Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Oooooh Watty, thanks for your thoughts on it, I think we are thinking on a similar line in having cameras but not an alarm. Sorry to hear about your break in, must have been pretty horrible for you x

We want to feel secure in the house but will an alarm do that- it may act as a slight deterrent to burglars but if they've decided to rob you I think they'll just either know people don't pay too much attention to house alarms or know how to deactivate.....

The girlfriend stays away with work one night most weeks and she wants to feel that I am safe here on my own, and I'm quite conscious that being two females burglars may see us as an easier target (not that we are, just stereotyping!)

Will continue to research until we find what we are comfortable with

Thanks Lincoln-Potter, will have a look at the Samsung smart system too I get £110 John Lewis vouchers a month from work so ideally want to put that towards the system we do get and as that's branded it'll prob be available from there.

In OP news we had surprise TSB cashback of £5 today (think for contactless shopping!) so that's been swept across to mortgage

Lunch today was put on by clients which was fab, treated myself to a butterscotch latte at Starbucks today on way- was delicious & naughty! Using Starbucks card so pre paid which makes it a little less guilt ridden

Wfh tomorrow and silver room floor being laid- yay!!!
Think I may make soup using veggies getting a bit bendy (if I have time) if not it's a tin of tomato soup with part bake rolls from stores.

Coffee break time :coffee:

Reading through the debt free wannabe pages and realised I'm doing lots of things that I'm not keeping track of so as a reminder to myself these are some of my things I am doing to keep spends low:

1- using up old toiletries & perfumes: two old perfumes, three shower gel miniatures (hotel stay ones) and two small hotel bars of soap (instead of shower gel) used up this month.

2- using up things that have been lurking in the kitchen- rice flakes for porridge most days which I bought theee years ago but never tried!! (one portion left) adding dried fruit bought for various baking days and hanging around (ground almonds sprinkled on porridge is pretty nice), also things like mini jams/marmites from hotels and have used up the hugggge bag of coffee sachets we had collected. Working on drinking all the free green tea from our gym and the herbal teas from hotels- this may take a while as I don't really like green tea so having one a night for warming me up.

3- working through wardrobe and understanding if I actually like things or am keeping as they are practical. If they are practical e.g. Ugly but warm I am now making sure I wear these on working from home days....otherwise it will go in the eBay/charity pile to decluttering the space & my mind.

4- free postcode lottery, regular checks on survey sites, cashback via quidco

5-meal planning: not always easy as gf a little resistant to this but we are finding a happy medium.

6- wfh days wearing snuggle socks & slippers with extra layers to keep warm and reduce heating needs (without freezing though)

7- squeegee-img the shower after use to reduce the time the fan needs to be on, or doing this and opening the window if we are home

Probably quite a few more things but can't remember them all....one thing I used to do was when wfh or home at weekends I would boil the kettle once and any left would go into my thermos to save on repeatedly boiling the kettle (I must drink 8 cups a day) so need to find a thermos or use my insulated cups to do the same until we have the hot water tap installed! :money:

Checked my online gas & elec statement- they've finally started using my meter reads on my bills- hurrah! This means that we're £125 in credit being billed to firm reads of 31/12
We are paying £70 a month which is far too much, however hoping they'll reassess this and change the DD- it's meant to go into deficit in the winter not massively in credit. Oh well, as soon as those funds come down the money from a refund (or lower monthly payment) can be swept to the mortgage as OP

Ooooh forgot to say, gf came home with a beautiful Fortnum & mason basket as a Christmas gift from work! How lovvvvely

Coincidentally she bought me a F&M wicker picnic basket hamper as my Christmas present as she saw how much I looked at hampers and buy them for others as I think they are lovely! So we now have lots of posh tea canisters, jams, lemon curd, marmalade, biscuits, mini champagne, truffles, red wine etc :j feeling very spoiled!

Friends over for dinner tonight: roasted leg of lamb, roast spuds and veggies are on the menu yum yum yum