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And now we go again...
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I also found David Baldacci but on audible - his memory man books are fantastic5
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Glad to hear you've had a fab holiday. I'm not at all surprised you came back to scenes of carnage on the mollusc scoffing front. The wet weather has really given them a field day. I am relocating thrice weekly round-ups of snails to a rather inhospitable patch behind one of Mr F's log piles as lost 6 lettuces in almost as many days, plus my 2nd sowing of pak-choi & some rocket.....& that's with me here at home to deal with the situation! We have blackbirds, dunnocks, robins & other birds nesting nearby, but unfortunately no thrush this year & they have been fab in the past for helping keep on top of snail numbers in a natural food chain way. If I have any kind of aphid infestation, I try to introduce any ladybirds, ladybird larvae & lacewings I might find in the garden to the affected plants, but this does rather depend on how many of these helpful predators are living in your garden at the time.
F2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
2) To read 100 books (36/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 5.9kg/30kg
"Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)5 -
Welcome home. Sounds like you had a fantastic trip.I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)5
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Welcome back. You sound like you really enjoyed your holiday. I agree that it's also lovely to come back to a happy home.5
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Glad you had a good time.I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.
Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb. ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.5 -
Glad you had a lovely! I am a big fan of Baldacci - all his books are excellent.
Glad the slugs haven’t munched everything while you’ve been away. Not too late to sow some more runners if you’re quick.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 Hemingway5 -
It was indeed one of the Memory Man series I read - thoroughly enjoyed it!
Foxgloves - we are indeed keeping eyes open for any ladybirds in particular to relocate to the poor broad beans - I think we'd need an infestation to make a difference now, sadly, though! We do have an extremely vocal thrush, but he's unwilling to earn his keep by eating the mollusc-ey pests, unfortunately!
Vix - thanks for that on the runners - it's a definite plan for the weekend. Would you just shove them straight in the ground now, or get them going in modules first?
Thanks all for popping by and for the welcome back - while I can't deny that it would be nice to still be up there, as returns from holiday go, it's not been the worst!
MSE Stuff:
- The N@t1onw1de £100 arrived in my account this morning, and has been transferred across to the mortgage already
- I have asked MrEH to check if his has landed yet, and to also transfer it to the mortgage ASAP if so. Will be interesting to see if that happens or if he tells me that it's "in the joint account" ready for me to deal with the transfer...! once his goes over though we will be down into the £106k's - which I didn't expect to happen until the end of the month so hurrah for that!
- A bit more CC money shuffling has been dealt with. Just the last bit still to do now and to be honest I will probably clear a chunk of that from my own money as MrEH paid for a few bits in cash while we were away straight from his account, so that will balance.
- Checked the pots - the Household account should have enough to cover the home insurance now with luck, which means we'll be well in credit there by the time the renewal is due (not for another couple of months)
- Car account is also in plenty of credit - although MrEH's car is going to need some tyres ahead of it's MoT next month. We will leave that alone for the time being as car insurances are due in August too, so that will see a chunky drop in the balance!
- I've opened a window on my iPad to monitor the Octopods Tracker and Agile prices for our area - our fix finishes in October, which means I can jump out of it at the end of August, and I'm looking at one of those as an option. I'll have a look at their fixes as well, although what will still be about by the time I can ump is another question as of course we'll be on the edge of a new price cap then.
- Still undecided whether to shop at Lil's or T's this week - no outstanding offers from either, but T's does have the CC challenges which includes some basic stuff...
Got a little 15 minute or so burst of activity in the garden last night, so a bit more weeding done, and also some planning for stuff we intend doing at the weekend as well. Some more sowing of bits and pieces, a honeysuckle (we think?) which needs a lot of training and tieing in, the jasmine will need a bit more cutting back, and also some tieing in.
We also need to do some measuring up for the new bookcases we want for the spare room. The thinking currently is a couple of white B1lly ones from the swedish shop - but we might end up adding a further narrow width one for future proofing. In a bit of a blindside move though I am also going to suggest we might bite the bullet and paint at least the skirting boards and walls behind where they will be sited - as we were already planning to get some painting done in there this winter, and it seems to make sense to do those bits before the bookcases get fixed to the wall. The skirtings are going to be a vile job as they are currently painted chocolate brown! We do have the paint though as we have plenty of white satin finish left from the stuff we did at the flat, and also a decent amount of a can of "not quite white" emulsion as well. At some stage the front room sill needs doing too - and indeed the other woodwork there which is also a colour we wouldn't have chosen! The sill is the biggest thing in there though.🎉 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/her6 -
..... but it was SO lovely to return home to somewhere we love, without having to worry what upstairs neighbours might have done while we were away!
Greying XPounds for Panes £7,005/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
Grocery Spend July 2025 £292.82/£300
Non-food spend July 2025 £96.71/£50
Bulk Fund July 2025 £9.10/£107 -
Thanks for the heads up on the arrival of the NW £100. Mine is in there too. Accompanied by a very very minor whinge as the increase in interest rates mean I'm paying tax on some. My own fault as I knew I should have moved some into ISAs even though the interest rates were so bad. Don't you just hate knowing you've no-one to blame but yourself.
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Another thanks from me for the heads up about NW money 😊
I’d always sow into modules to give them a chance away from slugs, but that’s just me.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 Hemingway5
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