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Countdown to Freedom

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  • Emmala
    Emmala Posts: 429 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
    Evening Tilly, am reading on the iPad instead of my phone which doesn't show signatures so I'm just seeing how well you're doing in yours!!! Well done, and well deserved all round. Well Jell, as my twelve year old would say, envy is not an admirable quality I know, but I am very envious of your soon-to-be-mortgage status. One day.....one day....!

    Hope you've enjoyed a lovely dinner. I went to do smoked haddock chowder this evening to find the fridge empty of the left over potato/carrots/green beans I was going to use....my kids will eat anything if it's not under lock and key the little whatnots! With swimming and beavers looming, they got a speedy ham, egg and chips, while I used the smoked haddock in a risotto for me and DH which was DELICIOUS!!

    Enough rambling, keep up the good work Tilly family xx
  • Greying_Pilgrim
    Greying_Pilgrim Posts: 6,942 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Right stereo discussion - 16 years ago, yes that long - Mr T bought a really good stereo system - cassette :rotfl:, CD, tuner. However it rarely gets played. Why do we keep it - well partly to play LPs, very very very occasionally.


    Ha! SNAP! DP has a sound 'system' that is 'umpty-tumpty' aeons old - was the Royce-Rolls of stereo's in it's time :rotfl:(although it didn't have the multiple CD player that a friend's OH had ;)). We ditched the top bit (record player) yonks ago, on the basis that we had no records to play, but the stereo is still sulking in the corner - not been plugged in and played for 5 yrs???? DP still reluctant to release...... think the HP payments are still too fresh in the memory..... :rotfl:

    Tills I wonder if you could help me with a query? i'm expecting the answer to this question to be 'it depends', but basically, if you were purchasing portugese wine, would white be a better bet that red, or vice-versa? The wines in question (red or white) are from the Alto Alentejo region, or there is one white that is from the Lima valley area, northern Portugal. I'm clueless as I have never, to my knowledge, drunk Portugese wine before. I do realise that it depends on food pairing and any one of a gazillion other factors, I just wondered if there was a broad consensus....... Interestingly, the northern white is suitable to pair with spiced/thai cuisine........Normally, as a rule of thumb, more red is drunk at Greying Towers than white, but we're not huge consumers of vino, and certainly have no wine education - it tends to normally be price orientated selections......

    Don't answer if you'd rather not, it's not important, we just possibly have an opportunity to try something for a change, and would value your advice.....

    Greying x
    Pounds for Panes £7,705/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
     
    Grocery Spend October 2025 £113.98/£200 
    Non-food spend October 2025 £9.97/£50
    Bulk Fund October (month 10 of 12) £0/£35.20 
  • Hello,

    I hear you on the decluttering. I don't know where all the stuff comes from. Oh has just decluttered (I had to twist his arm very hard) two large bags of clothes, including two business suits. He still has four and no longer works on an office but he can't bear to let go. He would rather hold on to them until they are too old fashioned for anybody else to want!

    Looking forward to getting rid of a lot more next week when I sort through all my teaching resources.

    we too have a stack system with a cassette player in. We do use it a lot to play CDs but it is becoming increasingly erratic and sometimes just refuses to play so I think it's days are numbered.

    Have a good evening,

    Squirrel x
    Paid off mortgage nine years early in 2013. Now picking and choosing our work to fit in with the rest of our lives!
    Still thrifty though, after all these years:D
  • Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS
    Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS Posts: 7,854 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    edited 14 July 2015 at 7:16AM
    Ha! SNAP! DP has a sound 'system' that is 'umpty-tumpty' aeons old - was the Royce-Rolls of stereo's in it's time :rotfl:(although it didn't have the multiple CD player that a friend's OH had ;)). We ditched the top bit (record player) yonks ago, on the basis that we had no records to play, but the stereo is still sulking in the corner - not been plugged in and played for 5 yrs???? DP still reluctant to release...... think the HP payments are still too fresh in the memory..... :rotfl:

    Tills I wonder if you could help me with a query? i'm expecting the answer to this question to be 'it depends', but basically, if you were purchasing portugese wine, would white be a better bet that red, or vice-versa? The wines in question (red or white) are from the Alto Alentejo region, or there is one white that is from the Lima valley area, northern Portugal. I'm clueless as I have never, to my knowledge, drunk Portugese wine before. I do realise that it depends on food pairing and any one of a gazillion other factors, I just wondered if there was a broad consensus....... Interestingly, the northern white is suitable to pair with spiced/thai cuisine........Normally, as a rule of thumb, more red is drunk at Greying Towers than white, but we're not huge consumers of vino, and certainly have no wine education - it tends to normally be price orientated selections......

    Don't answer if you'd rather not, it's not important, we just possibly have an opportunity to try something for a change, and would value your advice.....

    Greying x


    I've just rememberd that Mr T has a B@se surround sound system in the garage - I dread to think how much that cost. Clearly as it lives in the garage it isn't used - he can't have that as a man cave, it's my larder :rotfl:

    I'm glad others have the same fun with stereo stuff - I'm so tempted to get rid of it but not sure how that would go down. Ooh, that means we gain a corner in the room, as the stand would go too.

    Right, wine - the Alentejo area produces fantastic wines. I have a favourite red, which is about £1.40 a bottle (in Portugal) - Dao Reserve. I buy it from Aldi in Portugal but recently MrL had it in, as part of their wine specials. My advice would be to try the Reserve only - there is just Dao and that's not a favourite. I don't tend to drink much white but I have a friend with a farm in that area so I'll ask for some advice. She'll be happy to share her knowledge.

    Best wishes Tilly x x
    2004 £387k 29 years - MF March 2033:eek:
    2011 £309k 10 years - MF March 2021.
    Achieved Goal: 28/08/15 :j
  • mmm, Thanks - that has given me a few pointers. And namely highlights that different places seem to charge vastly differing prices.......I see what you mean about the Dao in mrL - not the reserve.

    Think I may have to go back to the drawing board, as the prices I've been quoted seem very high :( - £1.40 not withstanding ;) I look forward to being able to purchase English wines, direct from the vineyard even, for that barginacious price :rotfl:

    Thanks Tilly - as ever, you are generous and enlightening with your advice :D

    Greying x
    Pounds for Panes £7,705/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
     
    Grocery Spend October 2025 £113.98/£200 
    Non-food spend October 2025 £9.97/£50
    Bulk Fund October (month 10 of 12) £0/£35.20 
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,240 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Portugal eems to be the same as in Spain - very good red wine at €1.35 but €3+ (:eek:) (:rotfl:) for decent whites. The trick is to find reds that taste good chilled. In the meantime I'm on the gin :D.
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • Morning, another glorious British summer day :rotfl: Grey sky but no drizzle :)

    I've Tilly Tidied a total of £2.47 from saving pots to what is now called our Future pot.

    The new blind looks lovely (its friend will arrive Thursday) but it has a clunky chain. Maybe that's why it was £31 :rotfl:

    We've got a lovely weekend coming up, theatre on Friday (just AmDram but very good), out with MSE chums on Saturday, comedy event on Sunday with lunch at friends. I want to make sure the housey jobs are finished by Friday lunchtime (washing, ironing, shopping, cleaning) to have the weekend off.

    Right, tea is beckoning - regular social outing of physio this morning.

    Best wishes Tilly x x
    2004 £387k 29 years - MF March 2033:eek:
    2011 £309k 10 years - MF March 2021.
    Achieved Goal: 28/08/15 :j
  • Greying_Pilgrim
    Greying_Pilgrim Posts: 6,942 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Continued with my research last night, Tilly and I'm afraid that the Portugese wine is going to be a non-starter. It's proving far too costly to implement my plan :( I know that we can't get wines for £1.40 here, but do they have to be 10x as much?

    Thank you for your help - appreciated greatly, as ever :D

    Greying x
    Pounds for Panes £7,705/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
     
    Grocery Spend October 2025 £113.98/£200 
    Non-food spend October 2025 £9.97/£50
    Bulk Fund October (month 10 of 12) £0/£35.20 
  • Watty1
    Watty1 Posts: 7,205 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    another one with a tower stero system that was finally put in the loft as Mr Watty couldn't bear to part with it. We have a smaller tower in the feed room with outdoor speakers on the yard. I'd have swapped the small tower thing for something suitable for the outdoors but I didn't understand the specs and the tech board was too scary. Couldn't make any sense of their comments - so - I gave up and started to overpay instead :)
    Made it to mortgage free but what a muddle that became

    In the event the proverbial hits the fan then co-habitees are better stashing their cash than being mortgage free !!
  • Morning again, physio social session held - they I'll need to give me my own parking place the amount of times I'm there.

    Went to JL straight afterards, bought a small blind (to match) for the utility window. The blind is left permanently 3/4 down in there, so the mechanism has been switched. Mr T will use the clunky mechanism for the utility room. Blind was £17.50 but as the clearance is almost over, I got it for £10 :T. £72 on blinds to do kitchen, breakfast and utility room seems like a bargain to me. Plus free parking, I just walked further.

    Haircut to book next - they have a section that operates as a salon and is open all year round. Still cheaper than alternatives.

    Mr T has finished sorting his books - CS drop off later today.

    Best wishes, Tilly x x
    2004 £387k 29 years - MF March 2033:eek:
    2011 £309k 10 years - MF March 2021.
    Achieved Goal: 28/08/15 :j
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