We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 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!
And now we go again...
Comments
-
I like to pick up a couple of jars of discounted mincemeat at this time of year, I find it useful for using up scraps of pastry 😉Fashion on a ration 2025 0/66 coupons spent
79.5 coupons rolled over 4/75.5 coupons spent - using for secondhand purchases
One income, home educating family4 -
What a lovely tealight holder!
I'm intrigued to know what the supermarket with all the exclamation marks could be 🤣I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)3 -
Hi there Vintage - I know this is an old thread, but wanted to ask whether everything was ok w Curtains2Go in the end? They have an amazing offer but recent trustpilot reviews suggest they're not far off an outright scam... Many thanks in advance!VintageHistorian said:You can also find Le Creuset very heavily discounted in TK Maxx, although it's very much left to chance whether you'll find the right size/shape/colour.
Also with curtains, we got ours made to measure from Curtains2Go, they tend to do 10%-15% discounts around bank holidays and the like, if you sign up to their newsletter then you get notified when sales are on.3 -
Yes - and the outs very much outweighed the ins this time too - so thank you for helping me justify!rtandon27 said:Very Pretty! and you are keeping the cycle going with several out to equate to what you brought in - keeps things in check ✔️
SA - it will have been F@rmf00ds! I bet I shortened it to FF then just added an s rather than sticking an apostrophe in between!
🎉 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 -
🤣🤣🤣 I love that you mistakenly triggered the censor!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 - Dec 2039 (reduced by 21 months)3
-
It's easily triggered in fairness!
Poor delicate little forum-flower!
@duffy11 I can't even recall that being discussed here (Although I do vaguely recall a convo about Le Cr at some point) but tagging @VintageHistorian might mean they see it and can answer your question above!
MSE Stuff:
- Remembering this morning that not only will our railcard expire next month, we also have CC vouchers expiring at the end of Feb too. Handily that turned out to be £19 worth due to expire, so I have converted those out to use against the railcard when we renew, and the "spare" £1.50 worth will get credited back with a longer expiry date, so that's useful. Since losing a £1.50 voucher that expired in November without me remembering it I'm a bit keen not to lose any more!
- Last night's tea was a budget and time friendly effort - one of the sachets of Indian style microwaveable rice that MrEH spotted in FF s for 34p, with a YS'd chicken breast from the freezer (cooked and frozen as soon as we got them home) and as much veg as I could rustle up and turned into a sort of fake byriani. Really tasty, a good use of the rice and we'll be repeating that as an option I think. Even the cooking cost very little as it was all done in the one pan.
- Have opted to park the car near the office today but as usual will be making use of free parking - a combination of on-street and a couple of car parks where I can park for free (or the cost of a small purchase)
I'm off to Claire's tonight so have organised to leave work a little early - this increases the chances of me getting up there in time for us to go to the pub for tea! (Failing that we'll order a takeaway but the pub would be better!). Hopefully the weather stays decent for some Reds flying tomorrow - it would be nice to give the camera some action! Spending will be food, and will come from my spends account.
I'll be dealing with the food shop on Sunday I suspect - as we're out in London on Saturday for our pal whose funeral we went to at the end of last year's London wake and will probably have to head out early-ish. If I am back early enough tomorrow then I may opt to grab the stuff we need on the way home, but I'll have to wait and see what time the final flying slot is allowing for the slightly extended daylight hours now.
🎉 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/her11 -
Well, I’ve had less dramatic trips to Lincoln!
First up, the weather for driving up on Thursday evening was absolutely awful, and the motorway, A14, A1 and even part of the A46were basically a succession of small swimming pools - delightful. Most drivers were being quite sensible thank goodness, but it still took me nearly 4 hours which was more than a bit ludicrous. Going to the pub was inevitably scrubbed in favour of ordering a takeaway - which aclaire ordered once she knew Ali was on the final stretch of the drive so we didn’t have to wait too long after I got there to eat.Yesterday dawned decidedly differently to the Met Office’s suggestion with “poor” visibility and low cloud meaning the Reds didn’t get up all morning - I think it took even the team by surprise to be fair. We sat about for a bit, then headed back to Claire’s to grab my car and stop on the way back for a late breakfast/early lunch from a favourite butty van (anyone reading who is local to Lincoln - the excellent Cooks cabin I think it’s called - in Wickes car park!). All good until on the way back my car suddenly lost a good chunk of its power on the bypass - Claire wondered why I was “driving like a girl” as she put it - a warning light and a “check injector system” warning will do that. I limped it to our usual sitting spot at Waddington and explained, and once we’d eaten our bacon, egg and mushroom rolls I set about contacting the breakdown people.
Anyone who drives a diesel will be aware that the fear with that sort of fault is that it is linked to the Diesel Particulate Filter - a major and expensive to fix issue, and sadly enough the lovely chap who came out from the local recovery people’s diagnostic gadget suggested that this is indeed likely to be the case. Initially the breakdown insurers suggested that they would be exploring local repair options which I was really not keen on - I choose national recovery as part of my policy because if I break down I’d sooner the car heads back to our lovely pal Neil who I know and trust! Anyway, it rapidly became apparent that they could only insist on this where a same day repair could be effected, and good luck with THAT for this kind of fault AND on a Friday afternoon! The final deal was that the car would be recovered to the local people’s yard for the weekend for storage, I would get the train home, and the car will follow me back down early next week. I get to reclaim the cost of my travel back, and ironically enough the journey home took me almost exactly the same time as the drive up had!Thankfully the jets did finally take to the skies for one slot before I left - which left me in a far better humour about the whole thing than had I not even seen any flying - a I’ve not had a chance to look through the pics properly yet but here’s one which has literally been taken straight off the camera with no post-processing. (this is literally the RAW file - hence being a bit “flat” in appearance).
Combine that with the chance of a fab catch up with Claire, a free tea from Gr3gg5 grabbed before getting on my first train back, and a slice of cake Claire had nabbed from a pal (homemade Vicky sponge with plum jam) at an event she had done the day before on the second train. Managing to get myself onto an earlier train than my scheduled one from Peterborough to Kings across was handy too - not least as the train I should have got was completely sold out and I suspect I would have struggled to get a seat!🎉 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 -
Gosh, what a drama! Very glad you got back in one piece x4
-
What a rotten palaver! Glad you got to see the Arrows perform though. ✈️Finally Debt Free! - July 2016 🌟
Finished Emergency Fund- £10,000 April 2017
🌟
RETIRED: MAY 2021!!!!😀🎆
My diary: “Seasidegal's Scrimpy Retirement Diary!”3 -
Oh good grief EH! That photo is fantastic though.I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)3
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 353.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 254K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.9K Spending & Discounts
- 246.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 602.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.9K Life & Family
- 260.3K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards