Becoming debt neutral - a long haul!!

Blackcats

Amazing progress on your DNF. I find that when I focus on being thoughtful with money I can both find ways of making money and saving money by not spending or spending sensibly.

leftatthetrafficlights

@KajiKita - I hadn't thought of that but yes, it is! 😁 it's also 4.44% of my overall target so I'm getting closer to the 5% mark with that too! 🙌

@Blackcats - thank you! 😁 It's going to be the largest payment in this journey as I had money to move around after taking my eye off the ball for the last 8 months but it's motivating to see a decent start 😉 I totally agree with you on being thoughtful with money 😁

No real news today on the money increasing front, but I have made 5 jars of damson jelly, 7 jars of damson and apple chutney and 2 jars (well, one big one and 2 little ones) of beetroot pickled in black garlic vinegar with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and nigella seeds. I'll keep the beetroot in the fridge as I'm not sure balsamic has a high enough acidity for long term storage at ambient temperatures 🤔 This will save me money on shop bought jam and chutney (although my sister often supplies me with these) but the best part is that it's all based on home grown produce. Damsons, apples and beetroot were garden to processing within minutes - no food miles there!

I've cleaned the house today - there's more to do in the kitchen and utility room which I'll do tomorrow- and I've made a start on sorting the greenhouse. I've harvested all the tomatoes from several plants and chopped the leaves and stems ready for them to be put in the hotbins. The more compost I can produce, the more economical my homegrown produce is - it's a never ending requirement for the garden!

I should have a few reward pennies coming in tomorrow so I'll update my figures then 😁

Lolina

Hi! I've just came upon your diary, it's really interesting and inspiring to see all those little 'rewards' add up in your DNF journey! I love that you celebrate solstice 😊and so great that you're looking after those four adorably destructive little furbabies! I'll be following your diary with interest… Really interested as well to know how you make your soy milk! Looking forward to hearing more about your journey :)

leftatthetrafficlights

Hi @Lolina and welcome! 😁 It's always the small things that make the biggest difference in the long run - they tend to change your mindset over time and reinforce frugal behaviours! 😉

Today I'm mainly relaxing and having a day of rest. I've pulled my back a little - just a twinge - but I don't want to risk damage so I'm minimising activity. I have already done my asana and meditation practices plus an hour in the greenhouse sorting/removing tomato plants. I am doing little and often as I am chopping the stems and leaves into the right size for the hotbins so it's very time consuming! It's also very relaxing and I am aware that these plants have provided me with lots of fruit throughout the season and now the time for them has ended, they will provide me with compost to grow more crops. All of that from one tiny seed and some soil. Being mindful of that amazing process has made what could be seen as a tedious task very enjoyable 😍

Anyway, £5.64 from prolific today plus 24p from rewards - straight to the DNF! 🙌

DNF chunk 3: £109.24/£1000

leftatthetrafficlights

I checked my opinium balance today - £25 to cash out (minimum amount) and £20 waiting to be built on! 🙌 I'll add the payout to the DNF once it clears 😁 I haven't done many surveys for a long time now so will make sure that I do as many as possible in future…

Today's dinner is going to be butter beans cooked with lemon and dill, mixed grains with fruit and seeds, salad with berries and some steamed beetroot 😋 everything from the garden or storecupboard and tastes just perfect! It really is my favourite meal I think - the flavours just work beautifully together and I can eat without feeling bloated or uncomfortable 😁

I managed to take down all the tomatoes and the plants in the greenhouse yesterday and dh took down the outside ones when he got home. I can't clean the greenhouse yet as we have a cucumber plant in there that is still going strong so I'll just clear the floor and pop some shelving against one of the sides so that I can start my winter salads and then, next month, some broad beans and sweet peas. Dh also sorted out the biggest hotbin last night (contents were transferred to one of the cold compost bins in the garden) and we're cleaning that out tonight and restarting it. I am on a composting mission at the moment! 😂

leftatthetrafficlights

@Lolina - sorry, I've just realised I didn't respond to your soya milk query! 🤦‍♀️ I have a soya milk maker - just whack in soaked beans, dates and water and it chops and cooks them - I used to do it by blending the soaked beans in water then cooking on the hob but the milk maker means I can leave it to it's own devices 😉 I make my own tofu so it was a worthwhile investment- can't remember how much it was but you can definitely get them for under £50 😁

Both the hotbins have been emptied, cleaned and restarted now - I've got a lot of shredding to do tomorrow to make sure we can keep feeding it!

I updated my budgets a couple of days ago as I changed my mind on the pressure canner and have ordered it (dh got an unexpected bonus from work) and I'm glad I did - since doing so, the price has gone up by over £100!! 😳 It's being delivered next weekend so I'll be spending a lot of next Sunday testing it out 😁

The DNF contribution over the last couple of days is looking very healthy (I'll add exact figures tomorrow) as most of dh's bonus has been added and my opinium money cleared 🙌

Not much else to add - I'm just pootling along and being mindful of my spending! 😉😁

leftatthetrafficlights

The pressure canner turned into a saga - first was 'lost in transit' so dh ordered one from his account and that got 'lost in transit' too!! 🙄🤦‍♀️ Very irritating but we have placed an order now with an alternative supplier and are expecting it's arrival in November 🤞

We've had quite a few expenses over the past few weeks - a few meals out, birthdays, seed and compost purchases etc - so not as much to the DNF as it could have been but that's okay - I know where we are and I'm happy with it. I did lose my grip for a while there but I've done what I can to get a clearer picture - it's not been my most accurate month! 🤦‍♀️ I'm going to be much more disciplined with recording stuff this month - now the majority of our big expenses for this year are paid, it will be simpler to keep track.

I've got lots of plans to simplify and reduce my expenditure over the next 12 months - mainly by starting to make more of my own household stuff, utilising my garden more and learning new preserving techniques; I'm looking forward to being able to put the savings into the DNF! 😁

As of today, I filled chunk 3 and am into chunk 4 🙌

DNF chunk 4: £37.36/£1000