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And now we go again...
Comments
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Ooh that's an excellent haul, well done! Glad you did half an hour of cleaning too, most satisfying!
4 -
Hey all - how’s your Friday been? Fairly standard one here - a walk first thing, shopping has been done, and the usual odds and ends around the house.
MSE Stuff:
- free veg item claimed in Lil’s - opted for a £2.49 fancy pack of tomatoes
- Some additional bargains had in the main shop too - a block of nice vintage cheddar with a long date at20% off, the butter we like was 15% off, Braeburn apples at £1.19 a pack, 15% off thr mixed sweet peppers, and 15% off all their own brand. Rackers - so I bought a couple of packs of Cream Crackers and one of seeded oatcakes for the store cupboard. It’s fairly rare the crackers get discounted so that was worth having.
- This morning’s porridge used a punnet of TGTG raspberries
- MrEH’s rugby this evening got cancelled - he is unsurprisingly disappointed but it did at least mean food this evening made good use of the noodles from the TGTG bag, plus some of the spring greens too. Hot cross buns for pud, too!
- a half hour burst of activity round the house saw the washing up done, and the hob cleaned, plus a general kitchen tidy.
- Got my budget book out and noted the base budget for the new tax year. Also started the note of estimated interest to be received too.
- Free exercise was the morning walk, a couple of short dance-fit workouts and yoga, plus I also got the bike out for a few miles too which I thoroughly enjoyed!
We have another excellent day on Agile electric pricing tomorrow, so I’ve got Tapo plugs set up to run the dehumidifier and both oil filled rads, the central heating is switched back off, and all the underfloor heating will be on. I’ll run the DW and the WM can certainly go through twice - I might throw all the cleaning cloths in on a hot wash too.
🎉 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 -
We had a glorious weekend up in Lincolnshire camping - the new tent is still very much approved of, and the weekend served to make us think how it might work better for us with a bit of rearranging of the inside too. the new table we purchases proved to be perfectly adequate - not the sturdiest, but it'll do, we acquired a 5l plastic water bottle which is something we always used to have, but haven't for a while - beats running to and from the nearest tap several times daily though - and have notes of a couple of other oddments we want to get before our upcoming trip to Cornwall as well.
We needed a new dustpan & brush, and some form of bowl or trug for dirty plates and pans, and for washing up - I was delighted to manage to get both in the land of pounds - and for the classic £1 each as well - bargain! A plug in coldbox is on the acquisition list for Cornwall, so some research needed there I think.
Our delivery of logs arrived first thing on friday - I had been planning to rearrange it but when they said we'd be first drop we decided we may as well get it out of the way! Packing the car took an age because the new tent is so much bigger our old and much practised packing technique no longer works at all! Then we headed up, got the tent pitched and headed off to an RSPB reserve for a walk, stopping on the way to get some food. (We sensibly took our lunch with us from home). The evening was spent in the pub that the campsite is on site with - and very pleasant it was too, although I regretted the third pint at 2am when a trip to the facilities was needed!
Saturday morning we headed across to Coningsby to see one of the BBMF Spitfires flying - my pal Andy was flying her which was fab, it's always lovely to see him fly and we managed a quick catch-up after he'd finished and done the debrief too. There was meant to be more flying both days of the weekend but it ended up just being the one flight which was fine - MrEH wasn't complaining at having to spend less time with me photographing aircraft! We then drove just down the road and had a quick look at the war graves in the cemetery, and a wander round the village plus nipping into the chippie for their epic cheesy chips! We decided on a drive to nearby Boston in the afternoon - found a budget priced car-park and explored the town a bit before finding a really nice pub to pass some time - I was driving and MrEH enjoyed the novelty of being able to have more than the one beer! We then headed back via another pub I've wanted to visit for ages - the Blue Bell just outside Coningsby. This is a pub that was well used by members of the RAF in wartime - it's absolutely full of memorabilia and there are old pennies wedged into the beams - they were left by airman ready to pay for their drinks on their next visit, but sadly they never returned, so the pennies were wedged into the beams and left. Very evocative.
Sunday was packing up, then we decided on a wander back at Coningsby again - a nice loop across to the castle and church at Tattershall, then back via the village where we grabbed lunch from the co-op before heading off to the RSPB reserve at Langford Lowfields, we'd been here before years ago but cut the visit short so it was nice to spend more time there this time round.
Budget wise, this week's food shopping has been super-low as there was no full "shopping trip" - I got a few essentials last night after work (mainly fruit) and MrEH popped in and got the balance this morning.
We've made the most of this afternoon's low priced electric with rolls being made, the DW & WM having run, and those mushrooms being prepped and roasted. Both electric and gas spends are currently on to be nice and low this month - we're not quite at £30 yet so the challenge is to see how little we can use in the remaining third of the month!
🎉 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 -
Spooky - I was literally just looking up 12v coolboxes…. and then read your post 😱 It appears that quality costs (and I can't imagine they are lightweight to hoik about, either).
Let me know if you come across that sweet point of VFM, reasonable/useful interior capacity and reasonable performance in an average temperature range…….
Greying X
Grocery Spend May 2026 £195.87/£200
Grocery spend April 2026 £199.95/£200 +5pence
Non-food spend May 2026 £58.44/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 5/12 - £5.98/£93.54 (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 -
Sounds like you had a great time. Glad the new tent has passed the test 🙂
I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping)3 -
That sounded like a very full on busy trip away. I think I’d need another break to get over it!
LTotal Debt Dec 07 £59875.83 Overdrafts £2900,New Debt Figure ZERO !!!!!!:j 08/06/2013
Lucielle's Daring Debt Free Journey
DFD Before we Die!!!! Long Haul Supporter #1244 -
We bought a 12v cool box from Halfords around 8 years ago. It cost c£50 and has been used a lot. It also has a switch to keep things hot which works surprisingly well.
The only thing I would check is whether your car 12v works when the engine is switched off. Our current vehicle doesn't, but we already had a Jackery, so plug it in there instead.
Mortgage Free November 2018
Early Retired June 20205 -
Sounds like a great break!
"Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee2 -
The hAlf0rds one came out best 'budget' buy in a tElegrAgh review of coolboxes that I was reading. Still around £50 too (currently on sale????) I think.
Greying X
Grocery Spend May 2026 £195.87/£200
Grocery spend April 2026 £199.95/£200 +5pence
Non-food spend May 2026 £58.44/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 5/12 - £5.98/£93.54 (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 Friends2 -
Good info on coolboxes there - thank you! I'm not sure about wanting it to stay runing with the engine off - I can see that being a swift way of getting a flat battery!
🎉 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/her1
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