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And now we go again...
Comments
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I think the Hornet was throttled back a LOT! 😂
🎉 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/her3 -
Morning all!
Popping in briefly to report on a bit of MSE activity
- ln the light of a grotty weather forecast we have decided against staying overnight tonight in a spot that would enable us to call at Waddington tomorrow morning for a Reds winter training slot - to be honest I'd be quite surprised if they even fly first thing. This means we get the cost of the hotel (T/L - £29.99) refunded.
- Off the back of that and as the forecast for where we are headed tomorrow is also grim, we have also decided to simply head off from home in the morning - this means that the alternative option of overnight stay is also refunded (another T/L - £28.99) plus we'll save money on food tonight and breakfast in the morning as both will be eaten at home.
- Because of the need for breakfast at home tomorrow, a loaf was made overnight that is feeding us for lunch as well - the balance will be sliced tomorrow morning and popped into the freezer ready for next weekend.
- MrEH checked out the cheapest options for his replacement wiper blade and stopped in at H@lf0rds the other night to buy it - £13.99, he'll fit it tomorrow before we head off.
- The £10 refund I was waiting for from the Oyster feed I never used has popped back into the bank
- Cashed out £10 from Ipsos yesterday into 🍎credit, so that will pay my cloud storage for a few months - I'll be aiming to keep up with those surveys now they have that cashout option back again!
- Tea last night was extremely budget-pleasing and use-up friendly as it meant I finally finished the elderly bag of quinoa that's been kicking around for a very long while. It didn't make the most appetizing bowls of "risotto-ish" you've ever seen (was combined with some orzo to make up the quantity) but with some of the christmas turkey, some previously roasted and frozen mushrooms, frozen peas and some of the christmas shallots plus a stock jelly, it did make a tasty and filling offering for a chilly evening.
🎉 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 -
EH - as you've managed to book a T/L room - given that you're now cancelling, is there anything that you do (when booking) that specifically gets T/L to accept your order online? It still irks me that I was unable to book that T/L room last October - and whilst no money left my bank account, I didn't have a room booked either. I mean, do I need to be (like sometimes cashback tracking needs), open to every cookie placed on my machine, do I need to pay with CC rather than DC (although we did actually try with both, and neither yielded a room booking). Do we need to be account holders? Although I don't remember it being terribly easily/obvious to be in your account and book - the account side seemed more just about recording actual bookings rather than making booking any simpler.
The T/L location I tried to book could still be useful for future visits, and at the end of the day was some £20 cheaper (at the time) than the PI room, which was in a slightly less convenient location. If push comes to shove, I can never use T/L again, but I dislike choice being taken away, if there is a workaround.
Greying X
Grocery spend March 2026 £119.32/£195
Non-food spend March 2026 £34.98/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 3/12 - £10.48/£114.50 (reducing balance - start £120 pa)
""Mother Nature don't draw straight lines
The broken moulds in a grand design
We look a mess but we're doing fine
We're card carrying lifelong members
Of the union of different kinds..."
"Union of the Different kinds" - R Christie & T Gilbert, Fisherman's Friends3 -
I think that issue you had must have been a glitch Greying, I've had similar issues with P Inn before - as have friends. My usual booking routine for T/L is to click through from TCB, then just search for the room in the usual way, select it then before checkout I log into the account so I know I have easy access to deal with cancelling later if needed. I don't think having an account makes booking easier but it certainly makes managing bookings FAR easier, and there aren't any negatives attached that I'm aware of.
I pay with whatever card suits my need best at the time, although also often via PayPal (then change to the relevant card in there) which is often simplest and as it's rare I have a booking over £100, S75 isn't relevant.
🎉 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/her4 -
Mmmm, it does appear to be more of a glitch - as other than not going thru TCB I did everything that you described, even to logging into my T/L account before checkout. Certainly having an a/c makes the booking management easier - far easier to cancel PI bookings online. Mmmm, I wonder if I ought to put my big gal pants on and try again…… 🫤
Thanks for responding.
Greying X
Grocery spend March 2026 £119.32/£195
Non-food spend March 2026 £34.98/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 3/12 - £10.48/£114.50 (reducing balance - start £120 pa)
""Mother Nature don't draw straight lines
The broken moulds in a grand design
We look a mess but we're doing fine
We're card carrying lifelong members
Of the union of different kinds..."
"Union of the Different kinds" - R Christie & T Gilbert, Fisherman's Friends3 -
Nothing to lose if you need to book a room somewhere and the location and price suit, is there. It either works - or it doesn't, and if it doesn't, then I'd suggest it might be something to do with the tech at your end throwing up an issue, rather than the T/L site. Fingers crossed it works for you 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 1/4/25
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/her4 -
Well then, where are we?
Weekend in York was ace - Friday was soggy and revolting but we spent much of it in pubs in the end which wasn't a state of affairs we were complaining about! Saturday was glorious sunshine in the morning - me and himself opted for a short walk round a section of the walls before heading to the Railway museum which had always been our intention, and in the afternoon we hopped on the train to Malton to a brewery tap room that another of the group wanted to visit. The evening was our pal's actual 60th party at another taproom, and was also excellent! By the time we left there it was chucking it down with rain but we only had to go back to the hotel so no problem there really. Sunday - lovely sunshine again, we walked the rest of the walls and finished the bit of the museum we had run out of time for the previous day, before heading home. All good, VERY spendy but that was mostly MrEH's issue as I'd paid for the hotel!
MSE Stuff:
- free breakfast included in the hotel stay - an unlimited buffet one so we both ate well first thing and that meant we weren't hungry for lunch either day!
- Railway museum was lots of entertainment for free admission - we made a donation of course, but it was excellent value!
- free exercise walking round the walls - lots of steps up and down as we went from section to section. Finally found a donations point right at the end so dropped them the suggested £3
- Snagged a TGTG bag for our tea on Friday evening (we'd had a big lunch so no need of much) which was £4.19 for two huge pasties and two pastries
- A free pint each courtesy of our pal at the taproom party!
- made use of diesel at 10p a litre cheaper than home to fill up the car before leaving!
- Used the weekly free hot drink offer at a gr3gg5 on the way home on Sunday - we both had our insulated mugs with us.
- Meal planning still working well - I'm planned through for another fortnight and a job for this weekend is to get that done right to the end of the month.
- Stopped for shopping on the way back on Sunday at a Lil's close to where we'd parked - that meant I could make use of the offer for 15% off the posh west country butter - not only is it WAY nicer than the normal stuff, it's also slightly cheaper when that offer comes along! 3 packs bought which with luck will take us to the offer being repeated!
- Found 4 of the plastic produce baskets that we use in the garden discarded outside work on Monday so snared those - handily the car was parked nearby so was able to pop them straight in the boot!
- Pounced on a free croissant offer from £SuperMkt via email this morning - that's now loaded into the Lil's app ready to use when I shop on Friday - I've got the free bakery item to claim as well so I will have to be cautious about how I put things through I suspect!
- Cashed out another £33 odd from TCB on Friday which meant the OP pot went to over £100 so £100 shuffle to the mortgage. That combined with the "regular" start of month OP means we are now below £90k, and there is another £190 to go across later in the month on account of the council tax not being paid this month - that means we will start march at £88,xxx which I'm fairly delighted with!
A quieter week this week thankfully - the builders came and looked at our steps yesterday with a view to quoting for those - that's not going to be cheap but definitely has to be done this year and before we go on holiday later in the year as well as Mum will be coming and going then to keep an eye on the house and I really don't want her using the current ones on her own. We'll see how the quote looks and work out the when and how from there. I need to get back to the electrician about the final bit of work on the kitchen lights too - I think that will be this month and we'll use surplus again rather than rob savings.
All ticking along…!
🎉 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 -
Well done on being under 90K - I'm dreaming of that 5 figure mark. 😁
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)2 -
York sounds lovely and well done on the very cute Mortgage Milestone Alert! 😊👏🥳🎊
KK
As at 15.02.26:
- When bought house £315,995 mortgage debt and end date at start = October 2039 - now £220,873
- OPs to mortgage = £12,881 Estd. interest saved = £6,203 to date
c. 16 months reduction in term
Fixed rate 3.85% ends October 2030
Read 21 books of target 52 in 2026 as @ 13th March.
Produce tracker: £51 of £400 in 2026
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.Watch your actions, they become your reality.3 -
Sounds like a great weekend away. Well done on being below £90k.
I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)3
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