Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

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  • themadvix
    themadvix Posts: 7,790
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    Morning all,

    Apologies to those who get a digest and had to read too much about cat wee! ;) Progress on the kitchen continues today with the plasterers back to do the walls. They've assured me it'll only be a half day, which fills me (and the cats) with joy, as I had a busy day yesterday, didn't sleep well and have a headache this morning.

    Went out yesterday - helping to declutter two Guiding storage spaces (I love a declutter :D ) and then went to a car show with DH. I got the train down, so it cost me in fares, but saved me having to drive and then bring two cars back, so saving petrol. We had an ice cream at the show, but came home for dinner (fresh pasta, second day in a row). I haven't done the washing up yet - was too tired last night. Am considering packing it up and taking it to Dad's to use the dishwasher tonight (he's away and told us to feel free to use the dishwasher/washing machine while he's not there). We're going to take advantage of his cooker tonight :)

    (On the cat wee front, we've also used some Am vouchers to buy a new litter tray, that will *hopefully* meet with kitty's approval and catch the high-flying pee! Enough said on that matter!)

    MS things:
    * Have managed to eat at home last two nights (this will probably not continue as from Saturday we'll be painting/installing kitchen, so will be too tired to cook in difficult circumstances - vouchers will come to the fore then)
    * SBs - swago done, spins done, survey done - lots of action today
    * VB poll and survey done - £7.55 on there
    * Have a PC survey to do - after I've finished the work

    Gratitudes:
    * Good, productive, enjoyable day yesterday
    * Loads of exercise - well over 10k steps yesterday
    * 25p YS cherry pie for pud last night

    Better try to continue with work... Have a good day all!
    Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days

    'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway


  • Jessy103
    Jessy103 Posts: 1,818
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    Good luck with the new litter tray!! x
    Mortgage Balance as of Jan 24 £36,500 Starting Mortgage Balance (June 2019) £72,000. 2024 Overpayment Challenge: Jan £558.40,
  • themadvix
    themadvix Posts: 7,790
    Mortgage-free Glee! Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
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    Hi all,

    It's been a very busy few days - the kitchen is now painted (a few little touch-ups to do) and some of the cabinets have started to go in. We're waiting for the floor to be ready for collection - annoyingly Carpetright have given us conflicting advice and potentially delayed everything/meant we opted for the cheaper but possibly not-so-good option to get it quicker, and not got it quicker.... grr... Hoping I'll be notified that it's ready today (failing that, as it's to be cut off a roll in store, I might just go down there).

    Have been buying and spending, but have tried to get cashback where I can (i.e. click and collect at B&Q and Screwfix). Have paid off cc (kitchen) with DH's winnings, as intended and have paid workmen for first fix (and plasterers in full). By my calculations we've got another £1370 to pay trades and then the miscellaneous expenses involved - including sides to the pan drawers/organisers etc.

    Target for end of year then is to get my savings/buffer fund back up to £10k from the £7905 it's languishing at at the moment.

    Typically as I need to be building kitchen/painting etc., work has picked up, but I'm NOT complaining! :T Today DH has gone to work (we're waiting on the flooring) and I'm catching up with work, invoicing and a bit of housework.... and generally letting muscles relax!

    Kitty likes new litter tray, which is great, except it has a nice large opening and he doesn't always want to stick his head end out of it while peeing!!:eek: It's a work in progress.... and ironically he used the old litter tray this morning.... Cats are sent to exasperate, I'm sure! :)

    Oooh, nearly forgot to say - I won a bottle of gin and a book of gin cocktails! :j :j

    Have now sold the cooker twice on ebay, both times to non-payers/time wasters.....:mad: Have opened unpaid item case against the second, when it closes I'll stick it on FB. Really, really fed up about this, especially as the first time it sold for £105! We won't get anything like that now, I don't think.

    MS things:
    *Winnings :T
    * Cashback earnings
    * Claimed a £15 virtual prepaid M'card from PC and a £5 one from SBs.... have yet to use them....potentially will use for a takeaway (electrician can't come for final fix until Tuesday and we don't have the second bit of worktop coming until the 10th)
    * Dinner at sister's tonight
    * Chips for lunch yesterday, paid for by FIL (I offered, he refused to let me pay)
    * Have just redeemed 200 MS points for a 3-month Groove music pass - can start at end of Sept when my 3-month Spotify trial runs out :D Saves another £30 :D
    * DH's lift-sharing continues, she's apparently asked for bank account details :T

    Gratitudes:
    * I can see approximately double the floor in my living room than I could see yesterday! :rotfl:
    * Cats are using litter trays (almost!) and seem slightly less stressed, despite the chaos (they've got feliway and are on kitty prozac)
    * Dinner at sister's tonight promises to be yummy (and I get to see niece)
    * The end is almost in sight?? It feels that way anyway!

    Have a good afternoon all, I'd better do something productive now!
    Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days

    'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway


  • themadvix
    themadvix Posts: 7,790
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    I really must write less.... the last post was far too long.

    Electrician here again now doing final fix. Still a long way to go, but we have a whole weekend to crack on now. Finally picked the flooring up today, so that'll be next I think.

    Pasta and sauce for dinner tonight (again) - roll on an actual oven and hob!

    Money-saving:
    * Resisted chip-shop for lunch (mainly related to weight, not money!)
    * VB poll
    * 40 MM survey
    * Bonus SBs claimed
    * Comps entered....

    Gratitudes:
    * Sunny weather this morning for garden washing up
    * DH home early to do kitchen stuff
    * Lemon drizzle cake (was reduced, but not good for weight!)
    * Living room floor has doubled in size again (oven now in kitchen)

    Have a good weekend all!
    Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days

    'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway


  • Viking_mfw
    Viking_mfw Posts: 569
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    Sympathy with CarpetWrong - they cocked up our fitting of our carpets which delayed us putting the house on the market by about 3 weeks. They kept claiming to rebook it but forgetting to put it in the diary. I must have had to stay home about 4 days for them not to turn up.

    Congratulations on the bottle of gin :)
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,459
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    Free spirits are always good :):):)

    I'm so glad your kitchen is coming along! And that you get to see your niece such a lot - there's nothing better :)

    I write long posts like that, btw - I've given up trying to censor myself, or write more "appropriately" - people will read it that want to read it, and it has to be helpful for you if you're going to have a diary at all :):):)
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
  • Kittenkirst
    Kittenkirst Posts: 2,563
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    Mmmmm I do love a good lemon drizzle cake :D

    Yay to the cat peeing a bit more appropriately! Our cats are exactly the same in that they do things to exasperate; I think it's a special game that they think we humans like :D

    We went out to gf's parents last night for dinner and Hugo watched us get in the car from the window, he then reversed himself and knocked out Ganesh Statue off the window breaking an arm :-/ will be gluing that back together today!!

    Glad the kitchens coming along well!
    First home- Oct’16 until June’21: £170.995- Overpayments made £13,784 (25% extra!).
    New forever home- Sep’21 £309,449 @ 2.05%. Plan to clear it before 30 years!!!!!!
  • themadvix
    themadvix Posts: 7,790
    Mortgage-free Glee! Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
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    Well I tried to multiquote, but failed!

    So, Viking, I think you've got the name spot on. We didn't even want it fitted, but getting it to the warehouse, not even the store, seemed to be more than difficult for them. I collected on Friday in the end, so I could have got the more expensive stuff. I just seem to be unlucky with floor coverings - last time it was John Lewis who couldn't get it right!

    Karmacat - I will try not the censor myself - as you say, people don't have to read it! (I know I occasionally skip bits of others' diaries! :) ). I do get to see niece a lot - she's a very cute and very happy baby, and fortunately she only lives down the road. I love the fact she knows who I am and gives me a big smile when she sees me :)

    And the quote I did end up with!
    Our cats are exactly the same in that they do things to exasperate; I think it's a special game that they think we humans like :D We went out to gf's parents last night for dinner and Hugo watched us get in the car from the window, he then reversed himself and knocked out Ganesh Statue off the window breaking an arm :-/ will be gluing that back together today!!

    Replied on your thread KK, will probably confuse everyone else! I'm sure they think we exasperate them too though - I mean, we've completely disrupted their lives by banning them from the dining room (currently the nearest we have to a kitchen), creating lots of mess and turning the living room into a (not even empty :eek:) box storage area!

    Kitchen has come along loads over the weekend and would probably be more or less finished, except for the fact that we've discovered that the stack pipe (access in the kitchen) is leaking slightly where the toilet is backing up slightly (we're not talking raw sewage everywhere, but it does need sorting before we lay the floor and make it relatively inaccessible). Unfortunately our drains go straight down and under the houses (no manhole), which makes rodding virtually impossible. We're using caustic soda and a bendy rod and hoping we'll get the blockage gone and then ask our plumber to sort the slight leak (it looks like a clip is broken, causing the problem) to sort it when he comes back to do the plumbing.

    However, I love the kitchen - it looks really nice, the new design will make the space bigger and the oven cooks a mean garlic bread (we had to test it!). The end is in sight!

    MS things:
    * Comps done
    * More cashback on click and collect from Wickes and takeaway
    * £3 survey done this morning
    * FVF credit received on cooker - will stick it on FB this morning.
    * Rang old energy provider to find out what was happening re what I thought was debt we owed them - turns out they owed us £144, which has since been (automatically) paid back into our account :T
    * Meter readings for new company - we're £22 in credit (they have a 'live balance' update on their website - amazing :D )
    * Used survey earnings to order some hoover bits from Am (and *ahem* a book each for the nieces)

    Gratitudes:
    * Minimal cursing while installing kitchen :D
    * Picnic with extended family for sisters' (belated) birthday yesterday - was lovely
    * Nan (who has quite bad dementia) has remembered that I'm 'auntie' not mum to niece :D It's virtually unheard of that she remembers anything new these days, so just goes to show how popular niece is with her :) (her face lights up when she arrives)

    Happy Monday everyone, I must go and put caustic soda down the drain (what a fun life ;) ) :)
    Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days

    'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway


  • themadvix
    themadvix Posts: 7,790
    Mortgage-free Glee! Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
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    Quick update (caustic soda still not done - oops)

    * Freebie cat treats in the post
    * £2.65 claimed from TCB
    * Chased untracked cashback from using debit card - only pennies, but it's the first time I've tried to get cb this way, so want to make sure I'm doing it right
    Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days

    'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway


  • Jessy103
    Jessy103 Posts: 1,818
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    Hope the pipe gets fixed soon so you can enjoy your lovely new kitchen! x
    Mortgage Balance as of Jan 24 £36,500 Starting Mortgage Balance (June 2019) £72,000. 2024 Overpayment Challenge: Jan £558.40,
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