Please help re flat deposit

Thanks everyone, we are still on a buzz too! Last night was the first time we were able to chill with some friends and not have this thing hanging over us. Like I said, it's strange coming on to MSE now just for 'regular' things like saving money and stuff!

I am pleased to let you know some other nice stuff:

- Our 4* hotel in Milan last month for Mr EL's birthday was completely free - I got the £551 refunded on Wednesday - result! This is due to the Hotelopia T&C's which state that once you have booked a hotel with them, if you find the same deal cheaper elsewhere, they will refund you double the difference. So, I found a site that had a difference of £275ish, making it £551 due back to me, which was the cost of the nights anyway..

- I now have pretty much 4/5 day weeks in terms of being a virtual PA -next week is 5 days, week after 4 etc etc - my aim is to work 18 working days a month and now I am hitting that. 16 days gives me my old wages net which is great, 18 days is fab and I still get the odd day off too - wahey! As much as poss we still want to keep topping up our ISA for an eventual purchase of our first home, but given current economy, we just top it up with what we can and we're waiting-and-seeing like every other first time buyer out there. Plus being self-employed I will have to have worked for 2 years before my earnings can count, whereas in a job it's only 3 months, that's so unfair. I know I can also self-certify what my income is, but we're going to see.

- We are thinking as you suggest that maybe we could do an e-book about all this, with links, info and stuff and maybe put it on E-bay for £0.99. What do you all think? I suppose we would e-mail the winner a book in PDF format when they had paid. I have never done that before so would need to look into it. We talked about it over dinner the other night, in that the thread has alot of info but hard for people to see the real nuggets in so many pages. It's really about helping people out as it's such a hard process unless you have some sort of starting point. We would give some of the money to charity too, perhaps Shelter as they help homeless find acommodation and they also advise on tenancy issues. My God, going through this entire thread would take me ages, but I suppose it's like researching a book so takes time and will be worth it in the end.

- I have £101 in cashback money from clicking sites which also motivates me alot - plan Xmas to be totally free!

I have my first e-stalker! Well Peter999, we were the ones looking petrified but resolute, in the opposite corner Wonder who she was talking to on the phone - perhaps what she said was meaning to convey that she was definately going to win? ie, 'I don't need to say much as it's in the bag'? Interesting though that she brought her chequebook and we did not - never entered our minds until we left the house at which point we felt it would be defeatist. Far more positive to not take it and expect the best!

Were you there before we went in or when we came out, or? (tries hard to remember anything from the waiting room, only remembers nerves)