To Freedom...

kirstypark

thank you mouche - we did. walked down to town and had 3 course meal at wonderful art deco resturant. I had crab soup, scallops with risotto, honey creme brulee and coffee with chocolate fudge. Shared a bottle of wine and the bill was just under £80 which was well worth it. The kids are in glasgow so the house felt very empty last night.

The cheque from our shares isa has cleared, but have kept some back to pay holidays and garden work, and decided to overpay just £800 of the total to the mortgage. am a wee bit disappointed at that, cos the blooming thing is still just over 90k and really wanted to see it slip into the eighties...will just have to wait another couple of weeks.

kirstypark

we have blown a chunk of money on our holiday in june this week, usually we wait until later in the year to book, but knowing it is starting to get dear already we took a gamble and paid for it. It means we have less for the garden, but don't have to budget as much over the next few months. And will give us something to look forward to.

Turns out i had another weeks holiday to take this year, so am off for another week - only decided yesterday! very last minute, so am desperately trying to organise things to keep me busy. have a few appointments to schedule in, a dissertation to start and some visiting to do. Not going to overpay much more this month as have a few social things happening in the next few weeks.

kirstypark

first day of my week off and the weather is sunny :j going to wash my curtains today and get them dried on the line. Mr P and dad made a great start to our new patio bit in the garden and are using up recycled bricks so only cost £45 for sand and cement at moment. And got a patio set from asda using DD discount. We have only dug out a tiny patch, but already it looks huge.

Meeting a freind for coffee this morning and then library for some free reading.

kirstypark

had a good week so far, helped by the dry weather, been for a few coffees with freinds and started some indoor planting of seeds leftover from last year - it may be too early, or they might be too out of date to germinate, but nothing ventured, nothing gained...

Money in accounts looking reasonable for this time of month, have only been to supermarket once and freezer is looking more empty. But got talked into a meal out tomorrow night, that i don't really fancy much, and then a weekend away with some other freinds that i wish i had said no to. It's already sounding expensive with lots of boozing planned - oh dear, i am getting too old for this. I just want to use the cash to overpay my mortgage. :rotfl:but don't want to be mortgage free with no pals in a few years time..

mouche

kirstypark wrote: »

but don't want to be mortgage free with no pals in a few years time..

Very true and something we all need to remember when tempted to overpay the emergency fund and the milk money! Glad you are enjoying your holiday.

Hurdler

kirstypark wrote: »

don't want to be mortgage free with no pals in a few years time..

I do wonder sometimes whether that's the reason behind people's vehemence if you ever tell them you are a MFW.

I know the mate I argued the most about it with was all about the "how can you throw your money at the mortgage and still afford to go out" as it is a huge part of her life. It's a huge part of mine too, but I darne't then go into a discussion about money saving pots for going-out funds for fear of starting up another "discussion."

kirstypark

it's difficult for us both as we both were brought up by parents who looked down on people who were careful with money. "mean" "tight" and "miser" were the worst names to call those who did not spend every penny or take advantage of any credit. Mr P's dad died a couple of years ago and we had to pay for his funeral as mother in law had no money and my parents live very comfortably and never need to look at prices. They honestly cannot understand why we are doing this and think we still have debt as it is the only way to explain why we don't want to spend lots. None of our freinds discuss money much - most of them are still bringing up young families so its assumed they are living for the moment.

One freind asked me this week about charging kids rent - how much and when to start so i was very honest and told her about our experiance, she seemed to appreciate it. She has the idea to take rent and save it up secretly for a deposit - which is lovely, but i feel the contribution made by the kids stops me from feeling aggreived whenever they eat the contents of the fridge, leave the heating on for hours or have endless showers. It makes for a more harmonous house :rotfl:

So it is a constant balance between being careful and being seen as a miser!

Good news today is that the meal tonight has changed from an overpriced restuarant to a better value one that serves food i like. So am now looking forward to that.:beer:

gallygirl

Hurdler wrote: »

I darne't then go into a discussion about money saving pots for going-out funds for fear of starting up another "discussion."

:rotfl: Seconded :rotfl:. Let's be honest, it is a bit weird .

Hurdler

Now I am in a cash-fund solvent state I don't know that I would ever refuse to go out... and in terms of linking all this with trying to use a few spare-tyre pounds, they're my treats.

(But of course I try and make up for those by having NSDs to cover the cost of a meal out!!!)

kirstypark

blooming money... i had lost my sunglasses to went to optican to order a new pair, but now need new prescription so that was £180, then the zip on my handbag is broken and then the strap on my watch at the weekend, so treated myself to new ones whilst away with my freinds. All put on credit card so will need paid next month :mad:

And, worse of all, daughter was informed she is off to a different island to work in 3 weeks time. Which is not the same island as we have booked our holiday on :mad::mad: so when i phoned travel company - the same travel company she works for - yes we can change destination but they will charge us £150 each to do so :mad:

and the garden is coming on very quickly which is great, but means constant cash dripping out because everything costs so much. :mad: