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Giving every £ a job
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@Sun_Addict - I hadn't thought of the similarities between MrSA and my dad but you are right they do seem to get stuck in a loop with their needs/demands/wants. My dad had a stroke 8 years ago so I suppose that is another brain injury type condition like MrSA. I'm thankful though that my dad isn't demanding necklaces!@JoeDenise - butterscotch is Mr BC's favourite. mine used to be banana flavour but I haven't seen that for ages. All the flavours are so synthetic and bear no relation to a strawberry or a banana but its still a guilty pleasure.@savingholmes - thanks for the reassurance about messing up the complex process of creating delice d'anjouwe started the month with a trip to LIdl to make the most of the 10% off voucher. a big shop but there was very little straying from the list despite the temptations of Spanish week. I'm going to ensure that I keep my spends up to date on the grocery challenge this month. any underspend can go into the Christmas pot.a savings product matured today, and I have topped up my 2023/24 ISA with the proceeds. I'm still not used to having savings but it is a nice feeling and I know that I'm fortunate to be in this position.3
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Well done on the savings. I'm loving having savings and earning interest. It will be hard to part with the money when I need to.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £167.4K Equity 38% 3/4/26
2) £3K Net savings after CCs March 26 (but owed £1.1K) so £4.1K
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £36.2K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.3K) = 42.1£127.5K target 33% 27/2/26 (If took bigger lump sum = 64K or 50.1%)
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 £5.2K updated 16/1/260 -
Delice d'Anjou made me chuckle! Another here who used to love butterscotch flavour but had it for the first time in yonks a few years back and just found it unbearably sweet now!🎉 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
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her1 -
well done on the savings and the non-straying from the list! Love a bit of angel delight - butterscotch girl here1
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I don't think I could fancy eating Angel Delight these days - it looks too much like 'Lick-e-Lix'!
F2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!1 -
@foxgloves - having just served the cat his dried food with a swirl of the Lidl version of lick e lix I'm probably giving up on butterscotch angel delight for humans. You've probably done me a favour!
such a busy week - cue the "I don't know how I had time to go to work" cliche.We helped out with school holiday childcare for a couple of grandchildren - great fun to spend time with them and just enjoy seeing the world from a different perspective and at a different pace.
we are still tweaking my former office space which we now call HQ. Actually more than a tweak as we've had a wander round IKEA and found some inspiration. Just needing to measure up and see if our plan actually fits. I think that because I spent so much time cooped up in the office when I was working that I feel an aversion to voluntarily going in there.
bank accounts need a proper check tomorrow - at first glance they seem fine but money in and money out is a bit more complicated than it used to be and I'm being lulled into a false sense of security by healthy looking balances. Will report back on the reality!3 -
Glad you've been busy enough to justify the cliche! What will you do with HQ? A revamped study in the same spirit, or a walk-in clothes storage space, or a peaceful little duvan space for a guest or if one of you can't sleep, or an opulent library in which one can put on their velvet smoking jacket and brood amongst the tomes whilst gazing upon nightfall (can you tell which dream room I spend most time hankering after)https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'self-blame can be as egotistical as self-praise... any work worth doing is greater than we are... we must not overrate our importance to it, either for good or ill' Margaret Kennedy Lucy Carmichael1 -
Love your imagination!!PennysIntoPounds said:Glad you've been busy enough to justify the cliche! What will you do with HQ? A revamped study in the same spirit, or a walk-in clothes storage space, or a peaceful little duvan space for a guest or if one of you can't sleep, or an opulent library in which one can put on their velvet smoking jacket and brood amongst the tomes whilst gazing upon nightfall (can you tell which dream room I spend most time hankering after)
@Blackcats good luck with revamping the room and balancing the budget. I'm sure you'll get there.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £167.4K Equity 38% 3/4/26
2) £3K Net savings after CCs March 26 (but owed £1.1K) so £4.1K
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £36.2K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.3K) = 42.1£127.5K target 33% 27/2/26 (If took bigger lump sum = 64K or 50.1%)
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 £5.2K updated 16/1/262 -
@PennysIntoPounds - you will be impressed to hear that at the start of lockdown we made a petite bibliotheque in our hall. We put shelves under the big bay window and I organised our books just like I loved doing as a child. I used to make library cards for my toys and they could borrow my books with a date stamped slip of paper. Obviously I mean I made the library cards as a child and not during lockdown. 😀 We also have a little table and chairs in the hall where we can play cards/board games. We don't have smoking jackets though which is probably an omission. Perhaps if lockdown had gone on much longer we would have adopted smoking jackets, cigarettes in long holders with a cocktail.Thank you @savingholmes - I'm trying to organise paperwork so that I know how to design storage and work space. The shredder broke today so I'm on pause until the replacement arrives.
money related bits and pieces achieved today
used my coop £3, £1 and 50p vouchers to buy bananas, tomatoes and a few other things which should mean that we don't need to go shopping until Friday
set up a first direct regular saver. Although we are running on a temporarily reduced income until end of May I've decided to recycle savings to start the saver now so that it will mature in May next year
topped up the 1p a day Christmas savings pots - I'm doing one pot for us and one pot to divvy up among the children for a pre-Christmas treat. Some of them have a cinema trip, others a Christmas Eve takeaway etc. little traditions that our children are making with their children.4 -
Love your little library idea. And also the pre-Xmas savings pot.
Well done on recycling the savings to a better paying interest account. It all helps.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £167.4K Equity 38% 3/4/26
2) £3K Net savings after CCs March 26 (but owed £1.1K) so £4.1K
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £36.2K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.3K) = 42.1£127.5K target 33% 27/2/26 (If took bigger lump sum = 64K or 50.1%)
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 £5.2K updated 16/1/261
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