The Road to Financial Security

katiegizmo

Just had to google Tilly Tidy - and yes I do this too, although I usually plonk it into my lo's savings account which is suffering a bit now we are so brassic!

From someone who has had an awful lot of boiler trouble, if it was me I would just get a new one. It's awful when they keep going wrong and then you're throwing money away fixing it each time which is adding to the cost of a new one which you're probably going to have to get anyway at some point....

Pushkin

katiegizmo wrote: »

Just had to google Tilly Tidy - and yes I do this too, although I usually plonk it into my lo's savings account which is suffering a bit now we are so brassic!

From someone who has had an awful lot of boiler trouble, if it was me I would just get a new one. It's awful when they keep going wrong and then you're throwing money away fixing it each time which is adding to the cost of a new one which you're probably going to have to get anyway at some point....

Thanks Katiegizmo - we have just bitten the bullet and arranged for BG to fit a new boiler. It actually costs a little less than I had budgeted and will give us peace of mind. We currently pay a maintenance agreement to BG (£30) per month for current boiler and new one has this built into the cost for a year - so thats a good saving on our monthly outgoings.

Glad we are getting this done before winter too - don't want a repeat of last winter's boiler failure resulting in my having to wash my hair in stone cold water at 5am as I had an early meeting in London.

Not sexy spends but necessary I think.

Pushkin

Bit of a roller coaster today, the window company rang to say that we have asbestos in our porch (they took a sample away when they came to measure last week) and then said it would cost £1,200 to remove + £575 scaffolding costs :mad:

Fortunately my husband, who is a tad more savvy about these things was at home and rang them back. He queried why they needed scaffolding since it's porch only - turns out they had 'assumed' they would replace all the soffits on the front of the house - not needed since they were only put in 6 yrs ago so def not asbestos. It also turns out they would only address the asbestos in the porch and DH suspects there may also be some in the garage.

So he has rang a couple of local company's who are going to come round to quote and we think the cost is going to be a LOT lower than the double glazing firm stated.

If we need to deal with it best to do the whole lot we just need to see what the cost will be.

Not feeling quite so in control of spending right now. :A

MSE News (need to try and cheer myself up!)

Managed to get 2 loads of washing dried on the line outside (lovely weather) so didn't use tumble dryer
Did another Tilly tidy this morning (is that term copyrighted - there's a money making idea!)

I am off work tomorrow & Friday, out shopping & lunch tomorrow so need to be careful but planning some batch cooking Friday which is a bit more money saving!

Pushkin

We had a company round to look at the asbestos situation yesterday and it's looking more expensive than we were hoping, in fact the guy thought the quote from the windows company was looking low! We definitely have it in the porch ceiling and garage and possibly in the two back bedroom windows - the only 2 original windows from when the house was built in 1972.

Asbestos is also mid grade and the company that came round only deal with low grade so they have recommended another company who we need to get in to assess and quote for.

Obviously now we know about it we need to get it ALL removed and obtain the certificate to prove it.

I've gone through the spreadsheet I have for the money we have put aside to spend on our home improvements and put in a cautious £3,000 for asbestos removal - hopefully will be less. With a bit of tweaking I think we can still carry on and do the other things we want -if they come in within budget. No point getting wound up (although that's a challenge) and it does re-enforce the need to be fully aware of spending, upcoming costs and building up and emergency fund. Just hate that something so expensive can come out of nowhere like this. Certainly not sexy spends!!!

Happy Thoughts
Had a lovely day out in Reading with mum yesterday, I only bought a few stationery bits for DS - managed to resist the lure of the clothes shops - there are some fab autumn clothes in.

Today I will do supermarket shop and make some meals for the freezer.

Pushkin

Am in a bit of a funk today, hasn't been the most productive of days and I'm cross with myself.

I spent more than I wanted in the supermarket and really didn't enjoy the batch cooking, made 2 fish pies yesterday and today did 2 chillis & 3 lasagnes - it seems a lot of stress, effort & sweat for 7 meals!

The asbestos situation is worrying me, we rang the council yesterday hoping for some guidance but they were about as useful as a chocolate teapot. As things stand we have 2 quotes one for £200 - £300 and one for £2,500 to £3,000 - err - confused I think so.

We want to do the right thing here and really don't know what that is. Still waiting on a couple of licensed asbestos removing companies to call back. Hopefully we can get someone round to do a full assessment so we know whats what. Was hoping the council would have a list of recommended such companies but obviously not. Do wonder what we pay them £150 per month for sometimes.

The plumber is starting Monday with putting the radiator back in the kitchen. My husband took the floor up today to check the pipe was still there. To our horror we discovered the radiator was never on the wall we thought it was but on the one next to it - its been about 10 yrs since we had the internal building work done and wall built. So now we have to speak to him about how to get the pipe to the wall we now want the radiator on . Doubtless that will incur more costs. Never rains but it pours. I just feel like everything is disruptive and a hassle at the moment.

Well I'm off to put one of the lasagne's in the oven and hopefully improve my mood.

Pushkin

Am feeling happier today or that could just be because I am half way through my pre lunch pimms :beer:

Joined a few survey sites last night, don't know how long I'll last with these, suspect it's a bit of a novelty at the moment but if I can earn a couple of christmas presents worth over the next few months I'll be happy.

Have also been on the S@msung website to try and get the £75 cash back which was part of the deal on the fridge freezer we bought. To say it isn't straight forward is putting it lightly so will have to ring them tomorrow.

I've just done the weekly food shop (on line) for next week and managed to keep that down to under £60 which after the horrors of Friday's huge bill makes me feel a little better. Just hope the fact its so low doesn't mean we have to do lots of top up shops during the week.

The piece of furniture I have listed on eB@y has just had its first bid which has really cheered me up. The auction finishes this evening so I was starting to think it wasn't going to sell. Has a few hours to go so might even go higher just need to wait and see.

I also need to go through a bag of toys DS has declared he no longer wants and see if any of those can be sold - I suspect there may even be a box or 2 completely unopened!

DH is making roast lamb for lunch and I rather naughtily bought sticky toffee pudding for afters, parents are due shortly so will be a lovely family lunch. May well slope off for a granny nap later as well.

Pushkin

Beautiful weather today which is somewhat cheering my mood despite it being Monday and me being back to work. 5 day weeks for the foreseeable future for me as well.

The plumber started today - the fridge freezer has been plumbed in so we now have cold water and ice on tap from the fridge which is lovely.

He has got the radiator on the wall in the kitchen which has unfortunately involved on wall piping on the back wall of the lounge in order to get the pipes where they need to go. I'm not overjoyed by it but to have them hidden in the floor (my preference) would have involved around 3 days more labour and £1k more cost. DH assures me we can paint the pipes same colour as the wall and they won't be seen as the sofa covers them anyway. This is true - but I'll know they are there!

We have also finally sorted out the removal of the asbestos. The double glazing company's recommended firm will increase the scope of work to do a full assessment of all/any asbestos and then remove it. We will also get a sign off certificate as proof of that which I think if good enough for the window company (well known national firm) is good enough for us. Total price is £2,150 which is painfully expensive but it will be a relief when it's gone and I could never sell this house in all good conscience unless we do this. In a few years the cost will be forgotten but we will know we have done the right thing - will take a few years for the pain of the cost to disappear though.

So tomorrow they will get the radiator fully functional and start on replacing the downstairs loo and fitting a sink in there. They should be finished by end Wednesday. I always forget how annoying and disruptive it is having workmen - they seem to have been in most of the rooms and everywhere is a mess already. So looking forward to the finishing.

Pushkin

I am going to be more positive and take a leaf out of Habibiboo's diary :j

The Good
Kitchen radiator is now working - the kitchen will no longer be a no go zone in the winter - yeah!

Plumber has started on replacing the downstairs loo & adding a sink - he is even tiling the sink surround - nice touch! Still here now so he's really earned his money today.

The Bad
Somehow seem to have fallen off the diet wagon last couple of days- need to get that going again

The Ugly
Beautiful weather again today which was somewhat spoiled when we had to put the heating on to test the new radiator, coupled with the fan heater drying out the wet patch under the bath (ready for plumber to water proof tomorrow) I don't think its been a very economical day gas & electricity wise. Not to mention the irony of having to open a window when the room I was working in became saunaesque.

Pushkin

Sadly the Asbestos saga (which we thought we had sorted) has reared it's ugly head.

The window company HQ rang today to arrange the appt for the asbestos removal company to come and do their stuff. Confirming the details with them it transpired they were only going to remove the porch piece and not investigate the garage or the 2 back bedroom windows.

When DH arranged this he specifically stated we wanted the whole house assessed and any & all asbestos cleared with a certificate stating we were asbestos free. This was arranged through the salesman and he assured him the cost covered that as it was banded and given the size of our house we wouldn't go over that band.

Today their HQ are telling us the £2,150 is JUST to remove the porch asbestos and it isn't within their remit to even assess the garage or any other part of the house. And the porch is tiny!

DH rang the salesman who has now told us HQ are wrong and that they would meet tomorrow to discuss this and rectify it. Basically what he told us last week stands.

I am beyond annoyed. We are on the verge or cancelling the whole order and not sure this company is that trustworthy.

We are waiting to hear back from a specialist asbestos removal company as well but that is a step back as they won't have assessed the house. I guess if we get it in writing from the window company that the £2,150 covers all our requirements we may still go with them.

We are just trying to do the right thing and are being foiled at every turn.

So much for my positive attitude of yesterday!

On the plus side the plumber has finished and we now have a sink in the downstairs loo and a new toilet. Of course knowing us it hasn't gone without a hitch - the hot water pipe in the attic to the downstairs loo has been teed off so he needs to come back to hook it back up. Extra cost we will have to incur but only a couple of hours work so shouldn't be too much more.

At the risk of sounding like a couch potato I am greatly cheered by toinght's telly - Great British Bake Off followed by Scott & Bailey. :T

Worry_Wart

Hi Pushkin, that sounds really frustrating and confusing with the asbestos. Good work for doing the right thing, though. Can you get more quotes from other people, or are you too pushed for time? It sounds like a right nightmare to deal with, good luck...

I always find it impossible to stick to healthy eating when I'm stressed. Comfort eating is the only way to get through (and wine!). Enjoy GBBO anyway.