The ups, downs, and occasional sideways bits of trying to be mortgage free

armchairexpert · 21 June 2017 at 4:37AM

Thanks Wysi! Part of my despondency isn't so much financial, as it is 'is this all there is' and I don't really think paying off the mortgage will help that. But goals do make me feel better, and at least it is one.

Well, today I paid over an eye watering amount of money in various bills. Some of them aren't due till next month, but because we're changing over the mortgage and all the accounts are changing, I don't want any outstanding scheduled payments so there is a LOT of 'turning the arrow to the right' in YNAB happening right now. My electricity bill is insane, because it's an old draughty house and also my husband doesn't tolerate being even the slightest bit chilly. The bedroom wall heater stays on all night and he had it up to 17 degrees last night, ridiculous.

Waved goodbye to a couple of roosters yesterday, just waiting to see which of the remaining four chickens betray themselves by crowing. They're all staying mum so far, so let's hope.

Mr E also has a couple of scheduled work trips in spring, which will net a fair amount of overtime (and allow me to take control of the remote and eat crackers for dinner) so crossing my fingers that they come off.

Still feel blah.

Cherryfudge · 21 June 2017 at 11:51AM

Bye bye roosters...

Sorry to hear about all the horrible bills, ACE, and the heating needing to be on so much. Glad Mr Expert has the possibility of some extra money (though now I want crackers for tea now you'vev mentioned them!)... maybe once it's spring you may feel more positive? Can you get forced bulbs to brighten your windows and make you feel more hopeful?

mfmaybe · 21 June 2017 at 1:01PM

Sorry to hear you have been feeling low, ACE. I think we all have those; and as it's unlikely anyone on here is about to cure cancer or bring about world peace, we have to find our own meaning of life. I was dwelling on it the other day in fact. I came to the conclusion that, on my deathbed, what would be the things I looked back on with a happy smile? Some cost proper money - glorious holidays, and the sports that I love. Some are once in a lifetime (weddings, births, that sort of thing). Others would be the tiny moments. A glass of wine outside on a summers evening. My DS roaring with laughter in a way only a tiny child can. For me, the trick has got to be seeking out more of those, whilst accepting that the other stuff is just the engine of life. The work, the chores, even managing the money.

Tahlullah · 21 June 2017 at 10:50PM

I can't believe you begrudge Mr ACE 17 degrees at night! It's the middle of winter in Australia!! It takes longer to warm a cold house than to maintain a relatively constant temperature. I thought they said that it was cheaper to keep the heating on, than to keep turning it off, so it has to work harder to warm the house through. See, he's doing you a favour and you just didn't realise it!

Or, the other option is to buy him an electric blanket, so he will be toasty warm at night; and they cost pence to run. To be honest, I have to turn them off after a while because I begin to cook.

I was reading a news article the other day that said something about people feel colder when it is cold outside, so they turn the heating up, even though the heating is maintaining a steady temperature. Psychological. (My big word for the day!)

armchairexpert · 22 June 2017 at 3:09AM

17 degrees plus a duvet plus the expensive PJs I bought him this autumn! Totally unreasonable. Him, not me.

Dinner with an old friend last night restored the spirits somewhat. The more so when Mr E texted me to tell me he'd found three lost hens: we've just integrated our new flock in with the grown up girls (after having sent a couple of roosters "to a happy farm"), and three of them maybe didn't get the memo and so they panicked when they found their old coop gone.

We went to lock the coop up at twilight and they'd vanished. Mr E and I wandered around the back garden with torches for almost an hour, shining them on anything hens could roost on: gates, fences, low tree branches, etc. No luck. I went out to dinner, rehearsing how I was going to break it to the girls that their favourite hens had up and gone, but apparently Mr E thought to look up, and there they were, having roosted about three metres off the ground on the end of the thinnest branch they could find. They'd have probably made it through the night, in fact, having chosen such a good anti-fox option, but he fetched a ladder and got them down. All's well, and all that.

Now to go and shuffle money about. So many bills have come in this week! I might as well be lighting $100 notes on fire, at least then my hands'd be warm.

Tahlullah · 22 June 2017 at 8:18AM

Great news about the chickens. I always thought they couldn't fly; but somehow they can climb! Amazing birds really! And they taste good.

To be fair, I have the heating set to 16 degrees when I'm not there. And when I am there, it's set to 19 degrees at night and 23 during the day; apart for when it gets really cold, when I will turn it up to whatever temperature it needs to be at for me to feel comfortable.

So, you are going through a 'bill' phase, where your money can't even stay in your account long enough for you to age it!! This will pass. Once you have finished this phase, it will settle back down to normality.

Perhaps you should get out with your friends more. Release those feel good hormones more often. Or, if you are feeling the melancholia and malaise that much, perhaps you should suspend the MFW for a month or 2 and just 'live' for a bit. Don't concern yourself with anything beyond the necessary and just live the dream.

You are doing what I would love to do. You emigrated to Australia. That sounds fabulous. My brother is in New Zealand. I would love to do what you have done.

You live in a beautiful part of the world. You have a fantastic partner who is really hands on and whose only criticism at the moment appears to be that he gets cold! you have lovely children and great friends. Your home life is idyllic. You are a writer! And to top it all, you are taking that mortgage DOWN!!!

Fantastic!

Cherryfudge · 22 June 2017 at 9:39AM

I remember my Dad used to clip the flight feathers on our chickens to stop them taking off. This sort of thing: http://www.instructables.com/id/Clipping-Chicken-Wings/

armchairexpert · 23 June 2017 at 1:08AM

Yep, I looked at that last year when my last batch of hens kept flying over the neighbour's fence and then being retrieved - unhurt, but slightly soggy - by their golden retrievers. But then the Golden started breaking into our yard and we went halves in a higher fence instead! Might have to give it a go.

Having looked at the accounts again, we'll definitely go backwards this month and dip into our OPs, but since that's because I paid a lot of large July bills in June, I am hoping that July will be super frugal. Mind you I said that last month, so.

Veg lasagne tonight and then a shiny new meal plan. Next month I'm going to experiment and go to Costco for bulk food right at the start of the month, and see if that's actually a saving. I can never work out if Costco is a place to save money, or just a place where you buy bigger and fancier versions of things you might otherwise not have bought.

Cherryfudge · 23 June 2017 at 9:16AM

What a good job next door has retrievers not terriers or something! Free chicken-catching service on your doorstep.

armchairexpert wrote: »

I can never work out if Costco is a place to save money, or just a place where you buy bigger and fancier versions of things you might otherwise not have bought.

:rotfl: I know exactly what you mean

armchairexpert · 26 June 2017 at 2:01AM

Another weekend done, and I still haven't shifted my mood. I don't know what's wrong. I get like this in winter, but it's been a really sunny, clear week, so you'd think that would help. I'm snapping at my family and feeling like I have permanent PMS. It's too early for the menopause, what else could it be? I have a weekend away on my own booked next month, which should help, hopefully, because I can't imagine I'm much fun to live with at the moment. I just feel like there are so many things I want to do with my time and instead I spend it brushing hair and picking damp towels off the floor and remembering what the theme for Show and Tell is this week.

Also we spent a bunch of money again. I say we. Mr E spent another $100 on fruit trees (on top of the $150 last week for grape vines), which he pointed out quite reasonably had to go in the ground this week or it'd be too late this year. And he blew my grocery budget by buying a huge whole red snapper for a Sunday treat dinner. All perfectly reasonable! I'm just a horrible grumpy cow.

The ups, downs, and occasional sideways bits of trying to be mortgage free

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