Hump day

Almost half way through the week.

I’m working longer days today and tomorrow and whilst it’s not a really long working day my commute means that I’m out of the house for around 13 hours, i left home at 7am this morning and will get back at 8pm ish if all goes well.

I lasted until 11am before I started on my lunch, bah- I could have caved even earlier but managed to stay strong 💪🏻 

Money Talk 💴 

This morning I filled out all the relevant forms to start the mortgage overpayments, I’m feeling quite proud of myself as it gives you an estimated saving and mine said I should pay the mortgage off 8 years early!!! Right now interest rates are quite low so if they rise at any point obviously things will change. 

I checked my credit score too, after I read a blog and they recommend it, I wasn’t expecting it to be this good and after a difficult time with money in the past it’s a relief to see that I’m doing well, even if it has been a struggle at times.

Online Banking 

Last year I opened a Monzo bank account, it was quite random as it’s all online and there are no branches to visit. 

They offered a £5 incentive to join and paid it into your account when you first used your card, so I thought I had nothing to lose.

Whilst it’s not my main bank account, or one that I have direct debits and standing orders coming from, it’s turned out to be a great little resource for saving money and organising spending, you can organise your money into pots and I have quite a few on the go as you can see below.

Each month I transfer a set amount from my current account into Monzo and then divide it into the pots shown, the bus fares pot has a hefty sum in it at the moment as the children haven’t been travelling to school since March and I’ve still been putting it aside so it’s saved me a good sum. 

Christmas (Shhh... I know it’s July 🙂) should also be well covered by the money I’m saving each month, we only buy for our immediate family, and token gifts for a few friends. 

The MOT should also be covered when it’s due at the end of August, any additional work will have to be paid for our of the main account. But at least there will be something to help out.

Our Holiday doesn’t look like it’s going to be happening now - although they’ve only cancelled up until 10th August at the moment, the pot was for spending money so that will just stay where it is for now.

As you can see there’s £19 left in the current account until payday on Friday, that’s what’s left of July’s food budget. Not bad. 

All those little bits in pots all over the place equal a nice little £2247.46 (I have one more pot not pictured with £200 in it that I’m saving for a special occasion 👌) I think I’m doing alright!!! 

Hi there...

So I’ve been missing for a little while, I did have every intention of updating on Friday but I wasn’t very well which stopped me in my tracks.

I’m not sure if I mentioned previously but we’ve been  having some long awaited work done at home, and it’s almost coming to an end after what feels like a very long time.

It’s been difficult, especially over the past few months whilst we’ve at been home and unable to escape, the whole house has been turned upside down and nothing seems to be where it should. We wasn’t able to use the garden for over a year, but That’s sorted now which makes a big difference.

It just doesn’t feel like home, I don’t really like being there, it’s not the sanctuary that it should be and that’s quite sad I think. 

I’ve struggled mostly with the mess and the dust, and also there always seems to be someone in the house carrying out a job. 

Anyway it looks like we can finally see the end and will hopefully have our home back soonish, the clean up job will be immense and I’ll probably need to take a week off to try and tackle it.

So that’s some good news that’s come from a very stressful time I guess, to be honest I’m not quite sure how I feel about the house right now, it’s been a rocky road and far from straightforward and sometimes that taints how you feel about something doesn’t it? The excitement of everything has worn thin and the reality of living on a building site for over a year has well and truly made its mark.

I apologise if this post comes across as feeling sorry for myself.

It’s hard to take a good look at yourself, but sometimes it’s what you need. 

I know I can be very difficult, quite miserable and short tempered, I know I need to let these things go, I need to detach myself from ‘stuff’ and buying to make myself feel better, this is something I do quite a lot and I’m concerned that I’m passing it onto my daughters (in particular- the boys have no interest in buying anything unless it’s food).

Anyway - that was a bit deep! 

Chicken Talk

On a happier note, the chicks are doing well, two are very big now and most of them are starting to fly which is funny, the dog just can’t work out what’s happening! 

They all sleep together in a little huddle and seem to have paired off as they can usually be found in twos.

I’m keen to find out how many hens we have, one of them has really fluffy feet and is like a little puffball.

I really wanted to give them all Pretty old lady names like Marjorie, Rosemary and Winifred, or even maybe Henrietta 🤗 but the tiniest one has inadvertently been named Chickadee. 

Daily Life and Chit Chat 💭 

Friday is payday and I won’t be having a spending spree, I will hopefully be making my first (of many) mortgage overpayment. I’m strangely excited about it. 

In the past payday would have equalled a takeaway, meal out or date night, a shopping trip plus a few internet orders of some description.

The eating out and takeaways are the ones I’m most pleased to have given up, since March we’ve had one take away which was Fish and Chips, when our kitchen had been ripped out and we had no way of cooking. I’m proud of the fact I’m still resisting the lure of fast food too. Long may it continue.

The ‘diet’ is still going well, we all know that at first you lose loads of weight and they it starts to slow down, I’m a bit of a nightmare for weighing myself too often and then feeling rubbish when the scales don’t show what I’d hoped.

Over the weekend I wasn’t feeling great, I had a bad migraine and it knocked the stuffing right out of me for most of it. I ate what I could manage and then instantly regretted it because my weight is always at the forefront of my mind, and I know that losing it once and having a binge can easily lead to falling off the wagon long term.

Summer 2020

We were supposed to be going on holiday at the end of August, it’s now looking like this won’t be happening as the FCO travel advice has changed, however the company we booked with back in January seem to think it’s fine and that the trip can still go ahead. I don’t want to lose my deposit obviously, but equally I’m not happy to travel against the advice of the FCO, especially as our insurance would then become invalid. 

This leaves me in a very difficult situation and also probably means that we won’t get to go on holiday again this year, last year we didn’t go away, well we did take a trip to see my Grandma but to be honest that was a very difficult and sad visit.

Nothing’s ever simple is it? 

I’ve got two long days at work tomorrow and Thursday, followed by Friday off, so it’s not all bad! 

Here’s a photo I took on my way to work, I pass this everyday and it’s a nice spot to stop for a minute in the mornings.