Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home

foxgloves

Brown pen....that made me laugh out loud!

liselle

I’m the same, cannot consume large amounts of liquid.

I know what you mean about still being annoyed at something that happened years ago.I’d like to think I’d protest now though.

It’s so true, isn’t it, that we regret the things we didn’t say or do much more than the opposite.

Chocolatefund

I can't consume large amounts of liquid either. Don't know how people do it.

Biggest barrier to money saving = other people

MillQueen

I've been paid!! It's spreadsheet time 😁. I've been waiting to do this, moving things around and checking how much I still owe on things. Pretty much all my bills are set to go out automatically on the 1st of the month, so I can update everything over the next couple of days and change my signature for June. Super exciting!

I am having a month off from my self-employment in June, as I am so burnt out, but I will receive some payments in that month still, as some places pay me a month in arrears and I still have some invoices to submit from May. After that I will have to go harder at the free time working, to get enough for taxes.

@liselle and @Chocolatefund, it's quite usefully MSE not to be able to drink a lot. I mostly only drink water and sometimes tea. I made a "tea cupboard" at home, where I have been gradually stocking it with all varieties. So even if I have paid £4, that might be for 40 teabags, which is very much cheaper than getting a drink from a shop. I don't drink coffee so that also makes life cheaper. I agree about other people being quite a big barrier. I spend more on other people with collections for gifts etc than I spend on myself, and whenever I spend money on a restaurant, it's usually because someone else really wants to go. I am glad to spend anything for the small number of people I care about, but that £5 in the collection could go towards my loan.

Today I am working from home, so no spends on petrol. I have some meetings in the morning and then a lot to get done this afternoon. Tonight after work I need to submit some claims from my self-employed work as I have been putting off filling in the paperwork and I ought not to really, as it's delaying payment.

MillQueen

I have updated my signature except for the mortgage and overall net wealth, as the exact mortgage figure won't show on my account until Monday. I should hit 1k on my long term investments soon, which is nice. My student loan has gone below 8k, and my mortgage will go below 221k too on Monday. It all feels slow still.

I have about 6k to pay next week for the roof repairs, which will hit my net wealth. That will affect my figures at the end of next month though, so let's not think of that for now 😂

MillQueen

My investments are beginning to do better now, at 4.97%, so they are beating inflation now. Still not higher than my mortgage though, which is 5.24%.

Chocolatefund

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82015531#Comment_82015531

Keep at it. Investing compound Interest over decades is powerful. Mortgages don't work the same. It won't always be at 5.24%

MillQueen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82015866#Comment_82015866

True about the mortgage, although sadly with world events it looks like the rate on that might not have gone down by the time I come to remortgage early next year. I had been hoping to go onto a lower rate. I get a bit stressy about whether it's best to overpay the mortgage or invest, but everything I see says to invest.

Chocolatefund

Don't think too much about it. It will drive you crazy!

Focus your mental energy on what you can control. Like debt busting.

MillQueen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82016045#Comment_82016045

Good advice. The debts are certainly creeping down and both will be paid off in approximately 3 years.

In other news, I have just paid the roofer £1000 for the first payment and then there is about another 5.5k to pay once the work is finished. This is to patch up the roof, as to get a new one was going to be 30k.

The roofer is quite pragmatic and said "just get a new one once the water starts coming in again and don't worry about it until then". I already have the money set aside to cover the repairs (that was what the loan was for).

If I had been financially savvy a few years ago, I could have had an emergency fund for these roof repairs, but I hadn't started this journey then, hence the loan. Next time I will be prepared!