MF - now the 2 year journey to financial freedom 😁

bexster1975

Morning squirrel girl.

Hope all the work is finished on time. I too finish the middle of next week fir the break and am very excited. Catch up after the solstice

Bexster

[Deleted User]

Forgot the food plans for next year!!:rotfl:
So, I will have a lot more time on my hands so will be making everything possible from scratch.
I also intend to grow as much as I can within the pots and bits of the garden I can turn over to fruit and veg.
I intend to eat as seasonally and locally as possible -although this will include freezing/dehydrating/pickling etc a variety of produce throughout the year to give me options during the autumn and winter months - with all but one meal per week using only produce which has been grown in the UK (tinned tomatoes will be the exception until I have managed to grow enough to make me have no reliance on bought in sources). I think that having one meal a week where it is outside of the uk and possibly out of season is okay - it will still be a challenge making the much more limited produce interesting

So, I have found the following list of seasonal uk produce:
January
Apples, Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Celeriac, Celery, Chicory,Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Squash, Swedes, Turnips.
February
Apples, Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Celeriac, Chicory, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Squash, Swedes.
March
Artichoke, Beetroot, Cabbage, Carrots, Chicory, Cucumber, Leeks, Parsnip, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Radishes, Rhubarb, Sorrel, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Watercress.
April
Artichoke, Beetroot, Cabbage, Carrots, Chicory, New Potatoes, Kale, Morel Mushrooms, Parsnips, Radishes, Rhubarb, Rocket, Sorrel, Spinach, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Watercress.
May
Artichoke, Asparagus, Aubergine, Beetroot, Chicory, Chillies, Elderflowers, Lettuce, Marrow, New Potatoes, Peas, Peppers, Radishes, Rhubarb, Rocket, Samphire, Sorrel, Spinach, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Watercress.
June
Asparagus, Aubergine, Beetroot, Blackcurrants, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cherries, Chicory, Chillies, Courgettes, Cucumber, Elderflowers, Gooseberries, Lettuce, Marrow, New Potatoes, Peas, Peppers, Radishes, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Rhubarb, Rocket, Runner Beans, Samphire, Sorrel, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Swiss Chard, Tayberries, Turnips, Watercress.
July
Aubergine, Beetroot, Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Blueberries, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cherries, Chicory, Chillies, Courgettes, Cucumber, Gooseberries, Greengages, Fennel, French Beans, Garlic, Kohlrabi, Loganberries, New Potatoes, Onions, Peas, Potatoes, Radishes, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Rhubarb, Rocket, Runner Beans, Samphire, Sorrel, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Swish Chard, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress.
August
Aubergine, Beetroot, Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cherries, Chicory, Chillies, Courgettes, Cucumber, Damsons, Fennel, French Beans, Garlic, Greengages, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Loganberries, Mangetout, Marrow, Mushrooms, Parsnips, Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Plums, Pumpkin, Radishes, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Rhubarb, Rocket, Runner Beans, Samphire, Sorrel, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Sweetcorn, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Watercress.
September
Aubergine, Beetroot, Blackberries, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Courgettes, Chicory, Chillies, Cucumber, Damsons, Garlic, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Mangetout, Marrow, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Peas, Peppers, Plums, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Radishes, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Rocket, Runner Beans, Samphire, Sorrel, Spinach, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Sweetcorn, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Wild Mushrooms.
October
Aubergine, Apples, Beetroot, Blackberries, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Celery, Chestnuts, Chicory, Chillies, Courgette, Cucumber, Elderberries, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Marrow, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Peas, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Radishes, Rocket, Runner Beans, Spinach, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Summer Squash, Swede, Sweetcorn, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Wild Mushrooms, Winter Squash.
November
Apples, Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Celery, Chestnuts, Chicory, Cranberries, Elderberries, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Swede, Swiss Chard, Turnips, Watercress, Wild Mushrooms, Winter Squash.
December
Apples, Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Carrots, Celeriac, Celery, Chestnuts, Chicory, Cranberries, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Red Cabbage, Swede, Swiss Chard, Turnips, Watercress, Winter Squash.

I'm going to have a good look at this list over the next couple of days and come up with a monthly meal plan to incorporate all of the fruit and veg listed in a variety of dishes It's going to be a very interesting exercise

I will put the monthly dishes up once I have decided on them

[Deleted User]

Happy Friday
Not writing until solstice didn't work out!! :rotfl:

Home and garden -
I've started to put a list of dishes together for December and January It's my intention for my down time this weekend to make a meal plan for the first month of my 24 month mission

Its a busy weekend ahead - I've got my grandbaby tomorrow and some finishing touches in the house to do over the weekend- list time I think or I'll forget what I need to achieve!
TO DO
Cut door jambs
Paint door jambs
Fix door jambs
Put stuff in loft
Clean grout
Seal tiles
Clear garden
Make menu plan for 1st month

I may add to that but that's the list for the weekend so far I'm decorating on Wednesday for solstice- I've got most of the items I need so if all goes according to plan, it should look pretty :happyhear

Monday
The UK holiday has been booked 🎉:dance: it has meant using my card but I'm okay with that - all is planned and managed, so although I feel jittery carrying a cc balance, I can manage it for a couple of months and it's interest free so not costing me anything - I'll keep reminding myself of this!! :rotfl:

Finances are a bit in the air at the moment but I'll know exactly where I stand next week and will be in control again I'm good with that and can manage the next week with what is in the house - what remains from this month's petrol and food budgets will be paid to the cc - so I'll be looking at how much that might be this weekend too - it will help with the jitters! :rotfl:

Self
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: not even going there!!! :eek:

Anyway - have a fab weekend!!

[Deleted User]

Grandbaby time was lush!!! :happyhear:happyhear:happyhear
I've done nothing since he went home but I'm okay with that - busy day tomorrow
I'm going to have another drink and keep watching my open fire - I love being able to relax by the fire - it really is one of my favourite things to do I've had a lovely day, first with the grandbaby, then watching the wildlife in the garden and now watching a roaring fire and drinking brandy :T I'm loving my life!! :beer::D

I've checked the petrol and grocery jars - there's a definite surplus so I'm very pleased with that - still have 6 days remaining but fairly confident that we won't need much I'm making leek and potato soup tomorrow for lunch along with home made rosemary and garlic foccacia - there will be enough for Monday lunch too - and a pan of veg soup too for lunches during the week. I'm going to make pasta with pesto for me and I'll make a sauce with the remaining dips and camembert for dh. We'll have the remaining bread and a salad with it for dinner. Monday I am making a chickpea and potato curry, Tuesday we'll have baked squash with bloomed wild rice and an orange and date salad, Wednesday we'll have ethiopian lentils and injera, Thursday we're having bean and veg casserole with herb dumplings, Friday will be fridge surprise then Saturday is solstice

Post solstice, it's going to be using up whatever remains in the house - I'm having a strict £20 per week budget for next year. The remaining grocery money will be saved for my bulk suma buys. I think we can probably do January on less

Self care is starting tomorrow - I'm going to have an alcohol free day and drink plenty of water and green tea. A bit of a break before solstice will do me good!

beanielou

Glad that you have had a lovely day

[Deleted User]

Right, I've had a quick total up of the balances and emptied out the coin jar We had £46 in the coin jar and £160 surplus from the petrol and grocery jars (although we still have a week to go but both filled up with petrol at the end of last week and I've made enough food today to last till Friday I've kept £20 back for any incidentals and put the other £140 to the cards (CC3) along with the coin jar money.

We currently have 3 cc on the go!! 🙈:eek:
CC1 is an interest charging card - I'm currently in the 'interest free' period though. It has a balance of £677.
CC2 is interest free - balance is currently £5800
CC3 is interest free - balance is £571
CC1 and 3 will be paid off in full on Friday. CC2 balance will be reduced by £1350 on Friday and a further £300 by the end of the month

The balances are so high as I have put deposits on both holidays and have the large original expense that warranted the obtaining of CC2 in the first place we also have an oil order on that figure which I will transfer the money for tomorrow
Jan and Feb are for paying off the remaining CC2 balance and the UK holiday balance plus spending money. March and April are the car fund and some of our big holiday money, May and June big holiday, July is big holiday spending money, August, September, October is paying the family debt and some towards the garden, November and December will be garden money
I feel better now that I am back in control of the money - getting the cc debt and the holiday cash together are my first priorities - I have signed up to owe that money; the family debt and garden are not obligations, they are things that I want to do next year, no expectation other than my own

[Deleted User]

I'm on holiday....hurrah!!! :j

This morning I'm chillaxing then off to the city with my daughter and grandbaby to finish the solstice shop this afternoon. We'll probably have lunch out and I have plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight

Tomorrow I'm at home all day, I have workmen coming over (alledgedly- this is the third appointment I've made and they haven't turned up to the other 2 :mad:) so will clean and sort the house, Friday I'm going on an outing with my daughter and grandbaby in the morning then preparing the solstice food in the afternoon along with the decorating. I was meant to be decorating today but as the workmen didn't turn up yesterday, I still don't have a windowsill to turn into a winter wonderland!! if they miss tomorrow too - I'm going to have to rethink my deccies and get a tree on Friday :doh:

I hit all the deadlines at work before i finished yesterday so it's a stress free holiday really - tomorrow was meant to be a 'free' day but I need these windowsills done so will just have to make the most of the time at home. I may spend it doing the food lists, the jobs list and a food inventory- may as well make use of the time

Right, off for another coffee - I like being a lady of leisure, even if it's only temporary!! :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

:xmastree: happy belated solstice!!!

Bit late as I was very busy yesterday but had a wonderful day and am now being lazy with a black Russian and rubbish on the tv;) we have so much food in the house it's scary - lots was eaten (stunning amount really! ) but I have enough sprouts, potatoes, carrots, parsnips and pie filling to make an enormous bubble and squeak later which will do for a few days We also have teriyaki 'meatballs', red cabbage and apple, vegan cheeses, sweet potatoes (didn't get round to making the gnocchi last night) courgettes and peppers. Basically, we won't be buying any additional food for the next week

Back at work tomorrow, got a list of stuff to get done then I have the grandbaby tomorrow night. I have to find places for his new solstice toys too! :think: that could be a problem!! :rotfl: only tomorrow and Tuesday to go and then I'm looking forward to the rest of the holidays - now that the solstice celebrations are done, I can actually have a few days of proper chillaxing :j

Anyway, time to refill the beverage - hopen everyone is having a fab weekend!!

[Deleted User]

Now that the solstice celebrations are done, I'm looking at the finances and feeling a bit queasy! I massively overspent last week - the two outings with dd & dgs were very expensive, I went crazy despite my best intentions :rotfl: oh well, I'm going to just accept it, move on and do any manoeuvring of money that needs to be done- I'm on my own time frame really so I don't need to wind myself up about it.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow- once work is done, it's several days of just dh and I relaxing we'll be going to dd's on Wednesday for a couple of hours then totally free until Saturday :j I'm going to start the routines next week once all the visits etc are done - I am just taking it as it comes until then

Hope you all enjoy your holidays:D!

[Deleted User]

Right, this actually feels like the first day of my holiday!! :j I have nowhere to go, stuff to do but it can be completed while pottering and no pressure from anyone to do anything! I'm making the most of it, although we're having a quiet few days, it gets busy at the weekend :doh: I really thought I'd get away with an extra few days of peace but family require our presence

Anyway, lots of thinking time available which leads to lots of fine tuning of plans
It's not only a new year (as a poster mentioned on another thread) but a new decade! When this next decade is done, I will be in my 60's and my grandbaby will almost be a teenager!! :eek: Ten years goes past so quickly really - I remember all the prep for the 00's and that was almost 20 years ago!! _pale_

I really want to get the financial stuff sorted asap - I know that I don't need to have this sense of urgency but I want as many years not thinking about money at all as possible!
So, current figures:

Holidays - £850/£10500
Garden- £0/ £10000
Car - £0/£4000
Debt -£300/ £13000

The debt repayment is lower than intended by a considerable amount I did pay off much more, but I'd put lots more on so it doesn't count! :rotfl: in all honesty, I don't actually care - yes, it means that I have more to achieve but as long as I do not increase the balance again, it will come down quickly from 2020 it was worth it - I had the solstice I wanted and I know that I need to be considerably more organised for it next year! some of it was out of my control but I avoided a great deal too - I think that it crept up on me in the chaos - I haven't done a celebration with a small child for decades and forgot how much more there is to consider :rotfl:
Anyway, the food and petrol jars are at full capacity and ready to go; my fridge is at bursting point so I'm going to go through it later/tomorrow and re-purpose and use or freeze what I can. I'll also do a food inventory. I know that I have quite a bit of veg left - I'll make a veg and bean casserole with red wine and dumplings for dinner tomorrow and I have to get my dehydrator on the go to sort any remaining veg - I'll make a batch of stock powder and keep the rest for casseroles. I have to cook the remaining meatballs today and eat/freeze them and freeze the red cabbage.

I'm definitely following a 'mealplan' in 2020 - although I won't be allocating specific days as we don't eat in a 'daily evening meal' conventional manner, I will have a list of meals that will be eaten in list order - that way, I will still be making best use of the ingredients I buy using up what we currently have in is the January mission:rotfl:

As previously, I'll base my meals on a 'staples' rota - Rice; Potato; Breads & Pancakes; Grains; Pasta; Raw; Random! The random will probably be a mix - in all honesty many dishes will be a mix but I'll stick with the main part of it being the intended staple
I got a waffle maker for solstice :j I'm really looking forward to having some for brekkie tomorrow :j loads of 'bacon' and maple syrup :drool: I love them with houmous,avocado and chilli sauce too - not to mention with onion jam, 'feta' and olives; 'halloumi', 'bacon' and cranberry sauce or 'bolognese' and 'parmesan' :rotfl: yep, I like my waffles!!
Soup is definitely on the menu weekly - probably a Saturday or Sunday lunch - and it will entirely depend on what is left in the fridge. I've really enjoyed the soup I've made recently so it's something which I'm looking forward to making a regular thing. Very MSE too! :money:

Self is the big project for 2020 - I have to do something about me I really have become an embarrassment to myself and I'm finally at the stage of not being willing to put up with it

Right, I think I've written all the stuff I know I'll need reminding of! Off to drink brandy :beer: