Get a grip woman!

greent

Whoop! It has finally gone - great feeling Hopefully they find the deeds - I love old deeds - such interesting reading

Karmacat

Congratulations, SL!  I hope you don't stop the diary just yet - you still have to  finish off the camper, for instance thats kind of a home I'm sure it will taper off when you're ready, but I hope thats a while away just yet.

Suffolk_lass

Hooray! - I've been a bit awol but busy and our friend (BS person) came for the weekend

Finally got the mortgage free letter from the BS and the confirmation from the Land Registry. So that is it for debt. All gone.

In other news we had E15 on the dishwasher with the sound of the pump running - stopping - running continuously. I emptied the cupboard next to it to power off at the wall plug (typically, completely inaccessible) and then went shopping. Left a note for DH. He had just got up when I got home and after sorting out the washing, he sorted out the DW. Gunk in the impeller. Not the leak it says it is. Very MSE!

In and out of the SM by 08.00. Frustratingly I was not allowed a pack of loo rolls and three packs of wipes (even more frustrating, this means we need to shop again, probably!) no own-brand biscuits or crackers to be seen and only 1 pack of macaroni (it takes 3 to refill the jar). Oh well. managed to get rice as only 2 portions left. I might see how long we can go, before I go again... Annoyingly I was too early to collect my prescription or go to the butcher so DH will do a separate trip.

I need to make soup so I stop wanting bread but forgot to pick up a sweet potato so might use a homegrown squash instead to thicken and slightly sweeten the soup. I add a fair bit of chilli to my soup and it just needs a little something.

The long awaited splashback was eagerly awaited on Saturday. And failed to show. Currently awaiting a call-back. 10 weeks waiting so far. :'( They know I'm not happy

Zola.

Congrats on being mortgage-free, I am sure it is a wonderful feeling! Whats next for you? Do you invest in ISAs or only pensions? 
Any advice for us still in the battle? I am only 5 years in, but overpaying every month consistently as well as investing... just 100k to go on the mortgage!   

trix-a-belle

great news on the BS finally confirming, well done! I overpaid my annual allowable lump on the 1st & my mortgage has now disappeared from my online banking.......? sadly I don't think Nwide have suddenly decided to be nice and write it off
I hope the wayward splash back shows its face soon

Suffolk_lass

Thanks both of you, and especially @trix-a-belle for running MFiT! That really is what made me overpay, being a bit competitive I needed to make or exceed my targets.

@Zola.  What is next? Good question. We have stopped work and sit in that space between stopping working and getting our state pensions. I paid lots in to my occupational pension (overpaying until DH's change of career) and he had a small occupational pension from a few years of teaching (the last bit). We are both old enough to have some reserved rights over when we can take them and they are keeping us going, with a gradual depletion of cash based savings at the moment. 

We've got four ISAs (two "active" S&S, 1 cash and one in a managed portal thing) - none doing too much. I also have a few thousand squirrelled into PBs but only really because regular savers are so low and I count these as cash based.

My absolute top tip is to look at your finances from all angles and make all aspects work for you. So there is not much merit in scrimping to pay down your mortgage if you then buy lots of takeaways rather than making a meal yourself (at the moment this is all slow-cooked sloppy things like soups, stews and chilli) - it saved me thousands over the years and it is lower in sugar and salt and I know what is in every meal - I know it is healthier. And "tilly-tidying"! - scraping your current account balance down each time it looks messy (usually to the next £10 here). I started with the Grocery Challenge on the Old-style part of the forum before I started paying off the mortgage - that has been the biggest consistent change.

Our plans were to travel and long term they still are. We hope to visit the southern hemisphere via a long slow trip, minimising our impact on our planet. We grow much of our own produce in our garden (11 raised beds and fruit beds and trees on top) and forage and store free food). We have our van (at the Doctor's being welded) and have pretty much refurbished that for some fun travelling, when we can, and spending a bit more time just being. Following our hobbies and interests, pursuing projects at and around our home and where we live.

Ooher, a bit of an essay. well you did ask!

DiscountDuck

Wow SL congratulations! Well done and all the best for your lovely MF plans! 

Karmacat

Your plans sound lovely, SL.  Very tempting.

Suffolk_lass

The update on the glass splashback is that it is now scheduled for delivery on 1st December (ordered and paid for on 15th August). Not impressed B&Q.

I have finished painting the doors on the wall cupboards (8 painting sessions on each one; four coats on each large flat side and edge). It takes nearly a week to do two (painting in the kitchen where it is warm and light enough. That is a temporary pause with the white paint until I'm ready to do the big full height cupboards in the passage from the kitchen to the back door our utility passage? - not big enough to call a corridor as only 1.6m long (2x500mm cupboards and the tumble dryer on top of a shelf above the washing machine). I think they will be white but they could be grey (or white above grey).

I might start on the grey base units but I really want us to confirm the new drawer inserts are going to work first. That involves emptying lots of cupboard contents. With the wall cupboards unable to go up until the splashback is in place I am a bit stuck for space unless we start putting stuff in crates in a bedroom (and then you can guarantee I will need to get it out again!).

Busy_Mee

That is rubbish. We got our glass splash backs from a local glass company. Is it worth checking for an alternative supplier and telling B&Q to stick theirs ?