Second Time Lucky

amycool

Oh my, what a week!

Let's start with the negatives:

• Sinus infection - bleurgh
• Dust everywhere from the boiler installation, which has irritated my lungs
• Burst water pipe - cost £42 on top of the £2718 we were paying for the boiler
• Kitchen ceiling is ruined by the water
• Bath panel broken in trying to access the leak
• Yet more dust from the boilermen traipsed upstairs into every room so I couldn't sleep
• Rain has proven that the leak in the bedroom really can't wait

And some positives:

• Fancy new heating gadget is quite fun
• We have a working shower!!! No more having to share bath water.
• Getting a refund from the water people as they overcharged us
• Erm...that's about it.

Meter readings for the last 2 weeks (1 week away) were:
Electric - 30
Gas - 3
Water - 2


Not bad considering the boiler fit used a lot.


Raised bed news
It's slowly filling with bits and bobs from the garden. I trimmed the hedge back a bit but snipping it up for composting made a huge blood blister so I had to stop! Hopefully get that finished this weekend. Trying very hard to keep a nice mix of green and brown stuff.


Energy

Switch to new energy provider is underway. The downside is that they're charging way more each month (overestimating) by almost double. However, you get 3% interest on credit so I'm not as fussed.



Plans for October

• MUST get some quotes for the guttering and stop putting it off
• Strike action at work so losing a day's pay
• Buy a single bed
• Get some bedside tables
• Paint the lounge or dining room
• Keep working on garden - especially get hedge trimming finished and start digging front beds
• Buy some more Christmas presents

I'm hoping to move the desk into the back bedroom so we can make the boxroom a proper bedroom ready for my 3 year old nephew to stay over. Then just need to convince my sister to let him go!


To do this week

• Sew loose buttons back onto clothing
• Sort out conservatory pile of mess
• Clean metal shelves and put together in conservatory for seedlings in the new year
• Washing

That was a very listful post.:D

amycool

I am very much sick of having strangers round now but must keep going until everything is sorted.

Firstly, the boiler people forgot to fill out the Benchmark paperwork so they're going to arrange a time to come back and fill it in. I must double check that they've registered it with Gas Safe too. The pressure seems to be dropping so I'm hoping they'll check it over. Apparently the radiator valves were left unscrewed, which is odd. It sounds like they were in a hurry, which I'm not too pleased about (I wasn't there).

Secondly, we had the solar panel company round last night. Very draining! Why spend over an hour doing the whole spiel before even checking that the roof is suitable? Alarm bells rang when he said the founder of the business used to be in pharmaceuticals, then marketing, but heard that money could be made from solar. :shocked: Then he said that the new recruits might call as they don't know how to measure a roof. But the main problem was when he quoted us 12 panels for a ridiculous £14,000!!!! I already knew that the average quote is about £7000 so after that we started making the dinner so he would leave. A nice chap but how can you sleep at night knowing you're ripping people off? Anyway, it turns out we're not facing south enough to make it very viable and seeing as all of our electricity is green now (from OVO), we may as well leave the panels. We have so many other things to save for that must take priority.

Thirdly, I've had 2 guttering people round so far and another is coming tomorrow. The first was very informative and had a proper look for me. Annoyingly, it would appear to be fairly simple, which begs the question of why the roofer didn't spot it. The roofing felt is rotten and the gutters need replacing. Both companies suggested adding felt trays at the bottom and both seemed to think that the fascias are in good nick so no point ripping them out. Haven't had the quote back from the second chap yet. Both men seemed nice and not at all pushy so we'll see what the 3rd guy says and then make a decision. It will be so nice when it's done (assuming it works and stops the leak).

I have sewed on the buttons and done the washing (which got soaked in the rain) and also made a start at deep cleaning the old fridge ready to try to sell. So much mould! It's fairly clean now but I'll give it another clean with bleach at some point.

Got the new water bill - down from £36 to £19! Hooray! :T

OH just got paid so just the new gas and electric bill to come out and this week's food and then I'll know how much we can overpay. Assuming I haven't forgotten anything major, I'm hoping around £400, but we'll see. Not looking forward to the boiler money coming out! The account still looks fairly healthy though at the moment.

amycool

I'm feeling pretty fed up today with people not doing what they say they'll do or just doing a really rubbish job.

I seem to spend every day now chasing up tradespeople who have botched things up or forgotten to turn up.

Still waiting for the paperwork for the boiler and now noticed a few issues but my last 2 e-mails haven't had a reply. So annoying. They were great when we got the last boiler done at the old house.

I've decided on a guy to do the guttering as he was the only one who showed up and gave me a quote! Will be much more relaxed when it's all done.

Moans over.

amycool

The good news is that after looking at the spreadsheet I've been able to over pay the mortgage by

£450!

:j:T

Looking forward to seeing the outstanding balance in a day or two, plus October's payment.

I have a drawing of our house (got the idea from here) and there's a brick for every £1000. I think I'll be able to colour in another one now, but I'll wait for the official figure.

amycool

Money News

• In credit with BG by about £44 so hopefully that will appear without having to contact them
• 2nd mortgage payment came out and the interest seems higher than I had expected so I'm guessing it was for last month too
• Boiler money came out of the account so it's looking rather empty!

House news

• Got the boiler documents sorted this morning and they replaced a few leaky valves for free
• Guttering work has begun but he's far too laid back for my liking! Too much talking, very little work. Thankfully I'm not paying by the hour!

As of right now, my weekend has nothing written down in the diary, which is a first this year. It feels wonderful. Knowing me though, it'll fill up soon.

amycool

After failing to find anything at the antiques market I was a bit glum, but decided to at least buy some practical things.

Argos had a sale on so I got a single bed and a mattress, plus a few bits, and got free delivery (should have been £8.95).

I'm now trawling ebay for bedside cabinets and wishing my budget was 10 times higher.

Guttering is finished and looks nice. The wall still feels wet after rain though so I suspect this problem might continue for a while and eat a lot of money.

Got some free vegetables from the in-laws so just spent £22 on the weekly shop, even with a few treats for each of us.

Really need to get my act together and get some photos taken of stuff to sell as they'll probably start to go mouldy in the garage now it's getting cold.

amycool

I made a blunder. Totally forgot to bring the very close to dry washing in last night and awoke to it wetter than when it went out.

As a result (and also having people round today) I....put the heating on.

Not looking forward to my weekly meter readings on Thursday!

Wet patch news - it didn't seem to get any wetter in the rain so maybe, just maybe, we've fixed it and it just needs to dry out. Maybe.

in_need_of_direction

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Wet patch news

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

amycool

The latest on the "wet patch" - I think it's condensation! The ceiling doesn't seem to be getting any wetter whilst the wall continues to be wet even after having the dehumidifier on all week. There's a small vent in the kitchen near the bottom of the chimney stack but no vent upstairs and now we've capped the top the vapour has nowhere to go. So I'm thinking we need to put a big vent in and see what happens. If nothing else, putting a vent where the worst of the wet is will mean the wall is less wet. :rotfl:

Eventually we'll have to replaster the whole room.

The monthly spending is horrendous this month! Car insurance, guttering work, and bedroom furniture for the small bedroom means that we might not be able to overpay at all. Hopefully next month will be less expensive.

Meter readings were also atrocious this week.
Electricity - 22 (dehumidifier on almost all week)
Gas - 9
Water - 1

It's been so chilly and my OH has been ill so we've had the heating on more than usual. In the old place, 15 degrees was a luxury! We're not sat in t-shirts or anything but there have been a few times where I could have put on an extra layer. I guess part of me thinks that as we're no longer saving for a house we should treat ourselves a bit, and also I don't want this house getting damp and mouldy, but part of me thinks it would be really easy to just accept high bills and get into the habit of having the heating on all of the time. I think perhaps we need to warm the house up once a day in the evening and just man up in the mornings. Consequently, I am sat with a jumper and a thick dressing gown on.

Made use of the Thorntons 50% off voucher from MSE. Not sure who will be getting what for Christmas or indeed how I will refrain from eating it all. May have to wrap it straight away.

Jobs to do this week

• Finish painting the living room (the most awful anaglypta wallpaper to paint - like pebble dash!)
• Empty little bedroom and set up office in the back room
• Assemble the bed
• Go shopping for bedding, a paper bin for the kitchen and an air vent
• Plant the hosta that has been forgotten

I'm working on Saturday then we have guests on Sunday so no idea when these things will happen. I've also had my flu jab this morning so I have an achy neck and can't think of anything worse to do than paint a room.

amycool

Some good news! I have paid off the family loan in full! We should have paid it back last year but thought it might be wise to wait and see what problems arose with the house. I haven't seen my bank account this low since we bought the first house but at least now the money is all ours.