To mortgage neutral and beyond...

One-step-at-a-time

A few wobbly moods this week. I'm going through one of those 'completely and utterly sick of DIY' phases. Painting woodwork always brings out the petulant toddler in me!

The NSDs have been going well though (I haven't spent a bean since I last posted), and my funds for the rest of the month are still on target. The dribble of mortgage OPs I've made from surveys etc. is almost keeping pace with the daily interest. I don't have a set target there but it's nice to be making a dent.

We've decluttered one carload of junk to the tip and I'm taking some things back to the office this week that I no longer need at home.

beanielou

Moving forward 

One-step-at-a-time

Everything still ticking over nicely this week. Daily spend budget til payday is £4.58 and the only thing I have to buy over the next three or four days is milk.

Along with our normal bins we keep another old bin full of dead electrical stuff. It's been building up for a while and a couple of bits were visible from a distance. We went out yesterday and when we came back it was completely empty! Reviewing the doorbell recording showed that a scrap metal van came by yesterday, and when nobody answered they took it all anyway! I'm not sure how I feel about this - on one hand it was trespass/theft as that stuff was right up by the house a good 6m from the road, on the other hand they've saved us a trip to the council tip.

After a few days off DIY this week I'm ready to finish the painting this weekend and we've got some shelving and a bit of tiling to sort out if we don't run out of steam.

LadyWithAPlan

Wow that scrap metal van was a bit overly focused - I also would be a bit upset but if its saves you petrol and time..

Well done on the NSD's  and extra bit of income - I am also picking up extra cash where I cam- I have not thought to work out my daily spend - I assume that is fuel/fun/food stuff rather than dd's and house payments.

Drawingaline

Well it saves you a trip, but I would be annoyed too. Remember when we out our old metal bath in the front garden word got around and it was gone in a couple of hours!

One-step-at-a-time

I decided the best approach was to stop getting wound up about it and be happy that we don't have to take it ourselves! @LadyWithAPlan yes, the daily 'what's available to spend' is food & transport & any unplanned extras. All our DDs and bills are paid by the 3rd of the month.

Today has been great on the MSE front. 3 for 2 on paint from the local DIY store, plus £5 discount using their club card, and possibly more than 4% back via TCB if the other discounts don't render the spend ineligible. I saved more than £18 not counting the possible TCB bit, and it was all paint that we needed for next month's jobs. It's on the 0% purchase card and will be paid off from the November house budget; everything has gone into my spreadsheet so that the budgeted pots don't get out of whack.

This means that we can crack on with the next room on the list a bit earlier than planned.
This weekend's painting is on schedule - the walls are all done, plus one coat on the woodwork, and the second and final coat will be done by lunchtime tomorrow. Dinner is a stew that we made yesterday so it'll be a hassle-free evening.

Drawingaline

Good luck with the decorating. Having our last wall painted tomorrow, but it's the stairwell and I just can't reach the top so having to pay someone to do it. He is doing the ceiling too while he is up there! I am compromising by doing the gloss myself. I loath glossing so much, but needs must.

One-step-at-a-time

Drawingaline said:

Good luck with the decorating. Having our last wall painted tomorrow, but it's the stairwell and I just can't reach the top so having to pay someone to do it. He is doing the ceiling too while he is up there! I am compromising by doing the gloss myself. I loath glossing so much, but needs must.

The stairwell is the bit we've just finished. I used a small brush with an angled head duct taped to a stick to do the top edges from across the landing, and DH  used a roller taped to a stick to do the rest. Before this we'd been contemplating hiring/buying a stair platform but it didn't make financial sense. The walls are a pale colour and minor imperfections can only be seen if you know they're there and look really carefully in good light

Drawingaline

Yes, if we were doing white it would work. But it's a odd blue colour so really shows any imperfections. Handyman did a good job, his cutting in wasn't 100% but it matches mine at least, and a proper painter/decorator would have cost a lot more and not been able to trim the three internal doors too 😂

Now I need to brave hanging all my big pictures back up. And try and hang the wallpaper up the other flight if stairs, been trying to find someone to do it and not having much luck. Handyman knows his limits and won't hang wallpaper. I can do it but it will be tricky to cut the edges neat enough.

savingholmes

Just caught up. I am dreaming of having a mortgage as small as yours... One day