Facing reality

Narola1976

Really glad to hear you are ok

Sarahwithlove

Narola1976 said:

Really glad to hear you are ok

Thank you my isolation is up at 23.59 Tuesday and I have had no symptoms to date so far. 

Sarahwithlove

So I have been at my YNAB budget again and I'm really struggling with what to do for the best.
So my credit card is 0% until May 2022 and I worked out if I paid £120 per month I would be cleared in April 2022. That would then leave me with approx £250-350 a month spare to either save in emergency fund and get up to my 6 months wages and or make overpayments on my mortgage. Or I could just put it all towards the credit card and be clear of it in March? I'd then build emergency fund up to 6 months and then look to overpay mortgage. With things the way they are at the moment I'm tempted to put overpaying the mortgage off and finding a balance of the two with paying odd card and emergency fund. It's hard to know though what to do for best.
I also think my damp problem in my bedroom is back but really not sure where its coming from. My gut feeling is it could be next doors entrance way. I live in ground floor massionette and my bedroom wall backs onto their entranceway where stairs are to their flat. Think after lockdown is lifted again I'm going to have to get someone in to look at it as the treated paint I have put on doesn't seem to have worked. Although I doubt having no heating is helping as taking days for washing to dry. I have a dehumidifier atm to try help but wondering whether I need to put my heater on in my room 🤔 anyone know anything about damp? 

shoppingobsessed2020

Personally and it’s me so probably not the best idea.  I’d do a mix of mortgage and credit card repayment and emergency fund.  I’d split what you have between the 3 and do it that way.

re damp unless it’s a very good dehumidifier I don’t think they do much good.  We had to have the entire kitchen redone and I still run a dehumidifier and it pulls in over a litre of water a day just through normal living.  I’d get a professional in as soon as you can as I wouldn’t mess around with damp.

Sarahwithlove

Well change of plan. Sofa has broken. As in snapped in half. Company got it from has gone into administration. Need to find out paperwork for it to see if anything can be done. Home insurance doesnt have accidental damage on it. Gonna ring up and get it added but too late for now. Ordered new one via dfs on credit card interest free until Sept 2021. I know some would say buy 2nd hand etc but with covid I don't want to risk it. So to clear that in time that's £120 a month. Also arranging survey of damp wall. Dread to think how much that will cost. So for now it's all about building up the emergency fund. Might be a case of another loan from my dad. He has offered recently if needed but would rather not if can avoid it. Hoping I can sell the arm chair and pouf that have to go with sofa as hardly used. Anything I can get will help with cost of new one. I've gone for same sofa my brother has as it's lasted them really well and they like me are a bit overweight too. It's sturdier and comfier and will have to be more careful with sitting on it. Just feels like it's one thing after another at the moment. 

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Sorry to hear about the sofa x

another_casualty

Sorry to hear about your damp / sofa situations . Life happens in 2's and 3's 
Regarding the dampness, a good dehumidifier ( yes I know You have one ), and ventilation should work . Not sure of the type of building you live in , but Victorian conversions like mine are problematic when it comes to dampness . If you have wooden floorboards, it could be the suspended flooring ( air bricks ) . Something like that . Be careful not to have pressure from the person looking at the wall , to try to sell you damp proof coarse ( not sure of spelling ). As you say, it sounds like something to do with neighbours .

My dehumidifier is fairly expensive , but is an eBac . It dries clothes as well , although I don't use that function . I have mine on smart setting , which means basically I just leave it on and empty the container every 2-3 days in the winter. I think you have cats 😼😼, but what may be an idea, is to close all windows and doors in the bedroom during the day and use on full power  that should dry it out .Only for a few hrs, and not everyday . The cats may not like being locked out , so it may not happen .
The only other thing I'd suggest , is to take pic of problem and post it on the in my home section . 

Regarding the sofa, if you paid by credit card you may get help from credit card co.

Hope this helps..

Sarahwithlove

another_casualty said:

Sorry to hear about your damp / sofa situations . Life happens in 2's and 3's 
Regarding the dampness, a good dehumidifier ( yes I know You have one ), and ventilation should work . Not sure of the type of building you live in , but Victorian conversions like mine are problematic when it comes to dampness . If you have wooden floorboards, it could be the suspended flooring ( air bricks ) . Something like that . Be careful not to have pressure from the person looking at the wall , to try to sell you damp proof coarse ( not sure of spelling ). As you say, it sounds like something to do with neighbours .

My dehumidifier is fairly expensive , but is an eBac . It dries clothes as well , although I don't use that function . I have mine on smart setting , which means basically I just leave it on and empty the container every 2-3 days in the winter. I think you have cats 😼😼, but what may be an idea, is to close all windows and doors in the bedroom during the day and use on full power  that should dry it out .Only for a few hrs, and not everyday . The cats may not like being locked out , so it may not happen .
The only other thing I'd suggest , is to take pic of problem and post it on the in my home section . 

Regarding the sofa, if you paid by credit card you may get help from credit card co.

Hope this helps..

Thanks for the advice. I live in a ground floor maisonette. It's brick built and ex army accommodation so not sure how well they were built. I had to replace several of the windows and when did discovered that they had no insulation around them. I had hoped that was the problem and wouldn't have damp this year but doesn't seem to be the case. I've looked at some reviews online and ordered a better dehumidifier so let's hope that does the trick and allows me time to save up a bit more money before have to look into other alternatives. 

Sarahwithlove

So mentioned my email on forums and been told to contact finance company about it under section 75 and my credit card company. Email sent to finance company. Gonna chat with CC company tomorrow and also I had sofa care and seen that might be able to get partial refund back for that. Might not get much but anything is better than nothing. 

mark55man

good luck - sofa so good