Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

I have been to an "all trades" business showroom this afternoon and have organised for someone to come and look at the house on Monday to quote for the plastering and decoration work. All the tradespeople were nice in there, not just the guy I was dealing with and I left with a good feeling about the company.

I am still exhausted from travelling/jetlag but feel in a place to start tackling some small jobs whilst still taking it easy. B the end of tomorrow I would like to have sorted through all the bathroom cupboards and one cupboard in my bedroom. They are relatively easy ones that don't need much doing to them but I want to start with something I feel I can achieve. I have some things across these that I haven't touched for over a year so the plan is to be fairly ruthless.

Over the years I think I have become more of a hoarder than I had realised. I don't have a house full to the brim, far from it, but I am still holding onto things that I don't use. A lot of stuff is because someone gave it to me or it is from my married life time and I think maybe represents a time I felt more settled. If I haven't used it then I don't need to take it with me in this life. If I can use this approach throughout the whole house this year then boxing stuff up for storage should be easier and how much better when I bring it all back into a decorated house!

I am going to try and do it all on my own with no moral support but I have a feeling that some bits may need someone by my side so I don't just put everything else back again...like in the loft! Apart from the Christmas decs, everything has been there since I move in, in April 2019!

I haven't bulk cooked anything today so will get onto it tomorrow. I have some parsnips in the freezer that I think might only be good enough for soup and some beef to use in some kind of casserole.

ajmoney

Yesterday wasn't as successful as I would have liked with the decluttering but I have a bag for charity and one for the bin so it is a good start. It is interesting the things that I am avoiding sorting out!

I do want to do some more today but more importantly I want to clean the rooms I use regularly in the house. I don't know when I last cleaned properly, I often don't bother because I don't feel anything is ever clean enough but I deserve to live in a clean space so that is my first job today. Once I have done the time-pressing stuff I will see what I can get the energy for sorting.

ajmoney

I had an email from b@ today, reminding me I have a flight voucher to use. It was compensation for a flight during covid and I thought it had expired in September this year, couldn't use it so gave up on the idea. Today they have said it is valid until Sep 2024! I am sure I can use it in that time frame!

I had the multi-trade company come out today to look at the decoration work I want doing, I should have their quote by the end of the week. I have had a good feeling about them the whole time but one thig he said has got me down. He mentioned that he noticed the smells the minute he walked into my house, a mixture of old people and damp. I know it is bad but no one else has ever said much (not that I have many people around) and it has left me wondering quite how bad it really is. I hope all the work that will get done, whoever does it, really does get rid of everything so I can have a lovely home.

LadyWithAPlan

Great news on the flight voucher and the decoration company 

at least you are aware there is an issue so you know where to put your focus 
is there a lot of damp ? 

ajmoney

LadyWithAPlan said:

Great news on the flight voucher and the decoration company 

at least you are aware there is an issue so you know where to put your focus 
is there a lot of damp ? 

The meter I bought to keep track of it barely goes below 70%! The professional standard one the guy had the other week read above 80% in the room that smells the worst!

ajmoney

I am no further with the house stuff, no surprise there! I have a plan with my electrician and a friend of his to put some polythene under the house weighted down and see if it makes a difference. This is the approach that the building company intend to use and put concrete on top, the plan is if it makes a difference I will pay someone to put concrete in but if it doesn't I have potentially saved £9k on that. They are going to come back next time there is heavy rain so his friend can smell everything at its worst, it hasn't rained like that since they were here.

I am sorting on and off and am slowly getting there. I got all my stationery stuff together this morning, it is ridiculous what I have. I managed to get 4 pencil cases into one and have a lot of card etc to take to a friend for her girls to use with their crafting.

Everything is out of the loft at the moment, as friend got it all down for me and then cleaned up there for me. The plan is that I sort through it all and then he will help me get it in order back up there. It means that both my spare rooms are a bit of a mess at the moment but I have gone through most of the stuff in the smallest room now and have a pile of stuff to go back in the cupboard in there or up in the loft, I just need to do the damp, smelly room but am putting off going in there.

I am not overly organised for Christmas but am meeting my parents in 9 days time so am trying to get everything for them and wrap it by then so I can take it down to them. I don't really have many other people to buy for so should be sorted by then hopefully. I plan to load the freezer with Christmas stuff over the next week too.

All this organising means I am cleaning my house a but more regularly. It still doesn't feel clean because of the smell but I do feel better for doing it.

Moneywhizz

You must be very frustrated with the slow progress trying to get the work done on your house. Can you take everything you need out of the room with the smell and just close the door on it till you manage to get someone to do the work? It might help you to get through this time if you can't actually smell the damp even though you know it is still there behind a closed door. I think you are doing well to be so optimistic about the possibility of everything being fixed and you being able to enjoy a lovely home. Let's hope that it happens sooner than you imagine. 

ajmoney

I have been feeling pretty horrendous this week. It started on Saturday when I had a bit of a cough (I though it was just from talking over loud music at a night out) which made me feel queasy when I coughed. As the week has gone on it has been accompanied by a sore throat and cold. I probably didn't help it by going for a run and swimming on Monday so I am now resting and just going for a walk each day to get some fresh air. I have done daily covid tests and nothing is coming up. I am now making plans in case my Christmas ones need to change, having a chat with the friend I am meant to be spending it with later to come up discuss an alternative one if it is needed.

It meant that yesterday I did something I never do... I did nothing! I started a new book, did some knitting and plenty of puzzles. Today will be much of the same although I do need to think about getting food shopping. I am still going with my original plan for food and will adjust if I need to (I really hope I don't have to).

Watty1

Hopefully you will feel better quickly. There are still few days to go!   And knitting, reading and puzzles sounds really restful Sending love and get well soon vibes

ajmoney

Still feeing pretty terrible so have managed to get an appointment with a doctor at the end of the morning. They may just tell me it is a virus and to keep doing what I am doing but my chest is really sore and with everything shut up over the festive period I thought it was best to check I didn't need medication intervention.

It means I probably won't have time to get ahead with the food prep I wanted to do before I head away for the weekend but it doesn't matter. My plan was to make life easier on the 24th and 25th so I can spend quality time with my friend. I still can, I just need to ask him if he will help me, I am not very good at that and he might not do things in the way I would but that is ok and I need to remember that!

I have my stuff ready to go away, the house is tidy and I can grab the last couple of bits on my way to the doctors so actually everything is ok. It need to remember that ok is good enough, it doesn't need to be perfect!