Back filling the big hole I dug with my credit card

PiggyBankShaker

Quick update from me too. Extra money making is on target this month so far, to keep to schedule we need to make at least £192 by the end of July. I have some gold to sell which I'm hoping will net us about £140. It feels like we're miles behind though because monet spending is catching up (but not overtaken - yet) the money making.

As AllThatStuff said, he collected the stove today and we'll have to hire a van this week to collect the parquet flooring (god only knows where we'll store the stuff!) But then that is all our newly made money gone. No money left over for stove installation. Could borrow it out of our (paltry) ISA and pay back as we raise more money, but ISA is doubling up as our emergency fund. Will have to mull on this one some more.

Really looking forward to the 10th when I get paycheck from my new job and expenses paid. At the moment its all destined for the credit card, but even so - I'm looking forward to putting it on there nonetheless.

Going to do some late night tidying, make the most of being in the mood.

Aesop

well done to both of you. You are still working on getting things done, despite being ill, heat, pollen, etc.

Great to hear you are being so positive about job front ATSIJS and PBS, well done for keeping going.:T

PiggyBankShaker

It doesn't rain but it pours eh? AllThatStuff has got my flu it would appear, DD has got an infected toe (very nasty) and is on two lots of antibiotics and DS has got exploding diarrhoea. Lucky Nurse PBS.

Rain is forecast for the rest of the week so scant little hope that we'll make any progress on teh back yard. Summer hols start in two weeks, and given that the back year project was originally brought forward to this year instead of next year to give the kids somewhere to play, I really really want to get it done in time for the end of term...

Stove is still in the back of the car as it is just too heavy for one person to lift on their own, but we have a mate coming tomorrow who'll be able to give AllThatStuff a lift with it. I hope the quote tomorrow is reasonable so that we can press ahead with the installation. FIngers crossed

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

I don't think I've got anything as bad as what PBS had last week. I just think I've been caught up by overdoing it over the last week or so. In retrospect, finishing a busy week by doing 7 hours of solid driving straight of the back of just 5 hours sleep was probably not my wisest ever move. The wonderful PBS has kindly taken the two DC up to her parents and left me in peace. This time has been used for a strategic mix of sleeping, watching telly and eating ice cream - all of which has helped me recover to a far better state. Hopefully I will be sufficiently energised in the morning to lift the stove out of the car when I have assistance.

I'd love to think we could get the back yard sorted in the next two weeks but I think it may take a little longer than that. Right now I'm just frustrated that it's stuck in a completely unsafe zone. If I could just get it safe then I'd feel a lot better about it not being finished. Hopefully at some point fairly soon we will manage to acquire that magical combination of health, available time and tolerable weather...

Right. Now I have energy to stay awake but not to move I think it's time to get cracking on job applications

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

Mixed news this evening. On the up side I've got a job interview on Friday. On the downside I've overdone it today and I'm feeling rough again. Will post more tomorrow when (hopefully) I'll be feeling better again.

PiggyBankShaker

Gosh, where to start? AllThatStuff is illl, he doesn't listen to me and now he's paying the piper. In bed all evening, couldn't even face any dinner.

Stove guy came to quote, even MORE expensive than the other quote. AllThatStuff says 'be patient' - I am frickin' patient, TWO years I've been waiting! I'm demoralised, no hiding it. Only the fact that we won't actually be lighting the thing for 3 / 4 months is keeping me from doing something rash. I hate that our house is full of unfinished projects. The only one that's done is the bathroom and 1. We didn't do it and 2. It needs flippin' touching up already!

What needs doing...
Hallway / stairs / landing need painting
Floor for hallway
Glass wall needs finishing - half done
New stair carpet
Living room floor needs laying (in theory this project has now been commenced)
New skirting for living room
Stove installing
Horrible kitchen / living room divide needs sorting - how, I have no idea
Living door needs hanging
Kitchen wall has half paper on/ half paper off
Bedroom needs wallpaper stripping and walls painting - half done
DD room needs ceiling painting
Back yard needs finishing - a whole list of stuff on it's own right there
Garage needs sorting
[STRIKE]Guttering at front needs fixing[/STRIKE]
Paintwork by pavement bed touching up urgently
Roof on extension needs something doing to stop rain going down wall and making stain
Extension wall and back yard wall need painting

Depressing

Aesop

awww hun, so sorry

don't have a magic wand to wave otherwise I would. Can only send you good wishes and hope something happens to sort garden and stove.

PiggyBankShaker

Thanks Aesop. I don't really know where that rant came from to be honest. Things always seem worse in the night and then in the clear light of day they are a bit better I guess. I seem to be able to go along for ages rational knowing that we can't afford to do the improvemnet to the house, then all of a sudden it just gets too much for me and I feel almost claustrophobic and anxious and stressed.

AllThatStuff thinks he has worked out why Tax Credits are paying us mmore then we think they should be and its all down the the £10000 income disregard, so even though our income jumped last year, we are *in theory* getting the right amount of money. AllThatStuff, aka Captain Cautious (in a good way) says we can put it on my credit card - which is both great and scary.

I'm waiting for Barclaycard to pull their finger out and prepare issue last moths statement, which is due today but not yet available. I wanto to knwo how much interest they added, I like to make a pyment that exactly matches the interest amount so that the card balance is always either the same or going down. Its a psychological thing that AllThatStuff doesn't get but it makes sense to me.

Anyway, I'm starting work in 5 mins so I shoudl get off.

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

Both great and scary? Surely you mean both amazing and great?

AllThatStuffIsJustStuff

Whether it is great and scary or amazing and great I've done it. Well, I've held back £150 for cashflow in the joint account as I was already doing that, but I've just stuck the remaining £557.60 on to your Barclaycard. I don't know whether or not this means that PBS now doesn't have to make the interest value payment, or whether it in fact means she will have to make a different arbitrary payment to return the balance to a "nice round number". Either way, it means that when PBS gets paid in 4 days time we will be able to cross the halfway point of the BarclayCard debt and be very close to the halfway point of the total non-mortgage debts.

I share PBS's frustrations on the house front, not least because it's finally stopped raining and I don't have the energy to go outside and work in the yard. But then I am far more excited about paying off the debt and being able to spend money on the things we need without having to scrimp around. Not that I'm suggesting we are going to get all loose with money again once the decks are cleared, absolutely not. But I do look forward to when we can tot up our expenditure for the month and decide how much of the residual income to save and how much to spend on the house and things - rather than just handing it all over to Mr Barclaycard.