Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

newgirly

Thank you all for the kind wishes, I feel a bit of a drama queen 😆 well doctor said my lungs are fine and I’ve probably damaged my ribs or muscles, so it should be ok in a week or two, but if it gets as bad as Sunday night again to go starght to A&E which I’m not sure makes sense 🤷‍♀️anyway last night was nowhere near as bad. Blood check at hospital today and best friend is kindly driving me as I’m not really up to it still. Dh got a bit of a moan from me last night and has now done two loads of washing and put all the dry stuff away.

So my exciting news today is , I’ve opened a new savings account 😁 The cc is almost gone and would have been had I not booked a couple of excursions for next years holiday earlier than I had planned, but that will be gone by end October. So I’ve transferred £1000 into it as a first payment! For the first time in our lives we will hopefully have savings that are not just “savings pots” towards the dentist or a holiday or whatever, but actual longer term savings. Really it’s going to be a cushion for when dh retires to fall back on (unless we move or book a long cruise 🤣) chat gpt tells me that our financial weakness is savings which makes sense really.

So my plan is to save hard for the next year or so while also setting aside money for the holidays we already have booked, the year after we may carry on like that or possibly save more and holiday less (maybe!😂) we have had a busy year but I’m finding there’s just more and more I would like to see and I’m aware that even if health is good energy levels are different now. There’s lots more we need to see up North still, plus I’d love to go back to Scotland, we went for a couple of days in a caravan to visit a great Aunt when dd was just two in Dumbarton and drove around Loch Lomond which was just amazing, so perhaps similar to that but more of a road trip further.
The difference now of course is that dh doesn’t get paid when he’s off, so I have an inbuilt savings pot that takes £200pm plus every extra week's wage when it’s a five week month and so far it’s about what we need plus I’m trying to build up some extra days for if he’s sick. He also has an enforced two weeks off at Xmas, so it feels bad not to make use of at least some of that time off, often we go to York after Xmas but last year we didn’t, perhaps this year we will.

Anyway, enough holiday waffle, I think it’s time for an end of year challenge 🙂 I always used to do an Oct- Dec live off £1000 challenge. Strictly speaking we don’t need to do that anymore while dh is still working and the mortgage (and almost debts) are gone. So I’m thinking of trimming the everything budget down by £100 pm, making the total £1200 until Jan, if we can do this £300 would pay for a nice trip to York while dh is off over Xmas, perhaps even a nice meal out up there.
I’m also thinking of doing a non financially related challenge, so I thought perhaps a 15 min outside walk per day? Sounds like little time I know and I am assuming that mostly I’ll go for longer but I’ve all but stopped going for walks. Earlier this year when I was very stressed I was going for very long walks in all weathers but I just stopped altogether. So that’s the plan, along with menu planning for the week and actually cooking what I have planned 🙂

South_coast

Actually cooking what you have planned is the hardest bit, I find 🤦‍♀️! Glad the Doctor was able to give you some reassurance, and I look forward to hearing about your savings growing 😀😀😀!

newgirly

Indeed SC 😁

Still not well, but way better than I was now, I went out yesterday for coffee with best friend and also did my (very slow and short) first walk of my walk outside everyday plan. I had a food delivery and bought a few different bits this time, frozen cherries and tinned apples/ pears as I never have anything sweet at home and want to start making some nice treats. I did also buy a milk frother, after doing lots of research I decided to watch a pro c00k one to see if it went down in price , but then I spotted one in b@m for £20! So I bought it, tried it and it’s good 👍 I’ve given away all my coffee pods to DIL and now make my own cappucinnos 😬 Like the v3lvetiser it also heats milk while melting chocolate in which I’ve not tried yet.

Today I’m going to take it fairly easy, got a flu and possibly Covid jab later on to look forward to 🤣 I’ve also booked a private cardio appointment for next week as I’m having 18 monthly check ups, except the private Bart’s hospital I went to has closed down even though it was only a few months newly opened when I had my op in 2024, so I need to move. Everywhere now says you can’t book an echo without seeing a cardiologist first (usually I book the echo and follow up appointment for an hour or so later where they discuss the results) now it’s cardio appointment, echo another day, follow up appointment to discuss another day. So three visits instead of one and more cost 😩 I’ve been saving £50 a month for this but I doubt it will cover it! NHS won’t want to check up, only if there’s new symptoms.

Anyway time to get on, I think I might do that walk early today 🙂

newgirly

So far so good with the walking everyday, it’s been the bare minimum but I’m still not well so won’t be going crazy. Dh is off to his hobby work this morning (and tomorrow morning) as he’s not been for weeks, I’m meeting best friend and lovely school friend a for coffee in town today. I might pop to ald! as dh needs some coffee for work, plus after enjoying some delicious frozen cherries last night I found that they do them too and cheaper. Got to be worth a try!
If I can summon the energy I shall also start going though our clothes for our Arctic cruise in November, I don’t want to buy anything and actually decided to do a no new clothes until next year challenge from the 1st October too. Everything old should fit as I am the same weight - I looked it up on MFP 🤣 the only difference is we are going on a posher cruise line where there’s multiple gala evenings, I shall still wear old though and I do have a vinted dress arriving any day that I ordered for £7 last week. This is when being a hoarder of old clothes helps I guess 😁

Dinner tonight is going to be veggie lasagne I think, I’ve not made it for ages, plus I need a nice recipe that includes cherries and dark chocolate I think, something indulgent 😋

daisy_1571

1 you don't have to go to all the gala nights 2 you can wear the same thing and it will mean packing lighter too ?

South_coast

Black forest gateau?

newgirly

I will look that up SC , I’ve eaten it but no idea how to make it 😋

Hi Daisy, the gala nights are themed on this line so different colours, very la-di-da 🤣, usually I do repeat outfits. I do have stuff to take so will take it and see what we feel like doing on then day, we usually do the formal nights though mostly, plus I think my mum will want to. Packing light is something I usually do and will try to attempt this time, but experience says when it’s so cold it’s pretty hard. I’ll be carrying my minus 30 coat and wearing my snow boots as that’s whole case alone 😆

Rough night with a fever again, I’m putting it down to my flu and Covid jabs Friday. Dh spent all afternoon and half the night at hospital with his mum and dd as dad had fallen. They discharged him without any results back, although they had to call security as he was kicking off yelling etc. The whole situation is joke, he is the most stubborn and selfish man, illness or not. Still refusing any carers, dhs younger brother looks after them Monday- Friday and stays other side of London all weekend, which is when things tend to go wrong so he needs to come back…

Today’s dinner is shop bought cheese and leek pie, I’m so looking forward to this 😁 I don’t buy things like this usually and eat little and (very!) often, but now it’s three meals a day without snacks and an proper enjoyable dinner. Yesterday I made 6 foil tray veggie lasagnes for myself, it was going to be a big one but dh went to hospital so I portioned it all up for the freezer. Now I think I’ll pop out for my daily walk before having a look at what clothes I’ve got for the cruise, I ran out of energy yesterday and ended up watching the whole first series of “ghosts” on the bbc , recommended by ds2 as there’s a film out soon of it, I am quite enjoying it 😊

themadvix

I love Ghosts 😁

daisy_1571

The American version is very good too. Rather than straight word for word re-do with different actors, its set as the ghosts who would be in America. The Australian version has clever bits but not quite as engaging i thought

newgirly

I didn’t know there were other versions, perhaps I should give the American one a go. I have to say I’ve felt so rough lately I’ve watched a lot and I’m already nearly done with series three, I only started at the weekend 😆 Tonight I’m at the cinema with friends to see verity, not driving as lately I can’t stay awake past 9pm, I may well fall asleep during the film.

Hospital this morning and a quick trip to Ald! after for a couple of bits that ended up being a trolley over £40, useful things though like passatta, sauces etc. I wish our local branch was easier to use, I’d honestly rather pay more than fight my way trying to park in their tiny car park in our huge car (and pay!) plus it’s always busy and quite small. Perhaps I should start doing a monthly big shop instead for stuff that lasts a bit longer and take dh 🤷‍♀️I don’t really keep big amounts of stuff now it’s just us, a few of each item is enough.