Diary of a spendy cow

mooomin

This is a list to organise my thoughts. We have a lot of things needing fixed/updated in our house, and this'll help me think about what to prioritise...

• Kitchen. The whole thing needs replaced. This'll include units, cooked, fridge/freezer, repapering, replacing the flooring and probably some plastering work too.
• Shed. We need a garden shed to keep things in. We've started clearing space in the back garden, but need ideas about where to get one from, how to secure it and so on. Help Pippi! I have no idea how much they should cost and when a good time to buy would be.
• Ladder. At the moment, access to the loft is by balancing on a stepladder and hoping for the best. It's been noted on each boiler service that this isn't safe (true) so I think this is a matter of urgency.
• Bathroom. Ideally this needs replaced too as it's dated. I can live with it. It's the wonky tap and the dodgy loo-flush that annoy me
• Decorating. I want to get the two bedrooms and the hall redecorated. That'll likely be about £500 per room, less if we do some of the work ourselves.

I have no idea how much to budget for any of these things. We've lived in our flat for ten years and just not had the funds to do anything in the house until I got made redundant. My fear is that if we do up all the things that need doing, I'll spend all my savings cushion :eek:

My plan for the kitchen is to aim for 0% finance for it, probably from Ikea or similar.

All suggestions/ideas would be appreciated...

beanielou

Try Howdens for kitchen.
As you say a 0% card seems good.

Munchin

Hi Moomin

I ordered a new kitchen in January from B&Q and got it during their sale and with 1 year finance. I know everyone has their preferences but to me it is a great kitchen. I didn't need any electric equipment so with cupboards and new sink it cost £1900 and I saved money by getting relatives to sort out the plumbing and electrics. I only had to pay for some plastering £50 and £200 to cousin for installing. I know that some people pay lots more regarding fitting etc but if you have relatives with skills make use of them:D.

I also would like a new bathroom but will have to pay of the kitchen first.

mooomin

I went up and had a look at Homebase at lunchtime. They have 50% off units and I would be able to get a good amount of units for under £1100 by the look of it. I do need a new cooker as mine has been wonky for ages, and I want a new sink too, so think the labour costs would be a little more as I need the sink moved as well as everything else being done...

I'm keen to get it done though and it looks like Homebase might be able to get it done/fitted before Christmas which would be very good. It'd be nice to be able to do Christmas dinner in the oven and not the slow cooker :rotfl:

mooomin

Morning all

£5.40 received today from one of the shopping apps, so that's added to the food budget and we're back on £115 left for the rest of the month. Today it's chilli for dinner (made in the slow cooker) and other than that things are ticking along fine. Funds are squeaky, but that's nothing new!

Edit: £21.14 withdrawn from Topcashback this morning as some bingo signup finally became payable. That's going to be added to the spending money pot when it arrives I think...

girlatplay

mooomin wrote: »

Today it's chilli for dinner...

:jSame! I am really looking forward to it too. I had a portion for lunch the other day and it was ace!

rising_from_the_ashes

• Kitchen. The whole thing needs replaced. This'll include units, cooked, fridge/freezer, repapering, replacing the flooring and probably some plastering work too.

Ahhhhhh where is it ... got to be here somewhere ......

Ahhhhh there it is!;)

mooomin wrote: »

My plan for the kitchen is to aim for 0% finance for it, probably from Ikea or similar.

I've seen you swoon over the I*kea kitchens .....


It might be an idea to have a couple of places come out & draw up some plans - I know B&Q certainly used to do it

Gives you a good idea of what you can squeeze in / the amount of units etc you need (even if you then end up buying elsewhere)

mooomin

The guy from Homebase will be round next weekend with his tape measure

I've looked online at some of the new Ikea units and they're not doing it for me. All this high-gloss white looks like a lot of cleaning

mooomin

I rejoined WW this morning. I've been going again for a couple of weeks as I had put on a bit of weight (well, more than a bit really..) but was just paying my £5.50 weekly.

I got an email from them offering the first months pass for a tenner (A good saving) and have joined via TCB so should get £15 cashback too :money:

In other news, I'm £16 up on my most recent bingo signup and should get £21 cashback from that one on top of that. I know it's bad to do these, but occasionally I have a spare tenner, so if I come out on top from the bingo *and* get my cashback it's a win-win.

Ali-OK

I remember white units first time around :eek: and never again - you're spot on with the cleaning! Do you need new carcasses? If not it'd save a fair bit just having new doors/worktops?

For labour, try and find local tradesmen, I hear B&Q, Homebase etc all charge alot more for that than getting your own fitter in.

Another vote for not liking the new Adpoints - 1 or 2 ads at a time, refreshed a couple of times yesterday and got extra that way. Bonus points today..on 2 I'd already watched...deja vous :rotfl:

I'm going to use Tiger Sheds (online) for the corner shed - my nice neighbour has one from there and is very impressed with it. Keen prices and good quality. A few on offer at the moment too.

Snap on chilli tonight