KonMari 2017 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

daisy_1571

silvasava wrote: »

MMF007 - :T:T:T Well done on the weight loss and being able to get into your favourite dress again - win win all round!
When I rummaged in the freezer yesterday for my Yoga teacher I found I have many more pots of fruit from the garden than I realised so a jam making stint for me too - and releasing some jars!

Ooooh silva, don't keep your yoga teacher in the freezer please !!! That's not nice :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Daisy xx

Slinky

Fingers crossed, we've had an application to rent our house out, the one we intend to retire to but not for a couple of years. Hopefully they will pass referencing and we can stop worrying about the house being stood empty.

I've been adding up what we've spent on the house since we bought it to get it ready to rent out. Looks like it won't be far short of a year's rent...... and much of it won't be claimable as expenses against tax as it will be deemed to be capital expenditure. Ho hum.

Just remembered about another bill yet to arrive, that will take us over a year's rent...

MMF007

greent wrote: »

I'm also considering jam making - I have 3.5KG of hg strawberries in my freezer - and half a dozen bottles of prosecco in the garage - am thinking one can be used to make strawberry & prosecco jam for Xmas presents

Oh, yes, that would be lovely and well received I am sure.

I have extra fun makng the jars look pretty with ribbon and labels and gift tags, too. And it helps lessen the craft stash!

Have a couple of ingredients to get for the biscuits that will go in the same gift box as the marmalade, but don't want to make them too soon. I am not convinced cello bags keeps things fresh for long. Marmalade has been potted up and i am waiting for the lids to 'vacuum' seal as the jars cool. It looks and tastes fine, am pretty confidant the set will be right but have my fingers crossed, to be on the safe side.

Am still on a high regarding the 20 items of clothing being released !

greent

Slinky wrote: »

I've been adding up what we've spent on the house since we bought it to get it ready to rent out. Looks like it won't be far short of a year's rent...... and much of it won't be claimable as expenses against tax as it will be deemed to be capital expenditure. Ho hum.

Just remembered about another bill yet to arrive, that will take us over a year's rent...

It may be worth double checking on some things, slinky - when we put in a new bathroom and kitchen in our BTL we could claim it as an expense, rather than cap-ex as it was replacing like for like (ie: we replaced a bath with over-bath shower, a sink and a toilet with a new bath with over-bath shower, a new sink and a new toilet) With the kitchen, we changed the layout - but our accountant said that as long as we weren't increasing the number of cupboards it was an expense, not cap-ex. All the new carpets and flooring was an expense. I think in the 15 years that we've had it the only cap-ex costs (after purchase costs) have been new windows - and I think if we'd had our accountant back then she would have said they were an expense!

I can't remember what you've done to your property, sorry. Have always found HMRC very helpful when phoning up with 'silly' queries about BTL stuff, though.

greent

Forgot to say earlier, MMF - well done on such a brilliant weight loss! :T - and also for decluttering a serious amount of clothes, too!

catshark88

Brilliant weight loss MMF, well done you!!

My Mother sent 25 items to the auction today. She finds decluttering v tough, so am massively proud of her.

Slinky

greent wrote: »

It may be worth double checking on some things, slinky - when we put in a new bathroom and kitchen in our BTL we could claim it as an expense, rather than cap-ex as it was replacing like for like (ie: we replaced a bath with over-bath shower, a sink and a toilet with a new bath with over-bath shower, a new sink and a new toilet) With the kitchen, we changed the layout - but our accountant said that as long as we weren't increasing the number of cupboards it was an expense, not cap-ex. All the new carpets and flooring was an expense. I think in the 15 years that we've had it the only cap-ex costs (after purchase costs) have been new windows - and I think if we'd had our accountant back then she would have said they were an expense!

I can't remember what you've done to your property, sorry. Have always found HMRC very helpful when phoning up with 'silly' queries about BTL stuff, though.

Thanks green but was this replacements during tenancy or between lets? According to what I'm reading the fact our rental 'business' hasn't started yet, ie we've not yet had our first tenants, the cap-ex stuff can't be claimed.

silvasava

Daisy - my yoga teacher is much too nice to put in the freezer lol! She's a vegetarian so very happy to bring the receiving end of my surplus

GreyQueen

tibawo wrote: »

Is it wrong to already be giving my Xmas bits to people already to keep my house clear?

If it is, I'm a bad 'un because that's what I will be doing this weekend; transporting some gifts to the household where they will be gifted from (I have a hidey-hole there for such things).

Motivation is chiefly logistical; as a person without a car, I transport myself and other things on public transport/ occasional lifts from friends travelling in the same general direction, so hauling stuff around is complicated and inconvenient. Such as bagfuls of gifts in additional to personal baggage for the holiday period. So, I do it this way.

Pal I visited last night gave me her stash of packaging material from her online shopping, which I pass to kid bruv, an online seller, plus a couple of other things which are detritus in her household but useful in my projects etc. We're both happy with the arrangement and, by co-incidence, the packaging is leaving with me later today so will hardly have spent 24 hrs on the premises.

I was vastly pleased yestereve to take my shoes off and notice that the pair of socks which had been on heavy rotation is finally showing signs of wearing out. They're on their way out, will let them have a few more excursions and then they can be ragged.

I've remarked on it on here before but it's amazing to me how long it takes to wear stuff out. Even when you're really trying, lol.

Oh, and another thing I started to do earlier this month was keep a note of the dates I started bottles/ jars/ packets or certain staple groceries, so I can see how long they last. In pursuit of greater efficiency, in terms of restocking cupboards.

I mean, I wouldn't want people thinking I was some kind of nerd, or something........ :rotfl:

Karmacat

I currently have stacks of boxes and books all over the place, and it's encouraging me to KM much further ... lots of the books I have were bought before we had the interweb, you couldn't just find a website and join a forum, you had to actually have something in your hands to be able to read it. I don't now need a whole book on the women of the American revolution, or a book on the history of the Apollo programme, or 4 books (down from 8!) on the Stargate programme that was declassfied in 1995 ... my bookcase was bought when I lived in a much bigger house, and I have my eye on a solid oak one from my mum's, if neither of my siblings wants it. Less dust, less space, and since my sofa is also on the way out, I'd be able to replace it with a sofa that would let someone sleep on it in an emergency, the one I have, the one thats on the way out, can't do that without huge levels of discomfort. In the meantime, every book I can pass on is one more that I don't have to juggle.