Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

MichaelDH

Hey KittenKirst

Just caught up on your diary - not logged in for ages, new puppy keeping me very busy!!!

Looks like you are doing great with OP's. I'm a little sad we haven't made any OP's ourselves this year but on the bright side we finally have flooring, sofa, furniture and curtains so I shouldn't complain too much...

For the downstairs loo, how about a really bright and funky wallpaper? One of the many show houses we saw had koi carp wallpaper in the downstairs loo and I've made a promise to myself that when have building work done and finally have a downstairs loo I'm having the koi carp wallpaper

Do you have any show homes near to where you live? They are great for getting ideas for decor.

Kittenkirst

Hey Michael, nice to see you posting!

Sounds like you have had lots of stuff done this year to your home great work!

We've finally had our blinds fitted on our patio doors, in the kitchen and the small window in our front room. Now the living room had a wallpapered wall its starting to feel more homely, not so much white everywhere!

Went for gfs first swim lesson today, so I did some lengths- managed 22 in the half hour session which I'm pleased with- I'm not a strong swimmer so will go with her for her lessons and I will practice.

Had a great yoga session this afternoon too so I'm feeling all relaxed but achey muscled.

Nutrition & fitness plans are going well- it's quite a change but I'm managing to stick to it mostly- even having plain chicken tikka and salad at an Indian when out with old workmates on Thursday!

Got some YS teriyaki fish skewers today at Tesco's for £1.40 so had those for dinner with homemade cauliflower mash, brocolli and a side salad.

No additional ops yet this month- TSB app has had some maintenance this weekend so I shall take a look tomorrow and see if i can TT anything over.

I need to pay the guy for the blinds tomorrow I mustn't forget!

Had my last dental appt this week so I am super pleased with my teeth now, and even better was that they told me there was £250 left owing which I was suprised at, so I recalculated and thought i must have made an error so I Rejigged the accounts on my spreadsheet ad in app and paid for it, they called to advise they were refunding as my info was correct. So, it feels as though I have gained £250! Bonus!

Went into town yesterday with the gf after yoga yesterday and went into Blacks to look at trekking towels- the ones that fold up Uber small and dry dead quick- as we think they'll be perfect for visiting waterfalls/rivers/beaches etc in Oz. I had loooked online and thought the cheapest was £12, but blacks had an offer on of buy one, get one half price so we were going to get one for £15 and the other for £7.50 (wouldn't have to pay postage so worked out the same and we could open it to check sizing etc).
Anyways, the guy at the till kindly pointed out if we bought a 70p handwarmer each the towels would be just £7.50 each. We put through the purchases separately but then another discount went on meaning we paid £8.06 each and got hand warmers (they are in the box ready for winter for rugby games/football games/bonfire nights etc). BARGAIN

I also bought myself a cheaply but cute cotton tee for £2.50 in a (smaller than my usual size) 10 and a cutesy off the shoulder floral dress for £13 from primark which feels like a splurge but was super cheap. I also got a surprise cute koala makeup bag for gf to take to Oz- she loves it as it's adorable & practical!!

Off to catch up with diaries as I've been a bit slack recently with the increased exercising and meal prepping/shopping!

Kittenkirst

Evening all you lovely mfw-Ers

This week has been a long but good week so far, three gym sessions, 2 yoga sessions and started back at college for silversmithing so it's been hectic!

Managed to finally pick up a Pinecone email and complete the survey in time so have requested to withdraw the £3 for an OP.

An old regular saver matured and paid £8.21 in interest today (unexpected as I didn't keep it open for the full duration) so that has been OP'd this morning.

Making a nice £528.91 overpaid so far this month.

We have booked a little more towards the Oz adventure today in booking a trip across to Fraser Island when we are on the Sunshine Coast. Annoyingly one of our internal Oz flights was cancelled so we have reshuffled the itinerary for that bit and ended up with more time and cheaper flights so it worked out better in the end!

Yoga in the morning before working from home day tomorrow, then off to the third climbing lesson we're both trying hard with the new nutrition and exercise plans but I had a wobble this evening and succumbed to three naughty shortbread fingers :T ( I regret Nothing! Haha!)

Kittenkirst

Ooooooh also operation use-up is going well with three shower gels now used, two body scrubs & a body lotion all done. We have loads of mini toiletries too so we are using up the older ones/ones we don't like.

The minis that we like can come with us to Italy in the summer or to mini festivals we have booked

Kittenkirst

Unexpected duvet day as I managed to do something rather excruciating to my back this morning

So I've taken emergency annual leave, been to the docs and now resting with a heated wheat pillow whilst the painkillers kick in :eek:

Not much to do when you're laid up so I've started watching Delicious on Sky- really intriguing drama. I love Dawn French too.

A quick OP of £2.55 this morning to Tilly Tidy the joint account and updating my spending app following a Lidl food shop last night.

Looks like a day of boxsets and Australia trip planning now :heartpuls:

Kittenkirst

Pinecone credit of £6 has just cleared so I have overpaid that just now so the April Overpayment is now £537.46, making the op for the year so far £1433.02.

Gf gets her quarterly bonus paid mid May and told me yesterday that she'll make a small OP from it which is fab- even if it's £25 it will all help with crushing down the Mortgage!

A_Frayed_Knot

Hope its not too long before your up and about again, but meanwhile rest as much as you need.

Great use of time - planning more Aussie adventures.

Merchandiser2367

Kittenkirst wrote: »

Pinecone credit of £6 has just cleared so I have overpaid that just now so the April Overpayment is now £537.46, making the op for the year so far £1433.02.

Gf gets her quarterly bonus paid mid May and told me yesterday that she'll make a small OP from it which is fab- even if it's £25 it will all help with crushing down the Mortgage!

Great reading your diary! Hope your back isn't too bad....had some back trouble in the past and is horrible pain when you jarr/pull it etc. Slept on the floor a few times and felt it really helped the next morning as our old mattress was really soft and provided no support so when I had pulled my back, the stiff floor did wonders!

Good work on your OP's! You are doing so well on your yearly target already!!

Kittenkirst

Afternoon all!
Back is still pretty darn painful so another day of minimal activity, drugs and trying not to eat allllll the bad food

I fell off my nutrition plan last night and we had a (YS from freezer) cheese pizza, oven chips, garlic bread and homemade chilli chicken bites. Not the healthiest but I was within my calories for the day but the protein/carb/fat ratios weren't right. Not the naughtiest but it was better than the takeaway I wanted whilst feeling sorry for myself (better nutritionally and financially :money: )

Back on track this morning with yogurt berry & seeds for breakfast and poached eggs with avocado for lunch :heartpuls

However, today has been more spendy but not all for me. I have ordered gf parents both new beds on the credit card (they will transfer the cash so we get the avois points) using Quidco so willget 1% cashback (whoop!) then ordered my brother some dvds for his birthday to take over next weekend when we go to visit (also via Quidco for 31p cashback!).

We've also taken the plunge and booked some tickets to go to SW4 for the day in August together- we've never done a festival together as have different music tastes but the line up for this looks great for us both and we have a group of friends going so we'll hopefully meet up with them. Hotel nearby has also been booked for the night too (only £45 for us both!). Looks like we have loads to look forward to in 2018:

:heartpuls: gfs 40th present of the hot air balloon
:heartpuls: Download festival weekend for me (Guns & Roses baby!!!)
:heartpuls: the wedding in Italy!
:heartpuls: Pride Festival weekend to see Britney and a good friend
:heartpuls: SW4 for the day to see Chase & Status, Craig David & Basement Jaxx
:heartpuls: Seeing Incubus in September with my bestie from school
:heartpuls: seeing my favourite band- The Used- with my bestie (re-scheduled as the band cancelled their March gig
:heartpuls: Singapore Grand Prix& East coast Australia trip

A busy, expensive year but we are trying to keep the balance with being frugal where we can but still enjoy ourselves and make fab memories!

We've been trying to find ways to be more eco friendly at home and about- we use a lot of water bottles (although I will use the same one daily for a week before getting a new one) but that would still equal 104 bottles per year for us as a couple. Soooooo I have been researching reusable bottles and finally ordered us some stainless steel ones which have an interchangeable sports cap and a pouch too.
So these, whilst not the cheapest, are better for the environment and we will utilise them on our trips away (e.g filling up with water post security at the airport if allowed!)

One saving has been that I was researching the plug adaptors we need for Oz, and they are the same as the China ones. So I've gone through the cupboards and managed to find one of the adaptors from China. Will continue having a good old root through the electronics/suitcases etc to see if we have any more to save buying them before the trip. Although I next need to research the Singapore adaptors and see what we need for there.

Catching up with some Suits with Oscar all snuggled next to me (I think he's secretly trying to steal the wheatbag I have rather than cuddling me :rotfl: ) and going to do some more planning & dreaming of holidays!

Kittenkirst

Gf went to help the parents out with some decorating last night which meant a late last minute dinner so we ended up with a take-away. £20 later and we had a yummy Turkish meal delivered!

Our only saving grace is I went via Quidco so £9.20 cashback has tracked and the portions were HUGE so we have plenty for dinner tonight (we have beetroot falafels tonight so leftover rice, salad, hummus & bread will go great!)

Luckily with some clever ordering the meal wasn't too out of line with my nutrition plan as I managed eat well all day too, although am just itching to be more active. Fingers crossed for a gentle swim (too much?) or at least a small walk tomorrow!

I'm struggling to sleep with the back pain tonight, so trying to relax and tire myself out- one great thing about being laid up is that I've been able to catch up with lots of diaries which always helps spark ideas for frugalness.

I must avoid online shopping now especially though as it's so very easy to get sucked in and buy it all.