£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Suffolk_lass

We went for decent quality cabinets, with standard doors and handles and top quality granite work-tops. Out tall larder cupboards with heavy duty cage liners were a big mistake (I store too much of the flour, pulses, lentils, sacks of oats etc) for the weight they are designed for (feathers and cereal, as far as I can tell). Apart from binning the liner devices the kitchen is excellent 15 years on and only the appliances, and door style (and quality of handle) is pushing me to replace some elements.

If you get your working triangle right, the rest will follow.

Just to add, I used to covet my friend's larder cupboard but we eventually stole a little piece of our sitting room (alcove next to the chimney) and combined it with the same in the dining room to build an actual larder. It has a cream-painted dresser and some shelves made from oak floorboards (architectural reclamation yard) that DH cut and stripped, then varnished, and a marble hearth cut down to be the "cold-shelf". It is a touch of class and apart from the builder, the fittings were cheap but classic.

Just been looking at Cotswold Company cabinets and the bookshelf style is a good style option. A joiner (or my DH, with some odd-job skills) could sort out painted doors if you wanted to look bespoke. The hinge fittings for DIY Shed kitchens can be bought in bulk (we have some) and would add that element of style.

PositiveBalance

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

Look at Howdens Joinery for kitchens , I know they have a depot in Bristol so must cover South West. I agree about ikea kitchens didn't overwhelm me either , mine is from the above .

Good luck with everything on the build.

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

Can't sleep and remembered Stax as well for kitchens. They have a place in Bristol as well, but depends how far away you are .

Howdens will be no problem you will have a builder who will have trade accounts a lot of places.

Best get to bed again.

My brother is carpenter who owns his own business. He doesn't have enough hours in the day to fit kitchens for all those who want him to fit them for him and the jobs he does are absolutely stunning. I know he definitely uses Stax at the minute a lot. You should see what he has just done in his own home from Stax. *Insert love heart eyes smiley*

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 68: Day 1

Hello! Doesn't feel like Monday because of the BH, but a new week starts nonetheless.

I have had a sudden spending meltdown, for reasons I can't quite identify. I just suddenly went into minor denial about our financial situation. Nothing major, and spread over a couple of days and shops - a new mug, a salad bowl, a little basket to hold things in the sitting room, a lap desk so I can sit on the floor and work, a new water bottle, nice food and juice from the market with the DC on saturday. Maybe £150 in total, I haven't added it up yet. That money is going to have to come out of one of our savings pots, because frankly it doesn't exist anywhere else! I am irritated with myself, as I've been doing really well on not buying anything excess to our genuine requirements. I think the thing now is to acknowledge it and make sure I knock it on the head, rather than continuing to allow the odd £20 to dribble out here and there.

Oh, and our boiler broke on Friday, so we had the extra expense of getting that fixed, and since the emergency fund was so depleted over the past couple of months with the car, there is only about £20 in it and I suspect the fix is going to be closer to £200.

And an exciting, and planned, purchase yesterday - we have been watching ebay for weeks and weeks for a decent trailer for camping, and finally won one yesterday! And for a pretty good price. £280 with high and low covers (so it can have more or less space in it, depending on requirements), spare wheel and hitch lock. Would have been over £400 new for everything, and looks to be in really good condition. I'm so glad we were organised for once, started looking in advance and have watched and waited for the right one to come along. A rare win for me! All things considered, it's a fairly terrible last-few-days-of-the-month, budgetarily speaking.

Thanks for all the kitchen chat over the past couple of days, loads of good ideas. The DCs and I are planning a trip to a showroom or two this week (I know how to spoil them). Hoping for a beach trip this afternoon though, the weather is just gorgeous. Does anyone else feel that summer comes in May/June in recent years, then July and August are invariably a total washout?

DH and I spent about six hours yesterday going through the architect's sketches and creating our final list of amendments so he can get on with the planning application drawings. It's made us realise how many decisions we are going to need to make before we even begin building and certainly before we begin decorating - light fittings for the dining table, plug sockets, sink and cooker locations etc etc etc. I sort of knew all this already, but it was thrown into stark relief when looking at the plans yesterday.

Have had the weekend totally off work, and it's been absolutely lovely. Only an hour to do today then I have nothing to do again until Wednesday. Planning out my entire working year in advance this year is really paying off during the holidays when I don't have to try to squeeze it in alongside looking after the DC.

To to today
1. Make dinner to take to beach.
2. Clear the front garden.
3. Check contract work for next week.
4. Check and send email to architect.
5. Laundry/ironing. Any progress is good!

Mini goals:
- £36.21/30 May rounding down pot.
- £2,455.31/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £26.97 daily earning goal.

JoJoC

Wow - spendy weekend indeed! In order to minimise the damage, can you return some of the returnable things for a refund?

I'd say at least these things are non-essential: "a new mug, a salad bowl, a little basket to hold things in the sitting room, a lap desk so I can sit on the floor and work, a new water bottle, nice food and juice from the market with the DC on saturday."

The lap desk, I suppose, is a bit more debatable whether it's needed or not. If you return these items, it means that you could offset a big chunk of the expected costs for the boiler repair. And ease your spending guilt slightly.

Did you have a budget put aside for the trailer? It's a nice win.

Enjoy the bank holiday! I'm working...

enthusiasticsaver

Well done for admitting to it, no point in a diary if it is not honest and these meltdowns seem to have occurred slightly less often recently. I think you may be an emotional spender. Your frustration over the fact maybe your extension may not happen as soon as you want means you are trying to make your living environment nicer in the interim period? The distractions from your end goal of decreasing the debt so you can finance the extension though are set back when you stray from the plan and now an essential piece of kit like the boiler needs repairing and you have no spare money for it.

What used to help me when tempted to buy things I now look back at as being totally unnecessary was to ask myself three questions before spending.

Do I already have one of these or something which will do the job just as well? (I wonder if your new mug, salad bowl and little basket may fall into this category?)

If I buy this what else has to be foregone? Extra holiday savings, money to emergency fund or debt or mortgage overpayment?

How many hours did I have to work to earn the money for the spends?

Now you already appear to be having the spending guilt so I suspect you know these weren't necessary spends but the emotional spender in you threw your hands up in the air in the belief it is all hopeless and reverted to learned behaviour of a few years ago - treating yourself to nice things to make you feel better.

You have three choices. Chalk it up as a bad day or alternatively ask the questions above and justify to yourself the purchases or return them.

Bargain on the trailer. Had you got savings for it? Your work year seems to be working better now too so a few good things in there too.

Treadingonplaymobil

Enthusiasticsaver you are sooooooo right. The spending has largely been brought on by 'ugh, this extension is going to take years, so might as well make our space nicer now rather than holding out for endlessly delayed gratification'. Good set of questions, I need to write them in my bullet journal or something, so they are to hand when I am tempted.

JoJoC I have, of course, opened and used everything before confessing, so I couldn't be guilted into returning it .

I am trying to hold on to the fact that these meltdowns are a lot less frequent these days. As well as emotional, I am also much more likely to give into them when I am (a) already spending on something essential (e.g. trailer, house repairs) or (b) already over budget (I miscalculated our food budget this month, so we are over budget on food), as I get that 'oh, what's the point in trying?' feeling and continue to spend. I know that the solution is being 100% on top of my budget so these necessary overspends just don't happen (as they then lead to the unnecessary overspends), but also addressing the issue so that when something does go wrong with the budget, it doesn't blow everything.

We didn't quite have the full amount saved for the trailer, but did have £265 put by, so only a tiny bit extra to find.

enthusiasticsaver

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

JoJoC I have, of course, opened and used everything before confessing, so I couldn't be guilted into returning it .

I am trying to hold on to the fact that these meltdowns are a lot less frequent these days. As well as emotional, I am also much more likely to give into them when I am (a) already spending on something essential (e.g. trailer, house repairs) or (b) already over budget (I miscalculated our food budget this month, so we are over budget on food), as I get that 'oh, what's the point in trying?' feeling and continue to spend.

:rotfl::rotfl:I strongly suspected you would have used them immediately firstly so you cannot be guilted into returning them and secondly to affirm to yourself that you really did need them by using them at the first opportunity.

You have said this before re once the budget is blown there is little point in stopping. I think dieting can be the same, once the diet is blown a lot of us (myself included) think in for a penny in for a pound.

I know most people's minds don't work like mine where I add things up in my head as you are shopping rather than afterwards but doing this may help you put the brakes on. If you have gone over budget by £20 if you stop there it is just maybe 2 hours income depending on your hourly earning rate, once you get to £150 it is 15 hours earning so in your case maybe a week or close to a weeks' pay?

Suffolk_lass

Maybe you are having your six-month blip in commitment (I like the diet analogy!). I suggest you add up your savings pots and in your spreadsheet, offset them against your debt. It really will give you a little lift.

Without posting your savings totals, of course your debt repayment seems slow; because you are ignoring the little pots of accumulation you have built in.

I know you have ruled it out previously but you might reconsider using some of the extension pot to intentionally to pay down debt, rather than this emotional/accidental plunder of hard-saved pots, especially if the building project is a little bit farther out - so that less of your money is going on interest. Have a nice cup of tea in your new mug, enjoy it, and maybe think laterally.

MJhami59

I've been following this for a while now and think you're doing really well.

Keep it up, no one ever said it would be easy!

Cherryfudge

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

a new mug, a salad bowl, a little basket to hold things in the sitting room, a lap desk so I can sit on the floor and work, a new water bottle, nice food and juice from the market with the DC on saturday.

Your spending spree had one good result ar least - I suddenly realised a lap tray would make life easier for the next few weeks (I have a broken arm). So thank you, I've just ordered one!