Mortgage Free now aiming for FIRE

TallGirl

We had a nice New Years Eve a bit of a miscommunications around fireworks but it just reinforces the need for me to get to know my family again.

I have signed the paperwork to start the process of buying the land that has now been measured up. It will be just over 1/2 acre which is quite cool. Lots of garden to plan not sure I will use a garden designer I am quite enjoying doing my own planning actually. 

I did not set up the new finance portal with my nephew as my address is not on the Danish system yet and I also need to transfer the money anyway. I have signed up for a free learn to invest in Denmark webinar they use a different portal to the one I want to use but it could be really useful to do anyway to learn the lingo here. 

We did not get our water meter read when we moved in so that is trying to get sorted plus we need to pay the bill from Aug which is a bit annoying. Hopefully it will be sorted soon.

I have asked to change electricity company but it is taking its own time hopefully soon. Today electric is cheap so I am doing some washing and robo cleaner is going too. Ginger cat is not happy. 

I feel I need a huge today list so I can make sure I stay on track. We are not going to start work until Monday so today is a good chance to get things done. 

To do list this weekend
Clean house
Food shop cut out the items on offer in the two shops so will get that and meal plan for the rest
Golf
Put Christmas star away
Give letter back to neighbour and sign up to volunteer at cinema.

To do
House stuff
Fit blind in Pool bar 
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Hem pool bar curtains
Book cats in for injection in January. 
Fix loft hatch in pool bar - we did try but could not do it. DONE by brother in law
Put up hooks in kitchen for tea towels
Make gallery wall in office. 

Finance stuff
Apply to get 25% of works pension out. Check with DK tax man first SENT question
Tell UK taxman i have left.
Research about changing address with banks and pensions 
Do a budget for bills
Research investments here. 

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!! 

TallGirl

Quick check in on my phone. Lovely cold day here too cold for golf. Did get a few things done but also some spends. Cat fountain hassled after 4 months so crap. Ordered a branded one for 15% off as new customer and free delivery so not too bad. The ones in the shops here were nearly double of Amazon. Crazy but too much to get it delivered here. Will buy the filters in the UK. 

Done the maintenance on Rob the robo did not need new bits just a clean so that was nice. 

Sorted the garden cushions so they are easy to get from the shed now. Also done a tip run so now just chilling. 

To do list this weekend
Clean house done 
Food shop cut out the items on offer in the two shops so will get that and meal plan for the rest done 
Golf done 
Put Christmas star away frozen into the ground so taken lights off only 
Give letter back to neighbour and sign up to volunteer at cinema.

To do
House stuff
Fit blind in Pool bar 
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Hem pool bar curtains done 
Book cats in for injection in January. 
Put up hooks in kitchen for tea towels
Make gallery wall in office. 

Ask for refund on cat fountain 

Finance stuff
Apply to get 25% of works pension out. Check with DK tax man first SENT question
Tell UK taxman i have left.
Research about changing address with banks and pensions 
Do a budget for bills
Research investments here. 

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

TallGirl

Omg forgot to say we did well on the Premium Bonds £250 for and £275 for DG. We’ve moved them into a fun fund for holidays etc. we used to save £150 each a month into this but stopped when we moved to nice to reinstate it. 

TallGirl

Some good progress on the to do list mainly helped by the weather being very frosty so golf did not happen. It is the perfect winter weather crips blue skies and full sunshine so cannot complaint just very cold at -4c. 

We should get more done today but DG is still asleep. We went to bed at 12ish yesterday but she must be needing the sleep. She has some urgent work deadline by early January so tomorrow will not be fun if her clients have not provided what is needed. 

I do not think she has the headspace to help with the marketing so I will need to take the lead in this. I want to create a series of posts for LinkedIn to explain my change of job and it could generate some work any way. I also need to think about my Facebook profile which will be linked the the business one so it all needs to tie up. I do not really want to promote the fact that I am not living in the UK for the business side but I also want to show my life here and the great stuff we are doing but I might put a lid on that or think about keeping facebook mainly private hopefully work out. 

It is weird not having a job to get up for tomorrow although I do it is the first time I have been without a job and not actively looked for one. I am worried about income Dg had an £8K tax bill and she seemed a bit surprised she needed to pay that much and might not actually have the money. Not good but she had just settled a big case so that will come in and pay for it but not helpful when we now need to live on the other income I need to make sure she is on top of tax etc.

Speaking of tax I am going to register at the town hall tomorrow and become a proper citizen of Denmark so that will mean a lot of admin but also mean I can finally get a GP over here. I can actually see the GP surgery from my desk so I will register there. I need to get my menopause symptoms sorted and possibly get a coil again. Over here to buy it at the Chemist with a prescription and the GP fits it no cost obviously. Annoying I did not get a new one in the UK but I do want some tests run here to see if I actually need one and if I am on the right patches. Should be interesting to rest the health system here for real. I am dreading the UK admin on moving tax and banks etc but hopefully will be ok. DG is awake now so I will go and see how she is doing.  

To do list this weekend
Put Christmas star away frozen into the ground so taken lights off only 
Give letter back to neighbour and sign up to volunteer at cinema.

To do
House stuff
Fit blind in Pool bar 
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Book cats in for injection in January. 
Put up hooks in kitchen for tea towels
Make gallery wall in office. 

Ask for refund on cat fountain DONE
Buy pots for the houseplants IKEA seems best. 

Finance stuff
Apply to get 25% of works pension out. Check with DK tax man first SENT question
Tell UK taxman i have left.
Research about changing address with banks and pensions 
Do a budget for bills
Research investments here. 

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

QueenJess

OOh - exciting to be a proper citizen   Your lists are so organised and you always seem to get so much done.  Makes me feel tired reading them 

TallGirl

Thanks QueenJess much appreciated I do not feel I get much done as the list is always there but it is a good way to keep tabs. I do also have lists on my phone off things that we need to buy in the UK, and taking to the UK plus things here for DIY and Ikea. Lists is just me!

Woken up to proper snow today so I am not keen to have to drive out to see the council but needs must. If this had been the UK the country would have shut down but not here. Snow tires will help at least but I am sure it will be slippery on this local ungritted road. The building work was due to start back up today but no one on site. I am not surprised really.

Got all the documents uploaded on the Virgin complaints. Turns out I have copied them over but not done the next step so that is all done now but I did not have the screenshots of the last web conversation but they just said the same old rubbish about needed 45 days to issue another cheque.

The cat water fountain has offered to send a new pump to Denmark I guess we will have a spare or I could send the other one back. Just depends how long it takes to get here as they do use it and we do leave them overnight and they prefer to drink running water. Yes I know they are spoilt. They are not keen on the snow today. Ginger is complaining a lot.

This morning is first proper day of selfemployed so I will help DG but I also want to get posts on social media and start planning how I shall tackle LinkedIn. I have nearly 500 connections on there and some of those must need legal services lol. 

We also signed up for a one day art course to make pictures with ink on paper. If it looks nice we can make our own for the bedroom cheaply and could be just prefect as we can chose the colours that works with the William Morris print. 

Anyway here is the list again quite happy with what we got done. We even started the wine rack draw just need to glue the fabric on it and that is then done. It looks lovely and holds 5 bottles of wine. 

To do list this weekend
Put Christmas star away frozen into the ground so taken lights off only 
Give letter back to neighbour and sign up to volunteer at cinema.

To do
House stuff
Fit blind in Pool bar DONE wasn't actually that hard
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Book cats in for injection in January. 
Put up hooks in kitchen for tea towels DONE and so happy with it
Make gallery wall in office. 

Ask for refund on cat fountain DONE
Buy pots for the houseplants IKEA seems best. 
Freezer door stabiliser DONE but slightly messed up

Finance stuff
Apply to get 25% of works pension out. Check with DK tax man first SENT question
Tell UK taxman i have left.
Research about changing address with banks and pensions 
Do a budget for bills
Research investments here. 

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

TallGirl

Morning got up very early this morning as I heard a car at 4am which I thought was a bit odd. I did just turn around but with a building site next door I just wanted to check. Then I did not sleep properly afterwards of course. 

I did get registered at the council which was interesting. You cannot just turn up you have to book a time and then put in your nino to say you are there. You can also see the police there so a lot of people where there for passports which they deal with. I had to fill in a basic paper form and that was it. Did not seem very efficient for a country that is so far ahead digitally. They were 5 min past my app time but I was in and out in less than 10min. Luckily I had brought my passport as they needed that. 

Also told the UK taxman I have moved so that was good. I found my P45 so could use that would be nice with a tax rebate. I updated my linkedin with a bit of advice from Gemini (I did sign up for the paid version as I miss having it from work). It helped me do a whole 4 week plan about getting into posting on there so I will follow that as it does make sense. I do also need to do the work for DG but she is not ready yet so I have cleaned the house pre robo hoover and mop doing his bit. He does take ages to do it because he has to charge twice (it is a large house) but it is so good I really do not mind. 

I did start looking at the bills yesterday and got the golf club membership paid up to date and DG paid her bit. We are planning a date night each month in the new bar/cinema room so I am the first one to do it this month. I am just going to use one the the old spice box mixes we still have hanging around and maybe make a special pudding. 

We also paid for tickets to European Handball the ladies versus Hungary in March so that will be a nice outing for us both. It is the weekend after my mums birthday but she doesn't usually celebrate that time of year. 

The snow is here still it is actually quite thick and you cannot see the lake just the bridge. Right I am going to tidy up my desk it is full of paperwork and then get on with changing address on my UK stuff. 

TallGirl

Gosh it is hard work changing addresses when you move abroad such a pain actually to have so many accounts:

Progress so far

Changed to DK address:
Royal London
Scottish Widows
Local Government Pension
First Direct
Money Crop
HSBC

Changed tax country and residency but added UK address: Lost the will to try and speak to them to.
M&S
Tesco

Started (sent email)
CMC Invest
Invest Engine
Money Box

Still to do
Santa
Monzo

TallGirl

Well sadly MoneyBox does not like you moving abroad they are not happy with a non UK address so I will use my friends one but I might need to move the money out altogether and put the ISAs into another provider. At least you can still move ISA even after you have moved. I do like Moneybox so it is a bit annoying. The CMC and Invest Engine all seem fine they have just asked for proof and what the address is. 

I will leave Santa and Monzo for now as those are joint and I do not need DG to get into a hassle. 

I have done my first post on LinkedIn and added a picture (on advice from Gemini). I know AI can take jobs away and some companies sees it as the future but as an aid to something you are doing or putting all the boring bits into order it is great. I would not be without it.

DGs part time job is having a bit of a workoverload so I shall be helping out with some of that. It is my old wheelhouse of work so hopefully be ok to get back into it. I do also need to do some stuff for my dad chase where his hearing aids are at at the moment there is a one year waiting list which is crazy for a country that produces them. Apparently they cannot produce enough but those who pay will get them immediately so that is what we may have to do. So much for DK being better but one year is a long time as he cannot hear anything. 

I did also hear back from the Danish Tax man there is a form I need to fill in with my investments and pension abroad so that I can do but they did not answer if the amount in the pension would stay tax free not sure they understood it. I wont be an issue for DG as she will not have much income when she retires but it could be good for me to keep in there anyway as you pay a lower tax rate on money in a pension. I am almost tempted to add more. I might actually do that

To do
House stuff
Hem the lounge curtains 
Make a cushioned seat cover for the toy box 
List my stuff on Vinted. 
Book cats in for injection in January. 
Make gallery wall in office. 

Buy pots for the houseplants IKEA seems best. 

Finance stuff
Apply to get 25% of works pension out. Check with DK tax man first SENT question Did not understand the answer
Tell UK taxman i have left. DONE
Research about changing address with banks and pensions DONE bar 2 that will have to wait
Do a budget for bills 
Research investments here. 
Check MitID if my address can be changed yet

Garden jobs:
I do not think there are any!!!  

TallGirl

Morning DG has not got any work for me so I am keeping myself busy doing house work and marketing plus my own financial admin. Quite nice but we do need to earn some money soon.

I do need to go and shovel some snow as the front door is covered and the salt cannot keep such big amounts at bay. None has turned up at the building site today and I do not think the road is passable for a normal car. We did go to the shop yesterday so no need to go out today. 

Change of address seems to be going smoothly as soon as I can see my Danish side is sorted I will transfer the money and start investing. I cannot wait to get it back in. Think I am going for Vanguard life strategy just as a safe option as you never know when we might need the money. There will be a lot of paper work telling the Danish taxman about my UK money but we will deal with that when we get to it. They are quite good you can always ask them.

Neighbour came around yesterday for the signed paperwork that was really bad I should have taken it over sooner as the land measure guy was asking for it. We have now also agreed to start Tuesday for the cinema. Dg will not stay for the film as it is in Danish but it is 5 min away so that is fine. 

Not a lot else to report other than the cats are not happy about the snow but they have got their new fancy water fountain and Ginger did not get scared of it so that was progress. 

Right I am off to find the shovel (one left behind when we bought in the UK) wish me luck