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And now we go again...
Comments
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I'm glad you've found an alternative to the all important lip balms SA!
It's roasting here. 28 degrees in the office, but the car said a whopping 42 when I moved it at lunchtime - and that was after I got moving, not while parked!
Small spends to declare in the shape of a 79p bag of croutons as "payment" for using Al's car park, and a £7.50 Salad Spinner (which is hopefully not a bird feeder!) from Arg05 - no idea why I didn't think of them for it before really.
Nice colleague has just made a cuppa and we've obviously had to have the very British debate about whether it actually does cool you down..!
We are eating a lot of couscous this week as it fits well with the minimal cooking vibe - when it's this hot all I want to eat is salad of some sort anyway! Tonight it will be with the hard boiled eggs MrEH prepped yesterday, and half a tin of salmon each I think - I still have one left from when Lil's were selling it on BOGOF regularly a while back.
Dishwasher will have to go through at some stage tonight or tomorrow so here's hoping for some more sensible electricity prices.
🎉 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/her5 -
Here we are at the start of another month.
- start of month mortgage OP has been made - and we're firmly into the £85k bracket. 🤩
- £250 transferred to the S&S ISA - that's still performing pretty well, although obviously the giant orange toddler in the US makes everything a bit uncertain!
- Final payments this month into both the Pr1nc1p@l1ty 6 month reg savers - I've done one already, but need to shuffle some money for the other.
- The new cashback CC from the Spanish bank has arrived and been pressed into use - MrEH has the card, I have it on my phone payment wallet and that will work fine until we can sort a second card. I intend to work the same as normal with that one and just clear it down as we go along.
- Money shuffling to the savings pots is dealt with - joint and personal.
- I still need to shift the surplus out of my spends account to my cah00t saver - I'm using that to set aside the money I need for my unexpected Lundy trip later in the year as I may as well have the 5% interest while it sits there!
- I know food spending was over budget last month, but there was a good deal of stocking up of various bits done which should reflect into lower spends this month. The garden should also start producing useful things now too, with any luck!
- I've already booked one train ticket for my Lundy travel and have got my travel from London to Barnstaple for £20.50 which is very decent indeed. Next task is to decide whether in fact I can book to come all the way back through to London on the evening we get back - it should just about be workable but I want MrEH to check the timings too. Getting stranded would be a pain! (And expensive!)
- I've seemingly been hit with £21 of stupid-tax for not realising that I had SM0L subscription items due to dispatch - that said, I am disappointed they have just gone ahead and prepped the order to send without any notice whatsoever - I would have expected an email a week or so out, but have had nothing. I'm letting it go - it is at least all items we will use and the stain remover would have been needed fairly soon anyway - and have set a reminder for the next due date to shift everything back another few months.
Plans for this month - not a huge amount, which feels quite nice once again!
- there will be a day out at some stage for part of MrEH's birthday present - he needs to confirm when he'd like to do that, it is a Hidden London tour
- He wants to organise a trip down to Devon at some stage
- I intend to head up to Duxford this Friday afternoon to see what is going on ahead of their big airshow this weekend - that will only cost me any food I buy there (maybe an icecream) as I have my membership for the entry cost.
- I've got an airshow at the end of the month - another of my favourite Shuttleworth shows!
- It's my birthday month!
Planned spendiness:
It might be a biggie as I may buy my new camera - we'll see! If I do, that is planned and budgeted for 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/her9 -
I think you'll enjoy the Isle of Wight - we go 3 or 4 times a year and find it interesting and relaxing. There are touristy things to do like Carisbrook Castle and Osborne House etc but there are also great free walks and places to visit and really good quality but not massively expensive places to eat. I'm now reaching out for our diary to see when we can squeeze in our next trip 🏝️.
5 -
Thanks BC - we've wanted to go for ages, and recently saw a YouTube vlogger we watch do a video from there and were reminded all over again!
🎉 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/her5 -
We like the Isle of Wight too. If you're a gin or rum drinker then a visit to the Mermaid gin distillery is worth a visit. You get to try 2 gins and 2 rums. We also had a drink in their bar but didn't buy any gin as is much more expensive than anything else we drink! We visit via bus so there's no worries about drinking and driving! It's on the No 8 bus route (assuming they haven't changed anything!)
5 -
Check you out in the 85k bracket! What you going to do when you've paid it all off?!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6466032/an-in-between-phase/p1
'aggressive safety shot' Ken Doherty3 -
We were really impressed with how good the public transport network was when we looked - it was that which made us think again about going over.
Final money shuffle to the 6 month regular saver was done earlier on - that will be the last payments to those too, and that will be it for the six month accounts for the time being at least as they aren't doing them at the moment. (Or indeed anything else within our interest rate thresholds). The other one of theirs that is live currently is fed straight from salary each month so that doesn't take any effort!
🎉 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/her5 -
Another week starts then - and another relatively quiet one for us I think.
I did go to Duxford as planned on Friday afternoon - nothing spent at all, took food with me and a big container of water too!
Assorted MSE bits:
- Energy bill came through and was suitably low - as I expected really, and hopefully the next couple of months will be much the same.
- requested a refund of £100 from the Octopods - we had that level of refund later in the year last year and the credit is at the same level as 12 months ago so we may as well have that back.
- Other train ticket for the Lundy trip got booked - Tiverton back to Paddington for £32 thanks to a bit of split ticketing.
- New cashback CC is being used for all routine spending now - and I am paying off every few days as I usually do with the CC.
- Requested a small increase in the credit Limit on that card to ensure that I will be able to use that when I come to buy the camera assuming that the camera place takes credit cards.
- Plums have been picked from local trees - turned into a batch of plum sauce on Saturday, and a batch of jam yesterday.
- negative electric through the day on Saturday also saw MrEH make two batches of rolls, and me roast a load of chicken thighs as well as making an orzo bake - that fed us (with some chicken bits added) yesterday and will probably sort out tomorrow night's tea as well. Tonight is going to be some form of salad I think.
- Lil's for shopping on Friday morning - a little over £40 spent, then another small shop in Als on Saturday for odds and ends. Also did a TGTG bag from Als on Thursday evening which turned out to be mostly coleslaw…not the best we've had, but the coleslaw was at least nice!
- Dishwasher ran through twice and WM 5 times on the negative electric too - another week where we start out with an empty laundry basket!
Spendiness:
- my car needed diesel - although the prices starting to drop off means just under £60 spent there, that would have been a lot more a few weeks back!
- Impulse spent £9.99 on a 2.5tog duvet in Als - our existing lightweight one is a 4.5 and the new one does feel a little cooler I think, so that's considered money well spent! The old one has been washed (on the free electric!) and is now tucked away ready for autumn
- I spent £5 on a bottle of wine (which was very much enjoyed on friday and Saturday evenings) and £3.99 on a yoga block - both from personal spends.
🎉 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/her8 -
MSE Stuff:
£50 shifted from my round-ups pot back to my spends account this morning, and then that plus another £50 of accrued surplus has been dispatched off to the account I am saving Lundy costs in. £600 there at the moment which covers the accommodation and the boat (eek - the boat, must book the boat!). I've already paid the train tickets from elsewhere, so that means I am now in to saving the spending money needed.
This week feels like one for very low effort food again - we had the other half of the orzo bake on monday with some of the chicken, yesterday was the usual couscous which only involved boiling a kettle then a few minutes with the frying pan for veg & halloumi. Tonight is chicken salad I think which works well as evening electric pricing is higher than ideal, plus the warmer weather is ramping up too.
Opened one of the Sant - And - Er 8% regular savers which will act as a replacement for the Welsh building society 6 month offerings which they no longer offer. My two 6 months ones both end next month so we'll transfer the money out to the "holding pot" ready to feed that new one. My N@t10nw1de one is also coming to an end but the proceeds of that will roll on to the new one.
Need to keep an eye on MrEH's expenses landing for a train ticket he bought the other week - once that happens the NW1de CC can be cleared off.
Spendiness:
- Needed to buy something in Al's yesterday as car park "payment" so opted for another jar of the pickled pink onions plus a pack of the travel sized handwipes which are so useful! £1.58 spent.
🎉 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/her8 -
Planned giant spendiness…. I've ordered the new camera! 😱
Bought a third party 5 year warranty alongside - at £99 it was a no brainer really although the place I bought from give 3 years as standard. delightfully the place I bought from also do take CCs so I'll be earning a teeny amount of cashback on the eyewatering cost. Ah well, it is planned and budgeted, and it is the very thing that my Aunt and Uncle would have loved to know I was spending some of "their" money on! Just got to wait patiently (yeah, as if!) for it to arrive 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/her10
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