Getting FIREd up 😀

Baileys_Babe

Would cocoa be an acceptable alternative to hot chocolate? We make it with cocoa powder, sugar, milk.

South_coast

Still got sugar in it though, and that's what I'm trying to avoid. "No UPF" was just a snappier catch-all sentence

South_coast

edinburgher said:

I know the wee one likes yoghurt but this is ridiculous 🤣

#11 in the whole of Scotland - now that is impressive, Ed! Think what you could achieve with 3 kids 🤣!

SuperSecretSquirrel

Don't know if I should be admitting this out loud, but I've managed to trick myself into seeing an exotic/tropical fruit juice as an end of week "treat"... Still sugary, but no "added" sugar.

If it's more relaxation than a drink you're after, how do you feel about luxuriating in a bath for a while on a friday night?

Pipe and slippers club 2025 - rock'n'roll til I die 😂 

South_coast

Ah well, that's the part-time hours/general contentment with life payoff - less of a reward/treat needed after slogging it through the week 🤣! 

And I feel like one of those people who puts an SOA on DFW as they are stressing that they have more going out than they have coming in, yet outright rejects every suggestion that people make, but - I don't have a bath to luxuriate in any more 🤣!

The muesli was good, it just probably would have benefitted from a splash more milk to wet the last of the oats. But that's not to say I won't be swapping it for a splash of alcohol once 1 February rolls around....

QueenJess

When I was on holiday in Scotland quite a few years ago now, I asked for porridge for breakfast in a hotel and it came made with cream and a splash of whiskey! Bit too rich for me first thing in the morning .

South_coast

Well that's two things I would never have put together! BF and I did stay in a hotel a few years ago where they gave you prosecco with breakfast, but not quite in the same league 🤣!

South_coast

I have been spreadsheeting....😬

If I absolutely throw the kitchen sink at it, I miiiiiigghht juuuuussst be debt-free/debt-neutral (or very close) by the end of the year, plus still be able to fill the LISA and keep my EF untouched. I'll then spend the whole of 2026 catching up with where I was meant to be (which is irksome, but there is only so much money to go around!) It means nothing going into the S&S (which - I have to admit - does pain me, but the pensions and LISA will all still be growing for The Future in the background - plus by clearing the decks sooner, I will be able to start making bigger payments to it sooner), but it still feels better mentally than the mathematically-more-sensible "Keep paying the minimum payments, balance transfer for the longest time possible, use the rest of the money for savings/investments, ad infinitum...." plan. The thought of having to keep track of multiple payments out every month for YEARS, plus things starting to look a bit tired/tatty (or even worse, break) before I've even paid for them is DEPRESSING and I think I would much rather just rip off the plaster than suffer death by a thousand cuts. BF asked me a few weeks ago when I thought I would have cleared the cards, and not having any clue of an idea due to being in the lap of the balance transfer Gods made me a bit twitchy. At least this way I will know. And we all love a crazy challenge on MFW, right? 😀

astrocytic_kitten

Oh that’s an exciting thought! When you say spending 2026 catching up on where you’re meant to be, is that with pots/s&s isa etc? Given the general uncertainty of the state of the world, and that you have a fully funded EF,
I’d be very tempted to do the same thing. 

South_coast

Thank you! Yes, catching up on all the things I won't (but should be) putting money towards this year while I'm snowballing everything towards the cards 👍