Prosperous soul, mortgage neutrality & creativity Year 2

savingholmes

Merlin's_Beard said:

Are there any friendships from church that you could rekindle outside of that setting or were they more situational without enough foundation to survive without that framework?

I can definitely sympathise with the inner rebel and being overly influenced by others - I've deliberately tried to keep family out of my house so that my house is full of my opinions, instead of my reaction to their opinion. If I get too many other people's voices in my head I lose any sight of what I actually need or want.

That's what the second friend is. I did see someone I knew from church at the weekend in a shop and had a good catch up - and she made it clear they'd love to see me go back. Someone from church did give me their contact details a while ago and say I should go around for coffee when I'm next in her area so I should follow up.

Glad I'm not alone on the inner rebel - Merlin and Jwil.

Thanks Beanie and Sunshine - Last time I went on meet up I couldn't find anything local.

HSL - I will look again at evening classes. I did look at my nearest college the other day - and there wasn't anything that appealed - I will look at one a little further away.

FS - I like the idea of WI - just struggling with that first contact - but I will explore that again - thank you.

I have two viewers this weekend. Will see what happens. May see if I can view a house over the weekend.

My mortgage has gone out today - so around £661 off the capital - will update my signature. 

I also got a random refund but don't know what it's for from B.

savingholmes

I also got £21 in interest which is always nice.

savingholmes

I finally overcame my inertia and am moving a pension from Av*** to Vgd. That will drop my fees from 0.5% to 0.14% I think. I've changed the fund to one that I'm using for my AVCs as that is giving a 7% return this year where my Av*** fund keeps yoyoing. I've intended to do that for about a year now. I asked Av*** for some info on my pension and their answers were unclear and their website too hard to use (the relevant part of the site keeps being down - so gave up with them and transferred it out). Apparently it can take up to 10 weeks which is ridiculous. I'll let you know how I go on. 

Work has been calmer this week but only because it's the lull before the storm. The people from last week are still working to resolve the issue which means part of my work is on hold so I can at least look at my backlog of items.

beanielou

Hope you can have a lovely relaxing weekend. 

jwil

I've recently done a transfer for DH and it took around 3 weeks (different companies though).

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie and Jwil.

One of the work things that was really worrying me seems to have been resolved today. I'm still waiting for some of the work to be redone though on another part and will find out Monday if that's been resolved or not. The person I spoke to yesterday about the issues had been on holiday last week and seemed pretty clueless so not sure how much to hope!! At least it's meant I was able to catch up on some of my other work.

Tonight I was grateful to past self as I had some baked potato skins from the freezer I made a few weeks ago topped up with salad - and also had pork and mash for lunch. Still have one last portion of pork for tomorrow, a tiny bit of the cajun chicken which I may freeze, and half of the potato skins. I've taken some lamb medallions out of the freezer to defrost. I need milk, potatoes, fruit and veg but other than that should be okay grocery wise for a bit longer.

I have viewers tomorrow so need to make the rooms I'm using look pristine again... I'll be glad when that part is over. Thinking back to last night's post - it's not so much that I don't want to move - I just keep second guessing myself on how far away to move and what to spend. I still would like a fresh start. Ideally I'd like beautiful views. I definitely don't want to be overlooked.

I've been on RM today and have selected some nearer houses to view in a range of prices and will see what that brings. There's one very close to me that has a show home look - but is on for the same price as mine - and if anything seems slightly bigger which I know I don't need but is nice. It has an updated kitchen I like and updated bathrooms and seems to have nice flooring throughout. It also has an orangery which looks stunning. If I don't get what I want for mine - and they don't accept below asking offers - I could be up to £20K adrift though. (I could keep my cleaner and handyman though and would be at least a whole mile closer to work LOL). At the other extreme I considered a house much closer to work (walkable for a fit person) on for £80K less than mine which seems tiny in comparison - but would give me a monthly saving and knock years off my mortgage. Will see how I go on. Most of the others would add up to 20 minutes each way to my work commute (a once a week if that issue).

My viewer tomorrow claims to be chain free while the one on Sunday claims to be a first time buyer. Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to an open house for a property overlooking a field to the rear. Looking at the layout it's my least favourite from today's short list but will see how I get on. At least each viewing is teaching me more about what I want.

I've just put my heating on as I was feeling the chill - and just wanted the comfort of a warm house rather than an eleccy blanket - as I need to move around and tidy my mess away.

Have a lovely weekend all - off to check if EH moved okay!

MovingForwards

Glad your meds arrived and your apt went well. 
It's worth a look locally, or closer than you have been, as there's going to be properties meeting your wants. 
Can you do something with your neighbour, ease into being round different people when your out. While they're not part of your group, attempt a brief in passing conversation and it will prepare you for taking on an evening class, WI etc.

Swayingseaweed

Good look with the viewings 
Seaweed x 

skint_spice

Hope your viewings go well🙏

jwil

Hope the viewings go well.  It's a good idea to try a wide range of different properties and locations, it will help you pin down what's most important to you.