NST - Stupendous Sextilis

misstara

Haven't posted for a while as work had been incredibly busy however the inspection is now over so can relax a bit

Today I'm grateful for a NSD (need to check how many I'm up to now), the inspection going well, ys chocolate cake and hm fish and chips.

greent

I struggled with soya milk/ yogs, E_E - ended up with some issues from them which took some time to resolve whilst they got out of my system. Great for some - but not others

Another NSD today. Only place we went out was to local playpark for hour and half. Took bottles of water (freebies) and I read a few chapters whilst the 2 smalls ran off some energy

Today's gratitudes:
* leftovers for an easy dinner - combination of fridged leftovers and frozen ones - so also using up
* sunny weather
* 2 lots of washing line dried
* a bench seat being free at the local playpark
* DS2 bumping into a friend there
* finding something to watch on catch up tv to get ironing done (2 hours - but still lots left!)

Toni'sfriend

Quite a quiet day yesterday. Shopping, made soup, lunches and dinners from freezer. Today is Cs day out so I'll get cracking on with the chores. All very boring.

thriftylass

Hello and good morning,

is it getting a bit quiet on here?

Today should be an SFD. Homemade lunch and run. probably cheap dinner with the kids as OH will be out.

Has anyone had to contemplate extensions vs moving into a bigger house? What were your thought. I'll elaborate later, bit of work first

Edit: I always thought that our current house is not my forever house. Wanted sth with character, more space, more our style, more rural etc. Plus I always thought there isn't enough space to extend (neighbours already came really close so would end up a semi). But I love the area (quite neighbourly, houses getting watched, you can go and ask for help etc. rather green, quiet cul-de-sac), our garden etc. But once the kids are teenagers and we maybe take in FIL (def. want to have this option) we'll struggle for space. But it's only for the next 10-15 years. So I realised no point moving somewhere bigger that we rattle around in after. Plus in this house we'd still need to replace the kitchen, bathroom etc to get it into a decent state comparable to our neighbours to achieve the price (all original 1981). Living in mess etc to move seems silly. So now, for moving we'd need another 120000 !!! or more to get the house we'd like but we could probably do the extension/conversion for less than half :money: that and we'd have the house we want rather then starting again. I also looked at various design and suddenly had a brain wave yesterday how it would be possible (space, not killing all the light and space in the garden). Sorry about my ramblings but had to get it out. Will need to discuss this with OH. All this needs to have happened (move or built) in 4 years. But saying out loud (in writing, lol) the numbers speak for themselves I think. Better start scrap booking to sell this idea to OH

bizzie

As it's quiet I'm using the opportunity to catch up with reading all the posts.

thriftylass we extended over time rather than moving. We saved up / remortgaged for individual projects (loft/kitchen/garden) as necessary and were able to design for our requirements. Downside was we seemed to be living within a building site for large chunks of time.

I’m summarising my written notes into one post. Written as have been away and Wi-Fi was extremely unreliable.
Allocate
Monthly spends will be untypical as have been away for half the month and allowed OH to pick up the spends! Will use any underspend to top up the empty categories when I rejig the budget for September.
Use Up
Food shopped wisely whilst away as were in self-catering and didn’t want to have loads left to either bring back or leave behind. Successful in that it all fitted into a small supermarket bag though nearly came unstuck as on the journey back plans to stop at services for lunch were changed due to motorway closure / diversion and we had to eat what was in the bag.
Gratitudes
• OH
• clear skies whilst away for watching the ISS and the Perseids
• school holidays as I love having my children around when they are able to have a bit of freedom and make their own plans for entertainment and to see friends
Upcoming Holidays
Kept to low cost options whilst away (walks, beach, farms, fruit picking) and will keep this going now we are home. Will be taking advantage of any “freebies” e.g. loyalty points for cinema for the rest of the month
Spends
Currently 11/15NSDs so should meet the monthly target soon.
Time for Yourself
Have already met up with family and friends and am arranging more for the remainder of the month / school holidays.
Decided I have to pick up some old interests or new hobbies but frugally!

bizzie

thriftylass posted before I read your update.

I found it useful to get a reputable builder in to discuss options. We went from wanting to put a toilet in upstairs, as we had a downstairs bathroom, and our neighbours had already done this, to a "remodel" of the house that works for us. Each bit of work was costed separately though designed as a whole (one lot of architect and planning fees) and it was completed over a number of years as and when we had funds.

thriftylass

bizzie wrote: »

thriftylass posted before I read your update.

I found it useful to get a reputable builder in to discuss options. We went from wanting to put a toilet in upstairs, as we had a downstairs bathroom, and our neighbours had already done this, to a "remodel" of the house that works for us. Each bit of work was costed separately though designed as a whole (one lot of architect and planning fees) and it was completed over a number of years as and when we had funds.

Thank you. I think we'll need to remortage to be able to do it, but as said, too a much lesser degree than a move, also because we could never raise those funds in 3 years. However, this now spurned me on to start the mortgage over payments early. We currently stand at 108k and 16 years left. Did one of those calculators and would like to get it down to at least 93k in the next two years (OP of 200 a month more if allowed and possible).

Lauralozzle

Another spendy day for me but that should be it for a while. Had a lovely day out with he friend - lovely meal out, coffee and I got some wedding bits. Also collected my veil from the bridal shop today. Spent about £25 pounds, but, as I said- that should be it for a while. Back to work tomorrow so I'm getting on top of the cleaning/washing whilst I'm free.

Today has been a flexi day but when I'm back at work I'll be minus about 3 hours so some long days to get the time back. Hoping to break even by end of next week and then I can focus on building my flexi back up again. I have no more holidays until the last week of September so if I can build up the flexi and take a few off in October that would be ideal!

I've also raked the lawn given that the bin was emptied this morning by the bin men!

Gratitudes
1) lovely day out
2) friends - I don't have many but I love the ones I do have
3) sunshine

greent

Thrifty - our previous house had an extension to go from a 3 bed semi with small family bathroom and small kitchen to a 3 bed semi with a huge kitchen, a large family bathroom (old family bathroom became ensuite to master - conveniently it was next door so just needed doorways changing) and a huge landing area (much bigger than bed 3)which was a home office. If we'd stayed there (ie: not had more children than the 2 we had there) we would have knocked the small bedroom 3 into the office area, doubling its size and leaving a smaller office cubby from the landing. We didn't do the conversion - the previous owners did. It's what sold the house within 2 days of it going on the market when we were looking to move, though (we changed a lot and made it much brighter, airier and roomier than previous owners - who were into lots of swags and fripperies and dark colours)

In this house we put in a loft conversion - going from a 4 bed to a 5 bed. The whole of the loft is 'ours' (it's quite a large floorplan) - a bedroom, huge (fairly luxurious) bathroom and a dressing area. Cheaper than moving - but our house isn't worth as much as an 'original' 5 bed in the next street. Was a lot less hassle and mess than an actual extension though

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for helpful train station people, for a smooth journey, for arriving before the rain, for a nice time with mum, for dd and her energy, for lavander, for my sewing, for getting dd's tablet connected to the internet, for making progress, for gorgeous pictures of the gson.