Starting afresh in paradise

ManekiNeko

Good news - the water company woke me by calling early, but they're going to try their best to come out tomorrow (basically they will come unless there's an emergency).

So, fingers crossed that means I'll be able to replace my stoptap tomorrow (I just need to double check if my partner is free to teach me). I'll try to check whether any of the flecks appear prior to the old stoptap, which would indicate they're getting into the supply between the mains and my flat, e.g. in the block's pipework. That'll be a really technical process 😂 basically my idea is to have two buckets/cups, one before the old stoptap and one after it, and see which one(s) have the flecks.

The results might or might not be clear, and I don't yet know if it'll fix the flecks in my water, but if nothing else at least I'll be confident in my new stoptap after the work, and it'll be easy to turn without risking making my wrist worse (I have RSI), meaning I can happily get on with any plumbing work around my home after that. 👩‍🔧

I've also got my OCD course starting online this afternoon, which I'm feeling a bit nervous about. Hopefully it'll be useful though. I'll be making myself a nice coffee ☕ in a bit and getting my laptop all set up.

ManekiNeko

On an OPs front, I think I forgot to say I got some good savings interest paid out at the beginning of this month - £1.64 on my current account and £7.93 on my savings account (which pays quarterly). So that's £9.57 to my OP fund. Every little helps. 🪙

On and off, I'm still feeling a bit anxious about how much interest rates could have risen by the time my fixed rate ends, made worse by having only recently discovered on the boards that apparently you can move house during a fixed rate. If I'd have known that I'd have fixed for a decade. Oh well, you live and learn I guess - nowt I can change now. But in essence, my monthly payments are currently less than 20 per cent of my income and things are fairly tight. If my fix ended today, my payment would be about 25 per cent of my income. And ofc, if rates get even higher, that could look even worse. I know it's not a big problem in the scheme of mortgage problems, or a big amount to most people, but to me it's a lot of money.

I don't want to stress though as it'll just make my health worse, and I like to be positive, so instead I'm trying to see my feelings as motivation to OP, in much the same way as I'm trying to see the energy price cap as a two-year grace period to make my home more energy-efficient.

I'm hoping that I might be able to save on electricity and gas a bit this winter compared to what I'd budgeted for, so that might become OPs or be put towards energy efficiency measures. By rights it should be the latter.

The size of the mortgage challenge feels a bit daunting when I'm on such a low income, but I've seen that others do things like surveys and online tasks to get little bits of extra money - anyone got any recommendations of what I should try? Of course, I'll have to notify my benefits, but I think I'm allowed to earn a little bit without it affecting the amount I receive, because of my disabilities. I do still want to rent out my car parking space but I want to change my name first, for safety reasons. So also need to spend a bit more time to myself pondering middle names (I already know the first and last name I want).

Merlin's_Beard

Prolific is what I'd consider the best survey site on the internet in terms of time spent vs money earned and reliability. YouGov is reliable but slow. YLive (previously PopulusLive) is a decent earner but slow and screens you out a lot.

Fingers crossed for the water people. And as far as fixes go, there's very little you can productively do about it beyond what you're doing (OPing). How long are you fixed for?

ManekiNeko

Thanks Merlin, I'll have a look into them. I saw on MSE that Swagbucks is having a new customer offer with a £20 Amazon voucher, so I'll have a nosey at that too.

Cheers, I'm back at mine now for the night so hopefully they'll come at a sensible time tomorrow. We nipped via B&Q to pick up some fine wire wool - my partner says we'll need it to ensure a very good seal. I'm definitely learning lots here and I know I'm very privileged to have a good teacher helping me. I was thinking about it earlier in the car and people pay very good money to learn this stuff.

Well yeah ... like, I was more meaning, I'm taking it as inspiration to be more creative with the ways I could save/earn money to OP with, if that makes sense? I'm fixed until February 2029 so a good long time, and if I'm back to work it'll be fine either way, but just in case I'm not, or only manage to get back part-time, I'm thinking the more I can drive down my balance now, the better.

Speaking of - an OP of £3.76 tonight, as I worked out I can withdraw cashback from my Chase account anytime. I'll aim to do that once a month.

ManekiNeko

My signature is driving me vaguely mad - don't suppose anyone knows how to add coloured text to it? (Like blue, pink, etc.) I did have a good search but I can't seem to do it.

ManekiNeko

^ Omg a short post. Wonders will never cease lol.

Just a little update that I've registered with Swagbucks because of the Amazon offer, but it's not exactly quick going. I'm not sure if that one is worth it or not. I'll register with Prolific next, like Merlin suggested. I did used to think that the answer any question job over text messaging might be fun, but I seem to recall it was very over subscribed. Idk, I need to sort a little something anyway. When I know what I'll actually keep I'll notify my benefits - no point rn as I'm on the fence of deleting my account.

The OCD course was interesting today by the way. Lots to think about, and homework to do. It's shaping up to be useful if time consuming.

My DS says they might complete by early to mid November, which means I need to get my skates on ⛸️ and collect my stuff from her and my mother's homes. Time to book the movers. I think my DP is out on Saturday so I'll be round at his with nothing to do - so I'll try to do it then.

I also had a quick look and British Gas seem to offer good customer service, especially for vulnerable customers (which I hate the term, but I qualify as). Given they're all the same price just now, I'm hoping to switch, because my current supplier SSE are super useless. You can't even talk to them on the phone or get any sense out of them (I gave up in tears last week), and after two months I still don't have an in-home display for my electricity, nor a smart gas meter installed (which I requested in July or August).

In a sea of to do lists, which I swear get longer daily rather than shorter (is this just me?? It feels like it, I seem to generate a million projects) I'm looking forward to seeing my knitting friend on Monday for a coffee and a chat. I'll also be helping my DP with his car this weekend, as he's managed to get hold of the discs, so we're finishing off his brakes. With any luck, we might be able to collect some of the furniture his family have gifted to me, too.

Water board can turn up from 8am.. bleh. I'm not even tired yet but I'm trying to unwind.

ManekiNeko

A DIY post, so skip if you prefer the money stuff.

Right well, I bought two saws yesterday (one big one small) and removed the boxing from the RHS of the toilet.

The short version: Water board came out, water off, stoptap replaced. However, had to re-use old olives and nuts as olive was pretty jammed on there. Water on, stoptap had minor dampness but improved with tightening, decided to let water inspector go, stoptap worsened with final tightening, had to call water board back and wait two hours, water off.

Highlights were the sawing and managing to get an extremely tight nut loosened off by myself. 💪 Lowlights were getting totally overwhelmed at one point and being unable to take in any more information. I'm hoping this will improve as I get more familiar. I'd also definitely like to do more strength training after I get settled there and into a routine.

Basically it's a bit frustrating that it didn't work, but it's not hugely shocking as we had to re-use the old nut and olive (which my partner suspects aren't a perfect fit for the new tap, since the edge of one of the olives was visible even after tightening). My DP has been meaning to buy a blowtorch so he's going to get one and we'll move the stoptap up a bit so it's easier to use and work on (it's the same height as the toilet waste pipe just now, and pretty close to it as well, so it's super awkward). I want to buy an olive remover, too, just in case of future issues.

Also, my bathroom tap sprung a leak yesterday and made a small lake on the top of the wooden cupboard under the sink. Fortunately I noticed it in time and the seal held, so only a few drips got to the exposed wall under the sink. Basically, I need to get a new sink and a new tap (because I was planning to replace the sink at some point in the next year or two, so might as well make sure they'll be the right height for each other), plus new WRAS approved flexipipes, plus two isolating ball valves as my bathroom pipework is old enough that the taps are plumbed directly into the copper pipes. This isn't strictly wrong, but is annoying as I had no way to prevent the bathroom tap continuing to leak while we had the mains water on (given my stoptap wasn't right).

So - onwards and upwards - we'll try again next week. But absolutely no water at mine at all right now and until we've done the work, so I'm grateful to be at my partner's just now, instead of nipping out to use the supermarket toilets lol.

ManekiNeko

I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated. My mental health deteriorated quite badly in early October, and I ended up going to stay with my partner for quite a long time as a result. He very generously said he didn't want any money towards food or bills, so I saved quite a bit by not having to spend on these essentials nearly as much as usual.

The big October news was that I finally went to collect my things from my family. The move itself was a nightmare - it began well enough, but I was very stressed by it all (having spent the entire weekend packing, plus my OCD kicks off during moves, plus generally family stuff), and by the end it was drenching rain. Nonetheless, I'm relieved it's all over and that I have all my stuff and therefore can't be held hostage to it, as I was always feeling before. I was happy with the movers on the day as they worked like Trojans, but later realised I should have claimed for some damage to my favourite armchair. I should really follow this up, but haven't managed it yet, basically due to my brain not playing ball with me to say the least. I was also a bit irritated to find that the company apparently has no record of the extra fees that I was charged on the day of the move, not least because it's harder to include in a DHP when you can't prove the expense on an invoice. Speaking of DHPs - I went into the Council drop-in session in November, and applied to get help with the crossover in rent between refuge and the mental health house (that'll go straight to the refuge if approved), as well as two sets of moving costs from this year (which would be paid, or part-paid, directly to me if approved). I haven't had a decision but apparently the Council is a bit backlogged at the moment, and I can hardly talk since my mental health meant I hadn't submitted it since my first move in April (whoops). The woman at the drop-in chased it up for me last week and said to drop by again tomorrow if I'd not heard anything, which I haven't.

I spent some of the money I'd saved by being at my partner's on getting more tools and parts, but it was all quite a slow process as I've been struggling with the complexity of ordering such things (not really that hard when I'm level, just an Amazon order), again because of mental health. Despite this, we eventually finished the work on the stoptap, which is to say it's been a) replaced with a new one, so it can no longer drop bits of rubber into my drinking water supply and b) successfully re-located to a height where you can easily turn it off. So, the mains water supply to my property was restored, and we were able to check the kitchen plumbing, which was also solid as a rock, so finally (!) I was able to put the fridge and washing machine back in their proper homes. For most of the autumn, the fridge had been in my hallway, and I had to pull it forward every time I wanted to go into my bedroom - funnily enough, this rather put me off the whole unpacking lark. So, the sudden emptiness of my hallway freed me up to start cleaning cupboards and unpacking after the house move, which I started last week with a friend who is kindly helping me when she can. I was supposed to be carrying on this week, but I kinda collapsed in a heap after a nice-but-stressful visit to family this weekend, not helped by worrying the whole trip home that my connecting train(s) would be delayed or cancelled, leaving me stranded or with an expensive taxi trip home. I got as far as booking a taxi for the last leg, but then my final train was delayed also, meaning I didn't have to pay out extra in the end. But I certainly won't be doing another trip back later in the day, and especially not on a Sunday night.

I also received a £200 payment from the Council towards winter fuel costs, which I put towards on an electric blanket, electric gilet and a winter coat. It's not the intended use perhaps, but I'd rather have the items and use them to keep me warm than continue to run my heating endlessly as it's simply unaffordable. So basically, this makes my winter bearable when I run my heating at 14' (when I'm sat around) and even 12' (when I'm in bed). This will probably save me a whole packet, meaning I can hopefully afford to do more things to make my home more energy efficient.

One piece of unfortunate news was that the toilet sprung a catastrophic leak (the waste popped off, such joy), typically on the same day we'd finished with the stoptap. It leaked through the ceiling and down onto the shared porch area, which is fortunately outside and tiled. Less fortunately, my neighbour slipped on the water and nearly fell, injuring his hand as he grabbed at a door handle to save himself. I was very apologetic and he isn't mad, but yikes. I had visions of a several thousand pound bill as I saw the water start to run across my floor. Anyway, I got it all cleaned up and just need to order, you guessed it, some more parts and tools.🤨

This week I'm doing my best to finish unpacking (or at least get it done enough that the place is functional) as I'm hoping to spend the next couple of weeks here, just relaxing over Christmas. Of course, the toilet plumbing needs doing, but maybe if I'm lucky I could get it done by the weekend. We shall see, as my mental health took another hit at the weekend, but I'm starting to feel a bit better tonight. I've had a few big mental health meetings, by the way, with more to come. Basically I'm trying to get a support worker again, or similar, as I'm really struggling without one. It's a rough process trying to get one though, which ironically can make me more unwell.

ManekiNeko

Okay, here's a bit more detail on what's happened lately with money:

My friend has kindly started work on a programme to help me calculate my mortgage free efforts. It might not be quick, but is a really motivating idea, as I can't do a lot of the sums I'd like to be able to.

The CAB have applied for a grant for me, to help with the costs of setting up a home. I'm eligible as I've been living in emergency accommodation. They put it in yesterday, and it could take up to two weeks to hear back. The guy I saw was a bit arch with me, but at least the form is done eh.

I've had the police out to advise me about what standards to look for in my locks, as I want to upgrade my home security in case of my ex finding out my new address. This is looking like an expensive project, maybe £1k - £1.5k but I don't completely have quotes yet and I won't bother asking for some until my home is more unpacked and I have my desk rebuilt and functional. I plan to apply for a DHP to see if the Council is willing to assist with these costs, they've said in person it's worth a try, particularly given my situation with my ex.

Obviously I've had to spend a lot on tools and parts, but equally, it's significantly cheaper than hiring a plumber, and has the added benefit of improving my DIY skills so I'll need plumbers less in future, too. And at least I can re-use the tools for years to come. There will be more to do, as the bathroom tap has also sprung a leak, and if flushing the system doesn't work to remove the black flecks, I'll have to also replace the kitchen tap. Such fun.

I've been awarded Council Tax Reduction in full, which means I don't have to pay Council Tax at all. This will obviously change when I'm well enough to go back to work, but it's an enormous relief for now as I can't afford it in the slightest.

My energy supplier are apparently running an energy-saving scheme in partnership with the national grid, but I haven't been invited to it as yet. If I get time, I probably ought to call up about it, but I also recently came to the top of a waiting list to join a different supplier, who don't have standing charges (instead, the first kWh used each day is charged at a higher price). That is, if I'm at home it's really no different, but when I go away I won't have to pay the gas standing charges which will save me money. That supplier says I can't join quite yet, but they think probably early in the New Year, so they've asked me to call back then.

Okay, that's the headlines. I'll do a separate post with what I've actually OP'd, but maybe not tonight as I'm getting quite tired already, so I'll have to leave you in suspense for a bit, sorry lol.

ManekiNeko

This isn't my figures as I'm only on my phone - haven't woken up yet 😝 but just wanted to say that one massive relief this autumn has been that the government have now confirmed they'll increase benefits in line with inflation, e.g. by 10.1 per cent I think it was, as they take the September figure.

This will make a massive difference for me, making my budget feel much more liveable, rather than worrying about every little cost. Ordinarily I'd say it would make it comfortable again, but with inflation still rising plus debts to pay, I doubt that. But at least it'll stop me panicking about things, and means I only really have to watch my spending massively for a few months. Hopefully that'll take me out of my current headspace with money, which seems to flick between spending like there's no tomorrow and feeling I can't put the heating on, even when I have credit on it. This is at least partially because of a past abusive relationship, as my ex financially abused me and often pushed me into debt. So now if money feels tight, I automatically clamp down hard on my spending, even if I actually can afford to spend something, and I can avoid buying even things I really need. The spending lots isn't frivolous stuff, it's needed things for sorting my apartment out, but it can feel a bit compulsive to buy the things right now rather than waiting a bit longer to save up for them in a more controlled way. I feel it's rooted in a similar place mentally though - my brain seems to have the idea I won't be able to afford it later, so I'd better buy it immediately.

So basically, I'm hoping having a little extra cash coming in each month can let me relax about money again. Never fear though - there will still be plenty of money saving happening! 😉 It'll just be in a more chilled way.

My partner and I were talking about an article in the news last night, which said the average mortgage payment is going to go up £250 to £1,000 in January, with rents also expected to rise significantly as landlords pass costs on. This did make me a bit twitchy, as I imagined my payments increasing after my fix, but I also feel there's little I can do differently at the moment. That's especially considering I'm still doing essential works to my apartment, so it's much harder to OP right now, and I have quite a few extra expenses yet to come. However, I remain conscious that when my fix ends in Feb 2029, my payments are likely to jump up (if I moved onto my bank's current SVR, that would be 8.99 per cent and mean my mortgage payments more than doubling to c. £480 a month, compared to c. £220 now), and during my fix is therefore my very best chance to OP - and doing so is my best chance to drive my monthly repayments down, despite interest rate rises. Ofc, I'd aim to remortgage, but even so I doubt I'd see rates this low again. (Although I still really can't complain, as renting privately here might be £525 to £600 a month.)

All of this brings me to a money saving quandary - do I use all of the benefits increase to make my budget really balance, e.g. put it towards heating and food costs mostly, plus a bit extra to save and spend each month, leaving me feeling comfortable financially - or do I tell myself my mortgage is 'going up' in April and put some of it towards a regular monthly overpayment? 🤔

I'd like to pay my sister back within the seven years of my fix, too, because not having to pay her £100 back a month would mean I could put that money towards any future increased mortgage costs - but I'm finding it hard to justify paying extra to my debt to her just now as I'm worrying about my mortgage costs rising in future. I haven't overpaid her anything so far because of this; I just look at how much interest I'd save by OP'ing and realise it makes no financial sense right now to OP onto a debt I'm not being charged interest on. With that said, I don't enjoy owing people money, and I worry it could affect our relationship, especially if we had a falling out for any reason - or if she suddenly needed the money really badly, say if they started to struggle financially. Pondering this morning, it does feel a bit ethically wrong for me to get more income without upping my payments to her. I'd be more likely to stick to it if we had agreed a new payment, such as an extra £10 (or whatever) a month on top of the £100, as then I'd know she was expecting that money and might be relying on getting it.

My other option is to treat the money as a true extra each and every month, and put it towards bigger jobs in my apartment, such as improving energy efficiency (so many possible jobs to do here), or saving towards sorting out the electrics. I will obviously be searching for any grants or help I can get towards energy efficiency, but I doubt they'd cover 100 per cent of the costs. At least with the energy efficiency work, I can financially justify it quite easily, as it would mean spending less and being much warmer this coming winter, e.g. over time I'd see money coming back to me repaying the upfront costs. Apparently the government is also set to announce its new targeted energy support which will apply after April, and I imagine I'd be included in that, although time will tell. If I am, and if the help was provided as cash, I'd likely use any cost of living / help towards fuel costs payments to improve my energy efficiency rather than directly on my heating bill, but that will obviously depend on exactly how high prices go - at some point I'd have no choice.

Lots to consider here and I'm interested in your thoughts on what I should do. Everything feels important just now, in different ways.