Spendy Wendy to Saver Savvy

foxgloves

Well I certainly don't. I prep the veg, bring a pan of water to the boil, turn it down, throw in the veg & leave it for 1 min. Then I quickly strain it & dunk the colander in cold water to cool it off & prevent further cooking. Then it just gets bagged & frozen.
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Spendywendywoo

Thank you so much @foxgloves, I’ll do just that. Thank you x 

Rhyddid2026

I think it's just to get it to cool quickly and stop cooking, so you could use cold water, or for extra cooling power you could use something deep (saucepan maybe?) and put a sealed packet of something frozen at the bottom to keep the water cold when the hot veg goes in.
My freezer gets quite full but I have sand and sterile soil (for pets) so I might try storing them that way.

Sarahwithlove

Just caught up, congrats on paying off your debt! Ive just downloaded the finch app as well. 

Spendywendywoo

Good morning!

Just checking in as I have been very quiet on here, though I have been lurking and checking out diaries, and other areas of MSE to aid this years meaty financial goals. I spent January resetting and though flu set me back a week, progress has been great so far.

Summary of goals for this year:

£2600 o/p on mortgage minimum in 2026 (£400 o/p as at today)

Why: Step closer to retirement

£26,000 in savings and sinking funds minimum in 2026, plus £3k that I carried over from 2025 (£5,100 total to date)

Why: Financially in control, gives us a cushion just in case

Read 26 books in 2026 (this currently stands at 2, one was read in a day and the last one was painful and took 3 weeks! Stubborn much?! New book started today).

Why: Reduce screen time, helps to relax, increase knowledge and self development

Other: lose 26lbs (currently at 3lb down on avg), 20,600 minutes of exercise (physical or meditation, works out at 59 mins a day avg, currently 25 minutes away from 2k), 2.6l water daily (currently massively failing this one and it needs more focus). I'm also aiming for a sleep score of 75+, which has been achieved every day except on in January and last night (34, it's going to be a long day).

Each day I have small goals that help me to work towards the main goals above, and for the first time ever it's working, I'm still invested in these even though it's now February. I've also started to journal and take 10 minutes out with a coffee in a morning to plan and reset, so every day is a fresh start.

My updates going forward will be on the above, focusing on the financial aspects but giving an insight into all. I'm hoping that by maintaining accountability here, like I did with my debt last year, that I can again achieve my goals.

I hope everyone is well,

Wendy x

Spendywendywoo

I've just updated my signature to current status and it is shocking to see that our mortgage in 12 months has only reduced £5k when we have paid £18,400 in payments and overpayments, I need this gone so I can focus on working towards an early retirement goal.

Budget is looking good this month but grocery shopping is extortionate atm. I've reflected on the last few weeks and can see we can make some changes - I already plan for the week, shop to a list, click and collect so I can see what I am spending and also getting cashback on purchases, where possible (started in January and have £4.46 pending already). I have now done an inventory so next week's shop will be accurate, and also use some of the food we have in the freezer/stores, and I will make sure that I have all ingredients so I am not tempted to go to the local small supermarket near us, which is very expensive compared to the larger supermarkets in the area (paying for convenience, I know).

I'm thinking of growing my own veg this year, I have a small metal greenhouse that I bought last year, I have some pots too so will need seeds and compost to get started, and will invest some time this week researching what is best to plant now and how to achieve the best results including where to store the greenhouse (complete novice here, nothing much grew last year but I am much more invested this year).

I'm tired today but so very much motivated to make sure I achieve what I set out to this year - last year showed me that anything really is possible when I set my mind to it :)

jwil

Welcome back! Good luck with the goals. Ouch to the mortgage, the early years are painful!

Rhyddid2026

I'd suggest growing your favourites or things you can't get in the shops. I grow lettuce leaves for the tortoise (very mse), tomatoes (because home grown taste better), strawberries because they're easy and taste better, and kohl rabi because I love it and don't see it in the shops. I also have perpetual cabbage growing all year around because it's easy and there's always something green to eat if I need it. I do grow a few other things but they tend to be whatever looks interesting or free seeds I'm given. I try to avoid anything difficult. You'll enjoy it more if you enjoy what you produce ☺️

Spendywendywoo

Thanks @jwil, I'd love to say it's the early years but I've had a mortgage for almost 20 years already (I bought my first house when I was young and 100% mortgages were a thing). If we'd stayed at that house we would be mortgage free now but, as with everything, we thought bigger and better was the way forward, not considering the long term cost implications of interest. Fast forward to 2025, the completion of a finance course, a LBM, and a strong community on here and I am much, much wiser. We currently have 27.5 years left on our mortgage and overpay each month but I know I need to review this, the % interest should be lower this time so once I have my 6 months EF saved (end of 2026, hopefully), we can then chuck as much to the mortgage as possible. The LTV will also be much better this time (somewhere around 55-58%. I need to look into the monthly cost and overpayment vs reducing the term but I have a few months to do this.

Thanks @Rhyddid2026, I was thinking cucumbers, strawberries, tomatoes and peppers as I eat a lot of them in my salads :). If not homegrown then I think I need to find a local greengrocer or farmer's market as supermarket salad isn't great atm. Thanks for the suggestions, always welcome :)

Suffolk_lass

I agree with @Rhyddid2026, about growing your own:

• stuff you love
• expensive stuff you can grow much cheaper
• stuff that tastes better (strawberries, carrots, tomatoes!)
• things you can't readily get
• plus potatoes as the first crop in a new plot to "clean" the soil and make it nice and crumbly -
  • Chillies are excellent grown in the greenhouse and frozen in a big bag (you will thank your future self as no spicy fingers!),
  • along with cucumbers (I grow mini-munch or mini crisp which are 10cm long and great for lunches
  • or Marketmore for a long family sized cucumber

I grow blackcurrants, gooseberries and raspberries, Oh yes, and a Victoria Plum in my stuff we love that is expensive or impossible to buy

Good luck with the new goals!