiddling with them to open my Virgin account. I think we caught it quickly enough that we won't be charged, but I need to sort out what went wrong there.

Dinner last night was roasted tomato risotto (with free toms) as planned, and I think tonight's will be stir fry - not had one in a while.

Mr MV booked a tasting tour in Lynchburg yesterday I can't stand JD, but it'll be an interesting place to visit - the town looks very picturesque. 

MS things:
* Clicks done, nearly at payout for HW and BIng now - that'll be Uber credit for our holiday, I imagine.
* Cat is being sat - I get a glimpse of him in the evenings when he thinks its his owner coming home (then he runs back upstairs!)
* More cat sitting starts today
* I have a call booked for Monday with the colleague of friend I saw on Tuesday about some temp work for her
* After warming the house this morning, the heating has gone off again - it may need a boost, but we'll see (loads of solar gain here this morning - great for our sunny dining room and the solar panel!)
* £37 cashed out from Prolific this month!

Gratitudes:
* Glimpses of the cat I'm looking after
* An early night and a good sleep
* Potential work!

Have a good day all!

themadvix

So, I've finished invoicing for the month and we're back to lower income levels again. Fortunately, last month was a bumper month, so even with my horrific cc bills (some of which is budgeted for and some of which Mr MV owes me), I've left £650 in my business a/c for next month. I've also got some cat sitting payments to come in (~£250) on top of what I've already invoiced for. And there's prolific and the work platform (cut-off for payment for that is 12 April, so room to increase from the £50 in there at the moment). Ooh, and the £70 for the market research.

Given I won't be earning very much in May at all, and I'll need to pay June's bills, April needs to be a very cheap month, despite needing to pay for holiday bits and pieces! May, apart from household bills, will be mostly covered by holiday fund, so that will help - and a lot of it is paid for already - it'll mostly be food and fuel while we're away (pleased to hear about Biden's release of oil barrels!).

... After a lot of faffing I've finished adding the anniversary fund, topped up the holiday fund (extra to my monthly addition and put some money in savings, even with it being an expensive month. So I'm happy with that. (Not as much to savings as I need to pay this mortgage off early, but something is better than nothing. And I also haven't asked Mr MV for money, despite paying for several takeaways/fence items.... he is paying for most of our holiday after all and pays for a lot of other stuff. Analysis shows the allotment cost me ~£250 - this was for £93 of compost in a bulk delivery, £40 in Wickes compost and £90 for the rent (including deposit for key  (£15) and shed (£30), so will be ~£55 in future years). I have also paid off my prescription sunglasses (ready for collection ) and walking boots (wearing them as we speak, to see if they're OK), using some birthday/Christmas money - the payments weren't due until next month, but getting rid now makes the balances on my ccs much more palatable!

The April challenge is on! No idea what it is going to involve though, but as little spending as possible! I'm going to be self-isolating from 27th April (I'm not risking not being able to go after all this time!), so that will help!

Upcoming known costs/events:
* Lunch with friends on Sunday - taking pudding, a rhubarb crown and marmalade (so no cost)
* Niece day on Tuesday - low cost cinema, bus fare and some chocolate eggs (to make Easter nests) - I do actually have a little bit put aside for this/her birthday trip, which will be later in the year)
* Party for my Aunt's 60th at Easter - have a large box of chocs I was gifted that will be part of her present. Also going to make rhubarb and ginger vodka/gin - need to buy spirit.
* Dad's birthday - will make card (as for many other birthdays in April!) and a present is budgeted for, but no idea what yet! (Will possibly also include some beer as we have a cupboard full of stuff he likes and Mr MV doesn't from Christmas).
* Suitcase - probably need to buy rather than borrow, especially as I know exactly what I want (but need to check the size)
* Covid tests for travel
* Passport photos and IDP for driving in US (approx £10 each)

At the moment that's all. Food wise, we didn't have a veg box delivered yesterday and none due next week. We do need carrots and onions though and I need some other bits from the zero-waste shop (c. £10?). Will obviously be maximising what I can get from Olio. We have some stuff in the freezer but it's not full. I'm stocked up on tea though and Weetabix!

Suffolk_lass

If there's a Morries near your zero waste shop their wonky carrots and onions would be around a pound for both (I think 1k of non wonky carrots were 39p yesterday as I bought some when collecting my TGTG bag!)

themadvix

Afternoon all,

@Suffolk_lass, how did you know there is a Morries near my zero waste shop?! However, I didn’t need that many carrots or onions, so didn’t spend much but probably more than on wonky ones.

I did get everything I went out for and then got back and put the rhubarb and ginger in with the sugar for stage one of the gin. 

This morning I’ve been down to the allotment and made good progress - one of the compost bags is now empty! Also rejigged the netting on my beds with stuff in, so hopefully it will stay put a bit better. 

This afternoon will involve making some cards and less manual labour- my back is aching! I might make some chocolate brownies - there’s a Tesco recipe for making them in the microwave.

themadvix

Morning all,

I didn't get around to making the cards (I read a book instead ), but I did make the brownies and they came out really well - recipe is here, if you're interested. Also popped the vodka in the rhubarb and ginger gin, so that's now got to be left for a couple of weeks. Had a lovely day seeing our friends yesterday and meeting their second little girl. It seemed like ages since we'd seen them, but that just seems to be how life is these days, with everyone catching Covid.

I've been to visit a cat client this morning (and there's another one this evening) and have been doing some other bits of work (including a platform job). This afternoon I'm meeting my ex-Brownie friends for a catch-up and should also be having a call about some work - slightly concerned that the lady hasn't got back to me with a time though. I'm also beginning to think that I may not be much help to her, given that I'm going away fairly soon, plus while mostly it would be remote, I won't want to go into the office at all in the two weeks prior to going away. We'll see - there might be something I can help her with.

In other news, my car has been making vibrating noises for several months (it passed MOT with noise), but this seems to have worsened recently and Mr MV thinks it could be the gearbox. So I'm not using it very much/for motorway use, which would also make going into the office tricky - although unless it was a Tuesday, Mr MV could use the Mini and I could use the hybrid. The cost of replacing the gearbox wouldn't be particularly high, as he would do the work.... but given I was thinking of getting a new car (except Mr MV wants to keep my car, even if I replace it), it's a bit of a pain.

MS things:
* PC survey
* Cat sitting and more cat sitting and another enquiry for just after Easter - a repeat client, so I've said yes.
* Collecting some bread for lunch shortly
* EBay sale - I'll only 'make' the postage money, but it's something I was given for free and it gets it out of the house
* Leftover raspberries and blueberries from MIL as they are going away
* Took a jar of HM marmalade and a rhubarb crown as gifts yesterday and friends were thrilled (which is good as I was worried they might not be impressed!)
* An update on a piece of work I'm expecting - arriving Weds/Thurs
* Mr MV has a call with Eon today about possible solar installation - they are offering interest free credit for the loan, which is appealing

Gratitudes:
* Time with friends yesterday
* Weather is improving for tomorrow's Niece Day! We may do some seed sowing
* Catch up with friends later

Have a good day all!

Suffolk_lass

Please post more about your solar installation progress. Looking at the Scottish Power website, it does not have to be their contractor and as long as the contractor is reputable we are keen to explore and get it done before our fix expires (not until 31st Aug 22) - I might check if there is a thread or comparison option now...

themadvix

Will do. I suspect there are going to be supply issues though. My sister works for a solar company and she's having difficulty getting hold of panels at the moment, and that's before the big surge in interest. (We've also asked her for a quote, but they don't offer the 0% interest on the loan.) The contractor's Eon use are also approved by Octopus, which is our supplier, so that's as far as we've got with that. Nice fix, btw!

Suffolk_lass

Noted re supply and demand.

I have looked at the comparison table for SEG here and currently Tesla are paying the highest rate via Octopus (this might change) and I have averaged out our usage (alarmingly 2.943KWH per hour in the dark months) - of course an array would typically be something like 3.5KW.

The article on here is from a week or so ago.

Can you have a separate meter for your SEG to your consumption? (given they don't have to be with the same supplier)

No idea if a battery bank would be possible here, how much it would cost, how long it might last, storage overhead, whether it could be used with a SEG, the benefits and dis-benefits - in my head it is also whether having these storage devices also needs to be run via an inverter to convert 12v to AC?

Sorry, using your diary to brain dump a bit but you have probably researched all this already

QueenJess

Ooh - me too... please tell all.  After 5 years of moaning at DH, he has finally agreed to look into solar panel installation!  Sadly not researched anything yet and I suspect there is a lot to find out.  I would like batteries so I can use as much of it as possible, but not looked anything up yet.

themadvix

Haha, I expect Mr MV knows all the answers SL, but I haven’t got a clue! I’ll ask him later! 😂