Move mortgage mountain project

Primrose

Enjoy your holiday break Julliff and don't fret too much about the office party. No doubt 2011 will soon bring many other distractions into everybodys' lives and it will soon be forgotten.

Time to wind down, have a few morning lie-ins, and ease back on your hectic life. Have a Happy and relaxed Christmas.

julliff

Well,

first post of New Year.

Thanks for your good wishes primrose, I did indeed have a relaxed Christmas and New Year, was soo nice to have some time off work.

Had an unexpected bill over the period as boy kitten hurt himself. Took him up to the vet, and it ended up costing me £170 to find out it was a "soft tissue2 injury, aka a bruise! I was holding off getting the pet insurance ubtil they had been "done", which only happened shortly before this! I will be sorting that out tonight, espaecially as the terrible twosome have started going outside for a bit now.

Booked flights for next years summer holiday.

So, I am really skint this month now. Have had no money cominmg in over Christmas, so I will be very happy when I get paid next Friday!

I am also feeling very chuffed with myself, as today I did my first ever "flat pack" I bought a new cupboard for the hall from John Lewis, and assembled it today - dd2 helped me. I know it seems a bit lame, but I only ever got to be the labourer and whipping boy for my X when we had such things before (he always got frustrated, and somehow it was always my fault. Glad those days a re over!).

However, failed miserably with changing tow bulbs on my car. I did try, and I have the bruises to show for it. It seems that the Mireva is a devil for this, as the engine is shished up so much in the car. So, trying to be MSE by doing it myself was not a good idea. Man at garage will be doing it tomorrow now! not quite self sufficient yet.


Oh well, Rome was not built in a day.

Primrose

Well, Julliff, with your holiday booked, you've got something to look forward to. Changing any bulb on a car seems to be a nightmare these days, which seems to need a motor engineering qualification at least.
Well done on assembling the flat pack. I think John Lewis probably insist on a higher standard of instructions than the old MFI used to. I bet you got all the instructions in English instead of Chinese, and that ALL the bits and screws were actually included !

MatyMoo

Well done on the flat packing, that really is a great achievement so don't do yourself down.

For future reference, I have found that if you go any buy the bulbs from the main dealer they will usually fit them for you for nothing. A colleague has had similar success at Halfords too

Brighton_belle

Hi Juliffe - it's great to hear you had a relaxing xmas - comes through in your post.
Congrats with the flat packing - it so satisfying when you manage these things isn't it. I've now graduated on to drilling holes in walls and putting shelves up: go me eh:D

As for car bulbs - our's are impossible to do yourself too - very frustrating. Even halfords can't do ours(those as above they do fit them when they can) and had to take it to a garage:mad:.

Keep up the good work!

julliff

Hi, and thank you all for the replies!

The flatpack was not too bad, they even included extra fixings - good old John Lewis.

Man from garage took pity on me. He collected my car from work, did both of the bulbs, checked tyres, water oil for me, and picked me up from work an brought me home! All for £5! That certainly restore my faith in garage mechanics!

Anyway, I can't see that I will be putting much money aside this month for OP's as I (like lots of others) have a whopping credit card bill to pay. I always pay it off each month, so I will be scraping together everything I can lay my hands on!

I have been toying with the idea of changing my Mortgage. HSBC have a new fee free tracker, that comes in at 2.49%. I am already with HSBC, so switching should be possible. The only thing is I have to pay an ERF, so I'm not sure that I will break even on it. Current Mortgage is 4.19% fixed until Feb 2012. Am I right in thinking there is a spreadsheet or calculator which will work it all out for you? Does anyone know?

DD1 has gone out looking at prom dresses today, hope she doesn't have too expesive taste! I've told her that I will pay half if her Dad does (seems fair to me).

BrightonBelle, well donne! you are way ahead of me in the diy stakes. I have had a drill "donated" to me, but thus far I have not had the courage to use it. Maybe I'll find some bits of old wood, and start practicing.

Primrose

julliff wrote: »

Man from garage took pity on me. He collected my car from work, did both of the bulbs, checked tyres, water oil for me, and picked me up from work an brought me home! All for £5! That certainly restore my faith in garage mechanics!

.

What a nice man! Sounds like it's worth some nice beer or some other small 'thank you' to him. I'm a great believer in showing appreciation to people who've helped you. It makes the world go round and he'll hopefully remember you next time you're in trouble.

vandanfc

Has she seen this one:

http://www.littlewoods.com/love-label-prom-dress/737995815.prd?browseToken=/b/1589,4294958775/s/price,1/r/100&cmsPage=lovelabelGallery&trail=4294958775-1589&prdToken=/p/prod6017046-sku9172590

or these:

http://www.bhs.co.uk/mall/departmentpage.cfm/bhsstore/217376/1/1

vandanfc

Fab garage guy. !!!

julliff

Hello

Yes, the garage man was really nice. I did take him some beer, and I also offered to put up some flyers for him at work (I work in a very large office).

vandsnfc - thanks for the links. Unfortunately (for me) DD1 has set her heart on a full lenght prom dress. She saw some in town,and they come up at about £300-400! Anyway, there is no way I can run to that, so I have looked online, and there seem to be some good deals. We both liked this:

http://www.dresssale.co.uk/buy-taffeta-sweetheart-neckline-with-halter-in-rouched-bodice-and-a-line-skirt-hot-sell-prom-dress-1588.html


Even if I have to get it altered, it would be loads cheaper.

Other stuff I have been doing:

Renewed home insurance. Renewal quote came out a lot higher than last year,so I went online and went with Swiftcover, saving £45, plus £32 cashback via quidco. Very pleased with that.

Have been looking at some pet insurance. Sainsburys come up quite reasonable. BUT, I need two policies, and the discount is only 5% for a second policy. There is a good cashback on quidco, so I have been wondering whether I could buy the policies seperately, say a week apart, and get two cashbacks? Not sure if that would work.

Mealplan:

Thurs: slowcooked beef with mash and swede (mash and swede courtesy of DD1's DT lesson).
Fri: Pan fried pork with cheesy pasta
Sat: Hmade fish & chips
Sun Roast Chicken
Mon: Risotto
Tues: slow cooked Gammon with new potatoes and veg
Weds: Tuna and pasta bake.

Kids went to their Dads last Sunday, and DD1 asked if I would still make dinner. I told her no,that her Dad can do them dinner. I felt a bit mean, but really, he is a parent too, and why should he not provide for them sometimes? I must be getting tougher! Lol.