<<<out of cheese error>>>

Cheese n pickle for lunch. Still need to grate and freeze the rest and sort out the other two packets.

Savers value pickle (21p maybe) much improved by stirring through a sprinkle of chipotle chill flakes (MrM, 80p). I had been looking for a jar of chilli chutney but this is a far cheaper option. I should make my own but I cant stand the smell of chutney cooking.

Did the SIM card transfer thing so £20 a month reduction, and checked OH contract to see we can reduce that to SIM only next week.

BG increase letter reminded me turn the boiler down, but I am still having to add cold water to the bath so will turn it down another half notch and see what that does.

Thanks LT - the last thing I need is to add to the clutter mountain but its so easy to slip into yes but its a bargain mode. Only a bargain if we actually need it.

Back on 'don't know what to eat mode', but thankfully DS1 had a helpful opinion. He inspected the freezer list and said sausages and extra cheesy mash (yesterday), macaroni double cheese with bacon (today) and cheese, bacon and chicken pie (tomorrow), all with extra crispy bits, and no vegetables. I still have to cook it but at least somebody will be happy, although I will stand firm on the need for vegetables.

Given that we will have to submit three months bank statements when we try for the re-mortgage I really don't want every second entry to be the Co-op. Must plan, must not be distracted. Ooh shiney stuff...

I find it really hard to resist a 'bargain', early years on this site was both good and bad as I had time on my hands and could swoop on the many offers people found. When we changed our focus and spending became as issue I got a lot better at resisting things, although I still buy the odd thing to stash in the present drawer.

Things have changed a little - OH says change is afoot at work, so we need to do the remortgage sooner rather than later just in case as he will go back to consultancy if his contract ends as he enjoys that more which is fair enough. Anyway, by mutual agreement we have taken a gamble and used most of the emergency fund to pay the card off with a view to applying for the mortgage in a week or two when the card statements come through. I am not sure how I feel about this to be honest, I hate the fact that we now have no real emergency fund so I need to build that back up as a matter of urgency. On the positive side for the first time in 25 years I have no debt at all (if you counted the dormant student loan as debt) other than the enormous mortgage.

When we took the mortgage out it was at 90% LTV, and the remortgage would be around 60%, even based on a paper check that ignores all the work that has been done, and even with reducing the term by a few years to his retirement date we would knock £150 a month off what we are currently paying - the penalty for a Northern Rock mortgage that we haven't been able to move since. We were both working when we took it out, and the borrowing multipliers where higher then. There is a also a chance that we will want to sell up in five years when the boys finish school so I need to factor that in too. We live in this very flat area because of the jobs we both did 15 years ago, rather than any particular affection for it. I want hills and the sea

DS1 wants chicken pie for dinner, OH wants tapas (I foolishly left a recipe book out) and I am not sure the two are easily compatible. I am not working out today, but I do have tedious to do.

A fairly productive day despite my ankle still being wonky, running on it yesterday was probably foolish:

• More blackberries picked and frozen with a view to do doing one big batch of jelly.
• Four hours of tedious done, and the remittance advice for Junes work arrived so that should be in the bank in a few days
• One SBs voucher ordered
• Finally had some surveys on PA, after being stuck at 50p for weeks.

Dinner ended up being rice, lamb kofte kebabs, lentil dhal, and chicken madras (with the nice bits of the leftover chicken) for us, and chicken pie for DS1 with the scrappier bits going into a white sauce, and topped with some very reduced puff pastry from the freezer. Scraps leftover for soup tomorrow. I feel like the previous days leftovers keep rolling over at the minute. There's half a pack of puff pastry to use too - thinking either cinnamon swirls or sausage rolls. Plenty of sausages in the freezer still.

Read TOPMs diary which made me want biscuits. Had to cobble some oat biscuits together based on what we actually have in the cupboards, edible rather than amazing and the last of the out of date baking fat used up. Boys kindly saved me from myself and ate most of them.