Mountainlioness' diary: the MFi3 journey

mountainlioness

On the topic of slo-cookers, if anyone has any top recipes so post them here or on the OS recipe thread. Like any virgin on a mission am keen to learn the tips and tricks from my more experienced peers

CM - I hadn't thought of applying the freebie approach to xmas - like it! Will keep a regular eye out on the freeebie board so I can get my present cupboard going. When we were in FRance we picked up a few nice jars of jam and bars of posh chocolate. They're not expensive over there (I guess they think decent food is everyday food, which is great!) so brilliant for the present cupboard (probably also coffee and nice bits of stationery) Good multi-tasking for a booze cruise too!

Update: a while back I mentioned the need for a massage as part of a de-stress campaign, well I now have an MSE-friendly solution. Our occupational health dept (I work at a uni) is doing head, neck and shoulder massages for £7 for 10 mins, £10 for 15 and £14 for 20 mins, probably at least 50% less than commercial rates so have booked myself in! Might make it a regular thing if I like it.

Update 2: have just done my internet banking and checked our mortgage balance - now under £260k! (OK interest is calculated daily so by the end of the month it'll be higher but what the heck!) Have PM'd TallGirl with the good news. We're planning to do as DD suggests and keep our costs the same so extra pay goes straight into the overpayment fund. Am hoping that we will soon be able to do more than the £300/month overpayment target

setmefree2

Hi

I bought a slow cooker. I like it for red meats - It does a fantastic spag bol & chili. It also does really good beef stews. However, I hate it for chicken recipes - it destroys the meat. I don't think chicken does well for being cooked for a long time.....just a thought.:rolleyes:

mountainlioness

Hi All

Just had a call from ClubLaCosta - I entered a draw through Get Me A Ticket, which must have been on an MSE thread - to say I'd won a week's holiday. Now, I know I should be excited but am just finding it hard not to be suspicious - what do they want out of me?

Edited: have just found all the threads on these guys - will definitely not be following through with this!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=462241

ML

Kaz2904

Whilst not entirely time share they do want you to invest in one of there schemes.
We went to one of these a few years ago and were really pressurised.
The salesman was really offensive when he kept on at us about holidays and we said we hadn't had one for years. He said let me check you do earn blah blah- yes, well why don't you have holidays you can afford it?
Um we are paying for ft childcare for 2 kids, we needed a new roof, we have bills and a mortgage to pay, we needed a lot of work doing to the flat etc.

By the time we got out after about 3 hours I was ready to kill the bloke. I really could have ripped his smug poncy head off his smarmy suited shoulders.
If we hadn't had the kids there who were getting fractious and disturbing other sellers we wouldn't have got out so quickly.
Oh and our free gift was a hamper (looked like a pile of poo) and we paid more for our holiday deposits (about £360 for 4 of us) and we've still never had our holiday.

I don't really regret it because that's what put me onto the MSE path and I'm a darn sight better off now than I was then.

mountainlioness

Thanks Kaz... I noticed on here there are people who have resisted the hard sell and gone on to take the holiday but TBH we just don't have the time or the energy to do that! Would rather carry on our MSEing way of organising holidays safe in the knowledge we won't be jumped on by reps trying to guilt-trip/browbeat/manipulate us into signing up for something. Anyway timeshares are just not our thang - can't bear the thought of going to the same resort year after year, we're pretty adventurous travellers so can't imagine we'd be in the least impressed by the promise of 5* accommodation in a beach resort! DH is a salesman so I think he'd actually enjoy takling them on and foiling their sales ploys but in the end even a free holiday isn't worth this hassle :cool:

It is pretty offensive the way they use people's income as a manipulation tool - they know no-one likes to say they can't afford things (unless they're deliberately trying to shake off tiresome timeshare salesmen :rolleyes: ) it's using shame to push people into buying - awful.

Will now tell DH he has the task of calling them back to cancel the appointment - will enjoy listening in!

mountainlioness

Am about to get a windfall of £3k to do with performance at work... (which is great - just wish the pleasure was not undercut by the fact that am being caused major stress by someone at work at the moment, and the award hasn't helped ) But nevertheless, even assuming it's taxable, that's a sizeable extra bit of income and am now wondering what to do with it, which is a v nice dilemma to have!

A no-brainer is to increase our usual £300 o/payment off the highest interest mortgage to the £500 maximum at the end of this month. But should I be really good and also overpay the maximum on our other 2 mortgage accounts? Or stash some more to overpay off the highest interest one over the next few months? Or am I really just being a sad old miser (as per earlier threads on 'what's the point of MFi3?') and have some fun?!

Am currently thinking of treating myself to a pair of knee-high black boots with heels for work and taking DH out for a really nice meal (we've barely eaten out at all recently - I just can't bear to look our mortgage pig in the eye otherwise - so it'd be a proper treat) but otherwise am thinking of being good with the money.

It's funny how hugely my attitude to money has changed... when DH first suggested we go for a joint account I really didn't like the idea of not being able to splurge when I wanted to but now I just don't seem to feel the need. Has anyone else looked back and just wondered why they acted like they did with money? It's like a total mindset change.

setmefree2

Do you think it's an age thing? Maybe we're all just getting older. I'm glad I had a great time when I was younger but I could have been more careful with my money and still had a great time:rolleyes:. I think I do wish I'd spent a little less on clothes but not going out and travelling - they were worth every penny:T

esthomizzy

mountainlioness wrote: »

Karmacat - yep, £40 but we try to go under that. We tend to spend about £20-25 in Sainsbury's , which is fruit n veg, basics like pasta, yogurt (now Sainsbury's Basics plus stewed fruit from my Freecycle fruit-picking expeditions!), quote]

Wow what does freecycle fruit picking consist of? I think I like the sound of it. My freecycle hasn't had anyone offering fruit picking I don't think.

esthomizzy

mountainlioness wrote: »

Am about to get a windfall of £3k to do with performance at work... .

ooh congratulations. I also got a bonus letter today £1000. We don't always get bonuses where I am and I wasn't expecting one so I am very chuffed. I think I will open a regular saver and drip feed it in as my ISA's are full. I can then nab some of it to do my enforced £200 mortgage overpayment if I'm really struggling some months.

Pandora123_2

esthomizzy wrote: »

Wow what does freecycle fruit picking consist of? I think I like the sound of it. My freecycle hasn't had anyone offering fruit picking I don't think.

I haven't tried freecycle fruit picking myself, but what we did to get ourselves lots of lovely free apples is ask our neighbours if we could have some of their apples. It was obvious they weren't using them as they were all just falling on the ground and rotting, so we knocked on the door and asked if they would mind if we helped ourselves to a few of their apples. The reply was, "Sure, have as many as you want, we don't use them". So now we get free apples and our neighbours don't have to clear rotting fruit from their grass!

We also pick things like cherries, blackberries, plums, sloes and elderberries from the lanes and woods. Also managed to get a few hazelnuts this year. Just keep your eyes open (and look UP in the trees or DOWN on the ground) and you'll be amazed at how much free food there is around.

:A