Investing in Us: Holidays, Health, and the Road to £150k

debtfreewannabe321

Ah, I didn't see a switch but I will go check when I'm outside then. Maybe that's what it was. They look very cheap and flimsy though so would not surprise me if I have wasted my time wrapping it around a tree for it not to work 😆.

I'm still sat in bed, very tired, very dizzy today. I'm going to strip the bed in a moment and get bedding in the wash. Hopefully it stays dry enough out for it to go out. DP has very helpfully done all the washing but on a beautiful day yesterday he used the TD about four times 🤦🏻‍♀️. Mustn't moan though as he did do it....

The free bookcases are in situ in the right rooms..I'm waiting on the wet weather and we will do inside jobs moving books up to them.

DP has gone out to make a start on the cladding (in fact he's nearly finished that last panel with the new wood as he started it yesterday). Then he will move on to doing the patio. I'm going to use my new kneeling stool for doing a bit of weeding. After dropping DD off at work…

I'm trying to give myself a pep talk about how long I have left at work till my holiday but very fatigued already. Yesterday I kind of set a bit of a boundary as it was suggested I could walk to four places to visit yesterday. I said no. I was willing to go to two, the other two were a 1.5 mile walk away in the opposite direction and obviously I have to walk around sites for an hour each visit and then back again. Nope. And buses are rubbish down that end and haven't turned up before so not doing that either. I felt empowered saying no but also nervous... but it was fine. It was accepted. I need to do this more at work really because I am doing too much on some days. Hence my utter exhausted state.

Now back to the weather...it was supposed to be sunny today but the forecast has changed since earlier this morning and now we are expecting rain. Not happy about that as was hoping to spend the weekend in the garden. Hopefully it will change again. Suppose I better get this wash on now then...

debtfreewannabe321

DD dropped at work!

I've just logged on to my mortgage and it's in the £157k range now. Low 157 but when interest is added it will go up to the high end.

Worked out my daily interest rate, always a fun one eh 😩🙈. It's down to £14.59 a day. It started on £15.21 when we added the new mortgage to it last August so it's come down quite a bit already. I'm slightly off track to reach my 150k goal this year even with an OP this month which after car payments yesterday I definitely think we are skipping.

We will reach it by remortgage date though easily so that's good.

DP has agreed to keep a £1000 back and in a savings account I think (I will check) from his bonus as an emergency...so that means technically we're at £2k EF although he wants to keep half in his bank (whatever so long as it's somewhere).

I need to get some pots back up to where they should be next month so really need to crack down on the budget. I think we're going to start with cancelling the gym for summer. I'm not well enough to go and will do without the sauna now I can sit outside. And DP only went when I did and DD has a bf now and spends all her spare time with him so for now we will cancel I think. Also going to cut down on a few TV subscriptions they're all cheap but all add up. Plus sun's out now.. I will keep prime for delivery plus I pay half with ds. And also Netflix for DD (6 pounds a month). The others are going.

I will have a think about what else I can cut out whilst I'm gardening...the sun is peeking out finally!

Bargainhunter30

Well done on the boundaries. Since DD is earning can you negotiate with her to pay her own Netflix? I'm sure you said at one point that she has more savings than you.

I once bought solar lights that didn't work - again didn't notice the on/off switch 🙈

debtfreewannabe321

@Bargainhunter30 I may well ask her to take over a couple of small DD's so she can get used to paying some bills. The amount of students I have that don't even know what one is is unbelievable so would do her some good to learn to budget whilst she's at home.

DP worked himself to the bone yesterday when I left him to go to the gong bath (as corrected by the person running it when I thought it was a sound bath 🤭) he didn't stop until around 9 pm and is very achy today. I enjoyed the gong bath and met a friend there. But was a little awkward because I'd gone with another friend and all three of us know each other since school days and my two friends don't really get on… #awks. You'd think thirty years gone by would smooth over that but it hasn't. Both are invited to my wedding party too 🤭😆. Also someone snored all the way through so I wasn't fully able to switch off. But still, it was lovely.

This morning DP and I had a long chat. Much overdue. He's working extra hard trying to set up his new business, working full time already, and trying to do DIY..he's headed for the same burnout I am already at. We've chatted about what we can do to change this. Long story short I think another house move will be on the table in a couple of years. We've scoured RM and other sites for areas and we've settled on a large-ish search area which would mean we could easily find something more rural, already done with no DIY, less mortgage than we have or the same but a larger more private plot and the solitude we are both craving, the water nearby (sea and river) and the walks which we are desperately missing. We're within five minutes drive of greenery here but it's all private land for miles. Farms, and private woods etc and no where but noisy busy parks for us to go to. Was the same in the last house. I guess when you're in farming counties it's to be expected so we're looking to go further towards places that aren't so farm orientated.

It feels nice to have a direction and a purpose for pushing forward with finishing this house. I know many readers probably think me insane but I've never felt at home in any of the houses I've bought, all being one step up the ladder with something not quite right. The last one lovely house, dodgy council estate. The one before that was too small, being a perfect starter home and I had three kids squeezed in 😆 (sold to a retired couple and perfect size for them). This one perfect size house and lovely garden, but, road too busy, we're a main road into the city, and neighbours - too many and too noisy (the woman with five dogs being the one who causes me most stress). We back on to a council estate so we made it off one but we're surrounded by them which makes it feel over crowded. Anyway perhaps one more step up (or sideways as we're thinking) might be the way to do this. I'd like it to be right and future proof and not have to keep doing this because I'm personally fed up with keeping on moving but I do think that this house is not right.... DP and I having got together later in life have started at the bottom and done what most couples spend twenty years doing in six years. It's no wonder we're tired, grey and fed up. I like to have some motivation though so I'm looking forward and not looking back. We will make this lovely enough to sell. And we've no kids tying us to any particular place any more which I've never ever had since leaving home with a babe already in arms....it feels quite freeing. (DD will have to commute or move into halls if still at uni or we will aim for three years when she's finished uni).

Today's plans, shopping, ironing, perhaps a bit more weeding, the rain we had last night will have helped soften the ground but I'm in quite a bit of pain with sciatica after yesterday's weeding so don't really want to push it.

Four day working week coming up which makes me happy 😊. We're on countdown now really to the end of term which is great.

DP and I also talked about getting another dog .... 🤭🥰. I think it's coming to the time where I feel I can. I couldn't bear the thought of it when FLD passed, was too much grief to contemplate what felt like replacing him. But I miss his companionship and cuddles and also the walks which I now feel fit enough with my foot mostly healed to be able to do..and DP is missing the walks too which he could do during work hours as he's home all day. So don't be surprised if I come back with some news of a new pup at some point 😆🥰. It will be a pup too. I don't want a rescue. I'm scared of dogs for the most part and would like a puppy that grows with us and I don't have to re-train or get used to us.

greenbee

Just bear in mind that there is no such thing as a house that doesn't need stuff doing to it. This one was supposed to be exactly that, and I have had people here doing stuff on and off ever since I moved in… hopefully this year will be the year I finish it!

However, it's good to plan where you want to be for the next stage of life, how long you will be there (rural living can be hard as you get older and can't get out and about independently so much), and how to minimise running costs (that's part of the reason I'm investing in solar/heat pump technology at the moment, as well as a LOT of insulation in the garage conversion) so you can start to slow down.

debtfreewannabe321

Yeh I understand the difficulty with the rural living @greenbee, I was brought up in two extremes. London (surrounded every which way) and rural (nearest neighbour was over half a mile from us) and saw the problem with both. As I grow older I'd willingly take the rural problems over the extreme stress I feel from non stop city living. It's like it never switches off round here. Meaning I struggle to as well..I'm also missing greenery and wildlife.

Also understand about the issues with not many things to do in a home already done (and then several being found along the way) but the last three I have had were complete renovations that no one in their right minds would take on (hence why we got all three at good prices). All needing new kitchen, bathroom, and total overhauls with one thing or another. I'd take one that looks good and we find a few issues along the way over what we've had any day (hard stare at my ugly bathrooms we still have that are straight out the 80s and falling to pieces). But I'm trying to look at the positives we've managed to considerably move up the chain by taking these on and doing pretty much all aside from the odd big building job ourselves. When I reflect it's no wonder we're tired but we're also incredibly proud of our achievements. And we have done all to a good standard thanks to my perfectionism with each job 🙈🙈🙈 (also my downfall). Just need enough energy to finish this one 😆😩.

Well, it's raining here. And any long time followers will know I'm a fair weather gardener 🤣. So I'm off shopping instead. We're out of bread, milk, cereal and fruit and veg complete aside from a couple of sorry looking oranges and a butternut squash (which I will cook later) also oil I've been using Coconut all week and some random spray one I found in the back of the cupboard.

I love to have a goal so my short term goal this week is to move all books from DS2 old room (huge cupboard in there full of my books) and up to our room to the new to us bookcases. I also want to hoover up there it's looking very dusty. Bedding was done yesterday and I'll also clean the ensuite which we barely use (shower cubicle made for dwarves). Then that solves two problems, next week ds1 is bringing us his boxes to store so he can make use of the big empty cupboard (see that for manifesting) and we don't need to put It in the garage then which I have plans to empty at some point over summer. And I have my books out where I can access them rather than my current issue of, I want a book, go to cupboard, fall over boxes, sigh, shut cupboard and have no book to read.

Right off to shop and clean a bit and potter. Not going to work too hard but when my sciatica plays up I'm better moving very slowly through the day rather than sitting 😊.

Jessy103

I hope you can find what you're looking for house wise. We live in a large village in Lincolnshire, so we have enough amenities in the village itself for when we get older, but also have greenspaces around us to visit which really helps with my mental health.

Also, when you do look for a puppy, do look at rescue centres still. A lot of them do have puppies available, as well as older dogs. Dog 3 who was a rescue we got from Ireland was dumped with her five puppies, so all 6 of them needed new homes x

debtfreewannabe321

@Jessy103 I will pm you if you don't mind ...

I'm back from Mr T and omg it cost a small fortune. However I did pick up garden pots 🙈🤣 and oil that cost a tenner alone 🤯.

Collected DD and made lunch and put shop away and had to sit down, super dizzy and not feeling right. It's okay to take an afternoon off (I say to myself). DP has done about a third of the patio and I'm getting super excited to see it done!

debtfreewannabe321

DD gym has been cancelled along with ours! We may pick up again when the weather worsens. It's not super expensive but when we pay for three it all adds up. So £100 saved 👏🏻 from next month anyway!

I've also broached the subject of DD taking on some DDs herself. And suggested her phone (£6 or so a month) and contact lenses (30 something a month) so a fair bit more than the Netflix which to be fair we all use (and it's only £5.99 a month). She initially said whaaaaatttt nooo. I said, you'll be an adult soon and this is what I did with your older brother too so he could learn how to budget (I'm not sure I did it at 18 but I think I did as he did have a job at Mr T). Then she went, maybe, I'll think about it. Ha, like she will have a choice 🤔🤣…anyway about half hour later she came down and randomly started cleaning the kitchen 🤔👏🏻. Think perhaps the adulting conversation went better than I thought. The kitchen is cleared, the DW is on, the floor is mopped. My rice was collateral damage as it got thrown rather than saved but I'll take it there was only half a portion left. DP has gone and hoovered upstairs for me and the house resembles something like my houses used to always be- clean. 🤣🤔 I'm most confused but will take the win lol. (Think it helps DD bf is at work so she's at a loose end without him 🤣).

KajiKita

Might be worth pointing out to DD how much full board and lodging would cost her in different circumstances … £36 pcm doesn’t seem unreasonable when she’s earning c. £2K pcm take home (I’m guessing?) compared to that 😊

Well done on the finances rationalisation. I do it periodically and find all kinds of random things have crept in … (and yes, I know, I should have the self discipline to not be sucked into them in the first place, but hey, these marketing people are specialists! 😉)

KK