Still to do:

• Replace side door, step and frame
• Install solar light above back door
• Box in pipework
• Replace kitchen window
• Replace dining room window
• Clean hall tiles
• Tile, plaster and decorate porch
• Re-point brickwork (side of house)
• Install steps garden
• Remove grass and add patio/gravel to garden
• Replace the fence (added)
• Replace all guttering (added)
• Paint
  • Dining room
  • Hall
  • Breakfast Room
  • Kitchen
  • Small hall cupboard
• Replace bathroom light fittings
• Replace shower
• Cement wall post back on

We’re getting there

new blinds is a post from: Move to Portugal

*MAY 2013 STATS

• Original Mortgage: £138,485 (April 2006)
• Original term: 300 months (March 2031)
• Outstanding Balance: £79,900
• Reduction from last month: £829.50
• Paid off to date: £58,585
• Monthly payment: £542.34
• May over payment £352.85
• Actual payments left: 206
• Months until goal date: 55 (31st Dec 2017)
• Months until stretch goal date: 31 (31st Dec 2015)

Mortgage debt repaid:
 42.3%

We’re so happy to reach another milestone (<£80k)

Our 2013 goal of a £25k mortgage reduction seems to be moving further and further away right now, so we’re only thinking about the next £10k milestone (which also brings us close to the (£69,242.50) halfway line).

Are you overpaying your mortgage….or do you have plans to overpay your mortgage?

mortgage freedom: may 2013 report is a post from: Move to Portugal

…….but for now, at least it’s tidier!

PS. I have this vision of paving slabs and gravel……..eventually

in the garden is a post from: Move to Portugal

Our hotel for this trip was The Sheraton on 7th Avenue, a very busy hotel right between Times Square and Central Park*.

MOMA garden

Trip Info:

• Hotel: Sheraton Times Square
• Booked with: Expedia
• Airline: British Airways/American Airlines

Day 1:  City Walking
We landed at lunchtime, and after a quick bag drop, walked up to Columbus Circle for a mooch around. Then it was burritos (Chipotle) for dinner and an early night.

Lake, Central Park

Day 2: Central Park
We made the most of the brilliant weather by spending a lot of the day exploring Central Park.

Greene Street, Soho

Day 3: City Walking and a Concert
Thursday we took the subway to Union Square, walked back Uptown a little to see The Flatiron Building (and visit the Marimekko Store!), before walking to Soho via Washington Square Park.

Then it was back Uptown to have dinner at Ellen’s Stardust Diner (Broadway @51st – the meals are huge!), before going to see Alicia Keys in concert (a birthday gift from hubby), at Madison Square Garden. The concert was amazing!

Day 4: MOMA
It gave rain for Friday and boy did it rain! Because of the weather we spent a good few hours in Bloomingdales – no spending though – before heading to the MOMA in the evening. It’s free entry after 4pm on a Friday – the queue does get very long, but seems to go down quickly.

Day 5: Library, Grand Central Station & Baseball
On Saturday we went to the NY Public Library and Grand Central Station, before getting the subway up to the Yankees game – hubby still loves his baseball!

Day 6: Flight home.

*If you want the whole tourist experience then this is the place to be! We wouldn’t normally stay in this area, but for a short trip it was perfect…..I especially liked the subway stop right outside the building!

I’m itching to go back already!

Trip Round-Up: New York April 2013 is a post from: Move to Portugal

Do you fit the urge to add more stuff to your home? Or are you happily removing the clutter as I type?

appreciation for a simple bedroom is a post from: Move to Portugal