Get a grip woman!

Suffolk_lass

Oh dear. the door of the tumble drier has just broken. The inner and outer skins have separated, snapping the little tunnels that the screws attach to. Let's see if I can get a replacement...

Not immediately obvious if the standard replacement door will fit my large capacity 7kg model. I have emailed Whitegoods (a good forum if you need to research repairs or known issues with err white goods).

Suffolk_lass

Well the very helpful man at Whitegoods.co.uk came back to me first thing this morning. I have the part references from their site (also cheaper than any of the immediately obvious candidates) and his advice split the components down (presuming I reuse the catch and screws) this is about £15 cheaper than buying a replacement door and £250 cheaper than a replacement machine. I have not explored using an engineer because I, or Mr Suffolk will be able to do this!

I hope this isn't an indicator that all my whitegoods are going to go wrong... :eek:

Suffolk_lass

£122,852.54 - This was my total debt when I started this diary

DEBTS
Total [STRIKE]£122,852.54[/STRIKE] £59,997.92 (all mortgage, everything else is done and gone) - that is £62,854.62 or 51.16% paid off so far.


SAVINGS
£10,094.68 Emergency pot
£12,326.28 S&S ISA with Fidelity International
£8,748.19 DH's S&S ISA (with Charles Stanley Direct]
£11,727.25 - 7 year bond with Skipton BS - matures Oct 20

[STRIKE]£38,630.43[/STRIKE] £42,886.40 Total actual cashable savings and just 11.02% better than when I started (but the debts are reducing and this is our priority)

Shortfall -£17,111.52 (against debts)

I hate paying interest and so we will continue to pay down as fast as we can, while living our lives. Our daily interest rate is back to just over £2 a day now - all on the mortgage

Only 1 more pay cheque for me as the impending retirement date looms ever closer.

Other things for 2019 -

MFiT(T5) - I have signed up to completely clear our mortgage within the next three years.
MFW in 2019 - I have set a £20k target and will post updates here
Grocery Challenge - I have set a £3000 annual target for the year to include all my stores, all toiletries, groceries and cleaning products. Some but not all cat food and litter - it splits down to 11 months at £200, some for stores and the rest for December, including all the Christmas food and drinks. Alcohol is also included but it seems to breed round here - we have loads lurking
Save £12k in 2019 - I have set a target of £7k. As I am finishing work it will be lower
Weight I have got fatter over Christmas and so apart from the lump of bread pudding I ate before going out with DS, I have been good today, so far. We will have some baked fish and veg followed by yogurt and frozen fruit for supper. I had left over hummus and celery before the bread pud. 3 bucket sized cups of coffee and a cup of tea planned. I might log my food here for a while to track it and plot the weight progress. I would like to lost a stone from here by Easter.
House - cleaner and rat free. Still more flies than normal but hundreds have sacrificed themselves on the blue zap-alter
Garden - what a mess. Hardly know where to start! - Do intend growing most veg this year and signed up on the All new growing your own in 2019 thread in Green-Fingered
Leisure - Ordered some books online and I have started looking at camper van !!!!!! - indulged in George Clarke's Amazing Spaces
Friends and Family - DS is here while his car tyres are at the Kwik man's - nice! I saw a friend for a good chat on Saturday and had a fun time with other friends on Friday. I could get used to this!
Health and Wellbeing - will have to wait until I finish work. I definitely have some tendonitis in my right shoulder/arm/elbow

Sorry for the gargantuan post!

Karmacat

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

DEBTS
Total [STRIKE]£122,852.54[/STRIKE] £59,997.92 (all mortgage, everything else is done and gone) - that is £62,854.62 or 51.16% paid off so far.

Woo hoo!

[STRIKE]£38,630.43[/STRIKE] £42,886.40 Total actual cashable savings and just 11.02% better than when I started (but the debts are reducing and this is our priority)

Shortfall -£17,111.52 (against debts)

I love this comparison, its so important to know what's what.

Garden - what a mess. Hardly know where to start! - Do intend growing most veg this year and signed up on the All new growing your own in 2019 thread in Green-Fingered

Ooh ... thats not a board I use. I'd better go have a look this evening

Leisure - Ordered some books online and I have started looking at camper van !!!!!! - indulged in George Clarke's Amazing Spaces

I watched his programme for the first time last night

Friends and Family

- DS is here while his car tyres are at the Kwik man's - nice! I saw a friend for a good chat on Saturday and had a fun time with other friends on Friday. I could get used to this!

That's nice and you've got a lot more to come, Real Soon Now!

Suffolk_lass

The boiler is up the creek - no heating, we tried it over New Year and it clicks but does not fire. I have been researching with my neighbours as to who they use as I am not happy. Also the fuse blew so no hot water on Monday (which I fixed), the flexi hose jubilee clip had come loose so the oil smell was filling the house (I fixed that too) but checking this morning, the pressure was up over 2.5 so just bled 5 large jugs of water (1.5 pints each) to get it down under 1.5 pressure. I must phone an engineer for a repair but going to try a different company as the engineer who serviced it did not do the job properly (in my opinion!) - I am going to check with my neighbour who first installed it beforehand so I sound like I know what I am talking about - I hate being patronised and sadly, many men round here do that

Suffolk_lass

Just had a mooch around our accounts and probably foolishly, I was feeling a bit flush so have Tilly Tidied down to the next hundred pounds in each. It all looks very tidy and I will survive until pay-day providing nothing major and unexpected happens.

That said, my tumble dryer repair parts have yet to arrive and be applied, and the boiler is iffy. So maybe it will all go T-up :eek:

Suffolk_lass

We are nearly following our diet - weight is reducing more slowly than it should thanks to the odd potato, a bit of pastry and a few chocolates... oh, and a bowl of ice cream each :whistle: Well, it is winter and a little carb is a comfort thing

I made leftovers tart last night. Rustled up some pastry from store-cupboard, sauteed half a dozen wonky onions in butter and oil, and made the tart with 4 eggs (from before New Year :eek:) and some cream found lurking. Topped with a bit of mouldy grated cheese. Yum! - half left for today that will clear up salad and a small jacket potato

Suffolk_lass

After mentioning Doris Grant (of "Your Daily Bread" fame) to TOPM on here, I have bought three second hand books by her to begin my retirement leisure with. Just been delivered. She was the person who first advocated food combining, based on her allergies and reactions to foods. She was also a great advocate of Professor Hay in USA - he of the Hay Diet, I believe. It really makes you think. This woman was published in the 1940s through to the 1970s but her message is so relevant for today. I am looking forward to reading them. Always more to learn!

Karmacat

Sounds interesting, SL. I like the idea of food combining, I drifted away for a while, must get going again.

Suffolk_lass

Yes, I think I like the idea if it helps with energy and aches and pains - for me I know being on my regular mediterranean diet stops my ankles and knees hurting - I was told by an orthopaedic surgeon that my knees were a bit worn out and showing 2nd stage of osteoarthritis about 20 years ago and this was as a result of playing hockey on the first generation of artificial pitches (in an age of sports shoes that are the equivalent of cardboard soles when compared to today's high tech objects) - so I must not complain as they are still going! - back to the diet I think sugar and weight are my main culprits.

I want to see what our Doris wrote about potatoes and bread because pasta and rice (except in macaroni and puddings) would have been a bit unusual in her day and in the winter we do struggle with lack of starchy carbs (the mis-fit between our climate and diet!). There is some really interesting research around making carbs more complex (slower to release their energy) if they are chilled when cooked and then reheated - so rice in a freezer could be consumed in portions out of a bigger container, like frozen peas and have less impact on blood sugars. My friend routinely chills part-boiled potatoes in the fridge overnight before roasting them, and I wanted to do a bit of research. Porridge is DH's refuge for lovely starchy food in cold spells (no shortage of fibre in his diet, I might add!)