£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

BettyBoof · 20 November 2017 at 1:52PM

It was me who asked you to share your candle-making methods. Thanks so much for a really thorough explanation! It is super-helpful.

And congratulations on the new mortgage offer, we are hoping to do the same when our fixed period ends in June next year so your experience gives me hope.

Treadingonplaymobil · 21 November 2017 at 6:00AM

Rounding up yesterday's lists before starting on today...

To do today
1. plan week's work. Done.
2. check in with my budgets and look at what's available to spend still on Christmas. Done. All still manageable. Pleased I reduced partnership card limit as it removed temptation to overspend.
3. check through a piece of contract work. Done.
4. pack orders for smaller business. Not done.
5. get on top of one room - kitchen, probably - lots of rushing around on Friday means most rooms are looking a little dishevelled! Done.
6. menu plan for week - going to visit another set of relatives next weekend so only need to plan up until Friday, but do need to include another car picnic for Friday's dinner. We have lots of food in the freezer, hoping for <£40. Done, I think DH did it for <£30 as he mentioned he paid on apple pay.
7. type up the little notes for each day in the advent calendar (which tell the children what activity we're doing each day - I have a template from last year so just need to type in each day's activity according to the plan I already have). Almost done, but had to co-ordinate with a friend we are staying with for a weekend who also does an activity calendar, and move some things around to make sure we have the same things on the weekend we're together, and haven't incorporated those changes.
8. make a little more progress on the unicorn I'm knitting for DC3 - it only needs legs and a horn knitting, and then stuffing and construction. Had forgotten how quick knitting toys is. Not done.

To do this week
1. declutter and tidy utility room - it is such a dumping ground.
2. put advent calendar together.
3. do the next chunk of Christmas shopping - stockings.
4. buy some fabric for a tree skirt - just going to drape some linen over the table where the tree will go, nothing fancy.
5. make more candles

To do this month
1. Keep the total spend at the budgeted level - it's high on YNAB this month (£3,842) as it includes the £470 paid off the MBNA card and all our savings pots are actually budgeted. This is not going well.
2. Keep a tight record of Christmas spends so I can ensure it sticks to budget as far as possible. Ongoing.
3. Keep beavering away at my business goals. Ongoing.
4. Make some candles - we've run out! And I know one person really wants another one for Christmas, so will add it to her hyacinth. Done! Although I'll probably use them up and need to make more before Christmas.

Treadingonplaymobil · 21 November 2017 at 6:05AM

Week 41: Day 3

Had a great day catching up with everything yesterday. Am trying to give myself the minimum possible to get through, which is definitely helping my mindset. I actually crossed almost everything off my list!

Started to put together our new SOA yesterday, but still not certain of all the numbers - DH got a letter saying he'd slightly underpaid tax last year (he had a pay rise last year too, might have been related? Not sure how it happened TBH, he's PAYE) so his tax code has been adjusted and his salary will be affected for the rest of the tax year. It's only about £175 over the next four months so not loads, but I can't work it out as his last payslip also included back pay, so I've lost all track of his actual monthly take home. Also we will be paying December on the old mortgage SVR (and the Tesco loan payment) as the new mortgage won't have gone through, so that will be high. Which will be fun in December, the most expensive month. :eek:

to do today
1. pack orders for smaller business.
2. mend a mirror that is falling out of its frame! It's just a cheap ikea one, I have mended one end with tape on the back, just need to do the other one. Refuse to replace it until we do extension and I can buy the right thing for the finished space.
3. make spiced carrot and lentil soup for dinner.
4. finish advent calendar notes.
6. finish knitting the unicorn for DC3.
7. make granola.

To do this week
1. declutter and tidy utility room - it is such a dumping ground.
2. put advent calendar together.
3. do the next chunk of Christmas shopping - stockings.
4. buy some fabric for a tree skirt - just going to drape some linen over the table where the tree will go, nothing fancy. It has just occurred to me to ask my mother, who has loads and is visiting next week.
5. make more candles.

To do this month
1. Keep the total spend at the budgeted level - it's high on YNAB this month (£3,842) as it includes the £470 paid off the MBNA card and all our savings pots are actually budgeted.!This is not going well.
2. Keep a tight record of Christmas spends so I can ensure it sticks to budget as far as possible.!Ongoing.
3. Keep beavering away at my business goals.!Ongoing.
4. Make some candles - we've run out! And I know one person really wants another one for Christmas, so will add it to her hyacinth.!Done! Although I'll probably use them up and need to make more before Christmas.

walkonsand · 21 November 2017 at 10:14PM

Long time lurker here, and after 103 pages of reading I thought I should have an input of some kind.

With the issue of the remortgage not going through before the end of this month, could you not either:

A) contact your current mortgage provider and take a payment holiday so you don't make a December payment? It'll cost more in the long run but would might be of some help?

Or

if you pay early in the month, maybe move your current mortgage payment to the end of each month, in the hope the remortgage will go through in December so you don't pay your current provider in December?

PositiveBalance · 22 November 2017 at 12:56AM

Hello again ToPM!

I see what you are saying about the Tesco loan monthly repayment money and putting it away toward the house extension but two things have occurred to me:

Do you feel you are now financially disciplined enough that you won't be tempted to 'dip' into it here and there?
I'm not trying to be dramatic here, but have you ever given truly serious thought about - even more so now you have consolidated this amount into the mortgage and are thinking of putting money toward an extension while you still have considerable amounts of debt - how your family would cope if something bad happened to either you or your husband?

At the minute, you are just holding on with your OH working F/T, you working P/T and you spinning many, many plates, almost to the point of burnout.

God forbid that either or you should lose your earning capacity (accident, illness or even worse, death) – especially your OH as he is currently the bigger breadwinner – but if that happens and your financial situation does not improve much (and we are talking longer than 15 months could help you to pay back) you could potentially end up losing your house, maybe end up in negative equity due to the £21Kish you have just consolidated into the mortgage and the shiny new extension may/may not exist at that point or be finished or whatever stage it's up to if the pooh hits the fan may be more asset than liability if it's not completed

As I said, I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I've just helped a friend sort out a new mortgage deal. She was in a similar situation to you many moons ago, except with one less lovely child. Her and her husband consolidated a considerable amount onto their mortgage to deal with debt (not sure how much, but I get the impression it was a lot less than your overall debt). A few months later, her young and lovely husband dropped dead out of the blue.

I'm not sure what their insurance situation was, but with friend only being able to work P/T to support the family and try to spend any amount of time with the kids at all,any insurance lump sum payouts would have drained over time.

Keeping the house ever since while raising 2 children on her own, has been anything but easy and the mortgage has absolutely crippled her each month.

It probably won't happen to you, but if it did could you bear the brunt financially?

Treadingonplaymobil · 22 November 2017 at 6:46AM

Week 41: Day 4

Up a bit later this morning (golly, it's all of 5:30am!) as DH is taking the day off to do childcare while I work elsewhere, so actually it's a more relaxed start to the day when I'm working out of the home than when I'm not

.

DH's salary is showing as a pending transaction in my online banking and is only about £20 lower than I'd thought his full new salary should be, which means either they aren't reclaiming it yet, my maths is wonky, or his salary is higher than I thought. We'll see when his payslip comes through.

walkonsand I'm sure I'm being irrational, but even though we've had our mortgage offer I'm terrified to mess with anything on the mortgage front in case it penalises us before the money is in the account, so I'll put up with one payment on the SVR/one extra loan payment. The December loan payment will at least mean that when the money comes through to pay off the Tesco loan, there will be a little bit of extra money in it to kickstart our debt overpayment/savings.

positivebalance embarrassingly, I think we will be disciplined enough to save because it's for the extension rather than debt paying, if that makes sense - the motivation is much greater, because it's more than just numbers on a paper, it's a tangible thing we want to save for.

We have talked around what we'd do if something awful happens and at the end of the day, we'd just have to deal with it, and have decided not to put our lives on hold at the moment for the ifs and buts - our debt is such that if we didn't do things like the extension till they were paid off, we would never do the extension, as by the time the debt is paid off the need will have passed as our DCs will be leaving home. We are both insured for the value of the mortgage (DH also has a huge death in service benefit with his job), and our families would both be willing and able to help financially should that happen.

I thought I was being so organised making a start on my Christmas shopping earlier this month, and I've blinked and we're suddenly almost in December and I haven't done any more at all! Ridiculous.

to do today
1. make granola before breakfast - forgot to do it yesterday!
2. christmas knitting.
3. make a packed lunch to take to work with me today - I usually forget because I'm so out of the house with work.
4. tell DH what's on the menu plan for dinner.
5. get a laundry on before I go out for the day.
6. do some website work - I have a download I want to get ready by the beginning of the december, and it's looking less likely with every passing day.

To do this week
1. declutter and tidy utility room - it is such a dumping ground.
2. put advent calendar together.
3. do the next chunk of Christmas shopping - stockings.
4. buy some fabric for a tree skirt - just going to drape some linen over the table where the tree will go, nothing fancy. It has just occurred to me to ask my mother, who has loads and is visiting next week.
5. make more candles.

To do this month
1. Keep the total spend at the budgeted level - it's high on YNAB this month (£3,842) as it includes the £470 paid off the MBNA card and all our savings pots are actually budgeted.!This is not going well.
2. Keep a tight record of Christmas spends so I can ensure it sticks to budget as far as possible.!Ongoing.
3. Keep beavering away at my business goals.!Ongoing.
4. Make some candles - we've run out! And I know one person really wants another one for Christmas, so will add it to her hyacinth.!Done! Although I'll probably use them up and need to make more before Christmas.

joeyjimbles · 22 November 2017 at 3:40PM

OH has also underpaid tax, he changed company and got paid by both in the same month and we knew this was coming thankfully. Anyway, the letter says that they'll take it back in 10 instalments by PAYE from April 2018, might your OH's be the same?

Treadingonplaymobil · 23 November 2017 at 5:52AM

Week 41: Day 5

Last day of childcare of the week. Always a bit mad as I try to fit in everything I want to do before the 'weekend' starts. Particularly this week as we are visiting another set of relatives on the weekend - there's lots of family we won't see over Christmas (mostly because we want to stay at home and not travel much), so we're trying to fit in visits to them when we can. Need to try to get as much laundry done as possible so we have some clothes to wear. Have been keeping on top of the clean laundry more efficiently this week by ironing as I go and trying to fold and put away some stuff without ironing.

Trying to think of things that my parents/DH's parents can get me for my birthday. Would like to ask for stuff that is semi-useful but I wouldn't normally buy for myself, things that we've cut back on since starting our DF journey. So far I have nice tea, candles, nice serving dish, a new thermos mug and thermos. My mum in particular prefers to buy one 'big' thing rather than lots of little things, and I don't have anything like that yet. What else might I enjoy?!

to do today
1. more christmas knitting - only one leg left on the unicorn

.
2. website work.
3. schedule some social media posts for the weekend so I'm not working while I should be off on the weekend.
4. clear work emails.
5. make a start on December's budget now DH has been paid.
6. tidy utility room.
7. print out advent notes and start filling the bags - not sure I have enough chocolate!

To do this week
1. declutter and tidy utility room - it is such a dumping ground.
2. put advent calendar together.
3. do the next chunk of Christmas shopping - stockings.
4. buy some fabric for a tree skirt - just going to drape some linen over the table where the tree will go, nothing fancy. It has just occurred to me to ask my mother, who has loads and is visiting next week.
5. make more candles.

To do this month
1. Keep the total spend at the budgeted level - it's high on YNAB this month (£3,842) as it includes the £470 paid off the MBNA card and all our savings pots are actually budgeted.!This is not going well.
2. Keep a tight record of Christmas spends so I can ensure it sticks to budget as far as possible.!Ongoing.
3. Keep beavering away at my business goals.!Ongoing.
4. Make some candles - we've run out! And I know one person really wants another one for Christmas, so will add it to her hyacinth.!Done! Although I'll probably use them up and need to make more before Christmas.

cocalls · 23 November 2017 at 6:04AM

morning treading

i wonder if you could ask your mum for the nat trust membership?
Hows the getting extra sleep mission going?

Busy_Mee1 · 23 November 2017 at 8:21AM

A JL voucher so that you can shop guilt free in the sales after Christmas : D

£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free