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Giving every £ a job
Comments
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I miss having a decent leisure centre - we had a good one local to where we used to live years ago, and used it a lot, then moved and the original one where we are now was OK, but a bit tired and run down. Of course when it was refurbed they promptly sold it all out to a private operator and now it's stupidly expensive - so we never use it. I do use the pool at the leisure centre for the next town east occasionally, but it's 7 miles each way so not all that often.🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her1 -
Hello @[Deleted User] - thanks for popping in. How are you? We've missed you.
re leisure centres - I wasn't expecting too much from ours but it's had plenty of money invested in it (been completely re-built actually) and the staff are all very friendly and helpful. It's run by Better who are a not for profit organisation and I was pleased to see a list of free activities for children this week. Our friend who lives in a London borough and is state pension age gets his swims for free at his local pool which is also run by Better.
This particular friend visited us for the day yesterday and I was chuffed with our fairly frugal but very tasty food offering..... home made chocolate sponge with a pot of freshly ground coffee when he arrived, our Lidl free loaf with a selection of cheese, ham (from olio), tomatoes and pickles for lunch and a home made Thai red curry served with Lidl's bami goreng which is super quick and tasty. Strawberries and free from Lidl ice cream for pud. This friend is very wealthy but very,very mean (he is way beyond frugal/thrifty) and so we like to challenge ourselves to provide good food but in as economical way as we can. We could have saved by having plain rice instead of the bami goreng but that was my choice and very enjoyable.
It's a working day today - counting down until full retirement now.
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Sounds like you've got the lifestyle portion of retirement cracked. Spending money judiciously and lots of time for fun, relaxation and at times exploring.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £171.8K Equity 36.37%
2) £2.6K Net savings after CCs 10/10/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £27.9K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.25K) = 34/£127.5K target 26.6% 10/10/25
(If took bigger lump sum = 60.35K or 47.6%)
4) FI Age 60 income target £17.1/30K 57% (if mortgage and debts repaid - need more otherwise) (If bigger lump sum £15.8/30K 52.67%)
5) SIPP £5K updated 10/10/251 -
Time for a fanfare and a celebratory pat in the back as we have just got home from the car boot sale. We sold quite a bit of our junk/treasure - not for large amounts of money but a lot of our motivation was to clear stuff rather than make lots of money. Even better is that we didn't buy anything else, took our flasks of tea and coffee and had a bacon sandwich when we got home.
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Well done on the car boot sale. I'm very impressed that you didn't buy anything while you were there 😄2
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Late incomer to your diary, hope you don't mind me joining in. Well done on the boot sale, I got involved with my local car boot sale (without a car!) recently as needed to make some cash and get rid of items, and for me personally, I was really nervous having not done it before but it was a lovely experience so did it a few times more. Glad you had a good experience too. Have you allocated your earnings to a specific pot/bill?https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase
Books read 2025: 58
Hey! Use my code GW7II3 on Eureka Surveys and unlock a short 80p survey just for signing up! https://eurekasurveys.page.link/do9nSyy8u4nikx6r62 -
Well done on letting things go and being disciplined about not bringing new things back.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £171.8K Equity 36.37%
2) £2.6K Net savings after CCs 10/10/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £27.9K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.25K) = 34/£127.5K target 26.6% 10/10/25
(If took bigger lump sum = 60.35K or 47.6%)
4) FI Age 60 income target £17.1/30K 57% (if mortgage and debts repaid - need more otherwise) (If bigger lump sum £15.8/30K 52.67%)
5) SIPP £5K updated 10/10/251 -
Great work on the car boot sale - well done!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her2 -
Well done on the car boot sale, brilliant!I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)2
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Great work BC!2
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