Single Mum: Freedom in Narnia

jak

All went well with my appointment and I am cancer free! Woo! Thank goodness for that!
I spent yesterday at the old house cleaning and have got more to do today. The shed of doom needs clearing which I'm not looking forward to at all! Ergh. Plus it's raining here. Yuk.
Narnia is as lovely as you would expect, though I really need to unpack properly. Creative boy sorted his clothes, and by sorted I mean scrunched them into a ball and threw them in his wardrobe, so that needs clearing and his drawers filling. 
I've also got removal people coming to pick up the old washing machine, fridge freezer and oven today. I'm hoping to get a time soon as I'll need to have someone at each house for the pick ups and I need to arrange that. 
In mortgage over payment news, I've put by £1,000! I'll call up and pay that off next week some time. It's a nuisance to have to phone them each time. Maybe that's why you have to do it! To put you off so it costs you more in interest. Oh well, they'll soon get used to hearing from me...
Right, must unpack something, not just laze around in bed all day!
JAK x 

Merlin's_Beard

Congratulations on being cancer free! That must be a massive weight off your mind and I'm so happy for you. Sounds like things are progressing as expected (including your son's definition of putting clothes away!). It's a shame your bank doesn't let you overpay via standing order or bank transfer, seems like a waste of everyone's time.

jak

Thanks @Merlin's_Beard. It's such a relief! 
Argh. The toilet has broken upstairs- plumber is coming on Thursday, and my shed floor is rotten. Got loads to do still. 
It's weird, I've moved in and everything is breaking! It's still lovely but stressful! 
Creative boy goes on a ski trip in Dec with school. I made sure to pay for it before the move but didn't think about the cost of clothing etc. I spent £147 on ski gear yesterday! Eeek! My plan is to sell it after the trip if possible to try and recoup some of the costs. He still needs goggles and a couple more t-shirts but nearly there now. 
Yeah, it seems like a massive waste of time to have to keep calling the mortgage company. So daft really. 
JAK
x

jak

My emergency fund now stands at £3,248.52! Woo! Christmas fund is £98.89, holiday fund is £74.20, Mortgage over payment fund is £ 199.77. 
Christmas should be covered with that as I've bought most presents already. I just need Creative Boy's gaming stuff, which has a budget of £80. Plus a few small gifts but nothing major. 
I'm going to wait to make my over payment til the end of the month as I want to get a handle on my bills in Narnia. Plus I've got the plumber coming on Thursday to sort out the loo so I need to make sure I've covered that.
It's ONS study time again, so that will be another £40 is vouchers coming our way. Creative boy gets the £20 in his account and I keep the vouchers which works well. I usually get a@da vouchers but may change to different shop. Not sure yet.
Right, off to a meeting now, then the heart failure nurse this afternoon. I'll be interested to see if having had covid has effected my heart. Hopefully not!
JAK 
x

jak

GAH! The toilet upstairs needs the cistern replacing. It's totally bugg+ered! Mum has said she will pay for it for my Christmas present! It's So lovely of her, I can't believe it! She definitely gets extra Mummy points for that.
Creative boy is with his Dad this weekend, so I am living my best life: De-fleaing the house! We've had a problem with the pests for a while now. My dogs have been licking the drops off each other, then giving the resulting fleas to the two cats. Disaster! I've got new stuff from the vets- I'm minus £100 BUT at least everyone should be ok for 3 months now, plus ive sprayed the entire house! I'm now working through all bedding plus blankets. 4 loads of washing down bu getting there.
Money wise, I should be able to actually make my first proper over payment next week. It should be around £300 so I'm pleased with that.
JAK 
x 

Merlin's_Beard

Hate fleas! So hard to get rid of once they're in. If you put damp washing over the radiators, the humidity helps to flush them out and come into contact with the spray/flea treatments so you get on top of it a bit faster!

jak

Oooh great tip, thank you @Merlin's_Beard. I'm hoping I got all the little blighters! Literally everything has been sprayed/washed/flea'd. 
The latest small house disaster is that my dry stone wall has fallen down in the garden. Luckily the garden is still secure for the doggos but it will need to be sorted...
The upstairs loo is finally being fixed on Monday! Wooooo! Can't wait! The plumber needed to order a part. It hopefully won't be massively expensive.
I'm looking for curtains, taper candles and 2 candle sticks for my lounge. I actually went to the shops yesterday but couldn't find anything! The search continues. I'd rather not order online if possible as I'd like to physically see them and make sure they are the right fit for Narnia. Dunelm has just opened so I'm going to try and get over there next week.
Creative boy is with me this weekend which is nice. We watched the footie last night and are spending the morning with Grandma today. The church has got a bazzarre on so I have high hopes for a tombola. I Love a tombola. Mind you, the last one I won the grand prize of a litre of gin and I don't drink. It was still very exciting tho! 
JAK
x  

jak

OMG I just got a good condition cheque from motability for £350! Woooo! I can get my wall fixed! Yay!
All is good in camp JAK
X

jak

Well, I spent £80 on curtains for the office! Crazy amount but they are so beautiful and I've taken it out of the motability refund so really free. Sort of...
I still need a really long door curtain but can't seem to find one long enough. Ideally it should match the new curtains so I'll keep looking. 
My first proper mortgage overpayment should be happening next week! I've been putting money away but i'm waiting for my first actual payment to go out first to make sure I know where I am. Then i'll give them a call and make sure all is well. 
Christmas shopping is virtually completed. I just need a couple of token gifts. One of them is for my ex husband from my son. I resent buying him anything as he never bothers to get me anything from my son but creative boy would be very upset if I didn't. The things we do for our kids eh?
I'm lagging lightly behind on the holiday fund. I tilly tidy into it every day plus any free spins winnings go in there. I need to save £67 pcm ideally as we are going to California in April. I've paid for the flights but we will need spending money. 
Creative boy's ski trip is also fast approaching. He leaves a week Friday! I think he's got all he needs now but will be getting it all checked off the list properly at the weekend. 
JAK
x

Merlin's_Beard

Haha that makes me feel better about the £64 set of curtains for my home office that I'm eyeing up. They're very nice but very expensive for the smallest set possible....!

Well done on Christmas organisation, I'm properly jealous of people that can get their ducks in a row this early.