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Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations

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Comments

  • Makingabobor2
    Makingabobor2 Posts: 4,358 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    Watty1 said:
    Lovely apple hints.  I shall add a larder to the list of wants in the next house.  One of those lovely old walk in ones with its own little window and shelves on each size and deep shelves at the back.

    If I am still here for apple harvest next year I hope my apples are abundant and healthy!
    That's what I want in our next home. Trouble is we are talking of downsizing, so not sure I'd find one in a smaller house. 
    Making the debt go down and savings go up

    LBM 2015 - debt £57K / Now £28,084....its going down

     Mortgage Free December 9th 2024! 
    18mths ahead of schedule.  Since 2022 we paid over £15K in OPs.

    Challenges

    EF #68  £750/£3000
    .

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    My debt free diary...https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6396218/we-will-get-this-debt-d£own-the-savings-up


  • foxgloves
    foxgloves Posts: 12,816 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Our lovely little walk-in pantry was converted by builders a few years ago from a very dank & unpromising understairs cupboard. It certainly makes much better use of the space.
    F
    2025's challenges: 1) To fill our 10 Savings Pots to their healthiest level ever
    2) To read 100 books (46/100) 3) The Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg

    "Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" (Soren Kirkegaard 1813-55)
  • Baileys_Babe
    Baileys_Babe Posts: 6,344 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    @Suffolk_lass thank you for such a detailed post on processing and storing apples.
    Fashion on a ration 2025 0/66 coupons spent
    79.5 coupons rolled over 4/75.5 coupons spent - using for secondhand purchases

    One
     income, home educating family 
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 24,682 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Although just a large cupboard style, not a walk-in, I do rather miss the larder we had at the flat. Annoyingly there would have been one in this house at one stage, but it’s clearly been ripped out at some stage and now it would be impossible to work out where it might even have been, as the old outer wall of the kitchen is no more thanks to the extension… it was great for storing all sorts of things though - and in the winter months was even good for things which wouldn’t fit in the fridge, for a short while. 

    I’m processing Toms by roasting and freezing as I get sufficient ripe ones for a batch - some with basil and/or garlic and some just with salt & pepper to give us a range of options of pasta sauce bases for the winter months. Annoyingly our tomato crop was far from what we hoped for the number of plants - I’ve barely had any weeks this year where I’ve been self-sufficient in the small ones I take to have alongside my lunch which is a shame. I think a mix of the fluctuating temperatures and lengthy dry spells - I’ve lost a lot to the fruit splitting from variable watering levels too - partly my fault and partly that they just seem to have been needing a lot more water than I’ve been able to keep up with this year! 
    🎉 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
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  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 10,458 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Definitely the same over here @EssexHebridean - the very high temperatures in the greenhouse (especially when Mr Sl forgot to open it when trusted to do so, then opened it and took the cloches off the seedlings in one go, plunging them from 40c to 10c in a matter of seconds - killed many seedlings). Anyway, onwards and upwards as Humdinger always says!

    I have bought some Bon-Bon seeds after seeing that the RHS trial of good eating winter squashes rated them highly. I already grow Crown Prince and Butternuts, and grew Guatemalan Blue Banana Squash for the first time this year. That will do us, with the planned courgettes again next year. Not sure today is ideal for planting bulbs but there is plenty I can do in my greenhouse, with a waste bag and some pots and compost. 

    The bees don't need anything else this month, but we will need to remove the feeders - Friday if the forecast really materialises to be 15c and sunny.

    We've just had our last planned weekend away with friends (approximately 45-60 minutes from each of us), we have done this for a few years now. So lovely to just play games and chill out in our motorhomes, over a glass of something lovely, and we had two lovely meals I did not cook - the best F&C ever for me on Friday (a takeaway) and Sunday lunch at a pub grub pub yesterday, before going our separate ways. Not too much clearing up but all the bedlinen (summer and winter duvet covers) need laundering and the duvets and pillows need to be stored indoors (we have an ottoman) and the new mattress needs a plastic cover, just in case the rooflight decides it needs to leak.

    So a bit of a pottering day today, and not all laundry as we have limited indoor drying space. Ooh, I can see patches of blue sky - I might use the washing machine if there is any solar energy being generated (the aga isn't on just yet)
    Save £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £10,020.92 out of £6000 after September
    OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £2234.63/£3000 or 74.49% of my annual spend so far (not going to be much of a Christmas at this rate as no spare after 9 months!
    I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
    My new diary is here
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