Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Downshifterella

Holiday plans sound amazing kittenkirst !
You will have such an amazing time!

Kittenkirst

I honestly can't wait but there's still 59 days to go! I know it will fly by but still 2 months left.

Luckily we have lots of fun stuff to do between now & then- wedding in Italy, seeing Britney at Brighton pride, SW4 festival and some gigs too, and there's still plenty of time to get a little more 'bikini-ready'

We took the monsoon dresses back this morning for the refund, and gf found a top in the next sale to wear on the Friday for the wedding (£8!!!) and she looks lovely in it :heartpuls

We've then watched the tennis, saw most of the footie and then headed to the gym for 6pm to get a cardio workout in. We can weight train from Thursday and we're both looking forward to getting back into our plans/routine!

Dinner was a frugalised meal- we got a yellow sticker roasted chicken yesterday, so we had the leftover shredded chicken in a buffalo hot sauce we made, with a chopped salad from the fridge, leftover halloumi from Thursday night and some cucumber chunks. Sounds a bit odd but worked (& tasted) great!

We got a raw YS chicken this morning which is in the freezer to roast another weekend and I managed to get lots of YS avocados for the week too so feeling all prepped for the week ahead :A

Off to pack lunches for tomorrow- thinking leftover chopped salad with some boiled eggs and ham slices should be good for lunch, and I'll take a slice of brown bread, boiled egg and smashed avocado for brekkie, with some Greek yogurt and YS blueberries for 3pm snack

Kittenkirst

Long old day today- left at 5.45am to travel north for a long meeting. Then left the office at 3.30 to get to my hotel and ended up logged back in and working from 5-10 with an hr break to use the (ridiculously hot but free to use!) hotel gym and ordered room service.

Feeling a bit grumpy about not being home tonight, hotels are nice and all but there's no place like home really. At least I got a gym session in & got to have a tasty meal- I perhaps ordered when super hungry so ended up with a starter pasta dish, a humongous calzone and chippies! Not healthy but I didn't eat it all luckily!

Another long day planned tomorrow but should leave at 1pm at least to get home for around 5pm. Looking forward to seeing gf as she left for an overnight stay yesterday morning, the Kittens and just being home. I hadn't realised how much of a Homebird I really am

Kittenkirst

Feeling a little more positive and perky this morning

Just enjoying hotel breakfast- coffee bran flakes with dried fruit and a banana- much lighter than last nights overordering

Looking around the breakfast hall there's a lot of professional people with breakfast for one - kinda a little lonely to see. The waiting staff here are great and spotted my travel mug and big insulated water bottle so offered to refill it for me to take with.

Off to Italy for the wedding early on Friday morning- I think we're all organised. Outfits ready, euros already bought, car parking booked (through Quidco!). Just have to get through today at work and then I'm off until Monday- hurrah!

Kittenkirst

Goooood morning mfw's

I've got a late start today for a two day away trip for teambuilding so I thought time to catch up on the old diary.
The Italian wedding was just beautiful and it was a lovely weekend away with the other side of gfs family (who I didn't know very well,but I do now ).

It started with a bit of a bump though as our flight was delayed by five hours....then when we finally arrived in Milan our minibus a/c had broken for the 1.5hr transfer to the wedding town...:eek:

It was all worth it by the time we got there and saw family and the happy couple!

I've been tasked with doing the online application for the flight compensation- one family member put theirs through yesterday and had already received confirmation of compensation for £222 per person which more than covers the flight & hotel!

Had a nice eBay sale over the weekend- a Disney stuffed toy I bought for £5 to use as office Halloween decoration years ago- a colleague took a shine to it so it was on her desk for years but she gave it back. Popped on eBay and sold for £17.50

The £17.60 has been overpaid, alongside a £3 Pinecone payment and a few tilly tidies making July OPs so far a great

£250.04 :T

pretty pleased so far as we reducedout standard op down to £170 so have added £80 so far this month from selling, tilly tidies and cashback. :money:

Off to find the flight details and get that claim on

Kittenkirst

Forgot to mention- I tried Stand Up Paddleboard yoga on Monday and love love loved it! So I've booked in for the next two sessions that runbefore holiday to get some practice in ready for the boat trip on the Whitsundays :heartpuls:

themadvix

Disney stuff sells well on ebay - that's something I've discovered too.

Did I read that right? Stand-up paddleboard *yoga*??? Wow!

Kittenkirst

Yes indeed- it took a lot of balance & hoping i didn't fall in but I thought it was ace!

We paddled down the river lonely on the boards, did some poses and then did some vinyasa flow modified slightly and then I managed to stand and paddle the way back down the river. It was great :heartpuls:

Kittenkirst

Did two little tilly tidies yesterday of savings accounts- £50.56 swept over to the Mortgage from my instant access savings to make it a nice round number, followed by £5.54 from the Kittens savings account (for any surprise vet bills etc) making Julys OP £306.04



Had a two day team event the past few days which included a hotel stay- made the most of the different gym last night and enjoyed the dinner and drinks provided- ended up spending £19 on a round of drinks for people but other than that no other spends for the two days.

Back home and struggling in the heat this evening. I had planned a gym session but am feeling lazy so am staying home!

Kittenkirst

Lovely weekend, nice chilled Friday night at home- made chicken fajitas but without the wraps with some nice rocket, avocado and beetroot on the side whilst watching some Friday night tv with the gf and cats

Saturday consisted of a windy kayaking session- we used a tandem kayak again and seem to be getting better at steering and just how to use the kayak.
This was followed by going round a friends fora barbeque- we managed to eat before the torrential downpours and then just played games until the late evening. Nice to relax and see everyone. Friends who hosted told put on a great spread- we took some ghatia (Indian snacks), jalebis (sweets) and some fried chills to spice it up a bit!

Today I've returned to yoga finally and it felt great- ive really missed it the past four weeks- I could feel my stress levels rising at work earlier in the week so am hoping the yoga helps me manage that again

Now just chilling with the gf and cats watching Thor- Ragnarok and making use of our sky package. We've realised Hugo adore the pad inside his cat bed so have taken this out onto the sofa and he curls up on it with Oscar snuggled next to him. Makes my little heart melt :heartpuls

This week is mainly working from the local office or from home. With only 45 days until the Singapore & Australia adventure we are going to maximise our gym memberships and the yoga membership.
Planning 6am gym session tomorrow as working from home, then 5pm yoga and some healthier food. Need less of the chocolate/bread that's crept in recently and more of the lovely fresh fruit, veggies and protein we have in that just takes a few minutes more to prepare.