My 5 Year Plan to a better life!

MuffinTops

Thanks Rosa.  Are you able to let me know which branded name you bought? A recommendation would really help, if you're comfortable letting me know.  

The one I had received great reviews too, but then they'd offered a voucher to get that, so I lost faith in those reviews.

RosaBernicia

MuffinTops said:

Thanks Rosa.  Are you able to let me know which branded name you bought? A recommendation would really help, if you're comfortable letting me know.  

The one I had received great reviews too, but then they'd offered a voucher to get that, so I lost faith in those reviews.

hi MT, it was a B05ch (this one) - iirc via Am470n Warehouse, so the packaging was opened but it was significantly cheaper and the thing itself works fine.  I find it a slightly easier layout to use than the other one (can't recall what brand that was). 

MuffinTops

Thanks Rosa.  That really helps.  That's a brand I trust so I'll look at their ones.

MuffinTops

My friend is much better.  They kept her in hospital for the day, not overnight and she has a stomach issue that they can treat, so she's home and seems back to her normal self.

I've been looking for a van for a while to convert into a day van.  My friends all live so far away and sometimes on my drive home I want a break or a little nap, but I don't want a camper van as it won't really be used for holidays at this point.  Well on Saturday I was looking online and found a lovely Ford Transit van.  Went to see it and it's perfect. It's a short wheel base with a high roof, which are hard to find, and was a good price.  Full service history etc. so I bought it.  Not converted at all, so I've just signed myself up for another major project!!!!!  Not sure if I'm excited or mad at myself! 😂

Financially I'm still ok as the van didn't take the full budget I'd put aside for it, so there was a little left over for tax and insurance.  I managed to get a good enough signal to buy those before driving it home so was able to take it straight away.  It drives so well, the only issue is the smell of smoke in there, which I know is going to be a b*gger to get out.

So now, do I buy a small and cheap to run car as a runaround locally, or should I take on the role of van lady?  I'm leaning towards a small car as I don't fancy using a van for every trip. Plus it'll mean that as I start to convert it, I don't have to worry about making sure everything is stable in the back before I can go out.

I must admit, I'm really excited to start work on it.  I can park in my garage and I also have a closed off area in my garden, so lots of options to be able to work without disturbing the neighbours or getting comments from passers by.  I love that people are friendly and chatty, but a few people have already said that my van can be used to take their large rubbish to the tip and I don't want to encourage those thoughts if I can help it.

Rubbish weather today, but I have lots of indoor computer work to do, so best start on that now.  Happy Tuesday.

MTxx

RosaBernicia

Oh brilliant MT, how exciting! 

I had my campervan valeted recently and it really helped with making it smell fresh - maybe an option if you have somewhere local or something that will shampoo the seats? 

As you know I've kept my little car, I sometimes feel that I don't use the van enough to justify having it - but it isn't very economical, and I know the car is reliable and low mileage and it's already paid for - I'd hate to sell my car and then find I had to look for another one as I don't think I'd get anything like it. 

In case you haven't already found it, there's a FB group called W0m3n with Camp3rv4ns which is really friendly and has a lot of peopel doing conversions.  I use that and an owners group for my van to check for my questions as things come up and both have been really useful. 

RB xx

MuffinTops

Thanks Rosa.  I'm very excited but no projects have started yet.  I want the mechanic to give her a once over just to check all is as it should be.

That's a really good idea to have her valeted.  There's a company here that might be able to help so I'll give them a try.  I'll double check they do the full shampoo etc and will also need to take out some other bits that smell smoky to help slowly eliminate bit by bit.  

Thank you or the camper van group suggestion.  I'll check them out.

MTxx

MuffinTops

I've had a proper overhaul of my finances today and noted dates of DD's and which account they come from.  I was aware but it was all in my head so I've noted things down now.  YNAB went haywire last week due to being off and moving money around to get things organised.  I may do a fresh start on it when I get paid and just start again with a cleaner version.

Financially I haven't been too bad, but still so much to improve.  The grocery budget is the most challenging for me as I am still throwing so much away.  So next month I'll concentrate on keeping that under control.

Storm Eunice pulled a whole line of fencing down between myself and my neighbour.  I've looked up on the information from when I bought the house and it's not clear if I'm fully responsible or half responsible for it.  Anyway,  I found a local company to come and replace, and to also concrete the supports in too and that was a lot of money.  He showed me the costs for the fence pieces so I know it was accurate but it was still a scary amount.  I let my neighbour know they'd be fixing it and she's offered to pay half.  I feel bad about that because I didn't consult her on who I was using or the costs, so I'm going to pop a note through the door with the proof of what I've been charged and let her know that anything she wants to pay is appreciated.  She seemed very willing to pay half, so we'll see.  Lesson learned here is to knock before I organise anything to save this worry about it all.

We may have another Storm arrive this week after the last 3.  What's going on with this weather? I hope everyone has managed to stay safe.  This last storm isn't confirmed yet.

I painted another room last week.  So I've decided to move all of my personal work machines to that room as it's much bigger.  It's also upstairs and doesn't get the sun shining in too much, but it's a nice light all day.  So that will be done this weekend.  I hopefully have a friend coming to visit to help me with the bulky and heavy items as I can't get them upstairs by myself.

I'm going to have a rest from painting for a little while as I'm just sick of it.  Although I am excited to get my office set up and workable.

I hope everyone's having a good week, so far.

MTxx

MuffinTops

Pay day was Monday so I created a fresh start with YNAB and realised that when I've done that in the past, I haven't been allocating the money sat in my accounts for things like energy bills and water etc.  Idiot!!!  So I set up my new fresh start and allocated all the money earmarked for other things first.  Then I put my monthly budget together with just the actual amount to allocate for the month from my salary!!!!  How clever!!!  🤪. But maybe this means it'll all make sense at the end of the month too.  

It was my birthday last weekend and a friend offered to come and stay and also help me with the heavy lifting work I really wanted to get done.  So I shot off to Ikea to get some furniture (I used to live a 7 minute drive from Ikea, now it's a 3hr drive!!!) and got that home and ready for when he arrived.  We set up the furniture and then managed to get my heavy and delicate machines upstairs.  He was a massive trooper getting it all done and working out ways that I could help (I'm weak and pathetic 😮‍💨) when it was a 2 person job.  So now I have a great set up in an upstairs big bedroom which should do me for a year or two, making me a very happy birthday girl.

My lounge is currently being worked on.  He arrived yesterday and when we had a proper look at the flooring that's there and what he needs to do (skirting, doors etc) we realised that it'll look weird with brand new skirting and doors based on how tired the current floor looked and how it was fitted with a massive gap between the end and the skirting (and all that paint I still haven't removed), so now I'm getting a new floor too!!!!  It will be better as it'll be the right colour to fit the room, whereas the old flooring was a medium to dark brown.  Now it will be a medium grey.

When I was looking to buy the house I'm now in, a house that looks exactly the same on the outside (with different works being done inside so it was similar but not exact) went up for sale.  It sold within a day so I didn't get a chance to view it, but I've gotten to know the couple who bought it.  They aren't keen on the inside and are getting it renovated and invited me over yesterday after work to look at it.  It's weird being in a house that was built the same as mine but with the changes to mine and the changes to theirs they look so different.  So I've now seen the before images and they'll invite me round once finished.  It sounds like it's going to be amazing from the (hand drawn) plans they showed me.  It did also make me appreciate how my house is laid out and that what needs doing can be done in stages.

So with all the positives going on, the only downside is having spent so much time around people with no alone time, I'm mentally struggling.  There's 2 more days work here and I'm also around a lot of people this weekend too.  I should have realised my limit, but I need the work done, and this weekends shenanigans is a charity event and a birthday meal so I just don't feel right refusing those invites.  Plus, it's a bit mad that I can't be around people for too many days at once!  I need some coping mechanisms rather than plans to retreat so that'll be a work in progress.

Happy Hump Day all!

MTxx

another_casualty

Happy belated Birthday MT🎈 🎂
Everything seems really good albeit eventful. I think it's nice when you're decorating the place the way you want it. 
Part of the fun . You'll get back to a quieter pattern soon to put your feet up.
You have nice neighbours as well by the sound of it .
I'll leave it there ... 😼

MuffinTops

Thank you AC.  My birthday was lovely.

Yes, I'm lucky with these neighbours too, which makes life that bit easier.