The Financial Adventures of VelvetFreak

VelvetFreak

Hello Diary, it's been a while.

I've had a lot going on lately, but at the same time feel like I've not really done anything productive at all. :huh:

Work has been busy and all of that. Also I've been hanging out with a guy (I know right, I can't believe it either) so that has been taking up a lot of my spare time.

Budget-wise, things are going quite well. I haven't overspent much at all.

An update on the flooring renovation fund. It is currently sitting at $2122.73. I've decided that my goal will be $5,000, which I'm hoping will be enough to get the flooring in the bedroom and the living room done, with enough left over to do the kitchen as well. The kitchen itself will just have to wait, which I don't mind too much. I'm hoping to be able to start the flooring in March 2018. In the mean time I will be researching my options and shopping around, as well as trying to get some smaller projects done that I already have most of the stuff for, so hopefully won't cost much. As well as decluttering and selling stuff like a madwoman.

Speaking of which, my most recent project is ripping out the cupboard in my living room (very stupid place for a cupboard if you ask me) and turning it into a TV/shelving type thing. So far I have filled up all the holes and sanded and wiped it all down, and will start taping it off and painting it as soon as I finish writing this post.

Here's a before picture for those of you who care about that sort of thing



I've already sold a couple of things. A pump thing from my fish tank for $50, and have got someone coming to buy my christmas tree this afternoon for $35 as my stupid ungrateful cat won't leave it alone. Sigh. This is why I can't have nice things. I will probably use some of that money towards a phone case (still haven't got my phone screen fixed ) and then the rest will go straight to the flooring fund.

Better get my skates on. There's at least $1,000 worth of fish tank related crap sitting in my garage that I need to sell.

Cherryfudge

That's going to look very good with shelving...

Can you do a 2D Christmas tree? One of those that hangs on the wall? Or will the cat still destroy it?

Sounds as though the social life is going in a positive direction! Keep us posted

VelvetFreak

Cherry, I am giving up on the tree until further notice. Don't want to spend any more money. Yes, social life really is going well, I am very happy at the moment. :j

I still haven't sold the darn Christmas tree! Have got a hundred people messaging me about it but no one is actually buying it.

Managed to spend that whole $50 that I'd made from the fish tank pump over the weekend. BF and I ended up going on a sunday drive that ended up being a 5 hr road trip . I had to buy some extra petrol and I bought us lunch too. It was a great day so definitely worth it.

I've been tilly tidying and so far I've managed to save up $13.12

Anyways, I've got to go and get ready for work! More updates later.

VelvetFreak

Well I finally sold my Christmas tree after having about 20 different people message me about it. Got $40 for it but already spent a smidge over $20 on dinner for me and the bf. He paid for lunch so fair is fair. Admittedly we have mostly been cooking at home so it really isn't that bad, but I need to pull myself into line a little.

I think I've finally decided on the tiles that I want. It comes out at just under $20 per m2 which is less than half the price of some similar ones that I had found. See picture of poorly placed example by yours truly.



(ignore filthy concrete and carpet that has clearly been hacked at by a pair of scissors and attacked by a borderline feral cat)





I've worked out that it would cost about $1000 to buy enough to do my whole house (except the bathroom), which I am very happy with.

I've been getting some quotes for installation and some of them have been ridiculous. Someone quoted $70 per m2 which is $2450 total :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: I know that a good tradesperson deserves to be paid fairly for their work, but to me that is ridiculous. If it took them 3 x 8 hr days to do it, that is over $100 per hour :huh::huh:

A couple of others have quoted around the $1200-$1400 to do it which is much more reasonable. I put an ad on gumtree and have got so many replies that it's starting to stress me out.

Payday tomorrow :j

Cherryfudge

Yay to the Christmas tree sale!

I wonder how hard it can be to lay the tiles yourself? My son taught himself to do laminate and the results look really good (he's since laminated in our bathroom: almost exactly the colour you have chosen).

It's going to look good.

VelvetFreak

Thankyou Cherry

I absolutely have considered laying them myself. As much as I think I could probably do it, I worry that I would mess it up and it would not be level or the pattern would not be right etc. If it wasn't such a large area I would probably give it a go. Will see what kind of quotes I get coming in today. Hopefully something more reasonable.

VelvetFreak

Happy Wednesday! Yesterday was payday so I put my usual $300 to the Flooring Fund. I'd spent $22 out of it for that one box of tile so the new total is $2400.73:j

I got a message from a much more civilised tiler yesterday afternoon, and he has quoted me a rough figure of $50 per m2 which includes glue, grout, silicone, etc. which comes out to be about $1500 (I measured the area properly and it's a bit less than I thought, which is good) The cost more than I hoped but better than doing it myself, and also will be way less than I thought I'd have to spend when I started all of this.

Anyway, I have organised for him to come out Friday afternoon and have a look and give an official quote. He said he can start in the next couple of weeks, which would mean I will really need to get my skates on and finish all my painting, as I absolutely do not want paint splattered all over my new tiles :eek:

This is all getting very exciting. I will have two rooms of the house that will be actually finished, as opposed to the whole house looking like an 80s bomb hit it :rotfl:

Better go and get ready for work!

armchairexpert

When we re-did our kitchen in our last place (I miss that kitchen so much) we did the tiling ourselves and it was quite fun! Like a very easy jigsaw. But I can see you don't want to commit to the whole house, and fair enough. Glad you found a reasonable quote.

Cherryfudge

VelvetFreak wrote: »

the whole house looking like an 80s bomb hit it :rotfl:

:rotfl::rotfl: Love it.

Great that your found a much more reasonable tiler, it will be so exciting seeing it all done!

VelvetFreak

Thanks Ace, I wish I could trust myself to give it a go. Maybe I will do the kitchen myself (or at least the splashback).

Cherry, it's funny 'cause it's true . I am so excited.