the maccas Debt Free Diary - 20K to pay in 18 months

themaccas

Well according to my entry on 10th August, the plumber was meant to finish then but now it's the 16th and he hasn't been back. So although the house is 'finished' it hasn't got the water reconnected and the shower, shower door and kitchen sink still need to be completely fitted. After being given 3 different days and promises for completion, OH lost his rag a bit and had a go at the plumber last night. It seems he has a cash flow problem, we gave him around £1850 a few weeks ago to buy all the parts - toilets, bath, tiles, shwer, rubbish skip hire etc and he did use it for nearly all but didn't get the skip or shower, shower door or some essential fittings. We paid for the skip a few weeks ago and OH told him he would buy the shower and bits and put them in the house tomorrow so he could finish, we need to pay him around £1350 for his labour (which we haven't paid for yet) but on top of that £1850 we have spent another £400 for his 'cash flow'. That is going to come off his labour costs so when he DOES complete we'll pay him around £950. We are so angry about this and we are already concerned at some of the quality of fittings he is using so we have asked him to provide us with receipts for the stuff he has bought for us. On top of that our estate agent phoned and told us we they have arranged a viewing for a couple tomorrow which is fine except that the plumber (fingers crossed) will be there working and the house may be in a bit if a mess.

I just feel so frustrated at the situation and want it all rthis house business to be over. On a money front, we have had our second endowment cheque of £6779 which is more than we thought. I am not going to update our sig yet as we need some of this to pay for bits and pieces including putting some aside for removals in case we move back into the house. Hopefully when we have paid off all the residual interest on the credit cards we will know exactly where we are....can't wait for that:T

dreams_R_free

So sorry to hear about the plumber problem. You've come so far and then something like this happens right at the end.

I know the advice given by experts is never to pay anyone 'upfront' for work done but I know this is sometimes impossible when dealing with smaller local tradesmen. Still, the fixtures/fittings etc should be of the standard agreed by and paid for by you so if you aren't happy you shouldn't have to accept them. I'm sure he'll do his best to put things right if he thought he wouldn't get much of what money is outstanding because of you having to replace things yourselves. If he's got a cash-flow problem (join the club:rolleyes: ) I'd imagine he'd be bending over backwards to get things completed and receive his final payment.

I hate having jobs done by people. DH is a bit of a bodger but at least he shows up every day:rotfl:. But you had loads done so I expect you had to employ tradesmen for it.

Nearly there now:j . Good Luck:beer:

By the way, would it be worth seeing if you could put off the potential buyers from viewing for another few days if you are worried about them seeing the place with work still in progress? I don't imagine a few more days would matter in the long term.

P.S. Congratulations on the unexpectedly large endowment payment. You must be chuffed!

Verbatim

Bl**dy plumbers. I know the feeling.

On the plus side I'm glad your endowment has turned out better than expected. You really are "nearly there"!

themaccas

Yes, we're nearly at the finish post, I can't believe it!! I am willing the credit card bills to come through so I can pay them off! I paid off the barclaycard today of £4017.47 which was the creditcard advance for getting the work done. Debt sig now stands at I don't think the debt figure below is entirely accurate but it is around £483.53. There may be adjustments over the next couple of weeks but by the end of August I will know EXACTLY what the amount is.:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

As far as plumbers are concerned, he has finally completed all the work except fixing the shower because it has the wrong connections, all the other work has been done. We have given him another interim payment of £500 and will given him the last payment of £300 when the shower has been installed. he has *promised* us that it will be installed by Wednesday. We're going to the house tomorrow to check on the progress and turn the taps on. Here's hoping there aren't any leaks!!!

beanielou

Great news for you
I would be so so happy if that was me lol
The finish is in sight now.
Go girl go!

taxi73

WOW...nearly there...fantastic news!!!

Verbatim

Great! It's marvellous that this is now so close to being sorted.

But what about the quality of the fixtures you were concerned about? Don't ignore this as it will be impossible to correct later.

dreams_R_free

I agree with Verbatim about the fixtures.

If they are not what you paid for and expected then just don't give him his final payment until he sorts it. You have been more than accommodating of his 'cash-flow' problems and he should thank you by doing an excellent job.

Good luck with selling your home when you final 'get it back'.
Please let us know how it all goes.

Lellylion

Hi There....

I hope you don't mind me asking,:rolleyes: if so please just say so I won't take offence.

Where the heck did you manage to find £36000 in 20 months..... I have only just started on this financial dieting and I owe £55000 so I need all the help I can get....

I have read your diary, and it seems to jump from £36000 to £19000 very quickly and I just can't comprehend finding that much money so quickly...

Please help with any advice you have, your obviously very good at this

Thanks Helen

themaccas

Hi lellylion
I've just had to look back in my debt diary and realised I started it about 10 months into our debt clearing. WE started our debt clearing storming though the little debts and I was working loads of extra shifts in the first couple of months, I think I was earning an extra £500 per month so we managed to get our debt down by £1500-2000 per month in the first 3-4 months. Then I reclaimed my bank charges and in September we got back about £4500 and this made a massive difference, clearing our overdrafts and a bank loan. Without these we were able to snowball credit cards with nearly £1000 a month and it's amazing how quick the debt comes down with that amount. Ebay has also worked very, very well for us. OH had a loft full of outdoor/camping gear and that has proved a BIG money earner, he is down to the basics now and not too happy about it but buying that caused a lot of debt in the first place. This site though has been a god send, I usually look on here every day although I don't post daily and the inspiration I have recieved from other DFW'ers has been priceless.

There is no easy route to clearing debt though and it is HARD work, depressing at times and all too easy to slip back into old habits, we've fallen off the wagon a few times the worst was when I spent £1000 in a week earlier this year on crap including a personalised number plate. I constantly have to stop myself from spending and it's something I'll always need to curb. This debt clearing looks like it has just vanished in no time but we've paid a price as a family, I worked so many hours and not been around for the kids and although we've had a great holiday too it's time that we can't replace. The kids are so tired of tesco value crisps and biscuits that they are left uneaten in the cupboard so I don't buy any now - hey that's a good thing! SO the greatest gift when we've paid off our debts will be no extra shifts at work, in fact I might even reduce my current hours from 28 to 22, something I couldn't even contemplate a couple of years ago.