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And now we go again...
Comments
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Well done on the survey money and boo to the conversion! Do you have in mind what your new car is going to be?
L
Total 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 #1245 -
well the car may have bought itself at least a partial stay of execution as we finally seem to have had some financial good fortune in the shape of it getting through the MOT test with just a washer pump replacement prior, and no advisories at all- grand total £91 including the test! That actually feels like we’re finally getting a break! The emissions test was also clean as a whistle too so we will have a chat about longer term plans I think, although I suspect we may both be too wary of further issues to hang on to it.
MSE Stuff:- freezer audit done last night
- Partial meal plan done last night too
- Combined collecting MrEH’s car with going straight to Lil’s for the shopping first thing which gains me a big chunk of my morning, very useful!
- Collected my free birthday sweet treat from Lil’s - we will share that (chocolate hazelnut doughnut) with a cuppa this afternoon
- Collected my free birthday sweet treat from Gr399s too - a jammy heart biscuit which I will enjoy this evening while himself is out!
- Spotted the big packs of frozen king prawns in Lil’s - £12.99 for 1.25kg was just too good to turn away so one of those is added to the freezer - meant the spend ended up a little higher than I’d have liked but it was a genuine bargain so I’m not too worried.
- We have both been paid - money shuffle done
- surpus from the joint account shuffled to the car account where I am corralling the money ready for clearing the big repair bill off the Cashback card.
- Money also rounded up from elsewhere for that same purpose - there should be around £500 ready to go towards the repair ther which is basically 50%, and still accounts for my car insurance and both our breakdown cover policies being paid for too.
- Deposit for next year’s group Lundy trip sent to my friend who’s booked the accommodation - borrowed from the Christmas account for the time being.
🎉 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 -
Excellent car news - a nice change!! 😂 I am going to be inspired by your financial wrangling to get my own house in order too (well, bank account, let's not get too ambitious and include the house 😂). New credit card is up and running at least.
6 -
Do I remember you talking about small packets of wipes that you buy in Aldi or Lidl for when you go on holiday?
Good car news.I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.
Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** in ~~Japanese proverb. ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger.
One debt remaining. Home improvement loan. 13 months left.4 -
Aldi - yes. In the store near where I work they are by the tills - part of their baby range (Mamia?) though. Around 69p a pack and super-useful to just keep in a bag - I always have a pack in my camera bag for cleaning sun cream of hands before handling the camera!
🎉 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 -
Thank you.
I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.
Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** in ~~Japanese proverb. ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger.
One debt remaining. Home improvement loan. 13 months left.5 -
OK - decision made on the car - we will keep it for now but also stay alive to what is out there and available that might suit. In the meantime we use the existing one mostly as normal - we will still take mine to the Hebrides as planned and may shy away from using the Peugeot for any really lengthy trips, but other than that she can take her chances. If the problem reoccurs then we will work on the basis that she will end up with the people who buy any car and we will effectively lose the part ex value. We'll also be stashing money away where possible to bolster funds for the replacement as needed specifically rather than the more general saving into the long term pot we have been doing.
First mission will be to refill the EF pot from the earlier repair!
MSE Stuff:
- Mortgage payment has landed and we are now in the £84k's which feels FAR closer to the £80k barrier than 85 did!
- MrEH's Oyster has been fed this morning
- Another night's accommodation for next year's "Grand Tour of Scotland" (yes, I know, humour us!) has been booked and way under the price per night budget too, plus will include breakfast so hurrah for that. I'm hoping that the joint account will swallow that for the time being.
- Start of month payments have gone to all the pots - holiday fund in particular is now looking far more cheerful which is handy!
- Food is planned out for the week and we have also had a chat about options going forwards as well so I might dip in to getting next week's meal plan sorted.
- The bulk of the money that would usually go to the S&S ISA has gone to the Spanish bank's 8% reg saver instead - that might have to be the case for the next little while depending what happens with the building work - the builders have gone quiet on us which is very frustrating.
- Start of month OP made to the mortgage - with luck I may be able to shuffle another £100 from the OP pot once the CC cashback lands mid month.
- we both opted for personal spends to buy takeaway on Friday evening (MrEH had a rugby thing so we bought and ate separately) - however we also both had leftovers which got added into our tea on Saturday so that was a win!
Once the various bits of CC spending have gone from pending to the account I'll need to do some more shuffling - and should also then be able to get the car repair cleared back.
The garden is now starting to produce quite well - I have a fridge full of tromboncino squash, the first courgette has been picked and mostly eaten, and there is an ice-cream box of tomatoes in the fridge too! By the end of this week we should also have been able to pick our first aubergine, we hope - it's growing like the clappers. I think that one is earmarked for a roasted aubergine and tomato dip recipe I've found as that sounds really tasty.
With all the financial stuff that has been going on I confess I'm feeling a bit "adrift" at the moment - there are a lot of balls in the air! Hopefully not having to part with a chunk of money to replace a car immediately is a definite relief, although I would feel more comfortable if I knew what was going on with the building work - I've sent a chaser email but not heard back yet. They were originally looking at a date in a couple of weeks, so I am hoping that it is as simple as them just waiting to firm that up. I think I'll feel rather more under control with things once that wretched repair bill is cleared off to be honest.
🎉 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 -
Ooh - £50 from Ernie this month - thank you Ernie! 😁
MrEH has ordered an irrigation system for the garden…he's paid for that.
I have somewhat excitingly put a deposit down for a tattoo - I need to shuffle that to the card (appointment not until October which is a long while to get nervous about it!)
Small spend in Al's this morning to "pay" for the car park - a jar of their lovely pickled pink onions and a couple of sachets of rice & seeds after we were reminded yesterday evening how delicious those are!
Tea tonight will be couscous with assorted veg - some homegrown and some using up freezer oddments - plus halloumi.
£36 spend from Sunday (MrEH's shorts, my walking pole) needs sorting too - mustn't forget that.
🎉 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 -
Ooh, exciting on both the Ernie and tattoo fronts! I've not checked Ernie yet (not anticipating a fortune though, I havent won anything since we paid for the kitchen 4 years ago). And tattoo, exciting! I assume this is your first if you're a bit nervous? Have you drawn it yourself? 😃
5 -
It is indeed my first tattoo - and no, absolutely not, I know where my expertise lies and drawing is not that place! 🤣 I confess it was your little beaky tattoo that made me really start looking at it again though, then I found a chap who does lovely quirky stuff and he is coming up with a design for me - I’ve seen enough of his stuff to be confident that he’ll get the vibe I’m after so fingers crossed!
🎉 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
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