Mortgage Free now aiming for FIRE

savingholmes

Well done on the comp win, intro isa offer and not being pressured.

Great news on your buyers. A Lake house sounds lovely.

TallGirl

Thanks Savingholmes hope you are ok?

All good here good meeting with the Danish lawyers we are going in at at £252K so a bit lower but negotiate up from there. Would be nice to get a bit of money off but we are leaving it to our specialist to do the next bit now. 

I have been trying to sort out online check in for our holiday this morning god it is awful when you are flying with a third party and special assistance. It has taken an hour so far only to be told we just need to check in at the airport. Well I am sure I knew that when we booked but best to check anyway. 

Sorted my catsitter/friends birthday present out so that is done. My mums present for DG has arrived so I need to wrap it but at least its here. No packing yet but everything is washed so that is good. They have sorted the issue with the electric so we had the power off for a bit but all done now. DG has been working since 6am standard pre holiday stuff she is already really stressed out. 

I've accepted an offer for £5 less for a Vinted skirt so that can be posted today. That is £10 in the Vinted pot for buying new stuff. DG still has no trousers all the ones I ordered were not quite right maybe on Holiday we can get some. 

Moved money out of my savings this month I am so short but I have had to pay a few joint bills and I have put a lot into savings this month so all good. The joint account will soon be more healthy as we can cancel the British Gas cover after the service is done today and also not renew the car maintenance as the MOT is when we get back from holiday. 

I do have a deadline at work I need to do today but then tomorrow should be less hectic. I am looking forward to going away but it is a cheap and cheerful holiday with early flights not so great but we shall see. 

TallGirl

No Danish house news (you will be pleased to know) but then no news is good news. OUr buyers are getting a bit impatient that they have not heard from our solicitors which is actually my fault as I only emailed them yesterday but hopefully I can chase them Friday and get that ball rolling while we are on holiday. 

I did get my work frog out of the way with a little bit of help from AI it is actually very clever and saved me loads of time actually. Just have to spot the z's in the text as that is a clear spot for AI US. 

We have to take our cat to the vet today we think he might have more teeth trouble which is annoying as he could just had had them all out. We shall see hopefully not too costly for a checkup. 

We have got the cases down from the loft and there was a bit of decluttering yesterday that the stuff for the charity shop is currently in bags on the drive ready to be picked up. 

Booked an hours golf lesson so now only have 1 hour left and as I paid for it years ago that is handy really. 

I cannot wait to sign off this evening and start packing. Our cat sitters are coming tonight so all good. We will also celebrate her birthday. 

TallGirl

So I am back and it was a great holiday but I would not fly from Stanstead again as we had an early morning flight back so meant leaving hotel and 2am and then having to drive back afterwards. All good though and we have recovered. For £770 it was great value for money and even the excursions were cheap. We had a fab Hamam with a lovely long massage & facial for £60. £40 for an all inclusive all day boat trip as well. So much cheap knockoff gear to buy too lol. 

Holiday was fab and it was nice to spend proper time with DGs very close friends. The hotel and resort was very British a bit like the new Benidorm which I did not mind as usually we stay in golf hotels which are miles away from any action so it was quite fun to go out and then back to the hotel very easily. Food was so good it was not super cheap to eat out but we had all inclusive and there was something to eat all the time fresh and nicely cooked. We will definitely go back could be an option for an extended stay over the Danish winter. 

Washing and unpacking all done, DG had a small golf meltdown but lets see where we go from here I am so bored with it. I did pick up my new clubs and they are lovely. Playing a comp on Saturday not with DG though. Garden is looking stunning all my purple flowers are out in the back and the peonies has just about come into bloom on some and others are done. All my dahlias are getting bigger and the overwintered ones are ok as well which I did not expect. My friends took some of my larger potted plants back so I now have somewhere to put the dahlias. 

Our Danish house is moving along as we have had confirmation that the wineyard is going ahead but the current owners have first right of refusal to buy the land directly behind our garden. They might be able to give us that option and as the land is only about £12K to buy that is an option. However you pay land tax on any land you own and as we do not need a bigger garden I would prefer not to buy but good to have the option. We have completed some forms for our UK solicitors who has been in touch with the other side. We are meeting out buyers again on Friday. We have put down we will give them all the furniture we do not want to take and all the white goods for free but we want £1500 for the hottub. Let's see what happens. 

Cancelled BG cover it was due to renew today. Need to cancel the car service plan but the MOT got messed up so that is being done later this afternoon then I need a car service and then it can be cancelled. Saves a few pennies anyway on the monthly bills which is a good thing as I had to top up the joint account due to car tax being due and holiday spends. 

That is it back to work and see how things are with the big restructure plans. 

TallGirl

Car now has MOTthank goodness did get moved by a few hours as the person had had a car accident. Credit to my local Kwickfit they are excellent always has been. Need to cancel the other MOT and get the service done with main dealer then cancel the payment plan for this.

Done the British Gas one that was about to renew yesterday so that was really handy. Also sent back DGs birthday present so can order another one in the right size now. Mens sizes just always works better why are ladies jackets so fitted so annoying. 

Lots of work today but did get an answer re buying a house in Denmark with DG it is not possible as she has not been there 5 years so easier I buy it and we get a will drawn up. We have now sent the forms off for our house and the solicitor has checked them there as a couple of omissions so good she is on the case. I do hope they send them on so our buyers get them before Friday when we meet them. We are going to ask them to feed our cats for the weekend we are away. I cannot see any issue with this as we have lost out local cat sitters. If not our cleaner can do it. 

Looked into more tax and immigration questions for DG when she moves to DK it is so complicated it really does my head in. I think we have worked it out but I will ask the Danish association just in case. Right first meeting of the day looms catch up later have a nice day!!

TallGirl

Just a quick update got a meeting with the Danish lawyer Thursday hopefully some news to move forward then. The house is newly listed so I suspect they are trying to drag it out to see if they get more offers. 

Jacket sent back for DG has been acknowledged to ordered the new one. £5 off and 2.5% cashback not to shabby with Quidco. I have £45 in there leaving it until I can get it all out and swap for Amazon vouchers. 

Also my S&S is now only £6K down on what I was expecting it to be after the yellow man debacle. It is not ideal but I am glad I moved to a safe fund so I can get it out when we are ready to buy. I also paid £3K in advise and platform charges I am sure Denmark is just as expensive but at least I will get rid of this useless lot when I withdraw it. Hopefully my mums investments have recovered as well. My pension has increased too but just dropped £2K overnight. I worked out it is 11 weeks until I am 55 and can officially move. 

We got some more advice from the Danish association as mentioned but the membership fee is due now so best send that £100 across as they have been super helpful. 

Watty1

Just caught up - exciting house stuff happening here. Fingers crossed for smooth transactions.

TallGirl

Thanks Watty yes I am hoping it all pans out as it is really hard to plan and we do know I do prefer to have a plan.

Morning my whole body aches from doing two classes yesterday and one on Monday. It does feel good to be doing gym again and I do like the classes. Break tonight and then spin tomorrow then I shall be done as golf lesson Friday, match Saturday and another match Monday. 

I am actually really glad it is raining today. Glad for the plants and it also brings out the slugs so I can have a go at removing them. They eat all my purple flowers it is such a shame. 

Expensive day yesterday ordering my nieces birthday present she is 18 and that is the big one in DK. Also got her a moonp@g card via Quidco cashback of course. 

Got a few meetings today and the cleaner is also coming. I have to watch a video recording of a meeting I missed so might start with that as a nice gentle intro into work. Can't wait for an update from the Danish lawyers I really want to move forward but I suspect they are not in a rush so not willing to drop the price. 

TallGirl

Morning so glad we had the rain yesterday got rid of loads of slugs and the garden feels so much fresher. Got a load of washing out as well such a small pleasure of having a garden. 

My niece and friend have booked their tickets and I have sorted their train out so we are all good to go. I am actually looking forward to connecting with her it will be great for when we move she is such a nice girl. A shame I cannot make her birthday but she is having a joint teenager party with a friend and it is just a BBQ dinner with family I miss because it is in the middle of her exams. 

Spent £28 on 6 bottles of hair care product was tempted by Boots offer but cheaper on superdrug. Jacket for DGs birthday present arrived the men's one is not right either so not sure what to look at next. So annoying as you have to pay to send it back. 

Anyway today I shall cancel spin as we need to empty the hot tub it is so grim it is unreal. It did need it but my friend have forgotten to put stuff in it too which has not helped. Hopefully the weather will be nice Friday for the buyers so they can see everything in its glory so to speak they have not been here since March. 

Payday tomorrow so will do some shuffling. Update from Danish lawyer not a lot really she wanted to know what questions we have any then she will speak to the estate agent today. She does not know anything about the sellers so any nuget on information would be ideal. We will try to get the first right of refusal that would be the ideal. 

I also found out that my employer will start consultation 28/29th July and then 30 days later get the outcome. Then everything will be in place by Sep or latest early Oct. From the looks of it the roles will vastly change although our skillset will be in premium demand. We basically could end up doing 3 roles but in a smaller area which is fine except one of the roles I have no interest in. Hopefully there will be redundancy as that really would work for me. 

TallGirl

Spoke to my mum last night she is really eager for us to get the house so she knows we are moving over. I have told her we are moving but listening to the experts and letting them do the negotiations. She updated me on the work my sister has been doing to help my dad and I also sent her a message saying she is doing great and to call me when she can. I do feel guilty I am not there to help out but I will soon although I will also be 1.5 hours from them both I can at least travel over and will only be working part time. I might even be able to work from my mums. Hopefully we will get a little update today on the Danish house and will of course know more about the UK once we meet our buyers tonight. 

We also have a golf lesson oh yes and some work. One of my projects is now not happening and there are none waiting but I am involved in some other work so all good. Got some really ace feedback from a project yesterday I am just so pleased about. It is something I have developed and he thought it was excellent and so useful. Makes you feel like you can actually do your job sometimes. 

Anyway Friday and a long weekend ahead thank goodness. We got the hottub done last night so that is now fresh and clean ready for tonight after our buyers have left. I also hoovered the fake grass on the concrete and took the covers off the last garden furniture so it now looks excellent again especially with the purple flowers out. DG is not playing tomorrow so she will work on our website which is almost ready to launch. She still has lots of the complex work left but hopefully some movement along the way. I will have Sunday with no golf so hope to continue with the decluttering it is getting closer now so need to get on top of that loft. It is just such a pain as the charity shops around here do not take any donations so it is taking it to the tip shop or listing it on facebook for free. I cannot get myself to throw new stuff in the bin. 

Booked our hair cuts and told the handyman we can pick him up on those dates I really hope he can do the work if not I will have to do it myself which I do not really want to. Fingers crossed he comes back to me.