Getting it together...one £ at a time!

Homegrown0

A gorgeous day in my part of the world has put a smile on my face, despite the fact i have a lot to do both in the house, life admin and work. But at least i can do it with the sun shining.

House plans
Husband and I spent quite a long time on Sunday night coming up with plans and working through the costs for both the bathroom fix and the planned extension. Pleasantly surprised with how it all looks and as long as we secure the financing for it (which we should) then I'm confident we can afford it and continue living at the same time.

We have decided to cap the bathroom costs at £2k including ripping it all out, replacing the walls, ceiling, floor (possibly joists), replumbing the whole thing, tiling it and putting in a new shower/ toilet/ sink suite. Sounds like a lot of stuff for not a lot of money, but my husband is going to do everything except the plumbing and he has a friend who is a plumber. I just need to cost up a few more things and make sure it's definitely doable for that price. If so, we will put it on a 0% card and have it paid off before Christmas. It will slow down the planned overpayments to the existing debt but will not affect our savings for architect/structural engineer etc for the extension.

Phew! It's a lot to think about but i want to make sure we can handle it rather than just diving in and thinking later, like I would've 5-10 years ago.

Extra money coming in
My small pay rise comes into effect in this month's wages, so looking forward to seeing my payslip to confirm what it'll be and alter my spreadsheet to suit.

My husband has a LOT of overtime coming up which, although will take up a lot of his spare time over the next couple of weeks, should bring in a nice bit of extra, which will go straight into the savings. Need to build up a buffer again after coming back from holidays.

Spends coming up
I've got quite a lot of spends coming up that i want to track to remind myself that when i get paid, we have commitments so don't get frivolous.

• Dad's birthday
• Little cousin's birthday
• Niece's birthday
• Uncle's birthday
• School uniform and bag to buy...
• Husband's car service and it needs at least one tyre

Days until pay day: 7
Loan payments left: 6
Childcare payments left: 12

Homegrown0

Cashed out £5.75 on PA, £3.88 from Qmee and £5 on Shoppix (may have mentioned that one) so once they have all cleared, i'll transfer to CC1.

doingitanyway

Good idea to put upcoming additional spends at the front of your mind so you don't feel you have more than you have come pay day...

Doing the bathroom is worth slowing down debt repayment for.

teafor2

Evening HG You'll save yourself loads if hubby is able to do all those jobs :T And having a plumber friend is the icing on the cake.

I really enjoy reading your plans and getting an insight into how you forward think. You're right, a bit of time spent thinking about things now rather than rushing in is definitely the best way to tackle something. xx

Homegrown0

doingitanyway wrote: »

Good idea to put upcoming additional spends at the front of your mind so you don't feel you have more than you have come pay day...

Doing the bathroom is worth slowing down debt repayment for.

Thanks, as always, for your input DIA. Sometimes i feel like I make all these grand plans then spend half the time worrying whether it's the right decision or not. I know you and other readers on here can't make the decisions for me, since you don't have all the facts, but just being reassured that I'm not chasing crazy, outlandish ideas is comforting.

You hit the nail on the head - doing the bathroom is worth slowing down the debt repayment for.

In the past, we never would've considered a more economical way of doing the bathroom. We'd have got a company in, picked all the high end stuff (we generally have expensive taste, without even realising) and before you know it, we'd have paid £8k on a bathroom without thinking. I feel that although we are spending money on it, it's because a) we need to b) we have considered all the options and picked the middle ground option, NOT throwing money at the problem and c) it is an investment as it'd need done sooner rather than later anyway. The leak just prompted it.

teafor2 wrote: »

Evening HG You'll save yourself loads if hubby is able to do all those jobs :T And having a plumber friend is the icing on the cake.

I really enjoy reading your plans and getting an insight into how you forward think. You're right, a bit of time spent thinking about things now rather than rushing in is definitely the best way to tackle something. xx

Yes, i'm hopeful it'll bring in a nice, tidy sum to squirrel some funds away. We have the architect on Monday so hopefully that'll give us a more accurate insight into costs.

Glad my plans give you some insights - it sometimes feels like i just ramble on in here and then end up changing the plans anyway, but it does help me to write it all down in here.

Homegrown0

Six days until pay day.

SIX.

Hurry up please!

doingitanyway

Homegrown0 wrote: »

Six days until pay day.

SIX.

Hurry up please!

Not that you are counting or anything :rotfl:
I shouldn't laugh, I am just as bad!

teafor2

doingitanyway wrote: »

Not that you are counting or anything :rotfl:
I shouldn't laugh, I am just as bad!

Me too HG and DIA, and I get 'paid' weekly :rotfl: xx

Homegrown0

It's been a long old month here at Chez Homegrown! I shouldn't complain, we've done lots of fun things this month but I'd really like pay day to just get here ASAP.

You guys know me - love a countdown!

Homegrown0

Morning all, Friday is here finally!

I'm looking forward to the weekend and the cooler weather that it should bring I don't like to moan about the nice weather, but warm weather + trying to go about everyday life is just too sweaty. In this heat, i prefer to be on holiday and do things at my own pace haha

Husband is working this weekend and has pencilled in next weekend for more work, so they should yield a nice bit of extra to put towards the bathroom/ architect costs.

I've got lots of work to do today, so trying to be as productive as possible (she says, as she writes a post on MSE instead of working). I figure once i get my thoughts on here, i can move on and concentrate! Excuses excuses...

Days until pay day: 4