Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

I haven't been able to even read posts but I'm still subscribed and have a few minutes this morning, so I clicked on the link. Couldn't just read and run having read your roof post, Happy Now.

Gutted to hear you're going to have to borrow, but that's exactly the right decision and why we all need an emergency fund even when things are on an even keel. Good builders are really hard to come by, they're there now and willing to do the whole job properly. If you wasted money on a patch repair you'd have that amount of money needed hanging over you while you saved up for it, so either way it's got to be done and the amount won't get any lower by deferring it; it would be more expensive to patch it now and then have to undo that to repair it properly. Better by far to borrow the money now while interest rates are still very low than wait three years when who knows what state the economy will be in and then find you've got another even bigger bill to pay that you didn't see coming - Sod's Law.

In the meantime I've shocked myself today. We too have someone doing a bit of much needed work on the house and he was due at 10.00 this morning, but phoned last thing last night to say could be come at 8.30 instead. That threatened to kibosh all of my Good Intentions for this morning, so I shocked myself by getting up at 6.30 (unheard of) to walk the dog and then Do Actual Housework! Before breakfast! It's done, it looks better and I'm knackered. Shower next, when I've got my energy back, and then I'll do the shower room. After that I think I'll need a lie down in a darkened room.

Keep up the good work everyone!

HappyNow

Dolphin
I do think Portmeirion is worth the £12 daily fee, but it's such a lovely place that it's a shame not to treat it as a mini break and stay overnight. It's busy during the day, but in the evening when the crowds have gone you can really appreciate it. Even though it's called a village, no-one actually lives there. It was built as an architect's 'whimsy'. If this link works it will explain it better than me. If it doesn't, google it! https://portmeirion.wales/

Dolphin and Honey
Thanks to you both for reassuring me we're right to go ahead with the roof. I've been so obsessed with the debt for seven years now that I really didn't want to borrow again. But you are both completely correct, it would be crazy to pay for a short-term repair now, then just sit and wait for it to start leaking again.
Honey
Well done for getting up so early and not just sitting around drinking tea but doing Actual Housework. V impressive, and I hope the workman appreciated it and has made the house look Even Better. Just don't make a habit of those early mornings, they're terrible for the complexion.
Dolphin thanks for the suggestion but I don't think the builders would accept instalments, and to be honest I'd be embarrassed to ask - they're local, and I wouldn't want to meet them in Tesco knowing we owe them money. Plus they're really busy and probably have loads of customers who could just pay them outright. So I've checked all the options and applied to borrow the extra on Barclaycard, who are offering 0% until May 2021 for a 1.9% fee, which is the best available to us. I will update my signature as soon as it's approved and through

HappyNow

Apologies to Honey and Dolphin for the really TERRIBLE formatting above. I've been given a 'new' laptop (my dad's before he died, six years old but still younger than mine) and I haven't got the hang of it yet....

Dolphin1

HappyNow wrote: »

Dolphin thanks for the suggestion but I don't think the builders would accept instalments, and to be honest I'd be embarrassed to ask - they're local, and I wouldn't want to meet them in Tesco knowing we owe them money. Plus they're really busy and probably have loads of customers who could just pay them outright.

Yes, even as I typed it, I figured it would be a weird thing to do. Not sure what I was thinking really. I think it was on the off-chance that you might know them well. Sorry.


So I've checked all the options and applied to borrow the extra on Barclaycard, who are offering 0% until May 2021 for a 1.9% fee, which is the best available to us. I will update my signature as soon as it's approved and through

At least you won't be paying any interest and it will spread the cost.

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HappyNow

OK, so that's my signature updated to show our increased debt. Wot a bummer. But Mr H and I were discussing it last night (like THAT would have happened a few years ago ) and we agreed that, on the scale of things, this bit of extra debt really doesn't matter too much.

When we started this refurb we built in a few 'stop points', where we would end the work when we ran out of money. It might have taken three years, but this roofing job is the last of the work on the actual house - the house will be finished when the builder leaves!! There's still an awful lot to do outside - like a SERIOUS lot - but now I've calmed down a bit I'm thrilled that we've managed to get to where we're at and only add £3.5K to the debt. It just took a bit of adjusting to, adding debt after years of worrying about paying it off.

As for the other targets...... nothing to report

Dolphin1

HappyNow wrote: »

OK, so that's my signature updated to show our increased debt. Wot a bummer. But Mr H and I were discussing it last night (like THAT would have happened a few years ago ) and we agreed that, on the scale of things, this bit of extra debt really doesn't matter too much.

Look how far you have come since Dec 11, this little blip may shift your debt free day by a few months but at least you are heading in the right direction generally.

When we started this refurb we built in a few 'stop points', where we would end the work when we ran out of money. It might have taken three years, but this roofing job is the last of the work on the actual house - the house will be finished when the builder leaves!! There's still an awful lot to do outside - like a SERIOUS lot - but now I've calmed down a bit I'm thrilled that we've managed to get to where we're at and only add £3.5K to the debt. It just took a bit of adjusting to, adding debt after years of worrying about paying it off.

That's great that you have managed to finish the house. :j The outside will get done when it gets done without adding any more debt hopefully. It's not the right time of year to be doing outside work anyway. Take the time to enjoy what has been achieved in the house.

As for the other targets...... nothing to report

I'll be back on Monday with some targets. One of them will involve my back exercises because I am really suffering at the moment and I have been skipping my exercises despite the early warning signs that the pain has been getting worse.

HappyNow

Dolphin1 wrote: »

I'll be back on Monday with some targets. One of them will involve my back exercises because I am really suffering at the moment and I have been skipping my exercises despite the early warning signs that the pain has been getting worse.

Back pain is so debilitating, I get it myself sometime although it's not been too bad recently. I started taking daily joint capsules a couple of years ago. I've no idea if they really help but I daren't stop taking them now just in case! If you have exercises that help you should DEFINITELY keep them up.

It will be good to have you back, although I hope you've had a lovely and indulgent week with your o/h. I've been rubbish this last few days. I've not even kept records for most of it, but this is yesterdays:

1) Eat healthily, and end the month at 8st 7lb Only one sweet treat daily. Very big fail. I'll weigh myself tomorrow but the diet's been a bit naff so I doubt it will be good news.
2) Six glasses of water daily. I have tried with this one but I only managed four yesterday.
3) Spend at least seven and a half hours in bed each night without my phone. Well last night was amazing! I went to bed at half past eleven and didn't wake up until ten to nine. Fitbit gave me a score of 83 'good'. That's the first good in ages.
4) 10000 steps daily. Yesterday was 8885, but today I've done 19433! Most of it wasn't actual 'steps' - I've been gardening and it was giving me steps when it was only my hands moving, but still.....
5) Stop biting my nails. Hmmm. This is hard. One nail has either broken or I've nibbled it absent-mindedly but I just can't leave those thumbs alone. Or the skin.
6) Do something fun I am definitely a boring person! Watching telly and gardening are a good as it gets

HappyNow

I'm really struggling to keep to my targets. So, I'm changing them to ones with daily wins to keep life fresh. My new ones are:

1) Be Fabulous (nicked from the Health & Beauty board 'Frump to Fab' thread). Today I'm going to give myself a pedicure and colour my hair - the grey roots are shocking.
2) Be even more money-savvy Today I'm going to investigate a new perk from my employer. We can order prepayment cards for stores we shop at a lot, and when we top-up the card we get a % cashback which is held in a separate account until we draw it. I shop mostly at Tesco and the cashback there is 4%. I'll check out the details and if it's as good as it looks I will order a Tesco one. Yesterday I also signed up for Tesco's Clubcard Plus which will be excellent value for me, although not for everyone.
3) Be more Green I already try quite hard with this but could definitely do more. Today I'm focussing on birds. A couple of years ago I bought some bird feeders. They're right outside our window and I love watching them. Since we put the feeders up we have had LOADS of visitors, and different types that I've never seen before. But the downside is that the birdfeed costs a small fortune, plus they've probably come to rely on us, so if we were to move out or drop dead they'd struggle. So today I will research what plants I should be sourcing (or what ones I should be leaving unpruned etc) so they can have a natural food source and nest site. I'll still feed them though!

milann

Liking the new targets. Especially the bird one. Next door used to have a big bush near the fence. The sparrows sheltered in there and came to our table. I still put food out but the new neighbours chopped the bush down and we get very few birds now.
My targets are pretty much the same
3 NSDs
Use gym membership twice
Not gain weight
I want to make Christmas cakes this week

Dolphin1

HappyNow wrote: »

I'm really struggling to keep to my targets. So, I'm changing them to ones with daily wins to keep life fresh. My new ones are:

Sometimes you just have to shake things up a bit. There's no point trying to stick to targets that you are not in the frame of mind to achieve. (Although don't give up on those nails just yet, that target still ties in quite nicely with your first new target.)

1) Be Fabulous (nicked from the Health & Beauty board 'Frump to Fab' thread). Today I'm going to give myself a pedicure and colour my hair - the grey roots are shocking.

My hair colour is overdue. It is such a faff but I'm always pleased when it's done. It will definitely be done before my birthday at the end of next week then at least I might not look waaaay older than my actual age. (It may take more than the hair colour to achieve this.)

2) Be even more money-savvy Today I'm going to investigate a new perk from my employer. We can order prepayment cards for stores we shop at a lot, and when we top-up the card we get a % cashback which is held in a separate account until we draw it. I shop mostly at Tesco and the cashback there is 4%. I'll check out the details and if it's as good as it looks I will order a Tesco one. Yesterday I also signed up for Tesco's Clubcard Plus which will be excellent value for me, although not for everyone.

I would like to sign up to the Tesco Clubcard Plus thing because we also get most of our shopping from Tesco but it doesn't apply to online shops and physically I am not able to do 2 biggish shops a month in the store to make it worthwhile.

3) Be more Green I already try quite hard with this but could definitely do more. Today I'm focussing on birds. A couple of years ago I bought some bird feeders. They're right outside our window and I love watching them. Since we put the feeders up we have had LOADS of visitors, and different types that I've never seen before. But the downside is that the birdfeed costs a small fortune, plus they've probably come to rely on us, so if we were to move out or drop dead they'd struggle. So today I will research what plants I should be sourcing (or what ones I should be leaving unpruned etc) so they can have a natural food source and nest site. I'll still feed them though!

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