Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

KajiKita

Merlin's_Beard said:

I think food is definitely one of the things where I've felt inflation hit the worst, and it's become harder and harder to stay in budget for.

Congrats on the savings!

Thanks MB 😊
It helps to hear that and I must admit the OP was a nice way to cheer a somewhat mis day ….
Mr KK stuck his head around the door of the study whilst I was doing the noodling about and asked what our mortgage balance was - was pleased to hear that it is the number it is now and that we have knocked off 27 days of interest with our OPs this month 😊

KK

KajiKita

@MissRikkiC, yup the wholefoods / non UPFs based diet is hard going on a number of levels. It’s one reason why I have compromised on being wholly plant based and I eat eggs again, I just can’t seem to get enough reasonably healthy protein otherwise. I keep wanting a housekeeper … and then I remember how much it would cost!!! 😂😂😂😂

KK

MissRikkiC

Oh a housekeeper would be wonderful for me too! We considered a nanny instead of nursery for the children who could essentially support in the house keeping too but with working from home it likely wouldn’t work out. We compromised on a cleaner instead 🤣

SandyShores

That's an amazing mortgage balance Kajikita, heading down towards the mid-way point of 200s.  I've been lagging behind, and its only going to get worse as we are about to decide on a large item expenditure (luxury rather than need, but something we'll enjoy for many years to come).  But you are motivating me to keep a better eye on the day to day expenses again, I'm afraid I've let the purse strings loose recently.  MissRikki is so right it's difficult to be healthy and frugal without being in the kitchen a lot.  I'm hoping that my healthiness means I can work a lot longer to be able to keep going with those mortgage payments

MissRikkiC

I used to exercise and eat well so that I could look better, now it’s to have strong healthy bones and joints so I can live longer and feel good. There shouldn’t be a ‘cost’ whether financial or otherwise to be able to do that, yet there is in some way. 

KajiKita

SandyShores said:

That's an amazing mortgage balance Kajikita, heading down towards the mid-way point of 200s.  I've been lagging behind, and its only going to get worse as we are about to decide on a large item expenditure (luxury rather than need, but something we'll enjoy for many years to come).  But you are motivating me to keep a better eye on the day to day expenses again, I'm afraid I've let the purse strings loose recently.  MissRikki is so right it's difficult to be healthy and frugal without being in the kitchen a lot.  I'm hoping that my healthiness means I can work a lot longer to be able to keep going with those mortgage payments

Thanks Sandy 😊 To me / us it still feels huge! We won’t feel secure until it is less than £200K but we will keep battling on. Just crossing my fingers for the interest rate levels / mortgagee deals that will be around next spring / summer …..

My challenge this weekend will be to devise and make my own vegan burger mix that isn’t dry, has plenty of protein and has a similar fat content to meat burgers for the mouth feel, WITHOUT any UPF ingredients at all. There is a vegan food market in the local town this Saturday that I hope might also give me some further inspiration. 

KK

MissRikkiC

Oh that’s such a good challenge. And I haven’t had burgers for ages! Thanks for deciding on my dinner tonight as @foxgloves did yesterday 😝

Merlin's_Beard

KajiKita said:

SandyShores said:

That's an amazing mortgage balance Kajikita, heading down towards the mid-way point of 200s.  I've been lagging behind, and its only going to get worse as we are about to decide on a large item expenditure (luxury rather than need, but something we'll enjoy for many years to come).  But you are motivating me to keep a better eye on the day to day expenses again, I'm afraid I've let the purse strings loose recently.  MissRikki is so right it's difficult to be healthy and frugal without being in the kitchen a lot.  I'm hoping that my healthiness means I can work a lot longer to be able to keep going with those mortgage payments

Thanks Sandy 😊 To me / us it still feels huge! We won’t feel secure until it is less than £200K but we will keep battling on. Just crossing my fingers for the interest rate levels / mortgagee deals that will be around next spring / summer …..

My challenge this weekend will be to devise and make my own vegan burger mix that isn’t dry, has plenty of protein and has a similar fat content to meat burgers for the mouth feel, WITHOUT any UPF ingredients at all. There is a vegan food market in the local town this Saturday that I hope might also give me some further inspiration. 

KK

If you find anything do share, every vegan/bean/falafal burger I've ever tried to make has ended up as vegan/bean/falafal mince...!

KajiKita

Merlin's_Beard said:

If you find anything do share, every vegan/bean/falafal burger I've ever tried to make has ended up as vegan/bean/falafal mince...!

Of course. Tbh, if I do manage it, I think I will take out a full page spread in The T1mes! 😂

Treated myself and washed my hair tonight with the super-deluxe (expensive!!) seaweed shampoo and conditioner which is supposed to calm the grey frizzies that I ordered on Sunday. It’s remarkably nasal clearing (lots of mint and possibly eucalyptus?) but that doesn’t linger too much after rinsing thankfully and my hair does feel different. It will be interesting to see how it behaves after a few more washes 😊

KK

KajiKita

Slept well! 😊

Forecast is dry here today, so washing and gardening are planned and indoor chores can wait until tomorrow. I need to get some flea stuff from the vet for the cat (she’s itchy) and then I want to get some cash and go to a vegan food fair in Ross this morning - yaay for an interesting outing 👍😊

My thinking on the ‘burger’ atm is:
- finely chopped, fried mushroom (thank you food processor!)
- precooked in veggie stock, pearl barley (40 minute cook I think, so start that off whilst prepping the rest)
- small quantity of precooked lentils or small beans, chopped finely (drain early on, chop by hand)
- 1 small, finely chopped, not precooked onion (food processor again)
(gonna need a big bowl for this lot!)
- finely chopped fresh sage (hello garden and produce tracker! 😊)
- finely chopped fresh parsley (sadly not from the garden 🙄😉)
- bound together with flax seed in water. (Start that first)
- salt, black pepper

Not sure if it will need breadcrumbs to protect it during frying. I have ordered some and I will try making both ways and see how it goes. 

Wish me luck! 

KK