Get a grip woman!

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  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,447
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    That is a nice big chunk off the mortgage. Any decision on when you and DH are retiring?
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts 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 and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 9,306
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    boxofpaws wrote: »
    I dream of being where you are :A

    Aww Paws, you will get there. You have the tools in your armoury and you are making great progress. The difference is that we are charging towards the end of our working lives and you are in the middle of yours. I really think you are better placed than us - you have time to go for FIRE (Financial Independence & Retire Early) if you keep going!
    Save £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000
    OS Grocery Challenge 2024 16.02% spent or £480.73/£3,000 annual
    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 Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman
  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 9,306
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    Ouch, that is painful for the lenses.

    I know, in layman's terms (my terms) I've had double cataract surgery (thanks to 25 years of intermittent high-dosage steroids to treat underlying lung problems) and my eyes have kept changing. The surgeon didn't expect my eyes to get worse in terms of how I see, not the cataracts, but they did, which means the stigmatism is cornea distortion, rather than lens (it would be - nothing is ever straightforward in this household!) - and they are still changing. Whatever they say, I have not got used to the side effects and can still see the edge of one lens all the time.

    The artificial lens they inserted is also going to need a follow-up procedure but I have asked to wait for that.

    At least I can safely drive. I might have left things but for the way my work relies on a Surface Pro as my on-the-move device. I kind of need to be able to see the small screen so have made the decision to keep a pair for my PC, some sunglasses and one pair of varifocals with the up-to-date prescription, and not do the other two pairs at the moment.
    Save £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000
    OS Grocery Challenge 2024 16.02% spent or £480.73/£3,000 annual
    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 Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman
  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 9,306
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    That is a nice big chunk off the mortgage. Any decision on when you and DH are retiring?

    I think it will be around Christmas for me. It is actually about not exposing myself to lurgy next winter on the commute as much as anything else. I don't want to sound frail or fragile but every chest infection I get ends up with pleurisy and sometimes pneumonia and that is not good. So not sitting opposite men (it is really, honestly, always men) sneezing snorting and spluttering with no handkerchief or tissues can only be good (on oh so many levels).

    DH will make the next academic year his last and end his FT role in July 2019 (September 1st so he gets paid for the holidays - why wouldn't you?). He might do a bit of local supply work to top up his spending money but will "retire" then, two months before he is 61
    Save £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000
    OS Grocery Challenge 2024 16.02% spent or £480.73/£3,000 annual
    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 Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,460
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    SL, I'm really pleased for you with those retirement dates, and totally with you on the not exposing yourself to winter lurgies on transport. But omigod, the lenses issue! That's a lot to deal with, as well as the underlying lung issues you're obviously just Getting On With.
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,447
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    I think that is sensible. I have to say that since I retired the only lurgy I seem to have caught is off my DGD or a New Years Eve celebration. Not commuting has made such a difference to my mood and health. If you have chest problems then I am sure retiring before the harsh winter next year would be beneficial. Will you have to carry on taking the mortgage into retirement or will you be able to clear it using S and S ISAs and a PCLS from your pension? Nice to have a date in mind.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts 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 and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 9,306
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    Took delivery of my glasses, complete with the new lenses yesterday. Also had my annual asthma check, BP, heart rate and weighed. All were better than last year. My resting heart rate was only 60 :eek: - normally 64-68 but maybe the half hour wait in the Dr's waiting room meant I had slowed to a halt!

    Anyway, I must remember to remind myself to set the appointment before the repeat prescriptions get blocked next year.

    DH will be shopping for us today (so this will keep our spends minimal) as I will be part of a small working party helping one of our local residents to get her house habitable. She lives alone and has a few health issues. None of us realised it was all going wrong behind her front door until she asked her neighbour for help to get her fire lit (she had no heating!) and after going in there he asked me to help - there are now six of us. Just for a couple of hours at this stage while my DH takes her shopping. Her Son is coming to go through paperwork. There is a sense of relief and embarrassment for the poor lady concerned.
    Save £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000
    OS Grocery Challenge 2024 16.02% spent or £480.73/£3,000 annual
    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 Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman
  • boxofpaws
    boxofpaws Posts: 753
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    So not sitting opposite men (it is really, honestly, always men) sneezing snorting and spluttering with no handkerchief or tissues can only be good (on oh so many levels).

    Seriously, there is nothing like traveling on public transport to remind you how truly disgusting some humans can be. GET A TISSUE
    Took delivery of my glasses, complete with the new lenses yesterday. Also had my annual asthma check, BP, heart rate and weighed. All were better than last year. My resting heart rate was only 60 :eek: - normally 64-68 but maybe the half hour wait in the Dr's waiting room meant I had slowed to a halt!

    Anyway, I must remember to remind myself to set the appointment before the repeat prescriptions get blocked next year.

    DH will be shopping for us today (so this will keep our spends minimal) as I will be part of a small working party helping one of our local residents to get her house habitable. She lives alone and has a few health issues. None of us realised it was all going wrong behind her front door until she asked her neighbour for help to get her fire lit (she had no heating!) and after going in there he asked me to help - there are now six of us. Just for a couple of hours at this stage while my DH takes her shopping. Her Son is coming to go through paperwork. There is a sense of relief and embarrassment for the poor lady concerned.

    60 is a great resting heart rate, well done. :T

    How lovely of you to help your neighbour like this. I’m sure you’ll make such a difference to her. You really are a good egg:A
    Debt Jan 2017 = £42k
    May 2022 = £15k
  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 9,306
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    Thanks Paws. Not really. Just part of living in a Village. I feel I should have noticed earlier.

    Re the Men on public transport thing, I used to hand out tissues, e.g.

    "Here, have a tissue!"
    "No, it's all right"
    "No, really, it really isn't all right. I insist!" (thrusts tissue into their hand like their Mother in absentia)
    (grudgingly takes it).

    I have also been known to look pointedly at their trouser leg where, in full view of the carriage they think they secretly wiped the snot off their hand. Or worse still, the seat.... :eek:

    Oh dear, I may have turned into Hyacinth Bouquet...
    Save £12k in 2024 - #2 target is £5000
    OS Grocery Challenge 2024 16.02% spent or £480.73/£3,000 annual
    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 Debt Free Diary Get a grip Woman
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,460
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    Yikes to the guys on public transport. I have to say, when I use trains or buses, I take account of where other people are sitting, so no one can do that to me .... oops.

    And it *is* lovely of you (all of you!) to help your neighbour. There are few places where that would happen. Lots of good karma there for all concerned, including the lady who needs the help.
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
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