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Small steps lead to big changes...
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Today's PAD £2
Jan - £141
Feb - £139
March - £89
April £149
May - £79
June - £270
July - £14
"Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee1 -
We won £100 on PBs this month, that was a nice surprise! It will most likely be PADded
However, I have mentioned to DH that I want to start pricing up a bathroom. It's one of the things that needs to be done in order to achieve my retirement plans, but also, one of our taps leaks so it wastes water.
I've no idea how much a bathroom costs, but ours is small, and will only need a like for like replacing, boxing in pipes, tiling and flooring. We'll be looking for basic and functional rather than anything too fancy as anything is fancy compared to what we've got (yellow suite, peach tiles and green flooring
). Our big non-negotiable is that we won't have a plastic bath, it will need to be cast iron/steel or porcelain. The current one is cast iron so the weight protection in the floor is already there.
If we could get it done for around £5k, I don't know if that's possible, then my thinking is that we could probably have a decent payback period just on our water bill alone. We are currently paying over £80 a month for water, where the average bill is £400-£500. I've no reason to believe we are higher than average users, and would hasten a guess that we are lower than average, as we are careful in the main. The calculators show a saving, even if I'm fairly frivolous for us. So if we could save a few hundred a year on our water bill, then the bathroom would essentially pay for itself. Even if we couldn't save loads, I'd prefer to pay for what we use.
The plan is to measure up and get some quotes so we can at least see where we are and make a plan for how to pay for it."Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee4 -
Fabulous win on the pb’s, well done 😁
A new bathroom will be lovely.Not all who wander are lost - J.R.R.Tolkien
🌊 A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor 🌊
My WW and friends diary is here 😁 …
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6259606/must-try-harder/p13 -
Lovely win.
On the bath is it the type you can paint the outside of?
Good luck with your plansAchieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £171.8K Equity 36.37%
2) £2.6K Net savings after CCs 10/10/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £27.9K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.25K) = 34/£127.5K target 26.6% 10/10/25
(If took bigger lump sum = 60.35K or 47.6%)
4) FI Age 60 income target £17.1/30K 57% (if mortgage and debts repaid - need more otherwise) (If bigger lump sum £15.8/30K 52.67%)
5) SIPP £5K updated 10/10/251 -
Thank youWinterWarrior said:Fabulous win on the pb’s, well done 😁
A new bathroom will be lovely.
Thank yousavingholmes said:Lovely win.
On the bath is it the type you can paint the outside of?
Good luck with your plans
No, it's one that needs a panel. We did look into getting it re-enameled, but couldn't find anyone that does it locally. It would need to be stripped right back as we want it white, not yellow."Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee1 -
From me tooWinterWarrior said:Fabulous win on the pb’s, well done 😁
A new bathroom will be lovely. I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.
Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb. ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.2 -
I love a bit of bathroom talk. I do not like tiles, which used to be more from the cleaning point of view. I had splashwall to avoid the tiles. I can clean the whole bathroom walls in the time it used to take to do the tiles over the sink. It costs more but I would it again.
3 -
We had our bathroom done a few years ago and I think it came in around the sort of price you're talking about, from memory - however, that was including the entire room needing to be stripped right back to bare brick and replastered, and all the plumbing needing redoing too - it was a fairly major job, so a straight forward redo of tiling and flooring, painting non tiles areas, and replacement suite etc would be less I'd hope.
Ace PADing - and, well done on the PB win too!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her2 -
Thank youbeanielou said:
From me tooWinterWarrior said:Fabulous win on the pb’s, well done 😁
A new bathroom will be lovely.
Oh thank you, that's useful. I will have a look.badmemory said:I love a bit of bathroom talk. I do not like tiles, which used to be more from the cleaning point of view. I had splashwall to avoid the tiles. I can clean the whole bathroom walls in the time it used to take to do the tiles over the sink. It costs more but I would it again.
Oh that's good to know, thank you! I really wasn't sure. My only real concern would be if there are any nasty surprises with the plumbing, it's the original bathroom from when the house was built, so not much has been touched in 60 odd years.EssexHebridean said:We had our bathroom done a few years ago and I think it came in around the sort of price you're talking about, from memory - however, that was including the entire room needing to be stripped right back to bare brick and replastered, and all the plumbing needing redoing too - it was a fairly major job, so a straight forward redo of tiling and flooring, painting non tiles areas, and replacement suite etc would be less I'd hope.
Ace PADing - and, well done on the PB win too!"Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee2 -
Today's PAD £10 (survey cashout)
Jan - £141
Feb - £139
March - £89
April £149
May - £79
June - £270
July - £24
"Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee1
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