MF - now the 2 year journey to financial freedom 😁

[Deleted User]

:xmastree::xmassign: merry chrimbo to all that celebrate it!!

Woke up stupidly early today! I'm currently drinking a cointreau sunrise and watching buffy the vampire slayer on prime - I want to be getting on with cleaning and sorting but the rest of the tribe are still snoozing so I'll have to wait we're off to see my grandbaby this morning then back home for a day on our own I may do a face mask and hair treatment later along with an Epsom salt bath - it depends on whether I can be bothered! I know that tomorrow will be a day of football for dh so I will have plenty of time to do it then if I don't today

I'm going to do my food inventory today - I'll probably need a few more drinks to brace myself for that! :rotfl: every time I open the fridge I'm feeling apprehensive - it's like a tardis in there!!!

Anyway, whatever your plans today, I hope you have an enjoyable and peaceful holiday

beanielou

Have a good day.

[Deleted User]

Thanks beanie! Hope you had a lovely day

Food inventory has been done and I made a few other dishes from leftovers and stuff that needed using up! suffice to say that we definitely have enough stuff in to keep us going for a while! dh was surprised that I did such a thorough inventory (literally listed every food item in the house!! ) but as I said to him, if I know exactly what we have, I can make sure that we use up everything in the most cost effective way and spend the bare minimum

Today will be a day of slobbing There's football on prime so dh will be watching plenty of that - I think I may have a bit of a pamper session later so that I don't die of boredom! :rotfl: I do have some laundry to catch up on so I'll get that done throughout the day. I have no idea what the kids are up to today but hopefully they'll be out so I can do stuff without having to work around them.

Food today will be the corn, coconut and lime soup that I made yesterday to use up the coconut milk and we'll have the potato cakes I made (leftover teriyaki meatballs, dill, bendy carrots and an onion pulsed in food processor till chopped small then mixed into mashed potatoes - layer of potato mix, cream 'cheese' layer then another of potato mix and baked in the oven) along with the remaining salad leaves and either the beetroot relish I made the other week or the carrot relish I made yesterday (bendy carrots finely julienned then placed into a saucepan with cider vinegar, water, sugar, mixed spice and star anise - cook until carrots very soft and liquid very reduced and sticky) thankfully, no cooking involved today at all! I do love to cook but I'm definitely happy to have a day off after the past week!

Anyhoo, best I do something constructive - like get a cointreau sunrise have a fab day!!

[Deleted User]

Happy new year! Happy new decade!! _party_

Yesterday was spent planning - today will be spent doing!
I'll update later but came on just to wish everyone a peaceful and trauma free 2020!

[Deleted User]

Happy new year!!! :j:beer::j

So, yesterday I spent the day getting organised for work and home! I have updated diaries, written 'to do' lists and got all my plans for this year fine-tuned and ready to go.
Today, we have some jobs to finish off in the house and I am going to start the process of 'fabbing' later this afternoon. I am really looking forward to the year ahead - I know that I have the determination and skills to be able to achieve everything I want to and I'm not going to be sidetracked even though I may be knocked off course a few times on the journey!;)
I'm not going to start the full detox part of the plan until tomorrow - I believe that spending my last day of the holidays craving stuff is not the most positive start to the process so won't be doing that

I'm just looking forward to completing the tasks I have set for myself today and then spending some quality me time. It's going to be the theme for 2020! :T

I hope that 2020 is kind to you all!! :beer:

[Deleted User]

I cannot believe that it's been 2020 for 8 days already!! :eek:
I've had lots going on, I'm getting to the proper launch point now and I'm feeling good about it

House - we have a jobs list and we're chipping away at it ready to hit the final finish line at the end of Sunday. We've introduced the cleaning rota again so the house is almost sparkly, and we've made some headway on our garden 'to do' list:D The windows are finally done!!! :j I cannot begin to explain how happy I am to say goodbye to that 18 month saga!!! :T:T:T

Finances- I still have to get to a comfortable level with the debt (regardless of it being 0% - most of it for life ) although I know it's nothing major in the grand scheme of things, but it makes me jittery! 🙈 Once I have paid off the current cc debt I will feel better and then can concentrate on saving again for the holidays etc.

Work - excellent! I'm really cracking on with things and feeling very organised and in control- still bits outstanding but they're on my radar so it's okay

Self - yep - no progress however, I'm planning on rectifying that tomorrow

Frugal living - part of my cleaning rota includes cleaning out the fridge weekly - normally this is a Saturday 'prior to going shopping' task anyway to use up and re-stock. However, with the holiday period, things are out of sync and I did it today! this led to the discovery of - 2 courgettes, 3 onions, 1 bulb garlic, quarter of a butternut squash, 1 yellow pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 bag new potatoes, 1/4 red cabbage and 6 dates.
I saut!ed in oil the 1.5 chopped courgettes, 1 chopped onion, chopped yellow and green peppers, 3 cloves garlic and chopped squash, added mixed herbs and a splash of red wine and cooked till veg done. I placed in about a third of this in a dish, I sliced 2 of the larger new potatoes very thinly, spread on top of the veg, drizzled with olive oil and added stock. Cooked for around 20 mins in the oven. Vegetable hotpot.
I put another 1/3rd of the veg in a pan, added stock, brought to the boil then simmered for 10 mins and blitzed. Veg soup.
I blitzed the final 1/3rd of the veg with a tin of tomatoes, added some soy sauce, Worcester sauce, tomato ketchup, gravy granules and quorn mince and made a 'bolognese' for my grandbaby (dh will slow eat this ) Veg bolognese.
I finely diced the red cabbage, remaining courgette, 1 onion and dates and cooked them down with cider vinegar, sugar and red wine. Red cabbage relish.
The remaining new potatoes I drizzled in oil and sprinkled with maldon sea salt then baked in the oven (at the same time as the hotpot to save fuel costs ). Had a couple at lunchtime with vegan butter :smileyhea
The plan is to have the soup with bread and the baked new potates with the remaining vegan cheeses I have from solstice along with the red cabbage relish for the main course tonight. Tomorrow we'll have the the remaining soup and the hotpot with the remaining red cabbage.

I've organised the fridge into things that need using up - opened jars of chutneys, jams, olives, pickles etc and will make sure that at least one of them is used a week I can make curries that include chutneys in the making as well as serving; I have a prossecco, chilli and strawberry chutney that is like magma but will go well in a cannellini bean chilli with some of the white chocolate I still have left
I have plenty of ideas for things so I should be able to clear all the excess condiments within the next 3 months :rotfl: Doing the fridge clearing and food re-purposing saves loads of cash, means there is no waste and tests my inventiveness I really enjoy it!
Basically, I'm in a good place - I am working through my plans and sticking to what I want to achieve more or less! It's a nice feeling getting back in control

I need to update my signature but am having trouble with my netbook - it's a nightmare on my phone so it will have to wait - I've done a bit more on the repayment front so need to sort it soon Hope everyone else is getting on okay!

[Deleted User]

Well that didn't go to plan!!! :wall:
Vacuum broke and replacement part took several days to arrive - result, no jobs done and the housework rota severely curtailed!!:doh: Never mind though, we are planning on starting this weekend and seeing how far we get - I've resurrected the 'a frog a week deserves a special treat' thread on the OS board to keep me focused on the tasks at hand!:whistle:

Thankfully, other areas have been more productive - I have had a really good week at work and achieved lots more than I expected, I've really been good with groceries and haven't really bought anything for a while now and despite the vacuuming traumas, the house has been kept pretty clean considering we are a household of four adults plus my grandbaby several times a week and I have white carpets!!!!:eek:

Finances - well, they could be better - despite not being stupid on lots of stuff, we are still spending unnecessarily on items that we shouldn't - I'm putting it down to the adjustment period of not having a mortgage and we'll reel it in now! Thankfully, I am getting closer to getting rid of the cc which will make me feel a lot better and back in control.

So, this weekend is about sorting the jobs list, getting the house back to the cleanliness level I want and getting ready for next week as I have a lot of travelling and stays away from home to do.

Self - well, I've bought a few new additions to my wardrobe! Once I have myself sorted out, I want to stop looking like a bag-lady and these additions are perfect - I love the style and the colours so I'm looking forward to getting the rest of me looking good enough to wear them! :rotfl:

Anyhoo - I'm off to get some more stuff done, have a fab weekend!!

beanielou

White carpets :eek:

[Deleted User]

I know beanie!!! :rotfl: I love them though so I don't care!

The inside house stuff is done now so all is good there; the house is still sparkly most of the time and work is going well. I've got some stuff going on which makes all of this insignificant but it gives me something else to focus on.

Financially, things have changed a little as I have decided to pay for some stuff for my dd - it means a large increase in the amount of money I need this year to achieve my original goals. They're unlikely to be viable now - I'm not bothered though, I want to do what's right for my family and an additional few months on my plans really isn't something to concern me.

I'm away a lot over the next few weeks so I'm unlikely to achieve much for a while - as long as I try to be good financially, I will be happy to put everything else on hold.

savingholmes

beanielou wrote: »

White carpets :eek:

Wow!

Enjoy your time with your grandkids