The Unexpected Mortgage-Free Wannabe

Betharooni

Whoops, a week without posting, naughty me!

So, DNephew is home and we’re going to be spending tomorrow with him and the rest of the family, which should be nice, but a lot crazier than I’m used to on Xmas Day. I think tomorrow is going to be super hard to get through, but hopefully having the family around will make it a little better…

DB3 and my eldest niece came and met the kitten and agreed what a sweetheart she is.

DB1 and I tidied the living room and the house was opened up to the kitten. She’s into everything but she’s been reasonably good so far. In sorting the living room, we cleared two bags worth of stuff to get rid of, one to the charity shop, one for electrical recycling.

Other MSE things achieved over the last few days include a fair few NSDs or very low spend days; several local Christmas cards hand-delivered and, to save my aunty some postage I picked up her cards for the family as well; and getting the train up to London rather than driving for a hospital appointment I had today. However probably more non-MSE things done than the good over the last few days, so I really need to get myself focused over the next few days as I have a lot I want/need to achieve in 2025.

Wishing everyone a peaceful happy Christmas! 🎄🎅🏻

debtfreewannabe321

Happy new diary.
I am sorry to hear of your mum's passing. I hope your Christmas was a good one  

Betharooni

Thanks @debtfreewannabe321for your kind words. Christmas was nice enough, it was quite a tough and emotional day and tbh if we hadn’t agreed to go out I probably would have let it pass without doing anything at all, but in the afternoon we went to DB3s sister-in-law’s house and spent the rest of the day there with all my brothers, my eldest niece and nephew and my brother’s in-laws, having a substantial Christmas dinner, which was absolutely stunning, exchanging gifts, playing games etc so it ended up being quite a pleasant day.

Today I’m having a quiet day as I’m not feeling that great but have done a bit of financial admin and will be sorting out rubbish and recycling later ready for collection tomorrow. Over the next couple of days I have a couple of bits I need to buy, I need to do some tidying in my room, loads of washing, clearing up in the kitchen, sorting out a couple of bits from Mum’s room which need to be distributed elsewhere, visiting the crematorium (was meant to go yesterday but couldn’t face it), and scanning of a photo album which will be given to my aunt. So with all that to come over the next few days, I’m ok with having a more chilled day today.

Budgets have been done for next month, DB1 has sent his share of the bills for next month already so I need to just firm up in my head what my plans are for 2025-I’ve got ideas which I’ve started writing down but just need to refine.

Hope all are having a good Boxing Day.

Betharooni

Happy new year! Haven’t posted for a few days, but haven’t really had much to say so…

I was paid on the 31st so money shuffle done and half of my monthly DDs have already come out, including my final gym membership fee, so that will be almost £60 back in the budget going forward. Since Christmas I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and plotting for 2025 and came to the conclusion that having my allotment is an added stressor that I don’t really have the time or energy for at the moment so I will be giving it back to the council and will do something in our back garden instead. That means I won’t have to pay out rental fees for that this year and can possibly sell some of the books and duplicate tools etc that I have.

DB2 came over for a roast dinner on New Year’s Day which was very pleasant and relaxed (other than the cooking side, but even that wasn’t too bad).

I’ve not done a huge amount the last few days as still be feeling a bit rough and not sleeping well, but I have got the photo album scanned, have done a load of washing (but avoided doing any on New Year’s Day!!), bought a couple of bits including a decent air fryer, which was used for the roast veg, and mainly spending time planning.

So, my plans for 2025 are as follows:

• Make 2025 a “depth year” - buy as little as possible and make use of stuff in the house, books already on Kindle etc and go deeper into my interests.
• If I want to read any other books, get books from library only, no new purchases!
• Get mortgage for house and start making overpayments as soon as I can.
• Heavily declutter the house, including going through Mum’s stuff and distributing elsewhere where needed (either to others in the family, charity shops, etc).
• Go through my toiletries, make plans to work through them AND ACTUALLY USE THEM!!!
• Try to make all cards needed during the year using Mum’s card-making stash. Only buy needed items to enable me to use up the stash (e.g. tape, sentiment stickers).
• Other than card-making and knitting, try to complete existing craft projects that are already started and part-completed before starting (or contemplating buying) any new ones.
• Try to have a fun but frugal time at the four conventions I’m attending. Don’t book any other conventions for 2025!!
• Continue attending Slimming World, refocus on the plan so I actively start losing weight again and try to lose around 4 stone this year.
• Focus on free or very cheap exercise, use the exercise equipment within the house and free online class offerings (on YouTube etc) and try to make use of the final month of my gym membership in January.
• Get garden straight, clear out any cat-unfriendly plants and create a mini allotment so I can grow some fruit and veg in a place I can easily spend little bits of time during the week.
• Give the entire house a thorough scrub and work out what needs to be done to the house to improve living conditions, including any work we might have to get people in to do.

Both Mum and I are keen crafters so Mum’s crafting stash and our joint crafting stashes are now pretty extensive so craft-wise, I should be pretty set this year, and probably for the next few years as well 😂 I need to see what stuff she actually has though and might need to buy some little bits to help me use it up, but not sure until I go through it. Within my own stash, I have a couple of part-completed amigurumi toys which I need to finish, a couple of cross-stitches on the go (although one of those only needs the back-stitching done), another I started cross-stitch and a large ‘under-the-sea’ diamond painting. There’s also sewing projects to do, so a lot of time will be taken on crafting, which should hopefully keep me out of the shops 😜

Re making 2025 a “depth year” this relates to an article I saw about on someone else’s diary (forgive me, I forget whose I was) regarding how much we consume and keep buying different things and getting into different hobbies without really focusing in on anything. This is something I know I am very guilty of (I blame my adhd) so trying to make use of what I already have at a deeper level seems like a good idea to me. Article was https://www.raptitude.com/2017/12/go-deeper-not-wider/ if anyone else wants a read.

Decluttering is definitely going to be a major one this year. We still have 99% of Mum’s stuff here and she was a bit of a hoarder so her old bedroom is current jam-packed full of stuff. DB1 has said about me moving in there, as I’m currently in a v small bedroom, but it’s probably going to take a fair amount of the year to go through the unneeded stuff in there and reorganise so I can get in there. I think I need to make a detailed list and start chipping away slowly each day if I can.

I think one of the big things this year to help me achieve my goals is to focus on being fairly frugal and look for different ways of doing things. I’m looking forward to that challenge.

Squirrelz92

Sounds like you have a very good year planned for ahead of you! I love the idea of decluttering as it's so therapeutic once an area or a room has been revitalised and refreshed. Gets rid of a small amount of stress each time! 

Betharooni

Whoops, not posted for a couple of weeks! Definitely need to get into a habit of daily posting to keep me on the straight and narrow.

It’s been an up and down couple of weeks. DB1 and I took a handful of unwanted items to the tip, which cleared a bit more space. He’s been working on reorganising the kitchen to get some better use out of some of the spaces as well. He also is now thinking about the garden and what needs to be done out there, so seems like I might get help with that. He’s got ideas of what he wants out there, so I’ll work to that and see what we can clear.

Re my sleeping issues, I’ve seen a doctor and have now got anti-anxiety meds, which do seem to be helping. I think my room isn’t very restful at the moment though, so am planning to spend some time up there this weekend.

I don’t feel like I’ve achieved much recently tbh, mainly cos I’ve had to spend a lot of time transporting people round, taking kitten to vets, or looking after my nieces and it’s all wiping me out a bit. I’m hoping for a quieter weekend this week so I will hopefully be able to feel like I’ve got somewhere…

SuzeQStan

De lurking to say hope you have a restful weekend Betharooni - on anxiety meds here too for nerve pain and have been for some time.

Clutter  can be a trigger - suggest you attack it in bite size amounts so you can feel proud of sorting a corner or a small cupboard or shelf etc. 

interested to hear your future garden plans 😊

Betharooni

Thanks for your response @SuzeQStan.

Sadly the weekend wasn’t as restful as I’d hoped, I had to look after my two little nieces again for DS2 and DSIL2. Managed to clean the windows though, get some washing done and cut back some unwanted bushes in the garden, so a productive weekend in the main.

More washing done today so need to get that hung up on the airer,  am working in the office tomorrow so need to prep some food to take with me, and need to pick up some medication on my way home. Payday Friday though, thank goodness.

This weekend I’m planning on some focused time for decluttering, including going through my clothes, sorting through a couple of boxes and reorganising some space. Hopefully if the weather is reasonable, I’ll go out in the garden and do some more cutting back as well.

Garden plans (as far as I’ve understood) seem to be getting a shed and turning the majority of the rest of the garden to lawn with a couple of raised beds for me. Thinking is that hopefully this will be reasonably low-maintenance (or lower-maintenance than now anyway) and DB1 wants the shed for some model-making. If I can have some veggie growing space, DB1 can have the garden however he wants as far as I’m concerned atm.

Betharooni

Sorry for going quiet again over the last couple of weeks. Work has been crazy and then we suffered another bereavement last weekend - my 16 year old nephew passed away. Struggling to come to terms with it and haven’t done much the last few days. Trying to get my head a bit clearer, but am thinking about some things I’m going to get rid of, so will try to collect them together over the next few days and get them to a charity shop. Also hoping to do a tip run with a few other bigger things we want to get rid of.

SuzeQStan

Heartfelt condolences to you and all your family  Betharooni - can’t begin to imagine how you must be feeling! so very very sorry - words aren’t adequate sorry.