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Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

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  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 96,488 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Excellent news on the last minute cover.
    Glad that you enjoyed the Christmas fair.
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • Brilliant about the cover. Spending £12 isn't too bad either. I know you would have rather save it.

    Are you off on your saunter today? x
    September 2017 Debt = £25330

    Starting afresh.

    You can do anything if you put your mind to it. x
  • A lot of my working life was in a clinical setting with one-way glass in huge windows along the side of the room. People could observe what was going on inside without me or anyone else being able to see out:eek:, like a police identity parade:rotfl:. I never seemed to get used to it somehow, I think I'd rather have known who was out there looking in and when.


    You're still up quite late tonight, HHOD. I hope you manage to get a good night's sleep. You certainly deserve it:beer:

    Thanks FS :).
    beanielou wrote: »
    Excellent news on the last minute cover.
    Glad that you enjoyed the Christmas fair.

    Thanks Beanie :).
    Nicnak wrote: »
    Brilliant about the cover. Spending £12 isn't too bad either. I know you would have rather save it.

    Are you off on your saunter today? x


    Thanks Nicnak :). No I didn't go on my saunter today.
    Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
    Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
    EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
    CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
    HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS
  • HairyHandofDartmoor
    HairyHandofDartmoor Posts: 13,960 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 7 December 2019 at 6:31PM
    I realised that I was too tired to go on my Saturday saunter today and there are lots of jobs at home that badly needed doing.

    I've achieved quite a lot today:

    [Strike]Put dishwasher on
    Empty all bins
    Put a wash on & hang up
    Put a second wash on
    Fold up clean washing & put away
    Put up and decorate kitchen Christmas tree
    Hang wreath on front door
    Change tablecloth to Christmas one[/Strike]

    So our house is looking even more Christmassy now :rudolf:.DH has also been busy and has made mince pies and mended the leg of the armchair which fell off every time we moved the chair more than an inch. He's also going to cook tonight.

    So much has been achieved, but as always there's a lot more to do. Tomorrow I'd like to go into town and buy a few Christmas presents as I only have two so far :eek:. This is starting to feel urgent as DH and I will be busy next weekend collecting DS3 for the holdidays. A lot depends upon whether I'm needed to do any cover next week. If I have four afternoons at home I can catch up on a lot of Christmas jobs. So I need to make a present list and a card list so that I can get more organised. Plus I need to make a start on my third assignment.

    I feel extremely tired now, mainly because of the tiring day I had yesterday. So I'm going to spend the evening relaxing and watching Christmas films with DH and DS1. We're watching the Santa Chronicles right now :xmassmile.
    Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
    Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
    EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
    CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
    HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS
  • Sun_Addict
    Sun_Addict Posts: 24,334 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Well done on tackling your to do list :)

    Have a relaxing evening tonight xx
    I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)
  • Thanks SA :). There's still plenty left on tomorrow's list but it's a good start.
    Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally
    Debt in July 2017 = £58,766 😱 DEBT FREE 31 OCTOBER 2017 :T 🎉
    EMERGENCY FUND 1 = £50/£5,000. EMERGENCY FUND 2 = £10/£5,000.
    CHRISTMAS SAVINGS = £0/£500. SEF = £1,400/£12,000 PREMIUM BONDS ME = £350. PREMIUM BONDS DH = £300.
    HOLIDAY MONEY = £0 TIME LEFT TO PAY OFF MORTGAGE = 5 YEARS 1 MONTHS
  • .DH has also been busy and has made mince pies.

    Now I'm really impressed. I make pretty well everything foodwise that can be homemade for Xmas, but I draw the line at mince pies because they are so time-consuming, and hardly last 5 mins !!

    You've had a very productive day, hope you enjoyed the Xmas film and sleep well tonight.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    edited 8 December 2019 at 9:01AM
    Mmmm, home made mince pies:j. Bliss. :beer: to your DH. Does DH make his own pastry from scratch or buy ready-made? We eat so few of them now the children are grown up and far away:( that I just buy a few from our local bakers. Really nice and not expensive so win-win. I hardly ever make pastry now except for apple pies to freeze when we have a glut of apples in the autumn. DH often prefers the apple without the piecrust anyway,just lightly stewed. I'm not complaining as it saves my time and money;). I once bought some ready-made filo pastry when it was vastly reduced in the supermarket. I'd eaten things made with filo but never made any or used any myself so at the giveaway price it was worth a go. Turned out lovely:j (it wasn't for mince pies but for more savoury things) but it didn't last long though as we had visitors that weekend and I barely got a taste myself:(. When I went back to the supermarket it was at regular price and, having to be uber-frugal at that time:o, I couldn't afford to buy it. I sort of forgot about it (filo pastry is definitely not one of life's essentials:rotfl:) and never did get round to seeking out any more on offer. I'll have to go online and see if it's easy to make myself. I always found pastry making quite therapeutic when I was stressed with my job somehow


    You probably were wise not braving the shops in town yesterday:T, although I've no idea what today will be like. DH had to go into our local small town yesterday. He always avoids going in on Saturdays because there's a market taking up the whole town square and parking anywhere near the centre of town is impossible on market day. It's bad on other days with narrow, winding streets but at least the market square is available to park in. DH enjoys walking so never minds parking on the outskirts (in the street for free) and walking in unless he's in a hurry or has something really heavy to carry but he said yesterday he was driving round for ages looking for a space anywhere. The other small carparks were full (with queues to get in as soon as anyone left) and all the extra shoppers were parking in the streets right out to the very edge of town. To add insult to injury it was teeming with rain and windy so, not only was he gone ages, he came home really grumpy:(. The pavements are narrow and shops small and he said everywhere was heaving. Drivers were hooting people to get out of the way as there were so many people about they had to walk in the street as well as the narrow pavement:eek:. A for queuing to be served in shops, that's what made him grumpiest of all.


    All that this early in December:eek:. Goodness knows what subsequent Saturdays will be like. Yet they say the traditional High Street is struggling! Good luck if you venture out. Knowing you you'll seek out some great bargains and be sensible with your spending:A
  • teafor2
    teafor2 Posts: 3,322 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Morning HHD :) Great that you got asked to cover again and even though you spent £12 at the fair you were still up at the end of the day. :D

    If I were you I'd not rely too much on being at home to catch up on things as you definitely seem to be the person school go to if they need cover and with all these bugs around I bet you're called on again at some point soon. :)

    Have a lovely day and I hope you manage to find some presents if you do go shopping. xx
  • doingitanyway
    doingitanyway Posts: 10,306 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Mortgage-free Glee!
    You've been working really hard HH. I hope you have a chance to relax today. I love that you are enjoying all the Christmas films :)
    If you have built castles in the air, your work should not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them

    Emergency fund 3501000
    Buffer fund 0/100
    Debt Free (again) 25/072025
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