Prosperous and Creative Soul Year 5

jwil

Lovely photos!

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie, Lucielle, Jwil and Skint

Worked an extra long day today - but travel to site tomorrow which loses me 2 plus hours in travel time that I can't claim and I'm less productive then.

On countdown towards holiday now. Found a brand new tankini and bottoms set I bought for Florida but didn't use so can use that. Also found my Mum's missing euro plug that she lent me last year. I need to return that to her - and buy myself an extra one. I also need to see if I can find any other swim suits / sets. I'd prefer to take 3 to allow time for stuff to dry.

I bought some of those quick dry towels that pack up small from HB the other day. £4 each can't complain.

PIP form sent off for DD. Also posted card to DS - with some lovely dinosaur stamps that I've had a while.

I've booked our airport hotel - £60 each. From there it will be 12 euros for a transfer to the airport on our last morning. So that should help my budget compared with the forecast cost of transfer from the original hotel.

I've been asking my Mum for her passport details for weeks which she still hasn't sent which is annoying. I've prompted her again as check in is open now. I think there is another form I have to fill in for going to Italy but annoyingly it isn't showing in the holiday T app. Do they just hand it out or am I supposed to print something beforehand? Anyone know?

A little snapshot below from my daily journal practice (my art plus bought writing stickers)

beanielou

Your daily journal snapshot is fantastic.

lucielle

lovely journal. Where do you get your swimming costumes from? I need a new tankini

L

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie and Lucielle

Sorry it's been so long. B0n Marche is great for tankinis at a decent price.

I had a good time on holiday with my Mum. It was a different kind of holiday but I'm glad I did it. I don't know if I'd repeat it there though as it was a compromise but would consider mini-breaks elsewhere.

Someone has scammed my card details on one of my accounts. Just had to block a card and get it reissued. It seems to have been for a McDs delivery - so I hope they manage to trace it back to an address!! No idea how it could have happened. I should get the money refunded but it takes time… £28+ Card now cancelled and to be reissued. The security person speculated either I'd gone on an insecure site - which feels unlikely to me as I think I'm very careful - or a major player has been hacked and they stole my details from there…

Currently awaiting a refund for my May dentist bill which I've only just got around to claiming. That will be £99 when it comes. I have a dentist appt this coming Monday for some work - as my bridge came out entirely on holiday when a tooth snapped. I mostly managed to keep it in place )using toothpaste!!) until I got in to see my dentist but it dampened the end of my holiday.

My AVCs are now over £44K. And at least another £650 has come off my mortgage. CCs are now down to around £5K - but should drop another £600+ next week. Should be net £2.6K in savings after taking off CCs…

Work is manic but I'm coping better at work but still struggling at home. I managed a swim last weekend and hope to go again later today - or do an equivalent activity.

savingholmes

Spoke to my mortgage broker today - he was very happy I'd repaid £15K of debt from savings. I'm hoping to get a mortgage until I'm 80 to reduce the minimum payment amount and give me more flexibility if I end up leaving my current organisation at some point over the next 5 years.

I just need various conflicts to stop so that the overall interest rate comes down before my current very nice rate runs out at the end of the year.

I'm going to go and find my mortgage paperwork now so I can confirm what I currently owe - and see if my account ref is different to what he has on file… So much life admin!! Grateful to be in a decent job though where I know I should pass affordability.

lucielle

Gosh that holiday came and went really quickly!! Sorry about the card.
L

KajiKita

I’m glad the holiday went well 😊 Remind me, that was Italy again?

I agree, the card is likely to be the result of a big hack. Happening more and more I think. At least you noticed it quickly.

How old is that bridge? Could it be fixed under a dental lab guarantee?

All of the finances are sounding steady and stable, which must be reassuring. 😊 The comment about interest rates made me smile … I’d be quite happy to see them go up a bit for a while, but I don’t have to remortgage yet. Once that comes around I will be in exactly the same mindset as you! 😉😊

Hope you got your swim in.

KK

jwil

Glad you had a nice break

savingholmes

Thanks KK, Jwil and Lucielle

Yes - I went to the Italian lakes and mountains. Utterly gorgeous.

I seem to be in too much of a spend mode currently. Last weekend I went to the beach for a couple of nights - which was lovely but not in budget.

I've also gone back to the chiro - and while I can reclaim a certain amount - I bought an upfront package - so now waiting for the money to drip back in over time.

I've also bought new glasses and sunglasses. My prescription had only changes slightly - but I wanted an extra pair of decent sunglasses to keep in the car. My old spare in there - for when I forget my current pair - the old prescription is legit but not brilliant. I can claim £155 back - but with the prescription, scan and 2 pairs - I spent £510.

I've put in a claim for 2 chiro sessions and my glasses - so about £150 on its way back to me. The dental £ claim has been paid.

I have a work CPD thing that avoids an exam that I need to pay out - probably around £100 and claim back in a couple of weeks time.

I've applied for my mortgage at 4.59% until I am 80!!! It updates daily - so any payments have immediate effect which is better than my current one. Going longer kept my payments within £20 of where they are now. It only kicks in from next January but if the rates drop I can swap closer to the time, otherwise hopefully I have a decent rate locked in. To keep to below 75 - I'd have faced an extra £200 a month. I'd rather put any spare £ into my pension AVC or savings… I figure - I could well move before then anyway at which point it may sort itself out. Once I get my Oz trip out the way - I can refocus properly on my AVCs / OPs / Savings etc.

I'm withdrawing the £3K savings I'd ringfenced for Oz - and I'm going to clear a CC instead. I'm also going to send about £750 towards my mortgage as an OP - as I'm due to borrow slightly less than I need to fully redeem the mortgage. I might as well frontload the payment and get it done.

I've been worried about my recent spending - even where it has been legit like health stuff - so want to reduce my reliance on my CC even if it is 0% on purchases for another 10 months or so. That means that I will have cleared the card whose 0% expires in September, and then only have 0% on purchase points CC with a balance. I need to save £3K back up before I go to Oz in December though - but I'm hoping it will motivate me to stay on the straight and narrow. If it doesn't work - I can still use my back up CC…

I should get back pay at some point too. By the time I get it - the back pay could be worth £1K (gross) if paid in September, or £1.5K if paid closer to Christmas .