A New House For Her , A Rugby Shirt For Me

maddiemay

Shropshire is lovely, not that I am biased:rotfl:, born and brought up here, moved away for 30+ years then we came back 3 years ago. We live in one of the foodie towns, I find it so easy to forget the meal plan and buy something lovely from our ace butchers, bakers and delis. Depending on where you are staying, lots of nice places to visit, we are close to Herefordshire and Welsh borders so even more choice. We are off to York in September, so fingers crossed for nice weather for us all:)

maggiecon

I have just read your diary from the start and just wanted to say well done on everything you have achieved. You should be really proud of yourself.


Enjoy your holiday, you deserve it.

andy1886

Well this time next week we will be off on our break to Shropshire . Everything planned in terms of where we are going and what we will be doing just need the weather to remain dry and pleasant .
Somebody at work pointed out that my reverse lights are not working so after googling it I have found out it is not bulbs but a switch which has broke and is not a major job . Booked in to garage tomorrow and quoted less than £50 so fingers crossed that is all it is . Car is due its mot late September hopefully all will be ok for that . After holiday and car bills in September attention will turn to that c word , again it will be done on a budget but hopefully I can afford to get a real tree this year I need to find out how to prepare for it and then look after it . Presents will be few and far between again this year so once more we will try to buy and make some nice food we don't eat the rest of the year . Anyway enough talk about Christmas , it is August bank holiday today , 4 months away yet . Turn my attention to thoughts of Ludlow , Shrewsbury and Ironbridge , country pubs and rolling countryside , that is more like it .

beanielou

Enjoy your break~you so deserve it.

andy1886

Well back from a brilliant week in Shropshire . Had a fantastic time in a beautiful part of the country . Budget wise I didn't spend as much as expected . Did loads of interesting things , ate food I would only treat myself to at christmas and feel fully revived and batteries recharged .
Now attention turns to paying the car bills . I need a new tyre before mot at the end of the month , tax is £145 and insurance will be for 6 months only as in April the cheapest policy was a multicar one . Hopefully I have enough to cover all of this , the reverse lights are ok now , £40 to fix .
Started Christmas shopping by buying 2 teddy bears for the grand kids from Build A Bear shop . We knew what we were buying so bought them with the holiday money left . Hopefully , we won't have too much to spend at Christmas , a real tree I hope this year and luxury , once a year , treat myself food .

beanielou

Glad you had a fab break

andy1886

Well I replaced my tyre and did something I thought I would never do , I bought a part worn one , the £20 price grabbed me and I saw it as a short term fix to get the car through the mot test . The car passed its mot but my exhaust has a small hole in it and needs a new part . Don't know the cost yet but first tax and insurance needs paying which is £250 . The exhaust can wait until next month when hopefully I will have enough cash left . So as summer leaves us the winter for me is getting on top of the car , having a nice , simple christmas with money being spent where needed but not wasted on unnecessary presents and other expenses .
Before christmas though we are due to move onto a new deal for the mortgage . this is where we have to seriously think about life post dmp . If we are going to move house then I think a short term fix to see the end of the dmp , do some home improvements and save up moving costs . If we are staying put then it will be a long term fix with interest rates going up soon , this would see the dmp end next year and I know what money we will have to save to do to this house what we want , and this is some list that I may write about once this decision has been made .
On the college front one twin is on the second year of his course and started it and settled in where as the other one had his chosen course cancelled due to lack of numbers , he doesnot want to do any other course but doesnot want to go on the dole or do an apprenticeship either . At the moment I am spending every day off speaking to various people and agencies to try and sort something out for him . Very time consuming and on top of the money and car issues , very stressful . Hopefully I can get it sorted on way or another very soon .

beanielou

Hope everything thing comes good really soon for your twin.
My DS was 21 this weekend!!!!!

andy1886

Dark nights are now well and truly with us , summer seems a distant memory and christmas is approaching quickly . I am off work the week after next . Plans are to get my exhaust fixed which is £145 which I have saved up . We have a meeting with the building society to switch on to a new deal . I think we will go on to a 5 year fixed deal which will see the end of the dmp and give time for my credit report to improve and plenty of time to see where the twins end up and this will decide whether we move at the end of that 5 years or stay where we are . It does mean that once the dmp finishes there will be a surplus of money to spend on replacing cars , doing home improvements and maybe a holiday or two . That is the 5 year plan , I will also get my haircut whilst off work which is one of those things that you need to plan being on a dmp due to the lack of funds , it will be great to just show up and get a haircut anytime once the dmp finishes . these are the funny little things that being on a dmp means you can't take for granted .
Lastly I will be trying to help one twin out with his future , he found mainstream college too much for him so I am speaking to doctors , education and benefit people to find out who can offer him the best support moving forward . This is very time consuming and lately on my days off I have been leaving messages for various agencies to speak to me but slowly I am getting somewhere . Other twin is struggling also but enjoying his course and vainly keeping at it , I know how it feels .
I suppose somewhere in the week I will have to turn thoughts to Christmas and plan food , presents , decorations etc . See what funds are left over to spend on it .

andy1886

Don't understand this but on the forum the last reply to my diary is on 28th September but on my threads I have done an entry on 7th November . I don't know how to repost this but will carry on and hope this is appearing out on the world wide web and not just for my eyes only .
I have a week off work this week and so far I have fixed my exhaust on the car which took 3 days and after initially being quoted £145 it went upto £180 due to unforseen circumstances and then down to £160 which is not too bad I suppose . We have been to the building society fixed a new 5 year deal saving me £40 a month and took out house and building contents with them as well . We have decided that for the next 5 years we will need to replace the cars , want and deserve a holiday or two , and have some serious work to do on the house . 5 years gives us ample time to sort out the twins and then once they have fledged we can sell and downsize , this would make bills , maintainance cheaper and leave us years to enjoy ourselves finally . We spoke to our mortgage advisor and in 5 years the dmp will be a distant memory and the credit file should be repaired and we should be ok to remortgage .
Speaking of the twins , one is still in the second year of his latest course and although struggling he is enjoying it . The other has dropped out finding a mainstream course too much for him so I am in the process of signing him up for any benefits and help he is entitled to so that he can find a job that suits his needs . It is harder for us because we have lost child benefit for him but it needs to be done .
Last job to do is fix the toilet overflow which I will attempt now although I am no diy'er so plumber could well be getting a call .
Hope this entry gets published ....