My Mortgage Free Mountain - A 7 year expedition to climb to the top

Baileys_Babe

@craftingmad said:

I'm obviously getting older as I feel shattered from my double shift yesterday but no rest for the wicked as I've not got a day off until Monday :( I keep telling myself it is for the greater good and I can rest and relax once we have retired in three years (if all goes to plan) but it's not helping. (Baileysbabe if you are reading this then pleased ignore the bit about me not resting and relaxing ;) )

Please look after yourself. You are so busy with caring for your parents, running your own household as well as a couple of jobs, you need to stop and smell the roses occasionally 🤗

Listen to wise @daisy_1571

craftingmad

Hi guys,

Thanks for the wake up call. I spent my day off yesterday enjoying a lovely walk along the seafront with my hubby and doggo and then we went out for a wonderful family meal in the evening. I even came home from work on Saturday and Sunday and done nothing else but relax and watch some tv with hubby whilst stroking the dog. It was perfect :)

It's just me at home tonight as both kids and hubby are working on late shifts so I do plan to get a few bits done after work just to help ease us along with our retirement fund. Not planning on doing too much though - promise :)

So Today I will:-

1. WeR8 - DONE watched 5 videos for 25p :)
2. Mistplay - DONE played for 15 minutes and earnt 7 points :)
3. Cafe job (6.5 hours) - DONE 7 hours in total :)
4. Pay in wages from restaurant and transfer to savings
5. Finish Etsy order and get ready to post off - Order made now just got to package and post off :)
6. One Prime Opinions surveys
7. No heating on until at least 7pm - my oodie snoodie keeps me very warm - DONE didn't go on at all last night :)
8. Design a cardmaking download (my happy place)
9. Meal plan for rest of week
10. NSD - DONE :)

I may not get to post office to pay money in until tomorrow as it will save some petrol as can go there and post off order and mothers day cards at the same time as paying cash in and it is on my way into work anyway. With the crisis going on at the moment elsewhere in the world and the effect it is having on fuel prices I'm guessing every drop of fuel saved is an absolute bonus :)

craftingmad

Good morning :)

It may be chilly but the sun is shining so hopefully it will be a beautiful day. I feel like I didn't achieve much yesterday but thanks to your helpful words and support I realise that that is ok :)

I think today may be pretty much the same again but that's ok. I am learning that I deserve rest too so I'll just go with the flow and get done what I can and leave the rest for another day and to celebrate just how far we have come in the four years since we started our mountain climb :)

My main focus today is trying to eat healthier as I've been feeling very tired and getting really bad headaches so I know I need to improve my diet as I have been really bad with snacks and chocolate since way before Christmas. My psoratic arthritis is playing up as well so losing a bit of weight will almost certainly help that too. Today it changes so I am aiming to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables and have a proper meal this evening rather than just snacking throughout the day :) I've started well with an apple and peanut butter for breakfast and I already feel like I have more energy :)

Other than that I will be at work and pottering for the rest of the day with plenty of rest thrown in too. What are you guys up to today?

So Today I will:-

1. WeR8 - DONE watched 5 videos for 25p :)
2. Mistplay - DONE played for 15 minutes and earnt 2 points :)
3. Restaurant job (5 hours) - DONE :)
4. Pay in wages from restaurant and transfer to savings - DONE paid this weeks and last weeks in £165.00 transferred into savings account :)
5. Package and post off Etsy order - DONE posted off so should arrive tomorrow - hopefully :)
6. Cash in winning scratchcard (birthday pressie for hubby) and transfer winnings to savings account - DONE £12 transferred to savings account :)
7. One Prime Opinions surveys - DONE 101 points :)
8. No heating on until at least 7pm - my oodie snoodie keeps me very warm - DONE not on all day :)
9. Design a cardmaking download (my happy place)
10. Answer enquiry on FB business page
11. Write some social media posts to advertise my business
12. Meal plan for rest of week - DONE :)
13. Eat at least 5 portions of fruit/veg - Started well 1/5 :)
14. Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner :(
15. Read MSE newsletter
16. NSD - FAILED went food shopping as had to pick up daughter and Lidl right next door :( On the plus side it needed doing and I saved petrol by combining the two :)

That's quite a long list but it can always roll forward to another day if needed ;)

Total hard cash actually added to savings account today - £177.00

Total added since 4th March 2026 £2504.02 :)

daisy_1571

A bit tidying round the house as you could stir it with a stick just now, walk a neighbours little dog at lunchtime and pop to local town for messages and cashing in £120 in pound coins and 50ps. Thats plenty for us today 😆 Enjoy your calmer day

Dxx

Baileys_Babe

It is good to hear you have started including rest and relaxation into your day.

Good luck with upping the healthy eating and reducing the snacking, I hope these have the desired effects on headaches and tiredness. I hope you are keeping hydrated - my pet obsession - as this will also help 🤗

Today I have life admin to deal with, DD has a day off college and I'm helping with some life admin, I would like to do some tidying up in the garden even if it is only for 15 minutes - this is weather dependent, the kitchen is a disgrace so some time will be spent in there. I will read my book at lunchtime and I have a few cookery books I've borrowed from the library I want to spend 30 minutes looking through to see if there is anything in them that will appeal to us. I will also enjoy time with OH probably watching a film on a couple of episodes of a series we're watching.

craftingmad

Morning everyone,

I think I am finally getting the hang of this self care thingy - I spent the evening chilling on the sofa snuggled up to and stroking my doggo and although I didn't finish my to do list it did not bother me. as a result I feel much more rested and at peace with the day :) I also made sure I drunk lots of water @baileysbabe :)

Other than work, I'm planning for another laid back day today so lets see what happens ;)

So Today I will:-

1. WeR8 - DONE watched 5 videos for 25p :)
2. Mistplay - DONE played for 15 minutes and earnt 2 points :)
3. Cafe job (6.5 hours) - DONE finished 15 minutes early as it is very windy on the Norfolk Broads today and not many people wanted a coffee outside for some reason ;)
4. One Prime Opinions surveys - DONE one survey for 61 points and timed out of two for a further 3 points :)
5. No heating on until at least 7pm - DONE did not go on until 9pm and only for 30 mins :)
6. Design a cardmaking download (my happy place) - Started - four sheets of toppers and one paper designed so far :)
7. Answer enquiry on FB business page
8. Write some social media posts to advertise my business
9. Eat at least 5 portions of fruit/veg - One portion so far - dried apricots as a snack at work :)
10. Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner :(
11. Read MSE newsletter
12. NSD - DONE :)

Have a great day everyone x

Bonus for today - I forgot it was interest day on one of the savings accounts so that has been added back into the savings pot - happy days :)

Total hard cash actually added to savings account today - £254.67

Total added since 4th March 2026 £2758.69 :)

daisy_1571

Thats great to read, you are already winning at life, it is not good for your health or wellbeing to run at the levels you've been doing consistently these last few years. I'm glad you are practicing what you would tell a good friend to do 😀

Dxx

Baileys_Babe

Good to hear you are including self care into your days.

craftingmad

Good morning everyone,

Boy it was windy here on the Broads yesterday. Fingers crossed all the rental houses and our own have come out unscathed. I hope everyone is safe and well and today is a bit calmer weather wise for all of us.

I'm at work at the cafe again today - hopefully it will be a bit busier as it was so quiet yesterday - I don't understand why nobody wanted to have a coffee sitting outside with the 40+ mile an hour winds 😁 but it meant I had a nice easy shift and managed to sit down and relax looking at a beautiful view so it was actually a lovely shift :)

The healthy eating is going slowly (not helped by the fact that I bought home lots of cakes yesterday which were going out of date including 3 slices of my absolute favourite tiffin) but I did have greek yogurt with strawberry granola today and I added extra strawberries so I'm counting that as my first fruit of the day. I'm also taking a banana and dried apricots to work for lunch but whether I eat them or the cake remains to be seen 😂😂😂

Today's to do list is going to be much the same as yesterday I think so here we go:-

So Today I will:-

1. WeR8 - DONE watched 5 videos for 25p :)
2. Mistplay - DONE played for 15 minutes and earnt 139 points - nearly able to cash out a £5 voucher :)
3. Cafe job (6.5 hours) - DONE 6.25hours in the end because I am so efficient :)
4. One Prime Opinions survey
5. No heating on until at least 7pm - DONE only turned on at 10pm for an hour as hubby came home and was cold :)
6. Continue designing a cardmaking download (my happy place)
7. Answer enquiry on FB business page
8. Write some social media posts to advertise my business
9. Eat at least 5 portions of fruit/veg - One portion so far - strawberries in my breakfast yogurt :)
10. Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner :(
11. Read MSE newsletter - DONE going to look into Sky streaming as this could potentially save us £30 a month :)
12. NSD - DONE :)

Have a great day everyone x

Total hard cash actually added to savings account today - £0

Total added since 4th March 2026 £2758.69 :)

craftingmad

Good morning everyone,

We have had some great news. My mum had been given two different diagnosis from the same hospital about her cancer. One said it was still just in her lungs and the other said that it had spread to her spine. We found out yesterday that it has not spread and is still only in her lungs which is amazing news as we have been told that although the cancer she has cannot be treated because of her other health conditions and age, this is unlikely to be the cause of death so compared to the other option we also had until yesterday I am so relieved and happy. Hopefully now we can go on and make lots more wonderful memories and enjoy life even more than we have been :)

My daughter and I have also had a questionnaire come in the post to fill in about the effect my husbands hearing loss which was caused by his time in the armed forces and inadequate protective equipment being provided. We didn't know anything about it but the army contacted him about a year ago to say they were paying compensation to everyone affected and that his name was on their list of people who were entitled but in all honesty we had both forgotten about it until the letter arrived. Apparently they will pay out the money regardless of whether we fill in the form or not but the form along with a medical report will form the basis of how much compensation he receives. So that will be a nice little bonus to our retirement fund when and if it arrives :) In fairness his lack of hearing really is frustrating for all of us so it will deffo be being enjoyed by all of us and hopefully will make him actually wear his hearing aids once in a while now!

More mundain for me today is another day of work ahead for me but at least the sun is shining and my heart is full of love and gratitude given the news we have just received:) Fingers crossed it will be a bit busier as its been quite boring for the last two days :(

I'm going to add a list but to be honest if I just go to work and then come home and do nothing I will be more than happy :)

So Today I will:-

1. WeR8 - DONE watched 5 videos for 25p :)
2. Mistplay
3. Cafe job (6 hours) - DONE turned into 7.5 hours as had a shift from hell) :(
4. Answer questionnaire
5. One Prime Opinions survey
6. No heating on until at least 7pm - DONE I didn't turn it on all night - hubby on the other hand turned it on as soon as he got back in from work at 10pm :)
7. Continue designing a cardmaking download (my happy place)
8. Answer enquiry on FB business page
9. Write some social media posts to advertise my business
10. Eat at least 5 portions of fruit/veg - FAILED not one piece :(
11. Check freepostcode lottery - DONE not a winner :(
12. NSD - DONE :)