We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!
Comments
-
IT *is* cold ... looking forward to the photos though, Vix2023: the year I get to buy a car4
-
It is cold! We’ve been back about half an hour from the allotment - have got loads done! And I’ve hung washing out, hoping it’ll brighten up and dry a bit - it includes quite a bit we want to wear tomorrow! Unfortunately I think the heater airer might come out again - which is ridiculous in mid-May.
So we got the frames for the fruit nets up, I weeded a lot of the beds (still some to go as you can see), I earthed up potatoes-ish, Mr MV spread wood chip as mulch and then he decided that I’ve got more room than I thought as my allotment is next to the main path and the edge of my shed probably isn’t in alignment with the edge of my plot. We’re both knackered now though!Sorry, photos removed!Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days
'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway7 -
themadvix said:...I probably won’t leave these up for too long as you can see quite a bit of background in the photos.
4 YEARS 10 MONTHS DEBT FREE!!! (24 OCT 2016)(With heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us & their indubitable generosity.)...and now I have a mortgage! (23 AUG 2021)New projection - 14 YEARS 10 MONTHS LEFT OF 20 YEARS (reduced by 15 mths)Psst...I may have started a diary!4 -
Thanks for that! You're doing great work!2023: the year I get to buy a car4
-
Ooh, excellent work there, well done!3
-
Those are awesome, well done! I might post a few of mine on my thread. I see you also have the rotted edging thing - my scaffold planks have rotted off in the front garden and some of the sleepers in the veg garden have had it here too. I'm thinking that if we don't move yet, I will have to bite that bullet. I need to re-membrane some path too. I just want bees and thistles sorted firstSave £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £4863.32 out of £6000 after May (81.05%)
OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £1286.68/£3000 or 42.89% of my annual spend so far
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My new diary is here4 -
Allotment looks great vix 🙂Mortgage Balance as of July 2025 £14,900.
Starting Mortgage Balance (June 2019) £72,000.
Aiming to be mortgage free by my 40th birthday, June 2026!4 -
Darn - missed the allotment pics! Sounds like you made good progress there over the weekend though.
We were commenting how chilly it was over the end of last week - washing we put out on Friday basically barely dried at all and had to be taken off the airer and stashed in the laundry basket in the boot of my car while the viewing happened on Saturday. Thankfully it did warm up enough to dry it yesterday, but today feels chillier again - I was glad of picking up my coat this morning.
Very exciting that you're forging ahead with the mortgage clearing now - and thank goodness for Eon finally agreeing to pay up even if they haven't exactly covered themselves with glory!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her4 -
Afternoon all,
Thanks for the very kind comments about the allotment - I just wish I had stuff to put in the ground! My squash seedlings have been munched overnight, despite a wooly covering around them. The next batch will go in today, with some more courgettes and cukes too 🙄 and will be molly-coddled in my indoor propagator (without heat) to ensure that no slugs can get to them!
Had a great day yesterday at the Women's FA Cup final, despite the fact that Utd lost and it seems to be the in thing to take teenagers (sometimes in large groups) to women's football matches, regardless of their interest in football. At one point I was seriously considering taking myself off to the stadium's sensory room! We had a drink and some lunch before the match, but then decided just to grab a couple of cheap sarnies from King's X Waitrose for tea (and a chocolate bar when we got back to our station), so not a ridiculously expensive day out.
This morning started quietly, workwise - I did a platform job and some surveys, clicks, comps etc. and then some housework. Realised I needed some compost before I could sow these replacement seeds so popped to W*ckes (we have a discounted gift voucher for there via Mr MV's work perks scheme). When I got back though, I checked my email to discover a juicy 220 euro platform job and an email from my main client asking if I wanted to help him with something. So I'm now doing the platform job and waiting to hear the details from main client. At some point I expect to hear from Cambridge boss/friend re next steps there too.
Lunch was the last of the Port Salut MIL brought us from France and some Olio rolls. I think dinner will be our orzo oven bake thing.
MS things:
* Clicks, comps and HW
* PA surveys - up to £28 again somehow!
* Platform job
* Use of 6% W*ckes discount
* Charged car after W*ckes visit using sunshine and battery (and then Mr MV said he didn't need it after all!)
* Washing on line (sunshine means no cost to wash either) and one just finished in the machine... it has of course now clouded over!
Gratitudes:
* Loved the sense of occasion yesterday - and William was there to present the cup and medals
* Juicy platform job is a nice change from what I normally work on and very interesting and climate-positive too!
* Frog is croaking away happily in the garden (somewhere behind the pond)
Have a good afternoon all!Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days
'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway6 -
Afternoon all (just),
I didn't sleep well last night (we need to get a blackout blind sorted), but despite this Mr MV had dragged me out of the house for a walk by 7am! It was lovely to enjoy the peace and quiet and we visited the nearby pond and wandered past the edge of the woods, so a very pleasant experience, if only I'd been more awake!
Have since been out on my bike to collect a couple of bits from Olioers, and I was going to cycle into town to exchange a soda stream canister, but my main client wanted a chat about this project he's sent through, so I returned home. Project sounds like a nightmare from his POV, but fortunately for me, my bit is fairly straightforward and I'm getting paid a slightly higher rate than normal too. So far, it's going OK. Have also asked Cambridge boss for an update as I didn't hear anything from her yesterday.
Having read an article on the BBC website about eating a Mediterranean diet to ward off dementia (runs in both our families), I have ordered a veg box for this week (the article suggests a *lot* of fruit and veg per day!). We're pretty good already in a lot of ways - lots of pulses/legumes, mostly a lot of veg and no red meat, but we could improve in some aspects and definitely should be eating more fruit. So last night we had orzo bake (which fulfils one of the criteria - eating a tomato-sauce based meal with onions/garlic etc.), with a big pile of frozen peas and some kale (bearing in mind I've not had a veg box for a couple of weeks as we were trying to use stuff up), followed by stewed (bottled, hg) plums and a tiny bit of ice cream. Tonight's dinner will either be the other half of the bake and more frozen veg, or possibly some cod (lots of fish required for diet) with the new potatoes I've just collected and a frozen Olio veg portion. Lunch is going to be an egg roll with piles of lettuce (the other Olio thing from this morning). Mr MV is in the office today and will be fending for himself (the canteen does do a lovely salad bar). Dessert tonight will be more plums and I've spotted some frozen strawbs in the freezer, so will get them finished up soon - maybe with some of the frozen currants, given they are already ripening!
MS things:
* Clicks, comps and HW done
* Unexpected, large quantities of work
* Finished yesterday's platform job
* Still using freezer contents
* Two loads of washing washed yesterday for free in the sunshine
Gratitudes:
* Squirrels and birdsong on our walk this morning
* It's warm enough to cycle in a t-shirt at last! (Only just!)
* Lots of work
Have a good day all!Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days
'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway8
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.7K Spending & Discounts
- 244.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.3K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.1K Life & Family
- 257.7K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards