Moving into a new home! *update on last page*

neverdespairgirl

MatyMoo wrote: »

The two things I forgot were Teaspoons - great having everything to make a cuppa but no spoons for the coffee or sugar was a pain!*
* I only had knives and forks in my cutlery collection :rotfl:

You are clearly much more gentile than I am - fishing a tea bag out with a knife would cause me no pain (-:

MatyMoo

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

You are clearly much more gentile than I am - fishing a tea bag out with a knife would cause me no pain (-:

It was the sugar that was the problem :rotfl: I have asbestos fingers so could have used them

Mupette

I moved into my new build last may (2010).. things to point out for a new build.

no one will have your address on their database, so consider items may need to be delivered to your in laws address for a while.

utilities, on the day you move in take a meter reading and look after those readings, i called BG to say i had moved in, they said they were not supplying my gas.. infact for 6 months i could not find my supplier, until BG sent a very nasty letter to me about court...

thankfully i had my original meter readings and they accepted them..

don't decorate your new build for a good 6 months, let everything settle (infact i still havent decorated)

at some point next year you will have a letter from the HA telling you someone from the company who built the property will be doing an inspection to sign off (mine was feb, it is only just being done now) make a list of all the little issues and make sure the builders do them, bovis is mine, they have had to redo most of the ribbons on the wall/ceiling as they were badly done in the first place... all the cracks etc... had a lovely large crack in bedroom wall where the plasterboard was stood on before being put up and over time has shown it's self... all repaired now.

if you are entitled to... community care grant to cover things you really need, carpets (because if you do fall you are less likely to break bones than on the solid floor), netting/blinds/curtains to keep the heat in over winter

washing machine/dryer, do you use water more because of your illness.. speak with the water company (watersure) to make sure your bills are not a shock to you. Especially if you are metered and never had that before.

make sure you tell everyone you have gone, including dvla so when you get car tax reminder next year you will be able to do so..
supermartket club cards/nectar cards etc..

good luck, have fun and enjoy your new home and freedom :T

gratefulforhelp_2

What a lovely exciting time for you. :j

I would put the word out among my nearest and dearest in case they are getting rid of stuff that you could use.

I would also be trying not to spend any cash on anything as far as possible until I knew how I would live in the place and what would be useful/look good.

I might look at vista print website where you can get 100 postcards personalised with name, address and photo, for a few quid. If you're canny they could double as Christmas cards

barbiedoll

Re Muppette's post about the gas supplier. If you don't know who is your gas supplier, call Transco, they will be able to tell you. I had the same problem with BG when I moved into my house. :mad: (After receiving a huge bill and having several arguments with the extremely rude call centre staff, I finally got a refund.......for 15p! And yes, I did cash the cheque!! :rotfl::rotfl:)

If you're on a tight budget, have a look at boot fairs for crockery. I'm still using some of the plates from a dinner set that I got at a boot fair for £3, that was 15 years ago! Poundland are good for cleaning stuff, also for giant packs of teaspoons, wooden spoons, bowls, and cooking stuff that you don't use every day. Don't buy cheap knives, saucepans or food weighing scales, it's false economy. It's better to have one decent saucepan than 3 rubbish ones!

neverdespairgirl

I agree about the saucepans and knives - 2 decent ones of each is much better than cheap sets whcih have lots in.

LadyMorticia

MrsAtobe wrote: »

Congratulations on your new home!!!

No-one's mentioned the corkscrew/bottle opener yet... lol

If you have a TK Maxx near you, please try them for saucepans, I've seen Judge and Circulon pans in there recently. I appreciate that you have a lot of things to get in a short space of time, and you may not have money to spare, but I've recently bought some of the Circulon pans from there, and not only do they make washing up a nicer experience, but I've found that I use a lower setting to keep them simmering. Every little helps with the fuel bills .

Thank you.

Lol.:p

I know there's a TK Maxx around here somewhere, although not entirely sure of where so will have a google and see what I can find.:)

tankgirl1 wrote: »

Congrats again!

Thank you.

My big thing (having just moved into a new build!) was floor covering - the HA don't provide this - cost an arm and a leg to get bobby basic carpet put down - I managed to get a budgeting loan so I could pay up.

When I was in a HA property before, I had to pay for carpets etc as they pull up the carpets that previous tenants use.

Will need to get carpet though as I fall alot and carpet is softer than a hard floor!

The next big thing was curtain rails & curtains - Privacy!!

Best not forget those. Although, we're 1st floor so not as bad as ground.lol.

I am lucky, I already had the white goods - fridge freezer, washer & dryer, and had a telly and sky box too, although I no longer subscribe to sky as I'm just too skint! There was no ariel when we moved in, and it worked out cheaper to remove the sky dish from the old place and get it re-installed.

We have a TV as we have it in our room but we don't really have anything else apart from bedroom furniture because we live with family so we're going to need to budget for the important white goods.

Most of my stuff is either hand me downs, gifted from freecycle, or from a 2nd hand shop - and we just about have our brand spanking new home looking cosy!

Oh - BT told me it took them a min of 16 working days to get an engineer out to a new build - but the new build had to be registered first - something the builders have to do apparently....arrghhh! took forever!

I bought a dongle & topped up my mobile [/QUOTE]

I'm going to look at Freecycle and Freegle and I'm going to drag DH to Emmaus in Bristol as I used them before when I was in Cambs and they have some pretty decent stuff for a lot less.

LadyMorticia

Outer_Limits wrote: »

Congratulations again! :j:j

The rooms idea is good, plus I would consider basic activities.

Sleeping - you have a bed, which is a great plus You also need pillows, duvet, and bedlinen...

Bathing - you need a few towels.

Eating/drinking - cooker/fridge/kettle possibly microwave (basic ones are very cheap) cooking utensils, chopping board, sharp knife, plus pots/china/cutlery/tea towels - you might want to check out charity shops for possible bargains.

Cleaning - broom/dustpan&brush/bin, mop&bucket, duster, cloths or sponges and floor/bath/kitchen cleaner.

Laundry - A washing machine as laundrettes are so expensive and such hard work! But - where to dry stuff? Either a machine with built-in dryer, or some airers or indoor lines.

And somewhere to sit! Good idea to check sizes before choosing - also will it fit going up the stairs and through the door?

Thank you.

I'm going to write down everything people are saying soon.:)

I agree with the somewhere to sit thing. Don't want what happened to Ross in Friends to happen to us. :rotfl:

Mupette wrote: »

I moved into my new build last may (2010).. things to point out for a new build.

no one will have your address on their database, so consider items may need to be delivered to your in laws address for a while.

That's what I thought. My worry is with Income Support. We need to tell them our change of address but my worry is that any letters they send won't be delivered therefore leaving us without any money.

utilities, on the day you move in take a meter reading and look after those readings, i called BG to say i had moved in, they said they were not supplying my gas.. infact for 6 months i could not find my supplier, until BG sent a very nasty letter to me about court...

thankfully i had my original meter readings and they accepted them..

Thank you. Will do that.

don't decorate your new build for a good 6 months, let everything settle (infact i still havent decorated)

Thanks for the heads up.

at some point next year you will have a letter from the HA telling you someone from the company who built the property will be doing an inspection to sign off (mine was feb, it is only just being done now) make a list of all the little issues and make sure the builders do them, bovis is mine, they have had to redo most of the ribbons on the wall/ceiling as they were badly done in the first place... all the cracks etc... had a lovely large crack in bedroom wall where the plasterboard was stood on before being put up and over time has shown it's self... all repaired now.

Thank you for the heads up with that too. The company that actually built the homes my FIL works for. He's the company's planning manager for this area!

if you are entitled to... community care grant to cover things you really need, carpets (because if you do fall you are less likely to break bones than on the solid floor), netting/blinds/curtains to keep the heat in over winter

I was told that a CCG couldn't be granted for carpets because they're not deemed as a necessity.

I do fall alot though and I'm sure I cause myself less injury by falling in carpet rather than a hard floor.

washing machine/dryer, do you use water more because of your illness.. speak with the water company (watersure) to make sure your bills are not a shock to you. Especially if you are metered and never had that before.

Thank you.

make sure you tell everyone you have gone, including dvla so when you get car tax reminder next year you will be able to do so..
supermartket club cards/nectar cards etc..

good luck, have fun and enjoy your new home and freedom :T

Thank you. I'm going to make a list of all the people we need to tell.

LadyMorticia

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

What a lovely exciting time for you. :j

I would put the word out among my nearest and dearest in case they are getting rid of stuff that you could use.

I would also be trying not to spend any cash on anything as far as possible until I knew how I would live in the place and what would be useful/look good.

I might look at vista print website where you can get 100 postcards personalised with name, address and photo, for a few quid. If you're canny they could double as Christmas cards

Thank you.

barbiedoll wrote: »

Re Muppette's post about the gas supplier. If you don't know who is your gas supplier, call Transco, they will be able to tell you. I had the same problem with BG when I moved into my house. :mad: (After receiving a huge bill and having several arguments with the extremely rude call centre staff, I finally got a refund.......for 15p! And yes, I did cash the cheque!! :rotfl::rotfl:)

If you're on a tight budget, have a look at boot fairs for crockery. I'm still using some of the plates from a dinner set that I got at a boot fair for £3, that was 15 years ago! Poundland are good for cleaning stuff, also for giant packs of teaspoons, wooden spoons, bowls, and cooking stuff that you don't use every day. Don't buy cheap knives, saucepans or food weighing scales, it's false economy. It's better to have one decent saucepan than 3 rubbish ones!

Thank you for the help.

I'm going to make a list of everything people have posted soon.

All the help is very much appreciated.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

In a new build, you need to make sure the property exists on databases - it needs a postcode, for a start - check the Royal Mail website.

You will need a water rates account - go to the relevant company online and notify them.

You will need electric and gas accounts - contact them with the meter numbers and there could well already be a reading, as electricity would have been used in the process of building.

You will need;

Curtains/curtain poles or blinds. Privacy and warmth.

Flooring/carpeting (unless it's already included). A couple of rugs would be useful if you have hard flooring.

Lampshades.


Is there an oven and hob in there? They tend to be 'gifted' in new builds.

Pots, pans, cutlery and crockery. A halfway decent set of kitchen knives, a chopping board and sharp scissors. Good quality knives use less effort than bad ones. Will you be cooking veggies from scratch? If so, a good peeler will help.

A seat for the kitchen would be good, as you can sit down if you feel tired/weak/dizzy.

A mixing bowl or two.

Mugs and glasses.

A kettle, toaster and microwave.


Washing machine/drier (much less effort if you can fit one in than having to wait for DH to hang it out)

A table & chairs to eat at is nice, but not essential.

A fridge/freezer. The freezer bit will be really useful for when you don't feel well enough to faff around with shopping or cooking.

A cutlery organiser. Trust me, you won't want to be scrabbling around in a drawer for a teaspoon for long.


Washing up bowl.
Packet of washing sponges.
Washing up liquid.
Teatowels.

Ariel/Bold/whatever.
Clothes airer/washing line/linen bin/washing basket
Iron/ironing board (optional )

Loo cleaner. Your choice whether bleach or disinfectant or limescale remover.
Appropriate (ie, not dangerous if accidentally mixed with ^^^) bathroom/kitchen cleaner.
Polish, cloths and glass cleaner are optional. But it makes cleaning the bathroom mirror easier to use a cleaner (or white vinegar and water) - use newspaper or kitchen towel to polish off.

Two sets of plastic gloves - one for bathroom/loo/dirty jobs and one for washing up.
Vacuum cleaner. A lightweight one - and upright may be easier for you (no bending)
Lightweight broom.
Dustpan and brush on long handles.

Wastepaper basket in each room.
Kitchen bin (unless they've already fitted one in the cupboard)


Somewhere to cuddle up and watch telly with DH. He can sit on his amp if necessary when you aren't actively cuddling up!

A coffee table would be good, as there's less bending to pick up the remote/tea/whatever.

You might need to get an aerial fitted to watch telly, as they may have just run the cabling - but as they are flats, it's likely they have put an aerial up.

Something to sleep in.

Something to put your clothes in.

Towels.


A notepad and pencil for all the little things you notice and think 'I need that' or 'they need to come and fix that'.


You might need a stool for the shower/seat for the bath, grips to help turn the taps or oven controls.


I would also suggest a couple of extra fleecy blankets on the sofa, as you don't know how cold you are going to feel yet. But modern places are very warm.

A box file for storing everything to do with the flat and your finances.

A small toolkit - screwdrivers, pliers, tweezers, torch.
A small firstaid kit.

Sam!!!!!!!!!!



Don't think I've missed anything vital.


Did it all last year, so these are the things I remember most.