Saving, Living, and Ditching the Mortgage

RedLipstick

@northwalesd , @carboot_karaoke , @debtfreewannabe321 Thank you for your kind words all, that really helps. My sis just turned 39, looks like she will be there for another 2-3 weeks but no hard dates yet. Recovery is going slow but steady, she's in a lot of pain but says she can see a bit of progress compared to few weeks ago. Small but great news.

Had a quiet weekend in just doing lots of cleaning and washing, and today I've spent most of the day on my dissertation. Both NSD for a change. For the past few days I've been trying to follow the "Optimistic October" (website is called Action for Happiness if you like to check it out), really liked the task for yesterday to list my three priorities and it's currently all around debt, reno and uni. Gave me a needed kick to focus on uni today and finish some bits/prep ahead of my meeting with supervisor next week. Reno will be out of the way in a week, uni by Feb. I guess cleaning will replace reno for the next few weeks, can hardly see through the windows in these rooms!

I went through my Excel last night. One more week of reno so no exact numbers yet, but my current CC debt sits at circa £15k. Quite a dramatic number. This is on top of £10k I had saved. It's my first big renovations and I've learned a very valuable lesson - next time I will save double before I even ask for any quotes! Some of the things I've spent on are not necessarily the cheapest (soundproofing walls and replacing floors/floorboards), but I never imagined everything is so expensive and how quickly it all adds up. Also, I need to ask for price before asking for extra stuff so at least I know what I'm getting into. I have one more payment to go next Friday for the works, it's all ready and sitting in the account so fingers crossed there is no need to touch the cards again. New smoke and heat alarms are getting delivered on Tuesday and doors on Friday, hopefully early enough so they have decent amount of time to hang them. I still need to order hinges tomorrow and I think that's it. No handles for now as the ones I like are not in stock until December and I couldn't find anything similar online. Guys will be back in Feb to fit them, I really need peace for now so I can gather my thoughts and finish uni.

I think posting more often may help me clear my head a bit. I can already feel the positive impact of writing it all down here few days ago. I'm in a weird spot now, we chat daily with my sister and share things but now I obviously don't want to bother her with my stuff. My girlfriends are also very busy lately, so I really appreciate having a safe space here to come and get some of it out.

While you're here, set a reminder for this week to check your smoke/heat/co alarms and, if you don't already have, get a fire blanket or two. Thankfully I never needed to use one and hope it stays this way!

Office tomorrow so I better get some sleep. Have a lovely week ahead xx

RedLipstick

Right, that's the renovations 'almost' over. They've finished on Friday and seriously, after almost 2 months of works, it felt like they were moving out, they've had so much stuff to take. They didn't have the right saw to cut the doors to size so they will be back to finish it end of Nov/early December. I've picked door handles that I like but unfortunately they're not back in stock until end of November so we have agreed that I will message them when the handles arrive and they will be here next day to fit the doors and handles. I have put some money aside for this but that's still another thousand to go, plus handles. Hopefully all done by the end of the year.

I'm so delighted with the end result, it really completely changed and elevated the place. Not so much delighted with the CC debt though! I just went through the numbers, and on top of what I've had saved up for reno (£10k), I have extra £15k to clear from the CCs. I knew I will need to get some stuff on CC (had to do a money transfer too) but this turned out more eye watering than I expected. Like I’ve said before, I will need to save a double for any future works! It is what it is though and now it's time to start paying that off at a chop chop speed. I already rounded the numbers with some spare cash last night so the overpayments are counted towards next month’s direct debit. I have both DDs set to 1st of the month, so normally all overpayments done by 6th are counted towards next month min payment. I have it all mapped out in Excel so I can see how much any OPs impact next month's minimums and also it's all calculated to make sure I pay the cards off before 0% runs out.

So, here we are with the update.

Progress (more like lack off)

• Save £10k in emergency fund: £100 £100
• Get monthly interest under £500 (need balance below £158,000): £159,000 £159,000 (d/d out tomorrow)
• Get mortgage down to £150,000: £159,000 £159,000 (as above)
• Pay off credit cards 
• #1: £4,350 (0% until May 26)
• #2: £10,900 (0% until July 26)

Total on cards: £15,250

Cards are now back in the drawer, but I will get handles on CC for the extra protection. I can see in YNAB how much I have to pay towards each card monthly to make sure everything is paid off by the end of 0% promo, but I will probably try to get the #1 down to £1-2k first and then hit the #2 so it’s as low as possible as soon as possible.

Payday in three weeks. I have £150 for spending and £500 on the side for doors/handles. £150 needs to cover me for office days and groceries. My sister supposed to be arriving next week but, since that’s now cancelled, it will be a quiet month, so £150 for 3 weeks should be more than plenty. Lots of food in the freezer and cupboards so I’m hoping for smooth sailing, also lots of food for my wee cat so we should be good.

Have a great week ahead xx

northwalesd

Sending positive energy for getting on to those CCs, I'm sure you'll crush it.

carboot_karaoke

You have a plan to clear the CC and a lovely home to show for it.  

Win, win ☺️.

seventh88

Just catching up with your diary. I'm sorry to hear about your sister's stroke and hope she's recovering well. Two great charities incase you/her need support:

- Different Strokes (Charity for young stroke survivors)

- Stroke Association (Charity for all stroke survivors, great information resources)

It sounds as if having the diary on here is helping you get your thoughts in order and reflect. I find the same! A really useful space. Well done on everything you have achieved with the renovations, it's great to hear you're pleased with the results - it sounds like it was well worth it. The CC will come down, the important thing is that you have a plan and a clear way of sorting it.
Good to hear from you, take care and keep going - one day, one step at a time, you will chip away at your finances for the better. 

RedLipstick

Thank you all for your kind comments! 

My sister is now out of the hospital and at home since last Monday. I'm told it's quite an adjustment after being in hospital for so long but she's settling in nicely, my dad is also staying with them for now to help out, driving my niece to school, etc as my sis cannot drive right now and BIL starts work early in the morning. 

I feel like I'm in the middle of a cyclone at work, it's that busy with all the end of the year stuff and trying to push projects out before the change freeze. Hectic and I absolutely cannot wait until next week and starting my leave!

My dissertation is going alright, my coding is running in the background right now for the past 10 hours, 1.5hr to go. I'm up until 1-2am every night doing the uni after work, but will head straight to bed tonight after this long run finishes, hopefully all done by 10pm, I really need to catch up on sleep. I'm working from home but heading to the office on Thursday and Friday so don't want to be in a zombie state.

Past few weeks have been a bit expensive due to all the festive socials, but I've not got much planned now thankfully, and it's all now indoors at either mine or friends places. I do the cooking, they do desserts, fun times ahead!

Money wise it's been steady. Nothing exciting to report but the debt is coming down, I've also dropped some extra money towards savings. Not much but better than nothing. Payday this week so will be getting the CCs down again. 

Progress

• Save £10k in emergency fund: £100 £700
• Get mortgage down to £150,000: £159,000 £158,400 
  
• Pay off credit cards 
• #1: £4,350 £3,890 (0% until May 26)
• #2: £10,900 £9,700 (0% until July 26)

Total on cards: £15,250 £13,590

Hope everyone is well and looking forward to Christmas! xx

Ms_Potato_Head

Have nothung but empathy for the demanding job/study struggle - it will be worth it in the end! You're doing great and I hope your sistwr continues to improve. 
MPHx

RedLipstick

Very busy day in the office, came back home after 6pm. Shower, food, a bit of prep for tomorrow, and down to the MSE business. Payday finally! I will probably end up crying around middle of January and eating pot noodles, as it's a long time now to next pay day, but did my best to send the money towards CC debt and added £100 each to savings and mortgage. Kind of like pay yourself first but pay your debts first this time! Left a decent buffer on my current account just in case, and I'm also waiting on a refund for the past two months, hopefully it will land here by the end of the year, fingers crossed, I'll then get another update this month. The rate on my EF is going down tomorrow, down to 3%. Not happy but will keep the money there for now until I get rid of my CCs. 

Right, update time. 

Progress

• Save £10k in emergency fund: £700 £800
• Get mortgage down to £150,000: £158,400 £158,300 
  
• Pay off credit cards 
• #1: £3,890 £3,500 (0% until May 26)
• #2: £9,700 £9,000 (0% until July 26)

Total on cards: £13,590 £12,500

Not even touching uni stuff tonight. Up at 6am tomorrow again, and back to the office for another long day. Hoping to visit HMV during lunch or after work to get a DVD of Sarah Millican's Late Bloomer show, absolutely cannot wait! Yes, I have a DVD player, it plays CDs too! I try to buy one DVD or a CD per month as part of my "culture" spend, can't live with work and uni only. 

Any comedians you like and recommend? I have few favourites but always keen to add some new names to my list.

seventh88

Good to see you RedLipstick and positive to hear your sister is home and has support around her too. It must have been such a difficult few months for you all - I hope you're doing as well as you can be. 

Well done on working towards your financial goals, especially whilst time is still so squeezed with you juggling both work and uni. I love the idea of getting a DVD/CD each month (I also have a DVD player still!! In my defence I don't do subscriptions though - no netflix etc, I'd rather buy a cheap boxset and watch that for a while and then sell it on to get something else). If you like Sarah Millican you might also like folks like Miranda Hart, Susan Calman, Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan, Sophie Duker, Amy Schumer etc - I don't know who has DVDs out though, but worth a look! Some have podcasts I think. 

debtfreewannabe321

What a great idea with buying some culture each month 😀 I have two dvd players here. One is in an old TV I just can't part with 🤣 and one downstairs in the main room. Also have a cd player and record player 👏🏻 my 27 year old son is returning to dvds too as we both have the poor person prime and netflix subscription (we share the prime) and are fed up with all the adverts! 
I love Ricky Gervais, he's not everyone's cup of tea but I think he's hilarious and the fact he donates so much money to animals has him high up in my books. Also love a bit of McIntyre 😁.
Hope work passes quickly for you today. Are you off for Christmas after today? 🎄