New Mortgage, New Marriage, New Allotment - Oh My!

SeekingFlight

Hi Everyone, 

I thought it was time for a fresh diary considering how much has changed since I started the last one. I bought my first home back in October 2016 and with the help of MSE was able to pay off around 88k of my mortgage over the 5 year term. Sadly my OH was diagnosed with colon/liver cancer early on in the pandemic meaning our space and location needs changed dramatically.

We moved into our new home at the end of February 2022 at the following

Mortgage: £262,600
Interest: 1.09% (fixed 5 years)
Term: 25 Years

We're lucky in some ways that my OH runs their own business as they can do the back end work from home and were able to make it work but it's getting more difficult and we are possibly approaching the point where we will become a single salary household. Something we took into account when purchasing the new house. 

We also have a white french lop rabbit - Mr Hopper and 2 fancy rats or chonk-mice as I call them. 

Hoping to use this diary to help me overpay as much as possible over the next 4 years and keep on top of all the decluttering, DIY etc. while still making sure we do nice things together. 

I had to reduce my allotment down to a quarter plot to cope with all my energy demands but I'm still pro living a low waste lifestyle where possible and growing my own food. 

and oh yes I'm getting married tomorrow  

x

SeekingFlight

Well yesterday was a bit of a drama 

I was supposed to be getting married to my OH in a tiny civil ceremony just us and 2 witnesses. We had always intended to get married but put it aside when OH became ill as it seemed cliche, then changed our minds for legal reasons. However yesterday my OH woke me up crying that they wanted their family there, many phone calls later we realise we can't get all their family members together on such short notice. We drove up to the registry office where the staff were remarkably calm when presented with a heavily weeping bride who was supposed to be getting married in under 2 hours and moved the day for us to next Thursday. 

Now I have to go through the process of inviting my family and trying not to let this snowball out of control. Current plan is to put on some MnS party food back at the house and keep it low key. Wish me luck!

Next on the list

• fully clean the kitchen
• find the extra chairs
• dry all the laundry by next Tuesday so we are prepped
• sell the extra furniture in the conservatory so we can use the space
• get/make some decorations for the house

Its been a good week for money making though, got a refund I thought I wasn't going to get, sold some items, got a little payout from Qui*co. I did try out something called Streetb**s but seems like way too much work for very little reward. 

powerspowers

Oh gosh what a drama! Good luck with the last minute prep and hope you have a lovely day xx

SeekingFlight

Thanks @powerspowers its going alright kept it to 25 people total and was able to pick up a large amount of lace and hessian bunting today off facebook market place. Just a bit of food and then I'll be sorted. 

So little catch up

• fully clean the kitchen
• find the extra chairs
• dry all the laundry by next Tuesday so we are prepped
• sell the extra furniture in the conservatory so we can use the space
• get/make some decorations for the house

laundry is all over the place, but it is slowly getting cleaner

LadyWithAPlan

Nothing like a week's notice for a wedding! Hopefully it all goes well

SeekingFlight

@LadyWithAPlan it's going alright, really helpful friends doing food stuffs and I think we are almost there. 

Long couple of days, the new house is an end terrace and it has more of a moisture issue than my old mid-terrace. I strip cleaned the kitchen from 8:30 am until 3pm yesterday. Full wash, coating of mold and mildew spray, Kontrol boxes in every cupboard and a full sort and dated face up of all the food. 

Today I treated myself to a night out at the film quiz, for the princely sum of £8.30 (coffee, pepsi and a pound entry fee). I used to be a film quiz master and I'm normally pretty good but this was tough. I think I haven't realised how little i get out these days and all the films were from 2022. Normally I'd see 100 films a year last year I saw 8, we still came third my team are great but i left feeling a bit deflated. 

Still came home and

• Unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher
• washed the pans
• did a load of laundry and hung it
• folded and put away all the pyjamas
• put the bins out
• ripped up all the cardboard boxes in the spare room for the recycling bin
• made the bed
• sourced some boxes for my partners business
• submitted 3 poems to journals
• watered a plant

I took my home insurance off auto renewal 2 days ago and today I got a letter offering me a renewal at £80 less than last year which would pay for the boiler service. So I'll follow up on that tomorrow and make sure it covers everything I need.

SeekingFlight

Right so that was a chaotic few days.

I got married so happy and we managed to keep it pretty small just as we wanted, had people back at the house and didn't majorly over cater.

 We did get a couple of cheques from family which we were not expecting as we had no gift list and didn't request anything. We considered not cashing them but we have decided to accept them. We will put the money towards decorating the house and getting a nice double bed for the guest room for when family stay.

• fully clean the kitchen
• find the extra chairs
• dry all the laundry by next Tuesday so we are prepped
• sell the extra furniture in the conservatory so we can use the space
• get/make some decorations for the house

I did in fact get through the whole list pre-party but putting the house back together is taking me longer as i don't have my OH's sisters helping me as I did when we got it party ready.

So this week we are looking to 

• move the bunny pen back to the lounge
• list the heavy table from the conservatory for sale
• send out all my thank you cards
• clear out the washing again
• strip out any unwanted books for sale

No money making has been achieved this last week for obvious reasons but I will be back on it from today.

powerspowers

Congratulations!!! Glad it all came together xx

SeekingFlight

So task wise its going ok

• move the bunny pen back to the lounge
• list the heavy table from the conservatory for sale
• send out all my thank you cards
• clear out the washing again
• strip out any unwanted books for sale

Books really need my OH to be involved and she is not feeling well this week so that is going nowhere. 

I joined S**gbucks again and I'm aiming for a modest 70 a day, that should net me some extra cash towards my goals. I've also been at home the last few days so saving cash by having no opportunities to spend. 

One of my chonk mice is poorly and that meant an unexpected cost at the vets but we save for that so its not too problematic. He seems to be improving in spirits so i hope he is on the mend. 

I really do have to bit the bullet and get back on E*ay again one of my friends had raved about the mobile listing so i'll try that.

Otherwise i have been working on some new poems and making sure I actually submit some of them. I've set a small challenge to write one a month for my small nephew about things he might like, January's is about puddles 💦

beanielou

Glad that all turned out well.

SeekingFlight

Its been an ok week, £5 from Sw**gbucks, £1.82 from Curi**sCat.

Been at home all week looking after my OH and working from home so its been difficult to get through things. However our marriage license did show up this morning so that was nice

Of all the weird things i thought i was going to have to get a new small frying pan as the handle was very wobbly only to find there was a screw in it. The rusty black (almost invisible) screw has now been replaced with a fresh one and the pan is good as new. I then tightened up a bunch more pans, very satisfying.

Looking to revisit my January goals today and see what i have done and what has fallen by the wayside. I also have 2 birthday presents to sort out, must set up vinted, put at least one item on Ebay and start the poem for my nephew. 

better get on