The mindful MFW: A healthy, happy journey to a mortgage free life!

museumworker

PS anyone got any tips for Sweden (Skane) on the cheap? :rotfl::rotfl:

wishingthemortgaheaway

Have a great holiday.
Never been to Sweden, so no tips I'm afraid.

museumworker

Thanks! House sorted, everyone packed and we're on our way to the meet and greet at the airport, only 10 mins later than planned. Already feeling a lot better! I've budgeted £100 a day spending money, but hoping with a few cheaper days thrown in we'll come under budget over all. I am preparing for a shock over prices when we get there though!

Realised with HSBC that the account I wanted to swap (my personal one) isn't eligible for the reward as it doesn't have two DDs associated with it. I feell better about that as I know I tried my hardest but it didn't work out.

Regarding the voucher win it was via a blog, and a rafflecopter type entry. There were hundreds of entrants so luck was on my side . If you're interested in comping I would recommend reading Superlucky Di's blog for starters, her book is very comprehensive if you want to take it further. I've had some amazing wins but found it was taking its toll time and stress wise so have taken a break to get my life more in balance. I am doing a little now, but being very selective.

themadvix

Have a fab holiday! and thanks for the tip about Superlucky Di's blog too - have been comping for a month now.... so more tips always welcome!

Kantankrus_Mare

Yes.....have a great holiday in Sweden!! You deserve it!

museumworker

themadvix wrote: »

Have a fab holiday! and thanks for the tip about Superlucky Di's blog too - have been comping for a month now.... so more tips always welcome!

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

Yes.....have a great holiday in Sweden!! You deserve it!

Thanks both! We had as an uneventful a journey here as you can hope for with two young ones and an exhausted grumpy teen :rotfl:.

We had a marvellous welcome of a home cooked dinner, it's a gorgeous little summer house surrounded by woods, the locals are all out mushroom picking in the morning! There's a lake and playground within a couple of minutes walk too. The place is beautifully decorated, a mix of new and vintage, light with pops of colour. It's larger than I thought so not on top of each other but not too big to clean at the end of the stay!

Today we stocked up the cupboards with a trip to Lidl, the cheapest supermarket chain in Sweden. Fruit and veg seems very expensive, we looked out for offers and reduced items but didn't scrimp. £130 spent, hopefully some should last us a week and other bits (like the 1.5kg of jam for £1.50 :rotfl:) should last us the whole holiday.

We had lunch in IKEA which is really cheap to eat at - £1.90 for a kids meal including drink and milk ice lolly. We should have brought our IKEA family card though as there are lots of additional discounts at the cafe. Four of us ate for £15, the teen was too busy sleeping to come :rotfl:. There were lots of Swedish families doing the same, plus there was a kids play area in the cafe so DS and DD2 could play for a bit after eating.

My top tip for house swapping if you have young kids is to bring or buy IKEA sets of plastic plates, bowls and cups. Families with older kids don't tend to have them and you can bet that within a day your kids will have broken some sort of plate or glass. (As happened last year on our first house swap :mad:). For £4.50 we have enough plastic kids things to not worry about that - and we can leave them as a gift for future houseswappers after.

Anyway, kids asleep in car and relishing the quiet! Will offer a bit of a 'fika' when they wake up, then a wander round lake, a play and a light dinner.

wishingthemortgaheaway

Sounds lovely. Will investigate house swapping once we've got a decent kitchen.

museumworker

Wish, definitely do, it's a great motivator to finish off jobs on the house!

We had an unplanned NSD yesterday as we went to the beach and hadn't been to a cashpoint! It was a locals' beach and whilst the sea was a bit bracing, it was sandy and relaxed and the kids loved our three hours there. We had a BBQ at home in the evening which was really enjoyable, only thing was night time was a nightmare as kids had slept too long on the way back.

Today we managed to get teen out of house with trip to IKEA (again!) At least it was a cheap lunch and she was delighted to see it, we only went for her. £40 spent today on lunch, IKEA treats for DS and DD1, including £10 at supermarket for two loaves of bread, 5 bananas, and 2 cartons of milk :eek:! Would have been about a fiver in the U.K.! Our first day came out at £154, so under budget by £100 so far. We had a great walk around the forests surrounding the lake near our home tonight, got a little lost but clocked up an impressive 10k steps and saw plenty of beetles, a frog, a mole, ants nests, toadstools, and dragonsflies, which kept DS entertained.

Tomorrow we're hoping to get to the national park for a longer walk, and DD1 has agreed to come! Planning a packed lunch so imagine it will be a relatively low cost day.

Also looked at our expensive day out, the zoo, and realised we can go next week for £18 less as it counts as low season, so will save our visit for then.

museumworker

Gorgeous long walk on a board walk next to a babbling river in dappled forest light, then a steep ascent to stunning valley views. DD1 managed it with only a little complaining near the end, DS walked the whole thing and DD2 managed about 7 steps before needing a shoulder ride the whole way :rotfl:! Well done Mr MW! Took a packed lunch and ended up being a NSD :T, one full of wonderful moments.

Watching a DVD whilst we get another BBQ going, all MW family tired but happy.

£200 under budget so far .

Our broadband/phone switch being problematic due to V!rg!n, had to spend an hour on the phone today but at least the broadband won't be suddenly disconnected this weekend :eek: as V!rg!n had planned despite promising OH it would be on til 1 Sep. Not sure we will ever go back to them, their customer service is pretty poor.

Back to huggles with the littlies.

MW x

museumworker

Today we went to an outdoor sculpture gallery, set around a lake and 15/16th century buildings. It was great fun as the kids could climb on / interact with lots of the works. Tthe setting was beautiful with lots of the works hidden in the forest or around the lake. I got in free with my international museum card, and kids were free so only cost £14 for OH. A bargainous day out :T although we underestimated the size of the place and are totally exhausted.

We took a packed lunch, and stopped at a Lidl on the way back for a top up shop (which still cost £70 -:eek:) but means we still underspent by £16 today (so £216 under budget so far).

Been picked for a RM survey for 6 months :j! Will be £11.62 a month in stamps and chances to win £10 vouchers too. Super pleased!

Won a family ticket to a museum we haven't been to before so looking forward to a free day out there in September.

Dinner time, easy pizza dinner. Better eat before OH gets cross!

MW x

Tomorrow we need a restful day - anyone fancy keeping an eye on the kids for us :rotfl:?