Lowincomelady's Financial Life

I haven't updated since October last year so I thought I'd do so now!

The mortgage in October last year was 107 624. Now it is $96 106. We are managing to put at least $2000 a month to the mortgage to try and pay it down quickly. The interest rate is now 6.85%.

DS went overseas with his Dad 3 months ago and is due back next week so I am looking forward to seeing him again...he will be with me for 2 months then goes back overseas at the end of August.

And other than that, life is going well... I am staying up late at the moment so I can talk to DS via skype...

Cheers

lowincomelady

Well, the school holidays are finished and DS is back at school. He now has the Bumblebee transformer and he has taken that with him to school...

I bought a few things a couple of days ago:

1) toner for my laser printer - apparently I only have 28 pages left of toner so I better get a new one...

2) preordered transformers 2 DVD - I promised my son I would buy this...

3) 40 DMC floss for my cross stitch. I worked out how many extra I would need for my cross stitch as I restarted it on different fabric. I need 18 black threads! That's 144 metres!

4) Renew money magazine...I did this and got 13 magazines for the price of 11...I really enjoy this magazine...

5) Edward VII biography - I really enjoy reading about royalty and I found this book for $13 instead of $22 so I grabbed it...

6) I have also bought DS's Christmas presents, about 7 PS2 games plus I still have to buy a plastic ship model that he can build...

Hopefully that's it for now! On the 2nd November I will buy the 2009 stamp collection for Dad from the Post Office - that's about 80-90 dollars...plus I will buy him a couple of books...and I'm not sure what Mum wants...we will see...

Another payday, another payment!

Old balance: 108698.14
Minimum Payment: 510
Extra Payment: 563.98
New balance: 107624.16

Interest rate is now 5.48%

I have a couple of weeks to myself these school holidays as my DS is going to vacation care and being looked after by a relative. It's a nice break and a chance to get used to being by myself. There is a chance that my DS will be going overseas to visit family for a few months and I won't be able to go due to my disability, so I am trying to get used to being by myself. Last school holidays the same thing happened and I found it very difficult and I was very lonely...but this time is much easier...


The mortgage is down to 108 697.64, I might be able to put $10 or so on it tomorrow. Next week I will be able to put about $650 extra to the mortgage as well as our regular payment of $510. Oh and interest rates went up yesterday unexpectedly by 0.25%. This will bring our interest rate up from 5.23% to 5.48%. It will be the first of many interest rate increases. It is good we have paid so much extra to the mortgage!

I did some figuring and we should be under 100 000 by February 2010 and we will be between 75 000 and 80 000 by the end of 2010. We should have this thing paid off by the end of 2013, hopefully by July. There are always unexpected expenses though...we have been having a little too much takeaway lately so we will cut back on that for a while...

Dad came home last Friday night. He was in pain the first couple of days but seems ok now...it's good to have him home. Visiting him in hospital by public transport every day was really starting to wear thin by the end!

Ok, we get paid on Thursday and the we will be able to put about $800 extra to the mortgage...We decided with the emergency fund that we will make sure we always have $1000 and we can always redraw from the mortgage in a dire emergency as we have over $20 000 extra available there...

I visited Dad today, he is much better and he is no longer having oxygen but still gets puffed easily. More fluid is on his lungs and he is not sure if they will drain it again...he had a catscan today so we will find out the results of that. I asked a nurse today about him, she knew what was going on so I didn't need to speak to a doctor. He did have a slight heart attack but they are not worried about that as tests on his heart have been fine. They are just treating the pneumonia. They gave him antibiotics while I was there. He is in the cardiac ward because there are no beds available in the general ward, apparently 30% of patients in the cardiac ward are just general patients because of the bed shortages so Dad might be moved if a bed becomes available...

I had a good visit with Dad today, he has put on a bit of weight because they are feeding him too much. Plus he can have coffee and chocolate now, so he has chocolate in the drawer and had a cup of coffee this morning. I am recharging some batteries for a portable radio at the moment which we will take in tomorrow. We paid for the TV for a week which ends on Thursday but he said he will just have the radio instead which will save a bit of money! Well a lot actually as the TV is $40.90 a week which is a bit of a rip off as there aren't many channels and we have at home 50+ channels in 2 rooms for $80 a month!

So he is doing much better and maybe he will be home soon! I hope so as I miss him. It's amazing how much you find you love someone when something like this happens!

Last Wednesday my Dad was admitted to hospital with pneumonia and a suspected minor heart attack. On Friday they pumped a litre of fluid from his lungs. So he was drowning here at home! His breathing was so raspy and he wasn't able to get his breath. He has now been on oxygen for a few days and I expect he will be in hospital for at least another week...

We are saving a bigger emergency fund from $1000 to $2500. Which means we only put $510 to the mortgage last Thursday...

I have virtually slept for the last 3 days and I am still not feeling the best...

Anyway, on a financial note, I have a few bits and pieces coming to me. I have a $20 supermarket gift voucher, a $30 cheque came yesterday from rewardscentral.com.au, $25 is being deposited in my account from pureprofile and $22.45 is being deposited in my account from a book I sold on fishpond.

So in total, that's $97.45 which isn't bad...

I am all stuffed up, I feel weak and lethargic, I have slept all day today.

I hate being sick...

I was 316.8 pounds this morning...

We have so many expenses to pay tomorrow - the phone bill, the electricity bill, Credit card, build our savings account back up because we have had to use a bit of it and after all is said and done, we will only be able to put $169 extra to the mortgage! When I am used to putting 500-600 dollars extra every fortnight, its a bit of a blow! Although the balance will be about 109 967 so we will have broken the 110 000 barrier which is quite an achievement!

Breaking that barrier makes me feel a bit better... the next barrier will be the 100 000, it's going to be great going to 5 figures!

Oh and I am now 319.9 pounds.

Well, it was my first day on the Liteneasy diet yesterday and I have lost a kilo! or 2.2 pounds...I was 323.2 pounds yesterday morning and this morning I was 321.0. Very exciting!

The dinners are yum and the lunches aren't bad either...breakfasts are the hardest meal to eat because I find it hard to eat breakfast and always have done...

All in all, a good start to the journey!

I had an ear ache and a sore throat which started at 5.30 last night. I went to the doctor's today and the cause of the pain is an infected sinus on the right side. I had sinus trouble a few years ago and I don't wish the pain on anybody!

So I have antibiotics to take for the next 5 days...

Oh and another health issue, I am what they call morbidly obese, I am 168 cm tall and 321.2 pounds... A BMI of 51 or something like that. I have been trying for months to get the weight off and the only thing that has worked is a program called Liteneasy which delivers food to your door every week.

So paying for that is going to slow down the extra mortgage payments but it will be worth it as I am worried that my health will suffer over the next few years...

I am looking forward to receiving the food and losing some of this excess poundage!! I hate the way I feel and look and I hate being stared at when I go out. I hate not fitting into car seatbelts safely and I hate my son being embarrassed and not wanting me at school because I am so big...

Liteneasy is $137 a week which is quite expensive but at least I know the program works!

I thought I'd add some pictures from the past:

Here is my son when he was born



and here he is a couple of years ago



He's the one on the left

I went clothes shopping for myself and spent about $178 on 5 pieces of clothing and some new underwear. I bought a long jacket, 2 tops, black pants and a black and white skirt. I am quite a large person and finding things that fit is very difficult so I felt I had hit the jackpot finding these clothes...especially the black pants, as these looked ok and pants rarely look good on me. They were the last one in my size and I really love them!

Things are looking ok on the mortgage front, next payday I should be able to put $1095 to the mortgage.

Mortgage is down to 111273.95

We sold some stuff and made an extra $1550. This Thursday is our normal payday and we will be able to pay $1094 then.

Next month our income will increase from 1888 a fortnight to over 2000 a fortnight. (this is my parents and my income together) because the government is increasing payments...

Everything is going well...my Mum turned 64 recently and I'm starting to think about my son's Christmas presents...

My parent's bedroom really needs a new blind. The current one is made of material and is impossible to clean so it is in a sorry state.

I figure a new one will cost about $200. We have someone coming to quote next Thursday...

I have just been doing some quick and dirty figures and I worked out we can get this mortgage paid off by January 2013...

It's my parents 42nd wedding anniversary in a couple of days and to celebrate we are having a baked dinner together tonight. I am helping my Mum cook it and we are having dessert as well!

I admire them for staying together so long, they are still in love with each other and from my memory, there have been more downs than ups. Mum is my Dad's fulltime carer. He has periodic bouts of sickness where he goes into a dementia like state and then becomes fully well again. We can't get an explanation as to what it is so we just live with it. It's been happening since 1997.

But they are happy in their own way and we all have a good life together...

My son faked being sick today to try and stay home from school...he didn't get away with it, I could tell he wasn't sick and sent him. I haven't had a call saying to come get him so I made the right decision...

Kids!

I received the $600 bonus today and transferred it to the mortgage.

The new balance is 117547.90

I got a letter today about the Education Tax Refund. I will be able to get $375 back from the Tax Office in July because I spent money on a new computer that my son uses for schoolwork.

I am also getting the Family Tax Supplement in July which is $1022 which is a yearly payment.

So I will be getting a bit of extra income in July!

I have a chart at the NCN Network showing my mortgage progress:



It will be good to see some more purple gone!

A couple of days ago I posted that I hoped to spend $196 on shopping for the week. The tally actually came to $192...

In the last Australian Federal Budget in May, it was announced that carer's would be getting an annual $600 payment every June. I have just found out we will be paid that this Wednesday. (My Mum cares for my Dad)

So there will be a $600 payment to the mortgage this Wednesday!

Oh and the bank we are with is raising their variable interest rates by 0.1%. So our interest rates will be 5.23% on Monday instead of 5.13%.

I got paid $2.39 interest on my savings account for the last month so I added a bit more and put $5.07 more to the mortgage. All these little bits add up over time...

We put in a solar hot water system in December last year and we were not charged for the frames to hold the solar panels up and we finally got the bill yesterday. $355. It is not due until the 24th June so I will wait until the 16th to post it back with my payment so it can go on the next credit card statement.

I am trying to put less on the credit card next month...we will see how we go...

I am doing the shopping today, I have to get a haircut as well. All up it should cost me $196...we will see how we go.

Next Saturday I am going to a comedy show and I am looking forward to that. I have gone to the same thing for the past 2 years. They have 4 standup comedians and I laugh so much, my stomach hurts! I love observational humour. To find humour in common things is a great skill.

I paid $1109 off the mortgage today. New Balance is $118,152.

It was so cold yesterday, my son is sick now, I think he has picked up a bug yesterday...

By the way, I live in Australia and it is winter here now and getting very chilly. I don't get snow where I live though...

The wind died down a couple of hours after school started so I sent him. He came back half an hour ago, he has finished his homework for the week. He will do his reader later.

He also walks on his toes so he will do 50 laps of the room to practice putting his heels down. I really thought he would have grown out of it by now but he hasn't...I had a physio look at him a while back and the exercises are the best thing for him. If he doesn't start walking properly soon, it will mean an operation later on...

I have decided to keep my son home from school today. The wind is blowing a gale and it is freezing cold. I don't have a car to get him to school and with all the trees around here and at school, it is not safe to walk.

Tomorrow is payday, and I will be able to pay $1087 to the mortgage in total including the minimum payment...

Wow, it's been a while since I last updated.. I have got out of the habit of blogging...

The mortgage is currently 119 261. Yes we have paid off 10 000 from the principal since January. We will do even better in the next 2 weeks I estimate the balance will be 116 500 on the 25 June. We are getting a bonus payment and also keeping up with paying extra off the mortgage...

My son is doing well at school, he is first in attitude and he never gets in trouble. He loves his nintendo ds.

Also, we just got pay TV installed ... we spend a lot of time at home and there is a lot of interesting programs to watch. I do cross stitch and watch it...

I just joined global test market which is a survey site, I earned 50 points this morning. Each point is worth 5 cents and they send you a cheque for $50 when your balance is 1000 points. I also have a $20 coles gift voucher coming from valued opinions...

Till next time

Low Income Lady

I have been trying for months to lose weight. And not succeeding! In fact since I started I put on about 7 kilos!! But the last few days or so I think I have cracked it...

5 Jan: 148.3 kg (326.26 pounds)
6 Jan: 147.9 kg (325.38 pounds)
7 Jan: 147.0 kg (323.40 pounds)
8 Jan: 146.5 kg (322.30 pounds)

Not bad eh! Lots of veggies, lean meat some dairy, not much bread... yada yada yada LOL

Oh yes and it was payday today so we managed to put $715 extra to the mortgage on top of the minimum payment of $510 (Total: $1225)Now the new balance is 129611.69. YAY, we passed the 130 000 barrier!

I might be able to add a little more next week...