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

Treadingonplaymobil

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Why not take a notebook and take photo's and notes on the collection of semi-tempting lovely things in the kitchen shop? then you can build them into your bank of ideas and products you want to consider when the house works are undertaken. I always find I can rationalise the "can't live without them" things when time and tide have moved on

That's an excellent idea, will do that. I also need to keep reminding myself that bringing special things into the house is madness at this stage, as they're likely to get trashed during the packing/unpacking for the extension, and might not end up suiting the finished space even if they survive. <grits teeth>

ellen_vannin

Have you researched family bus tickets and day, weekly savers?

Might be cheaper?

Also I find warning the grandchildren in advance that we won't be using cafes , and are bringing drinks and snacks from home ,works.

Chrystal

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Why not take a notebook and take photo's and notes on the collection of semi-tempting lovely things in the kitchen shop? then you can build them into your bank of ideas and products you want to consider when the house works are undertaken. I always find I can rationalise the "can't live without them" things when time and tide have moved on

This is a brilliant idea that I'm sure will be of benefit to loads of 'Oh that's lovely - must have now!' people.:) If we tell ourselves we're making a 'mood board' to get the final effect I think it will work really well. Thanks!

Treadingonplaymobil

I bought nothing. <polishes halo>

Kitten868

...but took 93 pictures of goods totalling £58,978?

You've done great paying for the extention bits and bobs. All the bits are so expensive. I remember the knobs on the kitchen doors at my mum's turning in to quite the saga. Keep going x

Homegrown0

Well done! You just need to avoid celebrating with a nice bottle of fizz in a beautiful new vintage glass...(which is what my brain would be telling me...).

The temptation is real!

Hopeless_Case

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

Forgot to do a round up of debt totals!

£10,206.77 Barclaycard
£2,698.03 Virgin
£19,940 parental loan
£32,844.80 total

The mortgage stands at £191,322.77.

This means that since 1st July there's been a reduction in unsecured debt of £353.36 and a reduction in the mortgage of £330.94.

Our net assets (house value vs all debts) now stands at an ENORMOUS £772.43, having only just slipped into positive figures last month.

I've updated my signature to reflect these figures, and can see that our overall debt (including the mortgage) has reduced by just over £7,700 since February 2017. I'm simultaneously pleased and underwhelmed with that figure - it's a huge chunk, especially alongside the sums of money we've put into the extension costs, but it's such a small percentage of the total - even the total of unsecured debt without considering the mortgage. I just need to keep my eyes on the first goal of paying off the CCs, and worry about everything else afterwards, rather than worrying too much about the total number. At the end of the day, it's reducing, and our budget is infinitely more realistic than it was 18 months ago.

Anyone who hasn't read the entire diary (why not?! Go back and read it right now! :rotfl: ) should note that we haven't paid c.£30k off the debt since beginning this diary - a good chunk of the consumer debt has been consolidated into the mortgage, which is why I always include the mortgage figures when discussing the debt, as it would be unrealistic to do otherwise

Totally agree with this, working on small targets is what works for me and prevents it seeming overwhelming

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Why not take a notebook and take photo's and notes on the collection of semi-tempting lovely things in the kitchen shop? then you can build them into your bank of ideas and products you want to consider when the house works are undertaken. I always find I can rationalise the "can't live without them" things when time and tide have moved on

This is such a good idea and similar to what I do with Amazon - I used to be a terrible impulse buyer of books, and now I put them on an Amazon wishlist, and half the time I forget why I even wanted to read them, but I also have a good list of books I DO want to read

Honeysucklelou2

Well done TOPM, the setting out of each pot is a good way to see the allocation used. It's really impressive to see that you've paid off that chunk as well as saving for the extension.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 77: Day 5

Hello! Have been in total survival mode this week with DH away and the DCs round my ankles. The house is a bit of a disaster area and I'm not getting anything extra done at all, but everyone's still alive and being parented in a vaguely ok manner, so I'm calling that a win!

Not only did I buy nothing the other day, but I didn't even see anything I was wildly excited about. I'm managing to keep my head in the 'no point shopping until the extension is built' game. Not quite sure how that's going to work out once the extension actually is built, of course.

The DCs have been playing with their toys loads this holidays, including, slightly annoyingly, the marble run and brio set I had earmarked for the next clear out. They have way too much stuff in their room at the moment, it makes it almost impossible to tidy. Three children in one room makes it very difficult to insist one of them makes a decision on keeping something or not, as it's hard to even make a call on which toys belongs to which child. They did go through all the school work they brought home though, and chose a few favourite pieces for me to photograph, then ditched the whole lot in the recycling, which impressed me.

I am desperate for my barclaycard statement to come in so I can make a payment and take that card under the £10k barrier, which is going to feel like a massive massive step forward. Should be in on Monday.

Right, best go and try to crack on with my list in the 90 minutes or so before they wake up. Did I mention it's very hard to find the time to get things done in the school hols!

To do this week
1. Finish tidying and sorting the DCs' room (the only room that didn't get fully blitzed over the weekend). Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
2. DH phone the first handful of builders on the shortlist. He has managed to get through to one so far, who is coming next week for a chat.
3. Clear all the laundry and ironing. This is actually almost done.
4. Pitch the tent so it can dry out.
5. DH drop off my Kenwood Chef for its service (I found an authorised service place quite locally - who knew there were still repair places around?!).
6. Order DCs' school uniform. We are driving past Clarks village on Saturday so will look there for school shoes for those who need them (definitely DC3, not sure about the others) and new wellies for DC2.
7. DH research new 0% deal for the one expiring in September. We may need to close the MBNA zero balance card if Barclaycard/Virgin (current CC providers) can't help, as I imagine we are unlikely to be accepted for any new cards with an available credit limit of £35k+ across the various cards.
8. Plan online food shops/rough menu plan for August.
9. Have a look at ebaying the excess of lego - I reduced the DCs' lego by about 80% and hid it about six months ago and it hasn't even been noticed/mentioned, so I'm going to see if I can eBay it by the kg or something.
10. Plan how to make September's income during August. This is going to require me to have more than 0.73 second of peace.

August money goals:
- £4.86/31 August rounding down pot.
- £3,228.01/£5,000 2018 debt repayment goal.
- £510/£932 extension pre-build costs.
- £48/864 income needed for September :eek: :eek: :eek: .

Honeysucklelou2

I have 3 in one room and each child has an area that they keep their things in e.g. The two teenagers have a bedside table each with drawers for some storage, one has a huge under bed wheeled drawer, one has a box that she knows contains her things etc. I know mine are a little older but one will instigate the tidying when the room reaches a certain state and galvanise the other into action!