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

try_harder · 5 June 2017 at 10:48AM

Great mortgage balance .

themadvix · 6 June 2017 at 1:11PM

Feeling very unmotivated today - I'm blaming the weather. The lack of work is also getting me down today - it's not unusual to have quiet days, it's just I seem to be having more of them this year than I have had in a while. I have *plenty* I could/should be getting on with, but I just can't get myself moving.

When it stops raining I will walk over to post a tiny ebay sale. I need to do the homework for my evening class this evening... I'll do this next, then at least I'll feel better about that.

Ikea kitchen meeting was good - we're pretty much ready to order now, but need to speak to electrician this weekend before we'll know the exact date we want the stuff to arrive.
MS things:
* VB poll and survey
* PC survey complete
* YSP survey done
* DH won a free hot dog in IKEA - will use when we next go (as had already eaten in restaurant)

No money as yet from the Ukrainians...

themadvix · 8 June 2017 at 9:58AM

Morning all,

Yesterday was a better day - still no work, but I did get a few jobs done, including sorting out some of my accounts that were in a muddle, so I'm now more or less ready to do my tax return. This is good news, as then I'll be able to put a lump sum into my pension from last year's income (although sadly drastically reducing my chances of winning a million on the PBs for a while!).

DH is away with work tonight, so we went and voted before he went off. It was a first for me... I've never stood in the ballot box before and still been undecided about who to vote for - a weird feeling.

MS things:
* Chasing payments - from Ukrainians and now two lots of Americans (one should pay today; the other, for a smaller amount, I hadn't noticed hadn't paid me since Feb - it's meant to be an automated system!)
* Finalising accounts
* VB poll, various surveys
* Claimed SBs monthly bonus - 3SBs, whoops!
* Found some old ant traps in mum's shed rather than buying new - taking half the kitchen out has encouraged the little beggars back into the kitchen :mad:
* Harvesting strawberries from the garden - dessert for tonight

* Small bit of work this morning (for a client that pays on time!)

DH fixed the wallpaper stripper last night, so I'll crack on with some wallpaper stripping this afternoon - we're having the ceiling skimmed in the spare room at the same time as the plasterer does the kitchen (where do we put everything?!!!).

Mum's got no kitchen at the moment (also having a new one), so she's coming round for dinner this evening - homemade gnocchi and salmon bake (she's never had gnocchi!). I expect we may end up watching the first election results come in. (Never have I been less enthused by an election, but the results programme is always intriguing.)

Have a good day everyone!

Karmacat · 9 June 2017 at 9:23AM

There's a lot of things going on for you! Glad you managed to vote

themadvix · 9 June 2017 at 10:12AM

We do indeed KC - just glad we left it at the plasterer doing the skim in one spare room, not both!

Had a good day yesterday - lots of wallpaper stripped, work done and dinner with Mum was nice. Also saw sister and niece in the afternoon. Am watching the end of the election shenannigans/endless wittering pundits/politicians/commentators whilst working. It appears that my indecision has been reflected by the rest of the country. I'm concerned about what the future holds, but in the meantime enjoying the weak pound and hoping I'll get paid by the late US clients today (although I'm not holding out much hope; I won't be doing any more work for the big debtor until I'm paid).

MS things:
* VB poll, YSP survey, TV survey, Prolific survey done
* SBs survey for 50 bucks done, involved signing up to a media monitor thing.... will get a £10 voucher for signing up and £10 voucher per month thereafter. It seems to involve carrying a thing around with me, will see how that works before I commit to keeping it long term. (Initial sign up is good though).
* Hassled £co as I'm a premium member and still waiting for pay outs from Jan and Feb (as well as many others)
* Diarised when to check for holiday Nectar points - the claim period is short, so don't want to miss it.

Today consists of work, prep for Brownie day out tomorrow and more wallpaper stripping.

DH coming straight home from his overnight, so should be back mid-afternoon.

Have a good day all!

themadvix · 12 June 2017 at 9:04AM

Morning all!

I *think* we had a no-spend weekend! I was out at a Brownie thing all day Saturday (8.00-20.30 - I was exhausted!), so I don't know if DH spent anything, but from what he said, I don't think so. Yesterday we only went out twice, to collect things from Freecyclers

- we now have a curtain pole and 5l of magnolia paint for our spare bedroom renovation

Today there's various bits of work to do, more wallpaper stripping (we did some yesterday but it was just too hot to finish it!) and our electrician friend is coming round this evening to look at the wiring for the kitchen (fingers crossed it won't be anything too major). I also need to do a shopping order as we have virtually nothing in the freezer (and I need to sort the fridge out too). I must also go for a walk today at some point - I need to get some exercise!

MS things:
* Free curtain pole and paint for spare room!
* 10p VB poll
* Leftover eggs, peas and butter brought home from Brownie day
* Strawbs from the garden for dessert last night
* DH unblocked the drain in the kitchen (dishwasher had been flooding the floor) - he used a garden cane to poke it rather than drain cleaner or expensive drain 'men'.
* Sister's partner can get us the towel rail for our kitchen for ~£11

Gratitudes:
* Lovely day with Brownies on Saturday - such a lovely group at the moment
* Sunshine all weekend
* No ants or floods in kitchen - a relief after last week
* Yummy butternut and pea risotto last night, using things up
* A quieter week this week - last week we were busy every night!

Happy Monday everyone!

ETA: Ukrainians haven't paid yet, but debt collector is away until 15th, so I can't chase! American late payers still haven't paid (and ignored my email on Friday), so have stopped doing any work for them (and notified the person I deal with) - hopefully this will produce results. I don't think they have any appreciation of how frustrating this is - it's been making me feel very miserable lately.

Jessy103 · 12 June 2017 at 9:56AM

Sounds like a lovely weekend! Fingers crossed you get your payments soon! x

try_harder · 12 June 2017 at 11:12AM

Morning .I have been eating so many strawberries they are just yummy at the minute and so sweet when you grow your own .Im sorry to hear that you are still having problems extracting money from people ,we are quite lucky some do pay late but we dont really have to chase anyone up it must be so stressful ,i do hope it will all get sorted out soon .

Busy_Mee1 · 13 June 2017 at 6:21AM

Hi Mad Vix - sorry to hear the non-payers are getting you down. I can't imagine how stressful that must be, my salary just arrives like clockwork every month.

Keep your chin up, I am sure it will get sorted out. You will be so relieved when the Ukrainians finally pay - you will have to have a little party :j

themadvix · 13 June 2017 at 8:59AM

Morning all!

Thanks for the support TH and BM - it's much appreciated. As you say TH, it's unbelievably stressful/frustrating. After a quiet few months early in the year, to know that work has picked up again but not be seeing the results of it is sooooo annoying. And you know that it wouldn't be accepted if the situation was the reverse (i.e. I didn't do the work for weeks on end) or if they'd not got paid their salary. I've even pointed out to them that they are one of my biggest clients and therefore I rely on their income to pay my bills... it doesn't seem to make a difference though. Still no news this morning. I do, however, have quite a bit of work from clients who *do* pay, so I'm focusing on that! (Thank goodness there are some good payers in the world!).

In kitchen news... our electrician friend came round last night. The news was not good. The kitchen needs rewiring (and we need a new circuit board, but we knew that). We're looking at somewhere between £1000 and £1750 (maybe less if electrician friend and his mate do it, but timing-wise that might be tricky). That's as much as the kitchen itself!!

And the ceiling has to come down... so I've booked the asbestos tester, he's coming today... another ~£70 (not that I would skimp on this, but it all adds up). We do have the money, but it will wipe out the remainder of DH's winnings (the £5000 for a work prize), which I didn't really want to do. DH keeps reminding me that it will add more value to the house than we spend (and as half the kitchen cabinets are already in the garden, it's a bit late to change our minds!).

Friend also said he thinks it'll take about a month as we're doing as much of it as possible.... so I'm thinking I need to make some more ready meals for the freezer. Supermarket delivery is arriving shortly, so will crack on with that too today. I foresee a lot of pasta in the future!

MS things:
* £14 payout from VB
* Won £12 voucher in GFK TV survey draw - will exchange this with others for B&Q voucher for decorating
* Prolific at £13.60
* Resisted temptation of takeaway last night (before shock of electrics prices!)

Gratitudes:
* Having a new kitchen is (to an extent) a want not a need and we're in the position that we can afford this
* Cute video of ever-cuter niece this morning
* Cat did not puke on new wood floor or new carpet (wow, that is scraping the barrel....). Hoping this was an isolated incident and I'll offer him some more breakfast in a while (poor thing, it all came straight back up).
* Sparrows seem to be taking an interest in nesting in our garden

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

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