Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

never_too_old

I think its the way life goes,you can never stick to the orignal plan.
My life is a bit like a roller coaster.It now turns out that both DD'S passports have expired.Eldest DD definately wont be able to afford to renew hers.Her spa day is booked and paid for by her boss so dont think its a fair option to ask her.Youngest daughter is going to try and talk to her dad. Option 1 ,DD and her dad go( i miss out but im a big girl i can take it) option 2 i go with youngest DD option 3 i go with OH but he would be told i want to go to the louvre,eiffel tower and grab a baguette not sit in bars and restaurants for hours,sites to be seen and definately no moaning.I will let them make the decision.
I have also found out because of where i live it would be Eurostar we went on.:D

newgirly

I hope you manage to sort it all out nto, if its too tricky though I can help out by coming along instead, just as a favour to stop any arguments of course!:rotfl:

newgirly

Its been a quiet week, my friend had a "jamie at home " party last night, so I ended up buying a glass drinks bottle for £15. Its nice stuff but I tend to look out for retro china from bootsales/charity shops so don't really buy things like that normally, its so expensive.

I had a good find this morning in a charity shop one of those huge beige old fashioned mixing bowls, I paid just £3 for it, and strangely I'd seen one in another cs up the road 5 mins before exactly the same for £15.

Dh's football bbq has been a bit of a blow out. Only one of his work friends/ staff has got back and said they will come. I think he's disappointed, but although they have all got on well for many years things change when you end up being the boss, it does'nt help cutting the wages when times are tough either.

Its difficult, but he pulls his weight and then some, yesterday started at 5am, home at 8pm and back again this morning at 3am for another full day and late finish, all extra hours unpaid of course.

Yesterday I read the meters and tried to work out how much I am spending and if I've done it right we have dropped usage to around £3.40 a day which seems very good for us, they had put the dd up to £163pm , but I've reduced it online to £148 until we have paid the extra we owe. That gives me an extra £15 a month in so my budget has gone up to £300 now, plus some extra if I earn it.

DD has been asked to 2x pay for your own meal birthdays this weekend, but I think will only do one. This seems to be the done thing now, she gets invites with "please bring £15" , even one request for money for a pizza delivery for a party at home, where the girl lives in a 7 bedroom house with pool etc. I find the whole thing a bit bizarre really.
If you can't afford it then bake a cake buy a few £1 pizzas from iceland and have a dvd night in with your mates. Plus there is still the cost of presents and often its fancy dress too.

It has'nt happened with the twins yet, so I'm not sure if its just a girl thing or their age.

pink_poppy

I have my Mum's old beige mixing bowl ~ brings back happy childhood memories

I've never come across the 'pay for your own meal' birthday invites & I hope I never do!! There's enough to fork out for with pressie etc. I would do as you said & do a cheap & cheerful DIY version for my DDs if things were a bit tight financially.

newgirly

I have been very naughty today and we went driving around looking at houses that were on rightmove. We ended up going to two new housing estates with 4 bed town houses all perfectly finished and kitted out. They were £250k and £230k.
The houses had fantastic big bedrooms and lots of bathrooms and ensuites, however the area was awful, the estate was tiny and squashed together with no front garden or parking nearby, literally opposite industrial factories pumping out smoke from the giant chimneys.

Apart from the waste of petrol I think it was a very good idea to go. Now I feel like for a similar price we can't get better than our house in our nice area.

Problem is the house is very unloved and tatty, the kitchen still has rotten plaster from the bathroom leak and holes in the ceiling.

I'm now wondering if we should spend a bit on the house? Cath mentioned a few posts back that this is what they have been doing as she felt the same way. We have a huge through lounge with a conservatory on the end but we only live in the front half usually, it would be possible chop the room in half and knock through to the kitchen to make a big kitchen / diner with a conservatory joined on. I don't know. Would it cure my rightmove addiction, and will I ever pay off this mortgage?:D

katsu

Hi newgirly, I've been getting some builder quotes and looking to use my OP savings towards them instead this year. I think sometimes you have to make yourself happy along the way to being MF - that is my justification anyway

Peonie

Ooo, I wish I could see a floor plan of everyone's houses and what they look like inside. I think you have to enjoy living in your house. We've just come back off holiday where we stayed in a nicely finished house. It's spurred me onto do some work on mine.

newgirly

Shh katsu, I don't need any encouragement to spend at the moment!

Peonie you are so right, I would love to see everyones homes on the mfw board, but I am very nosey.;) I hope you had a nice relaxing break and are doing ok x

Today dh has just taken the twins to a boot sale but it is raining here so will be shut I should think. I now have my parents over for a meal tonight to watch england, so need to buy food as everyone eats something different so we need a selection.

I'm going to go to BQ to get a plug socket this morning, but will no doubt end up looking at the kitchens.:o We currently have one of their off the shelf cheapy ones we put in about 10 yrs ago and it has been ok, so although I would love a handmade painted wood kitchen I think a basic one would do ok.

A quick question, has anyone ever had a wall knocked through to another room and made good? and/or a kitchen fitted, as dh wants to get a quote but if its way out of our budget I don't want ot waste thier time.

greent

I'd love to see everyone's homes, too! And I'm always amazed at the price differentials around the country...

We knocked out our utility room in Oct 2006 to make one large kitchen (it's now around the size of a good sized double garage) We also took out the patio doors from the kitchen and replaced with just a window (there's a back door from the kitchen, large patio doors from the lounge and French doors from the dining room - we figured we could lose a back entrance! :rotfl: We needed a beam putting in to ensure there was enough support for the upper floors :eek: All the works and new appliances (American style f/f, fully integrated dw, fully integrated washer-dryer, large range oven) and our hand built, real wood (maple) (as opposed to laminate stuff) units. granite worktops (and think that one run of granite goes the whole length of appx 23ft - and then there's more elsewhere in the kitchen), stupidly expensive porcelain floor and wall tiles cost was about £20k!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: (we were originally planning just a tart up of the previous kitchen at about £1500-£2k cost....

And it's this kitchen that my husband wants to get rid of and have a new one fitted this year....:shocked::shocked::mad:

On a more realistic note, we had a kitchen fitted in our old house (again a large-ish kitchen) and all done (inc new appliances) for around £5k

We fitted a kitchen in my m-i-l's place (galley style) not including any appliances for just under £1k

newgirly

Thanks greent, I think dh would have to do lots of the work (not wall removing!) himself which would be very stressful. In my opinion its not really worth speding tens of thousands on this house as we might want to move in the future.

I can't believe your OH wants to re-do your lovely kitchen :eek: When we went to BQ yesterday it was clear we have very different ideas on style , however as I do the cooking and washing up I should get more of a say.:D

Today after a bit of a rubbish weekend, I am going to a spa with my best friend. Her hubby got it for her birthday a few months ago, I am having a massage, manicure and facial followed by lunch then lounging round the pool :dance:
I never do anything like that so am very excited!

The money situation is dire at the moment, I've overspent and we even took the kids for a pub lunch on saturday, no idea how much is left for the next few weeks I shall have to go through it all later.