Living the Good Life - mortgage free and living in line with our values

debtfreeoneday

I agree with the simple lemon and sugar. All my lot we’re having choc spread, caramel syrup and there was me shaking my sugar and lemon juice on. 

Cheery_Daff

Lemon and sugar is my favourite too 🥰 although I had a spelt pancake yesterday at a friend's house with peanut butter on it and that was nice (not as nice as sugar and lemon though!)

Watty1

Lemon and sugar is surely the only choice (a child of the 70s here too).   i admit i do not really understand the other toppings

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Think pancakes may have been delayed again until tomorrow! Although now I'm reading about sugar and lemon and licking my lips!

Have some passata to use up, so a chilli is on the cards for this evening (beans and chickpeas have been soaking; will also use up half a tin of baked beans). Plus the part has arrived for the heating, so Mr MV will need to fix that and we're likely going for a drink (and the convoluted reason for this is money saving - WR appear to be selling something on my supermarket delivery for 25% less - need to check if that's right tonight and buy it, or leave it on the order arriving tomorrow - WR is in market town with the other tap room we occasionally go to (run by the former barman from our local one). It is, at least 'Cask Wednesday', so hopefully £3/pint). Seems unlikely we'll have time for a pancake after all of that.

Day has been spent on Cambridge stuff and been fairly productive - although expected work from main client hasn't materialised and may now not arrive until Tuesday.

We're visiting friends at the weekend and had thought we'd just be staying one night, but it appears that our hosts have planned an itinerary for two nights, which is lovely! BIL and SIL have confirmed they'll be able to pop in to see the cats on the Saturday evening, so we're all set.

MS things:
* Clicks and HW
* No heating or hot water 😂 It's actually only first thing that's cold as the sun has been doing a great job of warming the house up - but I'll be glad when it's fixed tonight.

* Popped to allotment and spread a bag of compost and covered it up.
* Washing done using solar and dried on line

Gratitudes:
* Sunshine - and breakfast and lunch outside, although I don't think it's as warm as it was yesterday
* A good evening class last night - felt I was keeping up well
* A sense that Cambridge boss/friend and I are finally making some headway with stuff!

Have a good evening all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

I hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine over the weekend - wasn't it glorious! We were oop north and it was just as lovely there. We had a lovely weekend with our friends, their new baby and their puppy. And very little money was spent as they kindly cooked for us both nights - Mr MV bought a round in the pub and we bought lunch out yesterday (a pasty and ice cream) in Bakewell, plus £20's worth of electricity to get there and back. They are unlikely to come and stay with us (see baby and especially dog + our smaller house), but hopefully we'll be able to feed them sometime soon - they have family down here, so are frequently travelling past.

My work has been quiet today, but I've made good progress with Cambridge bits and also baked bread and granola. Popped to town too for more porridge oats (thanks for the recommendation QJ, they are very good oats) and a birthday card for Mr MV's niece, which needs to be sent tonight. Am expecting something to arrive from main client tomorrow, so it's good to get ahead with Cambridge stuff. And UK client has booked me for a rush job next Wednesday/Thursday, so that's something else to look forward to.

Have ordered a 'greenhouse'. It's definitely not really what I wanted (the ones with any height that were 4x2' all seemed to be lean-to types and mine will be up against a fence not a wall), but it is an improvement on what I had before and slightly bigger and less money than I'd saved, so it'll do.

MS things:
* A cheap weekend away
* PA surveys - have just had a blitz and earned a few ££s
* YLive survey
* S&S
* Clicks and HW done
* Tomato plants just beginning to show their proper leaves - they're now off the heat and in the dining room to get maximum sunshine. (In propagator still as it keeps the cats off them).

Gratitudes:
* A lovely time with friends and lots of baby cuddles
* Cats - I like dogs, but I couldn't live with one!
* Gorgeous weather and plenty of exercise (our friends are parkrunners -  both nearly at 250 runs, so obviously we had to go on Saturday. I intended to walk but ended up jogging quite a bit - in walking boots and jeans!)

Have a good evening all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Thank you flowers for our friends have been ordered - used a 25% off code for Bloom and Wild so that saved a decent amount. We took some wine, chocs and a small jar of hm marmalade with us - all of which we had in, so a considerable saving on paying for a hotel.

Have been looking for a butter dish for a while in CS and one popped up on Freegle this morning, so I've been to collect that. As I was arriving back from my walk, Dad arrived with a whole bunch of empty plastic milk bottles, which I will turn into slug barriers with some copper tape - this seemed to be the only thing that worked last year (I'd rather be gardening plastic-free, but it's tricky).

No R'ford delivery needed this week - have done a meal plan and am happy that we have enough in (will buy some bananas on Friday in WR (with voucher). Tonight we're having sweet potato and chickpea curry (all in the IP).

Got ahead yesterday with Cambridge reports which was nice. Am now working on something for main client - and he also sent me a rush job last night just as I was about to shut the computer. It's virtually unheard of to have a rush job from him, so I was happy to oblige.

MS things:
* News of the Nw £50
* RM CD survey - when complete, I'll have enough points to claim my £25 voucher, which as I'm 'resting' currently is definitely a win
* Clicks and HW done
* No R'ford needed and meal plan done
* Free butter dish and free exercise to collect it
* PA survey
* Sunshine = power. Washing done this morning and on line (although it has been lightly rained on since going out - hopefully will still come in drier than it went out)

Gratitudes:
* A cuppa and catch up with Dad
* Signs of life with my hyacinths
* Work arriving on schedule

Have a good afternoon all!

themadvix

Afternoon all,

Don't think I realised it had been quite so long since I last updated. It has been a very busy couple of weeks though - both in terms of work and social life! MIL and FIL's golden wedding celebrations last weekend went well and a good time was had by all (and too much alcohol consumed by some too! *ahem*). Breakfast the following day came from personal spends, but other than the costs of flowers and GF cake, which I had volunteered for, there were no costs on the day (hotel already having been paid for back in October). This weekend, despite having a horrible cold that meant I really wanted to be in bed, we were in London for a country music club night with friends on Friday, staying over for a immersive escape room type thing on the Saturday, both of which, despite the cold, were excellent. Spends were about what was expected - I had been saving my personal spending budget for this weekend, so it should all be fine (haven't done the maths yet). Ticket costs and very reasonable Travelodge (£60) were met from the fun fund.

Last week I had a rush job for UK client on top of other work - it was a big project, but we managed to get it done in a couple of days. This week, I've picked up a large job from the work platform - for a client there I've done work for previously - so that's keeping me busy (plus I'm expecting work from both main client and UK client as well as Cambridge stuff and cat sitting).

We've invited the mums, FIL and Sis for lunch next Sunday. Niece will be with her dad (apparently - this was also the plan last year and she ended up with us). So I need to sort a R'ford order for veg today/tomorrow. Meal plan is sorted for this week (loosely - and we've already deviated!).

We've finally planned our main holiday in detail (to Ireland) and will be booking it tonight - Ireland is apparently not cheap, but we're mixing a few (cheapish) hotel stays with two lots of camping, which is bringing the cost down.

In good financial news, Mr MV is to receive a substantial bonus at the end of the month - apparently he'd been enrolled in the bonus scheme at work (why it's not automatic, I don't know?!). In any case, it's a real boost and I think Mr MV is rather pleased. He's got his pay review coming up too, although I suspect that won't be as cheering.

He's also received the car insurance excess back from the accident last summer - so that has gone to the car fund.

MS things:
* Lots of seed sowing
* Meal plan
* A few surveys
* Reached payout on YLive (I might have mentioned this)

Gratitudes:
* Lovely time with friends and family over the past couple of weekends
* Sunshine - and warmth - needing to pack light, we both did without coats in London at the weekend and got away with it
* Signs of life in the garden

Have a lovely afternoon all!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, excellent news on the bonus! 😊 fingers crossed for the payrose too. Looks like you passed within hollering distance of us on your recent travels 😊

themadvix

We did Cheery and I always think of you as we pass! 😊

Cheery_Daff

Do pop in for a cuppa one day!