The Road to Financial Security

Pushkin

Bit of a plodding week, no real money news. Work has been manic and HR issues with staff member still ongoing and taking up way too much of my time. Food intake has also been poor - the old common theme with me.

Surveyor came Tuesday to measure up the kitchen. DH has found a hob to order which we'll do at the weekend. Also need to go to a floor shop to order the floor - ironically the floor was what kicked all this off - its totally warped. The other kitchen stuff is kind of scope creep - weird how the floor will end up being the last thing sorted.

Pushkin

Arranged for floor company to come and measure up & do a quote. Not going to be cheap (kitchen/diner, toilet & probably hall) but long overdue and they do some lovely stuff.

Also popped to pet shop to replace her food bowl which got broken in the week. Bit of an impulse buy session (as much as you can for a dog ) including woofins (muffins for dogs!) and dog gravy. She is currently chewing on a pigs ear in the garden - doesn't get better than that for a lab.

Finally set up @ppl£ pay on my phone - wish I'd done it ages ago. Didn't even have to get my wallet to pay in the pet shop did it all on my phone. Very impressed. (no I don't work for them :cool:)

Not much else planned today, some domestic jobs and some r&r. Very boring but I'm contented.

amycool

Thank you so much for all the dog info! It's the vet stuff that scares me most (I shouldn't watch Supervet) as I'd hate to be in a position where I couldn't afford to keep him/her well.

Despite that, I'm still leaning towards getting one. My Mum and sister don't like dogs so that's a big issue, but I'm convinced they'd warm to one if they actually spent some time with them. Weirdly, since doing some research, DD has started to become really interested in dogs and more confident. A little staffie appeared in our garden on Thursday and walked into the house! She was quite calm and wanted to keep it!

It might be a case of waiting a bit but I change my mind on an hourly basis. Your numbers are really helpful though.

Pushkin

Hi Amycool

You are welcome, and yes you are right about the vets costs being scary but you might be lucky and not have many medical issues at all. I guess thats the risk.

Oh and I know I'm biased but if you want a dog thats good with children labs (or a lab cross) are fantastic!

Pushkin

Floor man came today to measure, said quote would be sent to us by end of the week & refused to even give us a ball park estimate so totally not sure what to expect.

JL coming tomorrow to measure French Doors for curtains - long overdue, don't appreciate how much difference they make to the perception of the room. So hoping once we order them they will be ready quickly.

Starting to think about kitchen accessories once the revamp is complete at end of May. Out kettle is very tatty and I fancy a new bread bin - rock & roll!

Pushkin

JL measurements done today for lounge curtains - our measurements were wrong so the quote we got in store is also wrong and actual cost is £300 more these things never go in your favour do they!

This is on something that is already quite expensive!

Was on the verge of deciding to go for it when the quote for the kitchen/hall floor arrived. This one is twice what we thought it would be!! I am still reeling from it as am not normally that far out with these things.

DH has agreed to ring the floor shop tomorrow and discuss but there is no way we'll pay that so we may need to look for a cheaper floor product (this one is Vusta).

So all in all a potentially expensive day!!!

Friday tomorrow and then a lovely 3 day weekend.....

Luckyinlife

Hey pushkin Best way to get the floor you want at a decent price i found is buy it yourself online and get someone in to fit it
My floor cost 5 times more in materials than it cost of the guy fitting it any decent floor fitter will have a facebook page with pics of his jobs in your area :]
Hope you get it sorted i know it can be a pain at this stage

Pushkin

DH had discussions with the kitchen floor shop yesterday - they can get about £500 off the bill but that is still £500 more than we expected. Interestingly enough DH found the bill for the current floor - we had this put in 9 years ago - it isn't as good a product and that cost £2k so maybe the £3k charge isn't that unreasonable?

We are going to get a second quote while we mull over.

I went for it with the curtains and have ordered them :j More expensive than anticipated (seems to be a theme at the moment) but DH and I discussed and agreed we had both chosen that fabric and if we went for something cheaper we would always think what if and feel short changed.

I think once the kitchen restoration & floor is done we are pretty much out of money - decorating the kitchen, hall and landing will need to be saved up for or come out of savings (which I'm loathe to do).

Pushkin

Really boring Bank Holiday due to DH not being well at all.

I focussed on household jobs and did manage to do most of them but just feel a bit peeved not to have done much.

On the plus side its been a pretty cheap weekend and we did have a lovely time at our friends yesterday and got through a fair few bottles of fizzy plonk hic!

Back to work tomorrow but have Friday off so only a three day week...

amycool

It's a shame about all of those expensive quotes. I'd agree though that it's best to go with what you really want, and then have to save for the other things, than go with something cheaper you don't like as much. You're likely to keep these things for decades (hopefully) and they will give you lots of joy!

Sorry you had a boring bank holiday. I have a stinking cold but ended up looking after 3 children for hours - nice but I really could have done with some boring!!