The Ongoing Saga of Ruby Trying to Own A Home

ruby_eskimo

We're over half way through the month and only 2 weeks away from the new year 😮🤯 

We've done a few "festive" things, including a mad dash up North to deliver presents, a Christmas light trail, hosted the in-laws for lunch and eating a lot of mince pies.  And being so organised means I can take a little pressure off and sit back and enjoy this time of year.  Friday will be my last day at work and then I'm free for 2 whole weeks.  It's very much needed and I plan to just sit back, read some books and try to finish my latest cross stitch project.  

If I'm not back before, wishing all a merry christmas if you celebrate, and a happy new year.  I'm still trying to work out my goals for 2026 - we didn't really get there with the ones for this year!

South_coast

ruby_eskimo said:

I'm still trying to work out my goals for 2026

That's what the two weeks off are for 😀😀😀

Have a great Christmas 🎄 

ruby_eskimo

Well happy new year everyone!  Hope you all had a good break over the festive period and the start to 2026 has been gentle.

For us it was a mixture of days of doing nothing followed by a few packed days and repeat 🤣  I did get a chance to think about my goals for the year, some of which are a little random, but the ones that I'll share here are:

- Overpay the mortgage by £1000: determined to actually overpay something off the mortgage this year and think we can do it

- Max out the LISA: still have a little bit to go on the 25/26 one but want to get the 26/27 one there as well

- Get the Alaska fund to 60%: Still hoping to go in 2027 and have 18 months to save.  Currently at just under 25% so again, feeling optimistic.

- Visit one new country: I have this on my list most years and thanks to Santa I'm going to visit 2 new countries this year as DH's present to me is a trip to Copenhagen in May.  It also means we can tick off a bucket list thing for me which is a day trip to another country which will be getting the train to Malmo.  We have kind of achieved this by walking across the Peace bridge at Niagara Falls and popping into Canada but according to DH that doesn't count as it wasn't like actually experiencing the country.  Very much looking forward to ticking this one off the list (and it was on the list before Christmas day)

- Make Sourdough: I attempted this in 2020 like everyone else, but recently DH has fallen in love with sourdough bread so I want to make my own again if only to cut costs!

I also have some really random things but I won't share them in this list, but will talk about progress towards them throughout the year.  I also have started tracking everything I'm spending as well because I want to essentially not bring anything into my life that I don't need and knowing I'll have to write it down and see it is making me resist those impulse purchases. 

Having said that I did replace my fitbit today because my old one broke and couldn't be repaired.  I have tried living without it for a few weeks but found I was missing the tracking for my running so I bit the bullet and actually "bought" a replacement using my Boots advantage card points.  And although it was essentially free, still feel a little guilty about it...

Anyway 2026, let's go!

rtandon27

@ruby_eskimo - lovely goals to have for the upcoming year - very positive & about adding value to your lives - in fact think of the fitbit as just that as well - it's value added to your running, making it more enjoyable!

ruby_eskimo

Thanks @rtandon27 - experiences over stuff is definitely the mantra at the moment.

I talked about this over on the decluttering thread but this year, as well as sorting out my own home, we also have the task of helping my parents renovate theirs.  I've fallen down a Space Maker rabbit hole, watching her videos about how to help people declutter and supporting them in the journey they need to go on.  The house needs a lot of work doing to it but they can't get anything done before they declutter all the stuff.  I will admit there are still a whole bunch of things that belong to me that are there, but my parent's deep-seated issues around possessions mean that I have been physically stopped from taking them.  But we had a talk over Christmas when we were staying there about how the house is becoming a health and safety issue because of the work that needs doing and they admitted that it's time to start.  I left them with a couple of projects to start with before we go back next week to see them: my dad has to order a new shed (as he said that was the reason there were piles of things in their kitchen) and my mum has a chest of six drawers to go through.  

I want to give them some quick wins to get them going, and help build momentum so while DH is helping my dad with the shed, I'm going to start their box room with my mum.  So I might be spending a lot of weekends there this year but it will be worth it in the end.  And I'm very lucky that I have a very understanding DH who is happy to help decorate and support the absolute nightmare that this is probably going to be.

rtandon27

@ruby_eskimo - that is a lovely way to tackle the parentals!  We had such a time of it when OH's parents passed as we had to spend so much time clearing the unnecessary to get to the heart of things!  Much nicer to tackle it as a family while they will still get benefit from the clearing.

ruby_eskimo

Thanks @rtandon27 - not going to lie, when my dad was really ill last year, thoughts of "how on earth would we clear this house" did cross my mind.  I don't want to mention Swedish Death Cleaning to them, but this is also in the back of my mind as I think about this.

First week of the year has gone and tracking my spending has been going well.  So far I've spent:

- 99p on an e-book that I can't get from the library and really want to read
- £36.60 on parking for work: this comes out of the travel pot
- £39.47 on groceries for the week
- £47.43 on petrol, also from the travel pot
- £15.98 on "accessories" for the new fitbit (screen protector and the strap I prefer)
- £5.60 on library fees for books I've requested (mainly book club picks)
- £21.99 on toothpaste and mascara replacements

That's everything that wasn't a bill and if I exclude the absolute needs like food, petrol and parking, then I'm happy with my £44.56 spend for things I did kind of need.

Looking forward to seeing how next week pans out as realised that I will have to apply for a new passport in February so need to find almost £100 to pay for that 🤯

ruby_eskimo

I am currently living in a building site again. The week after my last update, DH was off work for the week as he didn't get any time off of Christmas, and he decided to use the time to start boarding out the loft properly and stripping the wallpaper in his office / our guest room "just to see what the walls were like". Cue me coming home from work to find the house upside down because plasterers were coming to not only re-do his office, but also the box room and replace the ceilings in both - the only ones we hadn't had replaced when we first moved in. Turns out there's a reason why people wallpaper ceilings…

In the shuffle, my wardrobe disintegrated and to be fair it was 13 years old, had been subject to damp for about 5 years when we lived in a rented flat and had been moved about quite a few times. DH's is just about standing so we had planned to replace when we got around to decorating the box room (which is kind of a dressing room I suppose). So now we need to replace those and have some discount vouchers for the big Swedish shop that need using by the end of this month - guess where we're going tonight…

While everything is in disarray, we've then though why not add to the chaos (and the mounting bills) and replace all the carpets upstairs. Got a very good deal in a sale, and with the interest free credit, it's no more than the sofa I've just finished paying off. Does mean the "extra" £100 a month I was planning on paying off the mortgage this year has disappeared back into the budget but just means I'll have to tilly tidy more. This is the last big push of work that we needed to do on the house to make it ours. The only other things inside are replacing the internal doors and then restoring the parquet flooring downstairs, which to be fair is in a pretty good condition but there are a few bits that need replacing, the cork needs replacing around the edge and it needs sanding etc. but its fine for now.

My parents, well surprisingly my dad mainly, are making great progress with decluttering their house. To cut a very long story short, they didn't do the tasks I'd assigned them, but did make some positive steps. My dad in fact has loaded his car up three times with stuff for the tip plus charity donations, and while we were there we managed to clear their landing completely and took three runs to the tip in my car. We also managed to liberate a few things from them that are technically mine, and I've sold a few books already with many more things to be listed soon. I've decided that all the money I make from selling will go into a decorating pot for them as every little bit helps. We've already said we'll do the decorating once they've finished having work done (after they've cleared / sorted everything) so that will save them even more money.

I've still been tracking my spending and quite surprised that the whole of January has been split between food, parking for work, petrol and a couple of coffees when needs must. I haven't "treated" myself to anything and I've realised I don't need to - wonder how long that mentality is going to last 🤣

Right, back to work and back to listening to the plasterers singing along to power ballads on Radio 2.

ruby_eskimo

Finally back online after a few days of battling the worse migraine I've ever had. Think it's due to all the hormonal changes going on 🫠

House is still in disarray but the plastering is done, the skip is gone from the drive so we can stop causing havoc with parking down the road, and the ceilings have been painted. All the walls have also been primed ready for painting at the weekend. Still waiting for the carpets to come in but we're on track to getting everything sorted by the end of the month 🤞

Money wise we've reviewed all our standing orders and updated them to reflect new goals for the year, mainly the Alaska fund (which we could be starting the booking process for this month…👀). I'm also on track for maxing out my LISA thanks to not having to pay council tax for 2 months 😂 Have finally started Tilly tidies to get some cash to send towards the mortgage - just need to make sure I've actually remembered the log in details this time! Going to wait until it's earned interest this month before sending it over.

beanielou

How are things?