Progress is...

MissRikkiC

Maybe I’m the only one who likes a break from the CT in Feb and March. I like having 2 months where I get to save extra because there is no bill and I know where it’s a saving from. If that makes sense. 

Thanks @RT. I did try YNAB before but found that Monzo having pots did not agree with YNAB and I got very confused! Considering I’m an accountant, I definitely thought I should have been able to figure it out but i ended up with a negative balance despite having money left in various pots! I gave up eventually 😂

Muddy_Walker

A bit late but Happy New Year!  For some bizarre reason I am wide awake - I’ve been hot then cold then hot most of the night. Not a bug probably hormonal. I must admit I did rush to the window to see if it had snowed yet - it hadn’t.
So I’m back in bed with coffee and both dogs and hubby snoring away.

I also do council tax over 10 months and the 2 non payment months go straight into my Christmas fund. 

We had a telephone appointment with a mortgage broker yesterday!!!! Our fixed rate comes to an end in a few months so have been looking around. The figures look good so far.

i was back at work Thursday so have broken the dreaded “back to work” bit after a long break. The team dynamic has changed so that will take a bit of getting used to (not in a good way either) but as long as I can do a good job I keep out of the office politics. 

Anyway stay warm and safe! Xx

EssexHebridean

We love our two “free” months on the council tax - for us that’s two £190 OP’s straight to the mortgage, no mucking about, off it goes! 😎

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, I hadn't realised YNAB had a mortgage tracker! I've never added the mortgage as an 'account'- just pay it as a bill each month. Will investigate. 

RedLipstick

@Cheery_Daff I actually only pay for ynab to use this tracker and mortgage overpay simulator, it's so good!

Muddy_Walker

Hellooooo! Now I love my bed but after another restless hit then cold night got up at 7 and stayed up!!!!!!!
Got lots done including getting a pdf of the last 12 months payments sent to the broker.

Got to pop out in a bit and also have ironing to do but cuppa tea first!

rtandon27

@redofromstart - haha - perhaps we'll start a trend & councils will start defaulting to sensible payment structures?  My OH thinks that they take all the money in 10 months so that they can frantically spend it in Feb & Mar to upkeep roads and parks before spring sets in and we notice how poorly maintained the roads and paths are.  I'm still waiting to hear back from my online query to the council, but if they don't reply this week, I'll be giving them a call on Friday.

@MissRikkiC - I think that once upon a time I may have felt the same way, but now that I'm a YNAB convert, nice evenly spaced payments makes most sense to me.  I totally get your accountant headspace, as I can imagine my Grandfather who was also one, flipping out at the way YNAB approaches budgeting.  I can remember as a young child looking at his hand-written ledgers with awe - I think he took a lot of enjoyment at filling them in every month for the household expenses.

@Muddy_Walker - I don't think I saw 5:30 for the whole two weeks I was off - this morning my internal bodyclock kicked in and I was up at 5:15 to get ready for work!  I ended up having to wfh though, as the winds last night knocked a tree onto the line near us and the flooding affected it further down the line!  There was no point even trying to go into the office after 10am as my first meeting was at 11 so it happened online.  On your other topic, What are the benefits of using a mortgage broker?  When I got mine, I just went online to several banks and applied for a pre-approved one.  Got all of them, but only accepted the one with my own bank as they gave me an incredible rate.

@EssexHebridean - haha - none of my overpayments are even remotely close to that amount, I round up to 1000 a month, and whatever pennies make the last two or three digits a zero (Tilly Tidy).  I do however have an investment account with a much higher interest rate which is currently holding a lump sum I will throw at it the mortgage once my low rate is done.  I'm earning more than I would currently save by putting it to the mortgage.

@Cheery_Daff & @RedLipstick - I created a separate 'budget' with just a mortgage account and play around with it in there as the mortgage account function did not support the way I had originally set up my tracking account when it converted it over.  I undid that creation and reverted to my tracking account, but manually play around with the mortgage tracker budget separately.  I only learned about it by watching some of their utoob videos over the xmas holidays - the videos are fascinating!

HEALTH - I have my first fatigue clinic appointment tomorrow - both the practioner and myself are dubious about the benifits of this clinic given that I already do many of the things she is going to go through in the six sessions.

WEALTH - not much to report here - books are balanced & we are mortgage neutral temporarily!  I do have to fill in some more insurance paperwork - it's never ending!

WELLBEING - I made it though my first day back at work albeit working from home - it was stressful to say the least but I had a couple of lighthearted exchanges with some of my lovely colleagues and managed to remember to stay fed and watered!

GRATITUDE
@themadvix - I'm always so impressed by the lovely things you write in your posts & I'm very prone to letting the the negatives overtake me emotionally - so have decided to look for one thing to be thankful for each time I do an update post! 
Today I'm grateful for updates from a dear friend who had a little boy two weeks ago.  Four pictures in two weeks and each one has brought a smile to my face!  Today he had his eyes wide open which was lovely to see.  The last time I saw 'him' was at -2 weeks and was fighting for room with a lovely italian meal his mama & I shared for the festive season!

slm6002

I think finding a positive each day is a great idea.  I know I often can only focus on the negatives as they seem to need more time for processing.  It is a good practice to get into.

themadvix

Loving your gratitude RT 😊 and the bit about seeing him when he was sharing with an Italian meal did make me chuckle! It’s not always easy to see the positive, but there’s always something there if we look for it.

Muddy_Walker

Hello! Mortgage broker - a few years ago we didn’t have a bog standard mortgage and some difficulties (it happens) so we used a broker then and explained everything to him. He was amazing and helped us immensely. We are using the same person now as luckily he is still with the same company. 

We could probably have done things ourselves but I would have found it very stressful and this guy searches everything…….

we are paying for it but not stupid amounts of money and he is so helpful and answers all questions - even the stupid ones - with politeness and courtesy which goes far in my book!

hope that helps?