Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE. This week I discuss some stressful times trying to access healthcare. Also, a tragic death in the family. There are the usual financial updates, and some thoughts on mortgage rates.
Weekly Update
Last week I described how I’ve been feeling pretty awful with my mental health. This week started badly, and ended in complicated fashion. I had an appointment with a GP at the start of the week where I explained that my mental health was suffering, and that I didn’t like the side effects of my current antidepressants, so I wanted something else. The GP did nothing. Literally, the GP did nothing. She seemed utterly uninterested, rubbing her face with her hands like someone does when they are bored and tired. She gave me some meds that are over the counter antihistamines, which confused me, and just said she’d see me in a couple of weeks. My experience only got worse from that point on.
My prescription for these new meds was sent to my normal pharmacy, along with some of my normal meds that I needed. When I arrived, I was told the new meds the GP had prescribed were not available due to a manufacturing issue. What followed was several more visits and phone calls to the GP surgery and different pharmacies, all while I’m feeling as low as I’ve felt in years.
When I eventually got home I called my private health insurance provider to query my authorisation number, which would allow me to book an appointment with a psychologist. I had spoken with someone the week before and been told a number would be sent through. The call I’d had the previous week had been lengthy and emotionally draining. This, coupled with my experience on Monday with the GP and all the related stress meant I was not in a mood to be messed around.
The person at my insurance company was not helpful. They claimed to have no record of my previous conversations and wanted me to go through everything again. I couldn’t. I just did not have the mental stamina to cover all that information again. The call the previous week had taken almost an hour. I repeatedly tried to explain that I couldn’t go through it all again, and that I wanted to register a complaint. It took forty-five minutes on the phone for this person to eventually find out that the authorisation details would be sent over later that week. If I’d just been told this upfront, then I could have coped with that.
Accessing healthcare should not be this difficult. I do wonder how many people who are really struggling with their mental health, who reach out for help, get so fed up with the bullshit they have to put up with that they just give up. Is it any wonder that autistic people have much shorter life expectancy than non-autistic people? Is it any wonder that suicide is a leading cause of death amongst autistic adults?
I’ve also had to miss the gym a few times due to recurring knee and elbow injuries. I’m waiting to get a physio appointment, but I’m losing faith in physio actually achieving much. It feels like I’ve been having physio for these issues for ages and it doesn’t really seem to be improving things long-term. It’s not like I’m doing anything unusual at the gym either. I’m being very restrained with what I’m doing, and how much I’m lifting, but my joints just seem to pack in after a couple of weeks of training.
As the week wore on I started to feel a bit better after speaking with some people close to me. Although I’m now feeling better than I was, it’s not to mean I’m feeling good. I just feel less shit. Towards the end of the week, I was met with the news that one of my aunts had passed away. She was, I think, fifty-nine years old. Her life was something of a struggle as she battled her own demons. Now, she is at peace, which is some comfort to our family. My thoughts go out to her children, my cousins, whom I’ve not seen in some years.
On Saturday evening Oana, my Dad, and I went for a meal at an Indian restaurant which has recently won an award for Best Restaurant in Sheffield. The starters were great, and the mains were tasty. Our only criticisms would be that the location is cramped, and some of the sensory aspects aren’t great for an autistic person (flashing lights and cramped space, for example). We also had to wait quite a while for our food; we arrived at 18:35 and the restaurant only had one other table occupied, and we received our mains around 20:10. Overall, a good meal but not one that will live long in the memory. I would eat from there again, although probably as a takeaway.
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2023 Goals
Click here to see my 2023 progress (opens a new tab).
What Am I Doing?
TV: The 7 Lives of Lea (Netflix).
Audiobook: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
We’ve just finished episode four, of seven, of The 7 Lives of Lea, and we are thoroughly enjoying it. It’s a French show about a young woman who finds a dead body hidden for thirty years. Then, each night when she goes to sleep she wakes up in the body of someone in 1991 linked to the dead person back when they were alive. It’s well-acted and easy to watch.
I’ve had to return a couple of audiobooks that I’ve just not been enjoying. I returned Atomic Accidents as it was quite dull, and I’ve now started The God Delusion. I read this book many years ago and I’ve been meaning to go back to it for a while.
Financial Update
Assets
Premium Bonds: £10,300.00 (+£50.00).
Stocks and Shares ISA: £60,431.62 (+£1,926.16).
Fuck It Fund: £5,553.49 (+£350.00).
Pensions: £61,158.32 (+£1,251.11).
Residential Property Value: £229,653.00 (no change).
BTL Property Value: £148,195.00 (no change).
Total Assets: £515,291.43 (+£3,577.27).
Debts
Credit Card: £0.00 (no change).
Loans: £0.00 (no change).
Residential Mortgage: £176,781.05 (no change).
BTL Mortgage: £104,973.47 (no change).
Total Debts: £281,754.52 (no change).
Total Wealth: £233,536.91 (+£3,577.27).
Investment Income in 2023: £4,712.21 (target £8,500).
Some nice gains in my ISA and pensions, as well as some more investment income hitting my account. The rising cost of living means that I’ve got less money to invest when I get paid, hence the much lower-than-normal increases in my Premium Bonds and Fuck It Fund.
I’m keeping one eye on interest rates for our residential mortgage. On August 1st we have a new rate starting on one part of our mortgage; a sub-account with approximately £10,000 outstanding. In October we have another rate coming to an end (0.91%) on approximately £18,000 of the debt. Then, in January of next year, we have £128,000 on a rate of 0.81% that comes to an end. So, our mortgage costs are going to increase a fair bit.
The dilemma here is whether to do anything about the £18,000 portion. From August 1st we can complete a product transfer for the £18,000 and have the new rate (currently eligible for 5.26%) start on November 1st. However, rates may continue to increase meaning that we would have to wait until November 1st before we can arrange a new deal for the £128,000, during which rates could very well increase further. The other option is to arrange a new deal for the £128,000 on August 1st and time it to start when that portion of the mortgage ends in January. This means we’ll have to let the £18,000 revert to the variable rate which is currently over 8%.
My thoughts at the moment are to lock in the £128,000 and take the hit on the £18,000. Granted, it’s going to be an increase for the £18,000 but once the £128,000 is locked in we can circle back around and subsequently lock in a deal for that portion. The whole thing is complicated by the fact we can only have one open application at a time, and I don’t think we can lock in both the £18,000 and the £128,000 on the same deal from August 1st but timed to start from January.
I did make an inquiry about remortgaging to a different lender, but the best rate I could get was 1% higher than what my current lender is offering.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions in this blog are my own, and do not represent the views or opinions of my employer, nor should they be considered advice.
If you want personalised financial advice, seek an appropriate professional. If you are in financial difficulty, seek advice via the resources below:
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Also, check out Darren Scothern’s blog which talks about autism, being autistic, and general mental health:
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