Squirrelgirls MF quest

[Deleted User]

Morning!:D

Made a decision last night that the 'cash' part of the house fund which I had in the house to pay the for the sparky etc needs to be put in the offset to take a bit off the mortgage interest, so have sent dh to work with it all to get in the bank Previously, I didn't see the point as it won't make much difference, but even if it saves 5p, it's 5p I don't have to find! :rotfl:

We balanced the food and petrol budgets yesterday too - I'm reasonably confident that we will have some left over at the end of this month as the eating situation has been non-existent for the past week

I have sent a message to the plasterer and should be getting the quote today so that should give me a much clearer idea of whether my first quote was reasonable - personally I'm hoping it wasn't as its close to 1.5k more than I was expecting!! :eek: Honestly, I've been reading some stuff about peoples renovations and it seems that they are doing it very cheaply - trouble is, we haven't had any experience with this so don't really know what to expect price wise....hopefully, getting plenty of quotes will mean I'm not being ripped off but I don't like to mess people around so don't want to get too many peoples hopes up that they will get the job.:o It's a dilemma!!

Quiet day expected today - I'm going to sort the house, finish the laundry and then get all my 'to do' lists written for the week ahead......then this afternoon, I am going to check the offset balance and update my sig! :T

[Deleted User]

Not much progress on any front at the moment

I am going to call the window company today as my installation date was meant to be between 6-8 weeks - 7.5 weeks in, I've heard nothing at all!! Not had a quote from the plasterer, my electrician has hurt his back and I'm beginning to think that nobody actually wants my business!! :rotfl: Seriously though, I never realised that getting trades people would be so fraught...it seems very odd to me.....

I had a very expensive day yesterday celebrating dd's birthday - I had the money aside for her and the meal but ended up spending a fortune on the grandbaby - slightly annoyed with myself but not enough to stop doing it! New shoes, clothes and toys were all purchased so worthwhile really and I've made up my mind that I will won't get anything else prior to solstice

Spent a bit on fruit yesterday - a couple of grapefruits, oranges, pomegranates and avocadoes for my salad - so won't need anything more over the next few days; I've still got a few bits of veg (sprouting broccoli and asparagus) so will cook them, dress in Dijon and maple and serve warm with the salad, some leaves, lentils and quinoa today. I do love autumn salads

Dh put another few pennies into the jar yesterday - so pleased that he is still focused!! :T

Right, off to sort the house then phone the window people....I'll be back tomorrow if my head hasn't exploded!! :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

:mad::mad::mad::wall::wall::wall: I called the window company and was given a date at the end of October!!! Absolutely not acceptable or reasonable and trying to complain by speaking to someone was a joke - I was basically told that I just had to deal with it!:mad: Urrm, I don't think so!
Anyway, I have emailed my complaint now and received a response that they will look into it - all I can say is that if they don't resolve it, I'll be taking it a lot further!

Okay - rant over (thankfully I didn't post about it yesterday or the rant could have gone on for pages! :rotfl:) and on to other stuff.....

I've got a busy weekend planned (weather permitting!) - tomorrow I'm taking the grandbaby to feed the ducks, having a picnic and then coming home to pick elderberries for cordial. I'm going to be making jam with the ginger which I made the ginger whisky with - I've got plenty of jars saved and the last lot I made was absolutely gorgeous! Thankfully, dh doesn't like it so more for me! :rotfl:

40p in the jar today - found it in an old coat pocket so pretty pleased with that

463 days to go.....

[Deleted User]

Money transferred to the house fund, still nothing from the window company and £50 paid directly to the mortgage as the lack of op's was giving me the jitters!! :rotfl:

Really busy at the moment and juggling a number of things so will update properly on Monday...:D

[Deleted User]

A mix of positives and negatives at the moment - we have saved £140 out of the grocery budget this month! :j plus I got a bonus which I have paid to the cc as that had took a hammering recently due to a number of unplanned expenses (dh needed the dentist and opticians :eek:)

I have almost given up hope on the house front - still nothing from the window company (there was me thinking that going with a national, well-established company would make things easier if something went wrong :mad:) so I'll give them until the end of this week then I am going to the trade organisations to formally complain.

The plasterer didn't come back with a quote so I've told him not to bother and have another number to call now but I'm still not sure when my sparky intends to start or if my windows and doors will ever get done so no point in contacting him yet

It's always a mixed bag I suppose, but I have at least continued to accrue the money towards the jobs regardless of whether I can get anyone to do the work eventually!! :rotfl:

I will get dh to transfer funds to the savings tonight - he was going to do it at the weekend but the systems were down so I'm hoping that the situation is rectified now.....my mortgage interest is charged daily so I want that cash in the offset!

One thing to note - my mortgage is split into two parts - both of which are individually less than the amount of money in the offset but combined are more....so technically I'm part mortgage neutral! :rotfl:

454 days to go!

the_cross_rabbit

Hi squirrelgirl have you had any joy from the window company yet?
CRx

[Deleted User]

Hi CR....nothing at all from them so I've sent an email insisting that they escalate the complaint as they have not followed their own complaints procedure and I've copied in the GGF too...honestly, I've got to the point of despair with them....:wall::wall::wall::wall::wall: I don't want to sort out another company to do the work until I have a full refund and acknowledgement that our original contract is null and void - which means that I probably won't be able to get the work done this side of christmas...:(:mad::mad:

On a brighter note....I had the grandbaby at the weekend then a couple of days in London with my sister which was absolutely lovely!! I'm absolutely knackered now but that just shows my age :rotfl: Thankfully, it was a very cheap couple of days as it was my birthday pressie from my sis - she spoilt me rotten

Not much to report on the money saving front.....however, if all goes as it should with the window company, I'm pretty sure that I can get the same windows from a local company for around 2k less than I was going to pay....that will hopefully mean that I can get the house fund together more quickly and then the mortgage OP's can start. The kids will start paying rent at the beginning of next month so that will go straight to the house fund - all of which is good news if the work ever gets started!! :rotfl:

444 days to go.....

the_cross_rabbit

You must be really frustrated. Fingers crossed it will get sorted out soon.
CRx

[Deleted User]

Response from the window company was pitiful - just repeated the same 'it is what it is' mantra that prompted the original complaint! :mad: My response was to insist on a full refund of my deposit and an end to the contract - I'll await a response but I'm not hopeful

On the plus side - another £22 to the house fund from the jar :T I know it's not ground-breaking but at least we're still moving forward! I'll update my sig once I've got the exact amounts.

I've also got a date from my sparky for when he's starting the work :j with all the grief with the windows, it's nice to have something happening with the house

438 days to go.....

[Deleted User]

Its been a busy week!!
Spent the weekend sorting and clearing out the house ready for the works to start...we've done two trips to the tip and cleared out so much stuff its scary but immensely satisfying!
sparky starts either tomorrow or Wednesday and the windows should be put in next monday and Tuesday (although with their track record, who knows :mad:).
Today i will phone a plasterer who is hopefully reliable (son of one of my friends so fingers crossed ) and get a quote from him - I'd really like to have it done by the middle of November if possible but I'll have to wait to see when hes available....
I also need to call the council to take away the furniture we've moved from the house...3 wardrobes, 2 chests of drawers, 2 double bed frames, 1 single bed frame, 1 double mattress and a washing machine!! :eek: and then sort appointments for fitted wardrobes to be sorted...I'm exhausted just thinking about it!! :rotfl:
It sort of feels like we're starting again from scratch - our clothing (what remains of it since our clear out ) is in boxes and we're sleeping on a matress on the floor! I must admit that the rest of the household are not impressed with slumming it but for once, I don't care!! :rotfl: in 4-6 months the interior of the house will finally be the way i want it...ive waited almost 20 years for this so no amount of whingeing from the rest of the family can bring me down!!