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From Frugal Foundations to Fortified Family Future
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Glad LG having better days at school, long may it continue.Made it to mortgage free but what a muddle that became
In the event the proverbial hits the fan then co-habitees are better stashing their cash than being mortgage free !!3 -
Ha ha, dearest maggiem - that is priceless about your colleagues! 🤣 And you'll note that I consistently swerve doing anything 'complicated' like a sweater - I'm still getting tripped up by knitting baby blankets flat 🤣
Thank you Watty - it really does make a difference when LG has had an OK or good day at school - sad, but true, and worthy of appreciation.
Right, school run done. Just biding my time before going shopping, let the car defrost a bit and for the traffic to dissipate a little.
Greying XGrocery Spend January 2026 £85.84/£300
Non-food spend January 2026 £9.67/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 1/12 - £0/£1205 -
This purple stout from MrL?
£50.58 spent in MrL and MrS today on food and some alcohol. I was a bit surprised that it came to so much, but teabags and coffee had gone up in MrL. I did buy grapes in MrS, but as they were YS'd to £1.50, organic and cheaper than the conventional smartypriced grapes, I figured that was a win. Plus the fact that I actually got the scanner to work on a YS - it wouldn't zap that last time I tried.
Off to amend siggie.
Greying XGrocery Spend January 2026 £85.84/£300
Non-food spend January 2026 £9.67/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 1/12 - £0/£1204 -
Interesting - I too recalled it as a stout but clearly it isn't! Ah well - it's tasty enough, but probably won't quite do what you might want in a stew!🎉 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 -
Tsk! EH you're not advocating I "take one for the team" and ring-fence this bottle to 'personally taste test' prior to attempting cooking with it, are you??? 🤣😁🤪 BTW I know wild swumming isn't necessarily your jam, but had you seen the new series (it's on eyeplayer, but is beebeecee Scotland) featuring 'Miss Hoolie' (Balamory) and her hubster swimming? The series kicks off with them landing on the beach airstrip on Barra. You'll doubtless know the pilots, gate security, baggage reclaim, bird scarer and air traffic control staff 😁😉EssexHebridean said:Interesting - I too recalled it as a stout but clearly it isn't! Ah well - it's tasty enough, but probably won't quite do what you might want in a stew!
Wandered over to the PO and deposited the money out of the grocery budget into my bank account to cover the card-based MrS smartie shop. So that's all balanced again.
We have gorgeous sunlight here. I don't think it would have dried a load of washing, but gosh it's restorative to just soak it up. Grabbing small (free) pleasures where I can.
Greying XGrocery Spend January 2026 £85.84/£300
Non-food spend January 2026 £9.67/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 1/12 - £0/£1207 -
Ha - well I have landed there myself, and a mighty fine experience it is!
Sunlight? What's that? It's grey and murky down here!🎉 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 -
Good Afternoon MFW'rs
School issues again 🙄 Thankfully the teacher was on the spot this time, and saw the issue unfold. LG not at fault, but geez, there are some unkind (I'm being polite) kids around.......
I spent £5.90 on food and £3.78 on non-food in hB today. Will update siggie accordingly.
Washed LG's school tops, as whilst there is zero breeze to dry them, I'm at risk of getting behind with laundry. I popped the tops on the airer in front of the dehu for 2 hrs on 'laundry' setting. Not a cheap option, but then neither would be going to the launderette. I may end up having to do that anyway this weekend, with the forecast weather.
Tea will be pizza and either oven chips or wedges - I haven't decided yet (but appreciate having the choice).
TFiF.
Greying XGrocery Spend January 2026 £85.84/£300
Non-food spend January 2026 £9.67/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 1/12 - £0/£1205 -
Just this makes me smile xxxGreying_Pilgrim said:...Tea will be pizza and either oven chips or wedges - I haven't decided yet (but appreciate having the choice)...
Sending a loving cuddle to LG & hope the weekend will erase thoughts of what happened and be supplanted with happy ones!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 -
The teacher seems to have got this thankfully. Kids don't behave like this unless they see it. As they say they are not born bad. Their own lives must be quite awful if they think this sort of thing is acceptable. LG will go on to live a happy life but I doubt they will, unless they are very lucky.
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badmemory - you have hit the nail on the head. I was talking with a friend and listed the commonality between the perpetrators and literally the 1st commonality was 'deeply unhappy kids'. Yes, regrettably, their lives are rubbish, and there is an element of 'wot the parents do' to all this - along with society at large. Which doesn't lessen the impact any, but you can see where this all emanates from........ 🙄badmemory said:The teacher seems to have got this thankfully. Kids don't behave like this unless they see it. As they say they are not born bad. Their own lives must be quite awful if they think this sort of thing is acceptable. LG will go on to live a happy life but I doubt they will, unless they are very lucky.
Greying XGrocery Spend January 2026 £85.84/£300
Non-food spend January 2026 £9.67/£80
Bulk Fund 2026 Month 1/12 - £0/£1207
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