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Morning all! Yes - I’ve always been pretty impressed with the speed of 🐙 customer service but they excelled themselves this time, definitely no complaints!Well it seems we’re in for another roastingly hot day today - in fact it already is! I was intending to it off washing until tomorrow when electricity prices are forecast to be super low through part of the day, but in reflection I’ve decided that I am going to get a single load through today, hopefully giving me the chance for a couple more tomorrow as that then may mean I can get a towel load through at some stage too.
plans for today - because if I write them down here I’m accountable…
- my newly purchased trays have arrived so I’ll get the tomatoes rearranged to mean they are all standing in the trays
- that will free up some saucers for other things that need them.
- get the kitchen island cleared, cleaned down and then only the necessary stuff put back!- use the carpet cleaner on another section of living room carpet,
- use the carpet cleaner on the spare room carpet including attacking the stains!
- shopping (Lil’s)
- claim my free bakery item and make use of plus app coupons on things we’ll use!- go back through the checkout to use the free fruit item as I won’t be going in there next week
at some stage over the weekend I must ensure that all my camera kit is ready for the airshow next week, and that I have the clothes I want to take earmarked for packing. May get the bigger suitcase out of the loft?🎉 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 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her7 -
Exactly this EH!!! I agree 100%EssexHebridean said:...plans for today - because if I write them down here I’m accountable…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)Original End Date - Sept 2041 New projection - Sep 2038 (reduced by 3 years)4 -
EH I thought you would appreciate this. Definitely not up to your standard of photo but they have just flown over my garden!!
slowly working towards being MF one small over payment at a time :T6 -
Ahh amazing - always great to see that people have spotted them out in the wild, as it were!
So - weekend "to do list" then...- my newly purchased trays have arrived so I’ll get the tomatoes rearranged to mean they are all standing in the trays Yes - this got done, although I have also shifted one back to a saucer so I can spread the others out a wee bit more
- that will free up some saucers for other things that need them. saucers suitably re-distributed
- get the kitchen island cleared, cleaned down and then only the necessary stuff put back! It's clear-er, but not absolutely clear, and I didn't get to the stage of actually giving it a clean.- use the carpet cleaner on another section of living room carpet, It was warm enough on Friday that I decided it would dry fast enough that I could do the whole of the rest of it - and it's looking SO much better!
- use the carpet cleaner on the spare room carpet including attacking the stains! Oh my - the difference on this one is just crazy! Even the stains that we thought looked oil or paint based have lifted out almost entirely. I'll be giving it a second go at some stage before too long to see if that brings it up even better.
- shopping (Lil’s) Yeo - done!
- claim my free bakery item and make use of plus app coupons on things we’ll use! Also done - Friday morning.- go back through the checkout to use the free fruit item as I won’t be going in there next week queues were bad on Friday but we were in the area on saturday so went back in then - some glorious British cherries gained for nothing!
at some stage over the weekend I must ensure that all my camera kit is ready for the airshow next week, and that I have the clothes I want to take earmarked for packing. May get the bigger suitcase out of the loft? Camera kit is pretty much there, I tracked down and formatted all my cards, tidied up backups and just have one remaining battery left to charge. Suitcase was indeed snared from the loft, and is now pretty much packed too - just final bits to add in this evening.
I've done sufficient cooking over the weekend that MrEH is at least partly set up with meals for the days I'm away -
- a whole chicken was cooked and portioned, 2 lots for future risottos and one breast in the freezer, 1 breast set aside for using tonight, and two legs + thighs in the fridge for him to use
- Orzo broccoli cheese bake made - will feed us tonight (with chicken added), him one day later in the week, and one of us on another day as one hit the freezer, too!
- home grown tatties turned into potato salad - half eaten last night and the balance to go with his meals in the week
We got an Al's TGTG bag which gave us a fair bit for our £3.30
- a punnet of raspberries which have been combined with our currants and turned into ice cream
- a lush sounding mango yogurt which I will probably nosh tonight on the excuse of leaving the rest of the ice cream for himself (and thus earning "good wife" brownie points!)
- 2 packs of prepped carrot, broccoli & cauli which have been blanched and half already frozen, I need to deal with the rest this evening.
- a ham & cheese wrap which we had half each of yesterday
- a "specially selected" butter chicken which we had for lunch yesterday - it was delicious!
- 2 packs of grapes, apple & cheese (snack pack type thing) - the fruit was eaten yesterday and I'll take the cheese with me for airshow snackage
The freezer is now - sigh - rammed again. I need to ensure that we really attack the contents when I'm back from RIAT and before we head to the beer festival...honestly, this seems to be a permanent refrain! I may need to suggest that MrEH does a bit of tetris in there over the next few days...🎉 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 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her9 -
I have been in your part of the world this weekend . I took the opportunity to call in to the outlet village you mentioned recently . I enjoyed my stroll round it’s a nice place . I did buy a couple of things . Heading North now on my way home . Enjoy the air show.Life is an adventure, never stop exploring.4
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You’re as bad as me with the freezer 🤣I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping) -.literally have been run over by a bike, mobility scooter and a car - still here 💪4
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Same here with the freezer. Mr F is excellent at freezer tetris but a downside is that I then can't find anything because he'll have decided it was the perfect fit for a small space right at the back of a different drawer.....in a different freezer.
F2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!8 -
haha - I just played fridge tetris with our grocery delivery as after a weekend of no cooking the fridge was not properly empty & surprise last night when I got home that OH was still to ill to cook so we succumbed to takeaway! There are leftovers of that as well, so the fridge is rather precarious atm!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)Original End Date - Sept 2041 New projection - Sep 2038 (reduced by 3 years)5
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Got home on Monday to discover MrEH is even worse than I am with the freezer as he's put freezer 2 back on! As and when the home grown stuff ramps up it would need to be on anyway, but we weren't expecting it quite yet!
Airshow was ace - really great fun as always, lots of fab flying displays and we were even relatively lucky with the weather - thanks to an all-encompassing rain poncho I and the camera managed to stay dry even through one torrential downpour, but for the most part the threatening weather either just avoided us, or hit overnight.
I'm going to be juggling voluntary role stuff with photo processing for the next week or so I think! worth it through as I did get some I'm really pleased with - feels a bit like I've finally got "settled in" with the camera and lens combo now.
MSE stuff:
- MrEH foraged plums and made a batch of jam and one of chutney over the weekend
- the only food I bought on site at the show was ice cream - but even that didn't come out too bad as a fraction over £20 bought three for me over the weekend and 2 for pals as well.
- We did pub meals twice, had the now traditional kebab one night, and the other evenings plus lunches were all food bought at the supermarket - my little insulated bag did sterling service!
- Garden is starting to produce, I picked a small cucumber (picked as it was hanging down to the ground so I figured it would get munched by something other than us), 2 courgettes and a handful of runner beans last night.
- Have remembered to pop an email to Alex the chimney sweep to see about getting booked in - hopefully he'll be able to do it before the end of September.
Car insurance is due next month so we've both been looking at that - both looking at a big drop after that insurance claim was switched to No Fault - and indeed it looks like mine will be around £250 which I'm happy with. I'll probably get that sorted tonight I think, as I know it's done then. Allowing for what MrEH says his is looking like we *might* be able to squeeze both out of the car account, although he will also need a service and MoT Test so I'll probably need to money-juggle for those.
Only plans for this week is a local beer festival on Friday afternoon/evening (which also happens to be my birthday - yay!) and as a result of the birthday, a now-traditional celebratory takeaway over the weekend.
A handful of favourites from the shots I have currently got to...
A very fluffy looking Spanish Typhoon
Reds performing the Hanna Break
BBMF Lancaster
Finale of the Army Air Corps display - Apache Gunship in front of pyros. (this required no fewer that FIVE fire trucks to damp down the grass fires afterwards!) 🎉 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 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her6 -
Wow, fantastic pictures
What a result having beer festival on your birthday 🍻
Great work on the other money saving too, reduction in car insurance is very pleasinghttps://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty4
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