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🌞 Happy Days in our Golden Years 🌞

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  • Jessy103
    Jessy103 Posts: 2,246 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Welcome back fortune! Was reading some diaries the other day and wondered how you and Mr F were getting on, so lovely to see you have a new diary x
    Mortgage Balance as of July 2025 £14,900.
    Starting Mortgage Balance (June 2019) £72,000.
    Aiming to be mortgage free by my 40th birthday, June 2026!
  • maggiem
    maggiem Posts: 1,943 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Belated welcome back, so lovely to ‘see’ you and hear you, Mr F and F-dawg are all well. We are now fully retired and enjoying it but some of the necessary shifts in thinking took a bit of time. Looking forward to reading how you manage that whilst living life to the full with all your artistic endeavours. 
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 95,620 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Lovely to see you. Happy shiny new diary. 
    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*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • doingitanyway
    doingitanyway Posts: 9,981 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Mortgage-free Glee!
    I was a regular lurker...nice to see you back posting. 
    If you have built castles in the air, your work should not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them

    Emergency fund 100/1000
    Buffer fund 0/100
    Debt Free (again) 25/072025
  • Fortune_Smiles
    Fortune_Smiles Posts: 5,114 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    maggiem said:
    Belated welcome back, so lovely to ‘see’ you and hear you, Mr F and F-dawg are all well. We are now fully retired and enjoying it but some of the necessary shifts in thinking took a bit of time. Looking forward to reading how you manage that whilst living life to the full with all your artistic endeavours. 
    Yes - shifts in thinking are definitely required here too but we will get there.
    beanielou said:
    Lovely to see you. Happy shiny new diary. 
    Hi Beanie.  Its lovely to see you too x

    I was a regular lurker...nice to see you back posting. 
    Nice to see you as well DIA.

    Fortune x

  • Fortune_Smiles
    Fortune_Smiles Posts: 5,114 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    And everything was going so well...

    I saw a friend at the party on Saturday who is a fitness instructor.  She asked about my shoulder and, when she heard that it was almost back to normal, she insisted I go to her Pilates class the next morning 😂  So I did.  I need to do more exercise and the class is held at my gym so helps to make my membership there good value.  Boy was I aching yesterday though.

    We had Courgette, Lemon & Ricotta Gnocchi for lunch with green beans and courgettes from the veg patch.  Both have been very productive this year.  Supper was just a baked potato with beans and cheese as I was so tired from the late night and the Pilates that I had to have a nanna nap in the afternoon - for 3 hours 😮

    And, as I'm a glutton for punishment, I went to my usual Zumba class yesterday morning so lunch was a quick cheese and tomato croissant before Mr F had to rush off to a meeting.  Supper was Cod Traybake with Green Beans and Crispy Capers (can you see a pattern forming 😂).

    I'd planned to do some sewing yesterday afternoon but had to spend the time dealing with bootroom issues.  We've been trying to get our bootroom installed since this time last year and, finally, the joiner has built the cabinetry.  However, he hasn't included things we wanted or addressed our outstanding queries before going ahead.  When I raised this with him he started gaslighting me saying that these things hadn't been discussed and that it's his policy never to do these things for his clients.  I had about four emails from him yesterday and they all contradicted each other and contained lies about what we'd discussed and agreed - despite me being able to give him written evidence to the contrary.  We've paid him £4k already so I suppose he thinks he has us over a barrel.  However, he wants 100% of the outstanding balance before installation and I'm not prepared to give him another penny as, if something's not right or goes wrong, I can't trust him now to do the right thing and put it right.  It could be throwing good money after bad.  Mr F and I talked about it and, after reflecting on it for a few hours, sent him a holding email saying that we're going to take advice before proceeding.  I think we have legal cover through our home insurance so I'll try there first but I suspect we'll have to go through the courts if we have any chance of getting our money back.  I'm not sure I could have him in my home after this.

    On the up side, I sent out an invoice from the company (it's going well and putting a little jam on our bread) and paid any company bills owing.

    Hope you're week is off to a better start.

    Fortune x

  • Cheery_Daff
    Cheery_Daff Posts: 17,185 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Sorry to hear about that Fortune! It's hard trusting people to come into your house isn't it. As you know, I am utterly rubbish at asking for what I want and would happily put up with shoddy workmanship if it meant not making a scene - you are always who I think of when I'm trying to be better! Good luck!
  • Fortune_Smiles
    Fortune_Smiles Posts: 5,114 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Sorry to hear about that Fortune! It's hard trusting people to come into your house isn't it. As you know, I am utterly rubbish at asking for what I want and would happily put up with shoddy workmanship if it meant not making a scene - you are always who I think of when I'm trying to be better! Good luck!
    Ugh.  It's just so boring and draining Cheery. We have a lovely weekend planned with a visit from the littlest Fortunate followed by a vist from another relative.  So I'm going to forget about it for the moment and review the situation after I finish having a lovely time.

    What makes me mad is, he probably behaves like this with everyone and gets away with it.

    Fortune x

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