So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

greenbee

Would Mr MV like to come and visit and set up Home Assistant for me as well please?

themadvix

Morning all,

Whoops, started a post yesterday and totally forgot about it. @Greenbee, I thought it might be of interest to you, but sadly Mr MV hasn't got the time at the moment. (I think it would make a great career move for him though.) It does use our old Raspberry Pi, so it's nice that that's in commission again.

Popped to town yesterday for a couple of bits. Intended to get some fish from the fishmonger, but after seeing the crab waving at me on the counter (sorry veggies), I won't be going there again. Or eating seafood (fish, probably, but not seafood). It saved me quite a bit of money, which is why I mention it! Library books returned, birthday card bought, and stamps and cards bought for the Trefoil ladies (we send cards as a Guild, which is my responsibility, so I'll be reimbursed for these).

Mr MV was away with work last night, so I had the leftover pasta sauce he'd made for dinner, which was quick and cheap. Not sure what we'll have tonight - something with sweet potato and kale in all probability. R'ford delivery coming today, but smaller than last week.

No Cambridge meetings today, so planning on cracking on with work for main client and getting a good walk in (I need 15k steps to complete the October challenge). Mum is coming up this way later, so may pop in for a cuppa.

MS things:
* Clicks and HW
* 1P surveys
* PA survey (Foxgloves inspired me to open the webpage again - I've barely got anything in there at the moment, but I've got too much work on to worry about it)
* RM survey stuff - v. close to my first £25 voucher
* Sent more of friend's stuff - must sort out her money/my money

Movement:
* 2x yoga yesterday (I got the October yoga badge)
* Arms and yoga this morning
* Cycled to town
* Walk round the block

Gratitudes:
*Misty and ethereal here this morning
* Mr MV leaving me an easy dinner
* 2 GBBOs to keep me entertained while Mr MV was away

Have a lovely day all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Ahem... small confession to make.... I may have forgotten to mention on here that Mr MV paid off the mortgage credit card the other day! So we are officially mortgage-debt-in-any-shape-or-form free! This leaves just the solar panels, which have a year to run on interest-free credit. (Mr MV would quite happily overpay these, but it doesn't make sense given interest rates. Apologies for entirely forgetting the main purpose of this diary! 😂

I popped to the refill shop first thing this morning for a big stock up - it's been ages since I've really stocked up, but I was delighted that it came to about the same price as ever, £51. While we'll get through some items faster than others, some of this stuff will last quite a while (and also included various dried fruits which be used in Christmas pud and the fruited loaf if I get round to making it).

I've had a headache for much of the day, partly caused by Cambridge work stress (I'm a casual worker who has been left in charge of sorting a mess that is well above my pay grade! 🙄), but it has cleared up now, which is good. Have just returned a piece of work to main client too, and am starting on the next, but I don't think I'll be making much headway with that today.

Was delighted to receive an email from 1P saying that they've reduced the payout threshold to £20 (instead of £25) as I'm already there! Will be able to cash that out on Monday.

I paid myself and did money shuffles yesterday - am slightly bewildered at how much I had left after all bills were paid, but (non-holiday) spends were low this month (hooray!) and self-employed pay was the maximum I pay myself (plus Cambridge, which hasn't been the case when I've been doing this well with SE previously). Money has been allocated to various pots, completing them (as it were), and extra money put into long-term savings too. November is going to be an expensive month, with lots on, especially for Mr MV's birthday, so it's good to know the pots are filled for various things looking ahead. Once our birthdays are out of the way in January, saving will be for fewer things and serious progress should be made towards saving for longer-term stuff (some (wood?)land?).

Pub tonight (possibly a different one to usual, albeit that it stocks the same beers!) and we've got leftover Sri Lankan golden masala curry for dinner (a R'ford recipe). I'll pop the rice on delay start in the IP before we go out (owner of the refill shop and I were waxing lyrical about the Instant Pot earlier and how good it is for beans etc.).

MS things:

* Clicks and HW done
* 1P surveys
* Pesky mortgage debt gone completely (it was on 0% and Mr MV was dealing with it, so I hadn't really paid much attention! 😂)
* RM survey - just 10p away from cashing out my £25 voucher there

Movement:
* I got my 300,000 steps in October badge last night - it may have involved some marching in the living room, but only for about 1,000 steps!
* I need to pop to the post box, so will get a short walk in very soon

Gratitudes:

* Supportive and helpful colleagues at Cambridge
* A lovely chat with the owner in the refill shop - it's taken a while to get her chatty, but it's good now
* TGIF! And a lovely (albeit likely expensive) weekend ahead - out in London with the in-laws tomorrow, hopefully meeting London to Brighton friends (we're not going, but might see them) and then Sunday afternoon will be spent with Olio/cat friend, her husband and two kittens (plus board games).

Have a lovely weekend all!

Baileys_Babe

Congratulations on clearing the mortgage 🎉 

Maximizing the interest on the solar panel money is a good move.

Your weekend plans sound great, have a lovely time. 

rtandon27

Woohoo - well done Vix - well impressed that you've cleared the mortgage & almost there with the panels!  That has got to take a load off mentally!

LadyWithAPlan

Wow well done on the mortgage ! Was it a windfall or just saved monies that you finally moved over to pay off the mortgage 

I love dishoom and do go the one in King’s Cross as a treat - so I will try the instant pot dal version .. I am cooking pulses every day now as I am largely eating slow carb 

newgirly

Congrats on paying off the the mortgage 0% cc Vix 🥳 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh yes,  I'm not sure i said that either,  congratulations! 🥳

themadvix

Thanks all! LaPlan, all savings. We had the money saved 6 months+ ago for the last little bit on the 0% cc (when our fix ran out we had ~£6k left on the mortgage so wouldn’t have been able to get another deal and the SVR was 7.5%, so we got a money transfer and have been paying that off). But then we (intentionally) bought a car, so needed to replenish savings to pay it off. The 0% doesn’t run out until Feb, but Mr MV just wanted it gone.

Had a lovely day in London yesterday, but it was tiring! Didn’t manage to catch up with our L2B friends sadly, but had great time with the in-laws and then wandered to Covent Garden (Mr MV wanted to look at a specific coat in a store there) before catching the train home. Despite the temptation and need, we managed without further food (after a nice lunch) until we got home and had some toast.

EssexHebridean

Oh Vix what exciting news about the mortgage “debt” being officially fully gone - that’s brilliant!

it often strikes me what significant changes to lives this place makes - as we all get inspired by other people’s stories and actions and so influence our own lives - not always just from a financial perspective either! It really is rather brilliant isn’t it!