The 'scenic route' to mortgage freedom...

PiggyBankShaker

Feels like it been a long week. I did my Dad's blue badge form and photocopied all the supporting evidence and handed it in at the council offices. I also responded to RBL on his behalf as well.

Work have paid my latest mileage claim (£30) but I have more to claim today, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so I think I'll do them all in one go.

£25 from SwagBucks hit the account today and I'm already up to £18 again, not including the £15 bonus due in 19 days. DH cashed out £25 (not £30) and he already had £11 not including the £15 bonus (I don't know when its due)

No news on the worktop, which is depressing, especially as we are paying for it now via a month Direct Debit. But the workmen have finished out the front so peace has been restored. DH chopped some more firewood, which come in handy when it dried out a bit. So far we haven't had to buy any, and we still haven't had the heating on. Shell is a few days late producing our latest bill, it'll be interesting to see how much it is.

Hoping for a quiet-ish day tomorrow, especially as I am working Sunday. No hours at 2nd job next week, but I will volunteer for the week after. 2nd job pay and the CB hits the account on Tuesday. So far our balances & expenditure are looking okay. 

   

savingholmes

Always nice to have free £. I've had vouchers from Mr T and MnS this week and it all helps.

PiggyBankShaker

The end of a ridiculously long week. In fairness, I didn't even DO that much compared to some other weeks but I'm just feel a bit drained by it all. I am at least sleeping a bit better which is helping.

I had to work for 4 hours today, which included a 130 mile round trip. No overtime, but I get TOIL and mileage. Plan to take it pretty easy tomorrow as far as possible.

Manage to request a refund from Sh3ll energy of £296. It still leaves a healthy credit balance, and we're still not using the heating. We can stick it in the savings where it can earn us some interest. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

savingholmes

Nice refund.

Glad you get toil

PiggyBankShaker

What a week. It's only Thursday, but it feels like it should be the weekend already. I had to work last night and didn't get in until 10.30pm then I couldn't fall asleep until gone 1am because my brain was still wide awake despite my body being tired.

The worktop fitters are currently here. They found another defect and suggested we ask G3m1n1 to remake - again - but I honestly can't stand the upheaval any longer so instead we negotiated a discount of £600 and going ahead with the fitting. I think that, unless its pointed out to you, you can't really see the mark so all in all I feel like its the best outcome. The electrician and plumber are coming tomorrow so we can FINALLY start to get finished.

We've had the rebate from Sh3ll and DH has transferred it to savings. I'm almost at £40 on Swagbucks, with £15 bonus still to come in a fortnight. Once I get that I think I might call it a day.

savingholmes

Good to have the £600 off and have it resolved. 

PiggyBankShaker

savingholmes said:

Good to have the £600 off and have it resolved. 

I totally agree @savingholmes

PiggyBankShaker

The plumber and electrician came and we now have a hob, a sink and a new radiator, meaning we can use the heating again is we want/need to. That said, DH got 5 more pallets and chopped most of them for firewood so we're doing okay on that front at the moment.

Yesterday we bough tiles, wallpaper and paint sample for the kitchen and the end truly feels in sight now. The kitchen fitter still needs to return and install the extractor and hand a few missing doors. We also need to moves some lights and change some fittings but the kitchen is at least usable again now. Its already so much better and I feel much happier when I'm in there. Its both more practical and more aesthetic and its given me a fresh burst of energy to tackle some much needed decluttering and sorting out.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend.

savingholmes

Glad the kitchen is coming along. Nice to have different heating options - especially the low cost kind.

Glad the house is being transformed into more like what you wanted.

PiggyBankShaker

What a day! Four different kinds of weather, including thunder and lightning, hailstones, rain and sun! Not to mention its freezing and dark one minute and normal the next. DH got the fire going earlier, but we've agreed to start using the CH as its not at all pleasant in the rest of the house now. Think we did pretty good holding out as long as we did.

Kitchen is plodding along. DH emailed Wr3n about the replacement cupboard doors and also G3min1 about a further refund. Hopefully both of those come back positive and we can move on. Half tempted to have a go at the tiling myself but I've never done it before and a bit nervous that I'll make a mess, not sure how much a professional will cost. 

I'm a bit annoyed with myself about 2 things; first, I've mislaid a £20 receipt I need for work expenses; second, I cashed out £25 to Amazon instead of Paypal from Swagbucks by mistake. Hopefully the receipt will turn up soon, as it is the only outstanding expense I have left to claim this month. And the Amazon voucher is annoying but not the end of the world.

We're going to view a house on Monday, it needs loads of work but it has potential and could be awesome. It *might* also have enough land to finally get DD her own horse, so we'll see. It'll be just our luck to get the kitchen finished and start to be happy with the house and decide to move just as interest rates are going up. Half of me hopes we love it and half of me hopes we hate it.

Anyway, that's all for now.