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Changing my life, goals and finances!
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It's always a worry when my DH goes to the supermarket for a few bits. He came home once with the milk (as requested) and 24 chocolate oranges which had been reduced to 20p each. Good for the purse but not for the waistline.4
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Blackcats said:It's always a worry when my DH goes to the supermarket for a few bits. He came home once with the milk (as requested) and 24 chocolate oranges which had been reduced to 20p each. Good for the purse but not for the waistline.
£200 to the BTB fund this morning- I've decided that I will complete it once the tax rebate has cleared and start the bulk buy fund following that. Once the BB fund is at the level I want then I'll start building the Debt Neutral fund.
I've also started a garden savings pot as it's one of those areas where we've tended to dip into the grocery money for a few packets of seeds or the slush funds for job lots of compost - as I'm determined now to not touch savings/slush fund unless we really need to, having a separate savings fund for it makes sense.
Feeling better today and it's finally stopped raining so I'm going to investigate my elderberries- we had lots of sloes near me but I haven't walked down there for a couple of weeks so not sure if they are still around- if the weather holds I might venture out to check! I will be freezing them if there are any until I can justify buying more gin! 😉 I already have damson gin on the go so don't really need any more...
DNF: £708.92/£1000
JSF: £708.58/£1000
Winter season grocery budget: £600.85/£900
Weight loss challenge 2024: 11/24lbs
1st quarter start:9st 13.1lb
2nd quarter start:9st 9.2 lb
3rd quarter start: 9st 6.8 lb
4th quarter start: 9st 10.2 lb
End weight: 8st 13lb
'It's the small compromises you keep making over time that start to add up and get you to a place you don't want to be'3 -
Great news on the tax refund.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
2) £2.6K Net savings after CCs 6/7/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £24.3K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.2K) = 30.1/£127.5K target 23.6% 29/7/25
4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
5) SIPP £4.8K updated 29/7/250 -
We made a jenga style tower of the chocolate oranges which made a unique centrepiece on the kitchen table 🤣0
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Blackcats said:We made a jenga style tower of the chocolate oranges which made a unique centrepiece on the kitchen table 🤣
Tax rebate has cleared, the BTB fund has been completed and I've started the BB fund this weekend.
I've spent £45 since I last posted - £24 of which was on bulk buy items which has emphasised the need for me to have this fund....I will probably increase it to £500 for the year though as I'm not convinced that £400 will cover everything 🤔 I want to have the fund full by the end of December and then I'll start building a 2024 fund!
I've been thinking more about how to distribute any savings we make on petrol and groceries and have come to the conclusion that any grocery savings will be put into the BB fund and petrol savings will go into the debt neutral fund - I'm breaking the debt neutral fund down into 1k chunks - I've got a considerable amount of chunks to acquire so it makes it feel more achievable! 😳😂
Didn't get out to check for sloes but the elderberries were too far gone to pick so I'm disappointed that I missed the opportunity this year - however, I'll make it next autumn and I've got elderflower cordial still in the freezer.
I'm harvesting all the squash this weekend and storing them in my little plastic greenhouse- the spaghetti squash looks good but the butternut has a disease which is disappointing as I won't be able to store the affected ones. However, most of them should be okay once they are peeled so I'll get them processed and frozen once I harvest them. I'm also changing the netting on one of the veggie beds for plastic this weekend so that I can get some more seeds sown.
The weather has been very wet here over the past few days which is great as it means that all the flower beds are workable again - I've been wanting to get them sorted for quite a while but the drought had turned the soil into brick so I have left them alone. Next week I'll focus on getting them sorted and replanting the spring bulbs along with some winter pansies - I love the colours during the winter!
DNF: £708.92/£1000
JSF: £708.58/£1000
Winter season grocery budget: £600.85/£900
Weight loss challenge 2024: 11/24lbs
1st quarter start:9st 13.1lb
2nd quarter start:9st 9.2 lb
3rd quarter start: 9st 6.8 lb
4th quarter start: 9st 10.2 lb
End weight: 8st 13lb
'It's the small compromises you keep making over time that start to add up and get you to a place you don't want to be'1 -
You've reminded me I need to plant some bulbs too.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
2) £2.6K Net savings after CCs 6/7/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £24.3K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.2K) = 30.1/£127.5K target 23.6% 29/7/25
4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
5) SIPP £4.8K updated 29/7/250 -
I'm stealing Outstanding October.
You've reminded me as well that I need to get the bulbs that I got at the supermarket in the ground. No point buying them otherwise.Save £12k in 2025 #33 £2531.77/£5000 (If this carries on I might have to up my target!)
April take lunch to work goal - 3 of 121 -
It's been a busy 10 days! 😳 yet more health issues for various family members so plans have gone awry as I've needed to step in to help out. Thankfully much of it has started to calm down though so hopefully things are looking up 🤞
Money wise things are trotting along okay - I've got a few expenses to cover that I was hoping to postpone for a couple of weeks but I have the money so no real issue. I found some compost for a ridiculously reduced price so bought lots of that - it was an entirely unexpected expense but will save me a fortune in the long run so worth the outlay!
I harvested the squash as planned - most of the butternut was fine under the surface so I roasted it and made it into a thick soup with a couple of sweet potatoes and some herbs - I've frozen the majority of it, it is absolutely lovely and as it's so thick when I defrost a batch I'll be able to dilute it and have soup and use the other half as the basis for a different meal such as a lentil 'bolognese', curry etc.... I also made a big batch of veg casserole in the slow cooker - we had a batch of that with some cannellini beans and noodles added to it which was lovely then froze the rest of that. I'll add some dumplings to the next lot I use when the nights are colder...
I sorted my cupboards out this week and completed the food inventory- no big surprises there but I do have a ridiculous amount of chutney (and I made more last week!! 😳😂) so I can see a number of meals that include potato 'pie' - I mix mash with onions and chutney, spread in a dish about an inch thick then bake it - it tastes amazing and will help me get through the chutney mountain!!
Tomorrow I'm going to try to make some buckwheat pasta - I've been thinking about doing it for a while but knew that it needs to be cooked quite quickly so have put it off - however, I was searching for something this week and I found the instructions for my pasta maker so I can make it in minutes now! 🙌 I'm planning on serving it with the courgette and tomato sauce in the freezer which I'll add olives and capers to - I'm doing really well on the grocery challenge this month so want to keep that up for as long as possible!
It's just over a week now before next months budget starts and I want to keep spends to the bare minimum next time too so utilising the storecupboard and freezers is really important- I've only got 3 months to get my BB fund to capacity so need to really rein it in until the end of the year.DNF: £708.92/£1000
JSF: £708.58/£1000
Winter season grocery budget: £600.85/£900
Weight loss challenge 2024: 11/24lbs
1st quarter start:9st 13.1lb
2nd quarter start:9st 9.2 lb
3rd quarter start: 9st 6.8 lb
4th quarter start: 9st 10.2 lb
End weight: 8st 13lb
'It's the small compromises you keep making over time that start to add up and get you to a place you don't want to be'4 -
I hope the family's health is improving.
potato pie sounds very nice.
3 -
Meal prep sounds tasty.
Hope family health is on the mend.Achieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
2) £2.6K Net savings after CCs 6/7/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £24.3K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.2K) = 30.1/£127.5K target 23.6% 29/7/25
4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
5) SIPP £4.8K updated 29/7/252
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