Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

savingholmes

An impressive list as always.

Great news on the free course.

I get you wanting to understand DIY more - but now I'm paying a handyman the equivalent of £12.50 an hour - I regret all the angst of the past and wish I'd employed him / someone more like him over the last few years instead of using my expensive hours of bought annual leave to do jobs... and recover from doing jobs... Please don't misunderstand me - have at it if you enjoy it and I get you wanting to understand it enough to get the best deal - all I'm trying to say is if you can earn more per hour - sometimes it pays to pay someone to do the stuff you can get done cheaper by others...

Good luck with the new collab and the tech issues and getting your previous invoices paid.

Celery goes nice in soup. It also responds to water pretty well.

LadyWithAPlan

savingholmes said:

An impressive list as always.

Great news on the free course.

I get you wanting to understand DIY more - but now I'm paying a handyman the equivalent of £12.50 an hour - I regret all the angst of the past and wish I'd employed him / someone more like him over the last few years instead of using my expensive hours of bought annual leave to do jobs... and recover from doing jobs... Please don't misunderstand me - have at it if you enjoy it and I get you wanting to understand it enough to get the best deal - all I'm trying to say is if you can earn more per hour - sometimes it pays to pay someone to do the stuff you can get done cheaper by others...

Good luck with the new collab and the tech issues and getting your previous invoices paid.

Celery goes nice in soup. It also responds to water pretty well.

Indeed at £12.50 an hour for an experienced handyman no wonder you are getting him to do as much as possible I would too!!  You are right ! I would move him in !! Plus the good ones will do a better finish .. I have family members who are in the building trade and they always pull in specialists. However this is as much as knowledge and making little jobs done rather than paying and waiting.  
The fact I cant even put up my own pictures or a shelf is now boring to me - as I always pay people to do it and it is not beyond me.. just fear of drills and lack of knowledge.
I feel it is about stepping up into home owner version of me .. i cant wait to have a go at laying bricks (though in real life I may never need to)- or putting up a ceiling light.

 I live in London and  I dont think handymen get out of bed for £40/hour .... I was inspired actually by @Sistergold who has has so many dodgy/high  quotes/ and then lack of turnups when she is waiting for bits of work  to get done  cos she  has a nice car, nice house  in London and no man they can talk to ..re quotes .. she is super queen of DIY so I feel a bit of knowledge and being captainess of my own ship is a good thing here even if I then as I no doubt will hire people to do the difficult perfectionist work.

I chased some invoices today - lets see what my bank says tomorrow,

WON SOMETHING ELSE (BY ACCIDENT)
I am on a roll - the free online course I have been doing all week  had a grand prize of their big autumn course they were selling for over £2k -  I guess as an enticement for people to turn up each day. And I won that! So I am using it to move my programme forward again.  I would not buy it but it si like free focus and motivation.

I did not go to the gym again or deal with tech ...- work and procrastination and caught up with people - plus this 30 days to clean and organised home ..

Re Day 2 of the book I have cleaned out my fridge and the under cupboard of my kitchen sink - I discovered some new w/up liquid which saves me buying more
My apartment is definitely looking and feeling clearer in just two days - so I will keep going with the book. 

Food
I cooked my first ever toad in the hole - GF as well.- inspired by a diary on here.  It was fabulous - i googled a recipe and made sure i had the batter in the fridge for an hour as they said. I am definitely eating and cooking with more carbs eg potatoes and pastry but i am not craving sweets in the same way so maybe I needed to just eat more carbs

RIP the Queen, long live the Queen - she did an amazing job over very difficult times -  she has been in the background of my life and indeed my parents lives always. It really marks a passage of time and a link back to WW2 as well. I  made sure to speak to my mum tonight so she knows she is loved. 

NSD 4/16 no spends Thursday and in fact I won an expensive course Plus free DIY course - this MSE lark is working.

savingholmes

Great news on the free course and your cooking success.

I read SG's diary for a while too - and yes she had a nightmare. I can't stand the noise of drills - and am quite clumsy so daren't risk it for me. Have done gardening, wallpapering, painting and all sorts of other things over the years...

Cheery_Daff

Also excited about your DIY course! I absolutely support having enough knowledge to do little stuff in your house. I do earn more per hour than I'd be paying a builder, but it's hard to find someone to come out here, especially to do little stuff. Even living in a city I spent ages ringing round for people only to have them not turn up sometimes. I would FAR rather spend that time with a hammer doing it myself.

Obviously not everyone is in a position to do a load of DIY, and I realise I'm more stubborn than most - I went on a plastering course and learned to plaster as I was so sick of trying to find someone else reliable 😂 I realise most people wouldn't go that far (and I do still get people in for ceilings or awkward bits, or massive jobs). But being able to do some of the smaller stuff yourself is very empowering if you can!

LadyWithAPlan

@Cheery_Daff my plastering session is only 3 hours but Iets see if I feel competent after that. 
it’s partly reading so many MFW diaries where there always seems issues in getting people to quote or even turn up once booked that has inspired me. Plus being more MFW as I have some pics to get up now and I’d like a proper blind  and I don’t want to spend the money or time on getting someone in so little jobs just don’t get finished 

Since I was a small child -6 years - i was setting up equipment in the house such as tvs and phones etc. I am very good at working out software or setting up stuff or maybe I am just super confident now I can figure it out 
I don’t have that confidence with DIY beyond painting so this course hopefully will get me feeling I can do it 
I do stencil and paint effects in my bedrooms always so it looks like I have super expensive wall paper to wake up to 

@savingholmes I am super nervous about drills as well (but only clumsy at TOM ) so hopefully this course will have me brandishing power tools in a fierce property owning woman way.

day 3/30 this 30 day book may be weird woman magic .. day 3 yesterday - flat is looking and feeling much better- and I had done freezer last weekend with my inventory so junk drawers was the organising task but I do have at least 5 junk drawers!

Not going to rush to day 4 as one junk drawer unfinished and 2 not started and there are at least 3 junk cupboards . I will look ahead in the book to see if there are junk cupboards coming up as a separate day -

 I did reorganisation of some bedroom cupboards as well was I was at it yesterday. Jumpers and hoodies are all kondo rolled into a smart and a casual chest each 

also got Balthazar out (my robot vac) and he vaxxed and washed floors - I did do kitchen floor by mop as it looked too grimy after all my fridge cleaning 

my (rental) flat is looking gorgeous- really not ready to leave, awesome location, it’s big, light, great views.  I read on someone diary how they only seem to get  their homes super tidy or all diy done to sell and then wonder why they had not lived like that the whole time so I am determined to get through the 30days book but when it comes to clothing sort days - that will take a week! Or 10!

yesterday NSD 5/16

Declutter 10/8 

TT £1.01 as 1p was too small

Plans today include gym and swim, some horse EPs, no football cos of the Queen, - am sadder about that than I understood- see friends tonight and probably I will shop after my gym 
I could wait to tomorrow or Monday as have some stocks in but all this fridge and cupboard cleaning means I have a list to buy and stock up

still not properly meal planned but I will see what meat is YS - looking at the grocery and other single food bills . Many MSE ers  are doing £100 a month if not below that I can see so my £160 plus bill is still high 

Cheery_Daff

Excellent work there 😊

With DIY, I always tell myself "I am an intelligent and capable woman, other people can do this, so I must be able to figure it out too". There's a deal of skill involved in plastering of course, as in many of these things, but the basics are about getting the consistency right and knowing what order to do things - a course can teach you that, and then it's just practice, and accepting you won't be perfect, but will hopefully be good enough.

I've recently plastered several walls in Mr Cheery's dad's house, and while I wouldn't be hiring myself out as a plasterer, and they're not as good as the walls in our kitchen - it was also free rather than several thousand pounds, and it's actually DONE rather than still waiting for someone... 

Anything that you can do for yourself will help! 

Liking the sound of this book... Keep reporting back and I may investigate it myself...

savingholmes

The book sounds really interesting.

Glad the flat is looking more like your ideal.

Another thought to throw in while I am pro home 🏡 ownership some FI people deliberately invest in the market instead so they have more ongoing income and more liquid assets... There are risks to that too 

Merlin's_Beard

Will be interesting to see how your DIY course goes! Sistergold makes it sound very useful, so will be interesting to hear a second opinion of a different place. I'm scared of power tools, and I guess I'm worried that a few hours with one won't change that (or will leave me short of a finger or two!)

LadyWithAPlan

Merlin's_Beard said:

Will be interesting to see how your DIY course goes! Sistergold makes it sound very useful, so will be interesting to hear a second opinion of a different place. I'm scared of power tools, and I guess I'm worried that a few hours with one won't change that (or will leave me short of a finger or two!)

I am also convinced/terrified I will lose a finger .or an eye or a leg (!) so I will definitely keep you updated. Its a 10 week course so..
It's a women only course and I think that is why week 1 is zero power tools as I think its a normal worry.  We doing  plumbing 101 - cisterns and pipes (we have plumbing  session 2 on building pipes and u bends etc  later )  then week 2 is drill week but being able to put up shelves. pictures and a curtain rail would be amazing.
 My walls where I live are made of concrete and got burly male friends here who broke 17 drill bits in the walls so .... I feel a pair of safety glasses will be my first purchase.

I am also a get it done girl and not a perfectionist so I am not sure how good my DIY will look but this is all about my first home and learning ...

savingholmes said:

The book sounds really interesting.

Glad the flat is looking more like your ideal.

Another thought to throw in while I am pro home 🏡 ownership some FI people deliberately invest in the market instead so they have more ongoing income and more liquid assets... There are risks to that too 

My flat is rental (all my own furniture and kitchen stuff so thats all good for when I buy) but is fabulous and v reasonable .. and the more I declutter and follow this 30 day book plan  the more it feels and looks great. I also have lots of friends in the building... and the area is suoer central
Maybe this is part of why I am delaying buying  plus as a HR tax payer I add all over 50k to my SIPP cos of tax advantages (and I will be able to access if I need soon as over 50)

I do know as part of my FIRE plan I need a paid for home  soon-ish - markets are v up and down  but I do currently have my deposit split into 
-half my deposit as an investment in the one company and am getting already great returns paid semi annually,
- 20% in premium bonds 
-20% in s&s isa - that up  over 10% even with markets down
- under 10% in H2B isa - 25% uplift if I buy up to 450k

I was looking at house auctions yesterday  and whilst I would need to hire someone who knows about buying at auction the idea of just saving like crazy then buying cash in 5 years is quite appealing - all depends on income, spending and my rent Think I have 3 more plus years here,

Cheery_Daff said:

Excellent work there 😊

With DIY, I always tell myself "I am an intelligent and capable woman, other people can do this, so I must be able to figure it out too". There's a deal of skill involved in plastering of course, as in many of these things, but the basics are about getting the consistency right and knowing what order to do things - a course can teach you that, and then it's just practice, and accepting you won't be perfect, but will hopefully be good enough.

I've recently plastered several walls in Mr Cheery's dad's house, and while I wouldn't be hiring myself out as a plasterer, and they're not as good as the walls in our kitchen - it was also free rather than several thousand pounds, and it's actually DONE rather than still waiting for someone... 

Anything that you can do for yourself will help! 

Liking the sound of this book... Keep reporting back and I may investigate it myself...

Loving the DIY  self talk
Well done on the plastering - I am very impressed. I know my FM had a plasterer come in as  its hard to get it looking perfect  but perfect vs £1000s... and as you say no waiting or wasting time.
Yes the basics are the start then we will see - I may be practising on my current home!! I am eyeing up the lino and might replace it with Karndean as BIL has a spare box and some glue ... 


This 30 days to a clean and organised home by Katie Berry is magic  - it definitely has some weird witchy women super power on me - i cant believe the difference  after 3 days-  - i say this having tried Fly lady, Marie Kondo, feng shui , space clearing books over the years etc  - i even once had a feng shui consultant in and even that didnt move my clutter.. I think it is someone saying organise this small exact thing and  clean this other small  exact thing ... and tomorrow do x and y. No thinking about joy or hotspots ..
She does not mention ebaying or selling stuff so I am stacking what I am finding to sell into a charity bag and also an ebay bag for after.
Maybe it just suits my brain.. I did think it was an issue as yesterday was 'do a junk drawer' and then I thought I have 5! .. but actually reading ahead she gets to everything  eventually-from office to closets so you can just do one or two junk drawers in kitchen/lounge. Plus she says to stay on a day til its done - no stress or competition.
 Today was cleaning and organising pantry - and cleaning task is tidy your plastic tupperware and storage stuff! I have discovered a couple food stuffs
It is free to download here  
If people try it let me know how it goes

badmemory

Did you know that you can build shelves without a screw or a drill.  All you need is an alcove & a place like BnQ that will cut planks to size?  Mine are still standing, some after over 30 years & no-one seems to realise they are not conventional shelving.  I too do not like power tools.