Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

Bargainhunter30

I remember those days NG. Some of my holidays were the same price as a meal out now. £81 all inclusive in Magaluf one year, I did get a discount for working for the travel agent though!

So hard when people don't want to accept help, but you have to put boundaries in place otherwise, you will end up taking on the roles.

greent

I think our Florida holiday in 2023 (staying in a house, not hotels) was about 25k... not including food and spends…!

newgirly

Well there’s a contrast £81 and £25K 🤣 ouch Greent, but there are a lot of you and I bet it made some amazing memories 🥰

Its been a very hectic week with dh away, best friend has been babysitting me so we out out for a couple, of coffees and dinner one night which is a rarity! A lovely mexican restaurant near us that opened a couple of years ago, lovely food and they now take a tastecard midweek so it was bogof.

On Thursday we finally made a decision about this weekend and are now in York, timing wise its a pain, but we haven’t been since October which is a way longer than usual gap and its too far for a normal weekend really. As dh arrived home from working away at 6pm we drove up then, well I did all the way 😩 just under four hours as we borrowed dads car thank goodness so no charging. So he’s brought all his uniform and case with him to wash as he's got to go back for another week 😒 no mention of extra pay for working away from home for two weeks, its not really what he expected I think. If occasional and not too long its not too bad but not what either of us want really, I want him part time not working away ideally!

Right time to get up, early morning is the best time by far to wander into york and sit in Ner0s having a coffee watching the world go by (with a 25% meerkat code of course 🤣) I was planning a drive up to whitby for some brack and lemon buns from Bothams but luckily noticed its Goth weekend so will be avoiding that sadly as the traffic and parking will be crazy, one year I think it hit 250K visitors 😱

South_coast

Could you get the train to Whitby? It won't make the town any quieter though!

Have a great weekend x

newgirly

Oops sorry sc, I’m late answering this! We didn’t go and stayed in a very busy york instead. Saturday we had a light lunch in weathersp00ns and then ate in the flat in the evening and sunday we had the worlds best roast dinner in the pub 😬 Its was raining most of the day Sunday but we did walk the wall first thing when the gates opened, its a great time to do it as it was deserted 😆 Lunch was free as drumroll…..I won £50 on the premium bonds 🥳 first time since I was a child! There won’t be any bonds by next month as its the holiday money being kept in there, I will be sad to withdraw it after all this excitement.

We also made a large sort of planned but not really planned purchase of a new engagement ring 😱 I’ve not had one for many years now and I do look every time we go to york as there are so many interesting antique shops (my original one was very old). This time though dh said its time as its our 30th anniversary in a few months, its a lab grown diamond in a square shape which is very similar to my lost ring. So its being altered and sent in a couple of weeks, I shall put it away until our anniversary. So the unplanned part was the paying for it bit 🤣 its now lumped together with the cc debt and has added another month on 😳 I did panic a bit after the purchase as its quite unnecessary and a lot more than the £100 my first one cost, but its probably now or never really.

Dh is working away again this week, he got an extra days pay as a bonus for working away, so I will pop that in the holiday and sick pay pot. I’ve been thinking about our budget and what should be put where, its making my head spin 😩 current thoughts are first throw everything at the cc debt, hopefully clearing by August this year, followed by allocating monthly what we need to cover the balances and spending money the trips we have booked for the next two years - so 27 months of payments towards that. Then everything else that is left going to build a six month emergency fund for bills etc. I’m thinking along the lines of £12,500 k which will take a fair while to build up. If we do reach that point its then pension pot time, I don’t really have a pension so doubt I’m going to get too far with that at my age now, but something is better than nothing they say 😊

Grocery and bits and bobs budget is still £500 pm, I was charged interest as I messed up with the cc payments so I’ve now gone old school and am back to transferring the grocery money to a separate account. So I now feel £500 down as I needed to have real money and not borrow a month ahead. £64.17 has already been spent this month, time to rein it in now and get back to more careful ways. There are a few home cooked meals in the freezer for dh when he gets home at the weekend so not much needed this week.

South_coast

Ooh, happy engagement 🥰!

beanielou

Happy 30th anniversary to be.

newgirly

Thank you both, I think the happy engagement might me a bit belated now 😆

Last night I saw Misery at the cinema with ds2 and dil along with ds2’s best friend and her boyfriend who I’ve not seen for years, they have dated since school, so sweet! So I was a fifth wheel instead of my usual third wheel for the evening 🤣 Off out later for a coffee and catch up with best friend, plus some washing to get on and hang out while its dry. I also want to have a look for a one night cheap hotel break if I can find one for a Saturday, I have a £30 tesc0 hotel voucher to use, it might take some time to find somewhere not too far and under the £70-80 mark ideally, as well as being somewhere interesting we have not been before 🤔
I’m still carrying on with the monthly trip out or night away idea, its going really well and is pushing me to not just fester at home and make no plans. Our budget for all this is a fairly large £200 a month now, but that also includes if we wanted to say, get a takeaway if the kids came over or buy them breakfast out or a beer etc. More often though we don’t tend to do that much and might instead spend it on us 😬 Its probably the thing that has made most difference to our day to day lives if I’m honest, it feels like we have more choices and as its allocated specifically for that , so its guilt free but I appreciate we are lucky to now be in this position.

South_coast

Not lucky - you have toiled for years to be able to do exactly this!!!

And I'm standing by the happy engagement comment, DH still thinks it's important for you to have a ring, which is very sweet and lovely 🥰

newgirly

Ahh thanks Sc ❤️