Single gal balancing my way to mortgage freedom!

Sistergold

@frankersBri 👋🏾 
oh that kitchen does look exciting! Also good to hear that you now have two possible builders, that’s real progress! 

frankersBri

Morning everyone!

I've sent a few little OP's from rounding down my current account balance and some Quidco and Prolific payouts. So total OP's this month £179.72 so far, which is lower than I'd want it to be, but I'm focusing on keeping cash for the renovation. And it's still good to see the balance come down slowly but surely!

Speaking of the building work; I got the quote finally from the builder that had done a similar job at my friend's house. And it was 80% more than the other two quotes I have had! I'm sure I can haggle that down, change some of the stuff he's costed in that I haven't asked for, but I just don't know if I can be arsed. 
So I'm leaning towards the other builder I was considering, who has been great in responding to all of my questions. He's coming back round on Tuesday to finalise some bits and answer my questions. He says he can start in early March which is great,as my lodger (ex co-owner of the house) has confirmed she'll be moving out end of Feb as she starts a new job 1.5 hours away at the start of March. Fingers crossed all goes well and I can get ordering the kitchen, appliances, radiators, doors and all of the other bits I need to get! 

MovingForwards

Any O/Ps made help reduce the balance, don't be so hard on yourself.

It sounds like you've got a good feel for the guy coming back, which helps when they will be doing a substantial job in your home. 

frankersBri

MovingForwards said:

Any O/Ps made help reduce the balance, don't be so hard on yourself.

That's true! Something I have to remember for many parts of life, not just OP's!

MovingForwards

One thing worth doing occasionally is reading back from the start of your diary. You can see how far you've come, see changes and pick up on something you meant to do but got sidetracked or change how something is done.

It's so easy to be hard on ourselves, but hard to see things are not always easy.

frankersBri

Good morning everyone! I just made a small final OP for Jan to leave the month's total at £200. Happy with that, feels good to keep chipping away, and mentally I am at peace that this will not be a big year for OP's, but little progress is still good progress!

I have also officially commissioned the builder, applied for a small loan to help finance the work and ensure I have a good EF still (seemed worth it for a total of £300 interest to get the work done sooner and to the quality I want) and yesterday ordered all of the kitchen appliances (except the fridge).

Appliance shopping was tough; so many that I had researched and earmarked as possibles had gone out of stock, which was so frustrating. I guess the pandemic reduced production globally, and then Brexit is probably impacting supply chains too. Well, most things were in stock, except the dishwasher which is on back order. I'm pleased I managed to come in a little under budget for the appliances too, woop!

This weekend I plan on hitting the order button on the kitchen, and toilet/sink/towel rail for the new cloakroom. Somewhat terrifying but also exciting! Oh, and lighting. That's the bane of my life at the moment. I seem to have expensive tastes...

Sistergold

Hello @frankersBri
Congratulations on commissioning a builder so now the works will begin! Wow exciting times and nail biting process when choosing appliances as you want the right specs for your needs! Welldone for shopping around before hand! Well I look forward to the kitchen! 

Good for you the financing as £300 interest for doing the works to a high standard is not bad at all! In these times £300 is not a bad figure to keep your EF intact! 

Will be looking forward to hearing how the renovations go! 💋🎊

MovingForwards

Sometimes it's worth paying a bit of interest. I noticed white goods were an issue on a site I've been looking at.

Can't wait to hear about progress and the end result of your new kitchen.

That's a nice O/P figure and helps bring it down.

LeighofMar

Sounds like your plans are coming along beautifully. I had to Google what a cloakroom is as I assumed it was a closet, but it seems it's the equivalent of a half bath here in the US. So sounds very nice. I wouldn't mind adding one to the sunroom if we are able to build that onto our house as then it could be the official guest powder room, and DH and I both have our own separate bathrooms. I hope you are able to find the appliances you want. I would love a vintage range, colorful like green or red, but they are eye-watering expensive. But when it's your home, sometimes you have to splurge and make it unique to you. So exciting. Don't forget to post pictures as you go. 

caeler

Isn't google great! @LeighofMar See I've no idea what a half bath or powder room is but I guess it is a version of a cloakroom.  Which I think I'd just call a "downstairs toilet"!