Our Mortgage Free Journey

Ami-Rose

Actually finished the food audit, I'm amazed. 😂 We had enough ingredients to make a week's worth of dinners with very little supplementing, so I've made a meal plan for the week. Made a list of everything we'd need for lunches etc too and hoping to not go for at least the rest of this week. Shop came to £39.71. Of course I didn't realise we were so low on frozen peas, so we'll just have to make do without once they're gone. Ongoing thinking I'll do one big shop a week online and one in-person top up for milk and veg. The milk is for Little so don't want to faff with freezing it.

Got a refund for the mini muffins (£2) when I complained that they weren't free from and in the free from section. The woman was horrified and so apologetic. Will check they've been moved next time I'm in too.

Spoke to solicitor and we're literally waiting for one certificate to arrive. The office that sends them out has a 6-8 week delay, but solicitor thinks we're coming towards the end of that window now. Then it's just sign everything and agree a date. Still hoping for first week in December.

And last but definitely not least, Little walked for the first time today! She's been doing odd steps for weeks now, but today we turned around and she was walking across the room towards us. 🥳 Even caught some steps on camera. ❤️ So proud of her, she was showing off for ages after that, so cute.

ETA: forgot my TT of 91p. Adding up fast!

caeler

I do food audits!! I like the challenge of having the odd week where I can create meals from what I’ve got left with minimal spend. I find it is a great way to save money and avoid wasting food. 

Glad to hear the house purchase is progressing! 

Grogged

Things seem to be moving on the house front (and inside by the sounds of it! First moments are lovely).
I think we get a free week from our freezer every other month, so well worth a good food audit.

caeler

Grogged said:

Things seem to be moving on the house front (and inside by the sounds of it! First moments are lovely).
I think we get a free week from our freezer every other month, so well worth a good food audit.

I do freezer week!

Ami-Rose

Already spotted a few things that we need, I am really out of practice at this stocking up business! Nothing urgent though so hoping to drag it out.

Little decided that yesterday wouldn't just be first steps, but also the day she'd learn to open all of the cupboards. 🤦🏼‍♀️ We had things like blender, alcohol and medicine low down because cupboard sizes/shelving are weird in this flat and she couldn't open doors anyway, so I spent the morning packing what I could and rearranging the rest to live higher up. She couldn't have just waited a month? 😂 At least that's one more box packed and I threw out some out of date meds too.

Nothing much MSE going on today. Might make the first NSD of the week though, so there's that!

Ami-Rose

It wasn't a NSD in the end, didn't realise Prime payment was going out. Also ordered a Kiwi Co box for Little because we had a discount code from Instagram, but that came from her pot. Definitely did not have dinner from McDonald's again.

This week is absolutely kicking my a**. I didn't think we had anything defrosted and was kicking myself, then heading to bed I discovered I HAD defrosted some chicken and OH hadn't spotted it. The stress of house buying and long-term sleep deprivation is definitely starting to get to us.

Remembered to TT but don't remember the amount. Today should be an actual NSD. Have a hypnotherapy appointment later, but my very lovely mum is paying for those. Simultaneously think they're helping and not helping. Tbh I think they are, but it's being counteracted by an equal increase in life pressures. Today has already been full of lots of tantrums, tears and 'big feelings'. Little is struggling too. 😂 Roll on the weekend...

gemmm

Awh we all have those weeks so don't be too hard on yourself! Take care of yourself and next week will be better 😊 Any word on your completion date?

Ami-Rose

Thanks @gemmm! Feeling a bit better after a quieter afternoon and my Hypno session. We are waiting for one more certificate to come in (the regional one, whatever that means!) and then we start talking dates. I think it's unlikely to be November, but it's not impossible.

Another failed NSD as the electric ran out. Maybe tomorrow? Probably not though.. 😂

Ami-Rose

Ended up doing Tesco sooner than planned as we ran out of eggs and it's a staple in our house! Went through a phase of buying them so often we ended up with way too many, so I stopped and we ran out. 😂 Still continuing with using up our store cupboard stuff though so didn't have to buy too much.

Haven't made any more packing progress yet, but hoping to change that today. Starting to feel a bit stressed with the way nothing is happening right now and then it'll all happen really suddenly. I am not an all-at-once kind of person due to health stuff. It took me the full 9 months to set up Little's nursery and that was with help!

Currently have £145 left and 11 days until payday. Part of me thinks we'll have some left over to sweep into savings and part of me desperately wants to buy matching family Christmas pyjamas...

gemmm

Someone on the Grocery Challenge board mentioned to me about trying YNAB for budgeting and then someone else came along and suggested Financier.io which is free if you use it on one device or £12 a year if you use it across devices. Bit confusing at first but I used the YNAB training videos to figure out how to work it and now I'm budgeted for the rest of the month. One of their 'rules' is that every penny should have a job so you assign all of them but also that you budget for the nice things you want (like Christmas PJs🙊). Might not be for everyone but worth a try if you're budgeting 😊