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And now we go again...
Comments
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They need time for a few cups of tea… I expect they'll have to 'nip to the builders's merchant' for something they've forgotten later, and builders are like women going to the loo in pubs, they always go shopping in pairs.
6 -
ROFL - you two! Our previous experience from when the bathroom then the kitchen at the flat were done in a full on "strip everything back to brick" fashion was that never mind going shopping, they disappeared for days on end, meaning a job that should have taken a couple of weeks took several months! it was the latter of those projects that meant when we were looking to move I eventually said a hard no to anywhere that would mean we would need to take on building work to get a house that was liveable as we wanted. That turned into a good thing mind as we are now where we are, so..!
MrEH tells me that the original steps have been revealed underneath the replacement ones which was a surprise, but a useful one - they will now use those as a basis for the new ones which will be helpful all round as less "building up" to be done, and also no need for them to build something temporary for us tonight.
Money shuffling:
- Money from Welsh Building Society has landed
- Home insurance cleared off the CC
- £400 transferred back to the EF to cover what I took out of there for the building work deposit
- Waiting on the building work deposit to go from pending on the CC and I can then clear that down
- Balance of the regular saver money will replace the money I borrowed from the joint account
I have started a list of financial wrangling that needs to happen - covering the various bits I have borrowed from pots and the replacement of money into both the joint and my personal EFs. Felt like a good plan to get everything in one place so we can keep track a bit easier. Lots going on from now through until October, but after that we should be able to get things back on an even keel again. There will be a short term dip into the long term savings for the balance on the building work, but that will be replaced almost immediately by regular saver money.
🎉 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
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her12 -
Fingers crossed for successful building work! Sounds like you're off to a good start anyway.
5 -
Your old builders obviously had the same training as mine…
5 -
Great news about the builders turning up on time and the discovery of the old steps. Sounds like a good start to the work. I find tradesmen often 'just need to nip out' towards the end of a job which I suspect is them going to make a small start on the next job to keep that customer sweet.
I'm like you at the minute with the pot shuffling and waiting for the next regular saver to mature. The Welsh one that matured last week was the holiday pot which I'd borrowed from the home improvements pot so it went back in there. The next one (earmarked for home improvements) matures in October and there's a possibility the decorator will be starting in September so might have to shuffle a few bits around to cover that.
I get knocked down but I get up again (Chumbawamba, Tubthumping) -.literally have been run over by a bike, mobility scooter and a car - still here 💪6 -
It's faffy isn't it SA - and I constantly feel I'm chasing my tail at the moment, hence making a proper note of what is happening and when! When I think about it it's not surprising - I had that offer of the trip to Lundy later this year, so had to do a budget for that, then MrEH's car repair, then the group of pals we go away with agreed a week on Lundy NEXT year and that needed a deposit paying, now the steps… I seem to have been constantly shuffling cash from place to place! Oh and in the middle of all that was also needing to get some accommodation booked for next year's main holiday as well - and of course there wasn't money in the holiday pot for that..! It will all catch itself up, but if MrEH's car is reading this we could really REALLY do with you not breaking again any time soon! 😂
🎉 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
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her8 -
😂😂 sounds like your bank account is behaving somewhat like mine right now!
5 -
I keep duck taping my accounts but there’s still a leak somewhere!!
L
Total Debt Dec 07 £59875.83 Overdrafts £2900,New Debt Figure ZERO !!!!!!:j 08/06/2013
Lucielle's Daring Debt Free Journey
DFD Before we Die!!!! Long Haul Supporter #1244 -
I've just caught up with your diary, @EssexHebridean. You seem to be having a year of money shuffling - I feel the same this year with our new roof, builders coming to sort out the water ingress, decorator, new car, etc. I seem to have been doing a lot of financial transfers, but I'm glad in a way, in that it means we have actually saved the necessary funds, rather than my pre-LBM solution of consistently borrowing & having no savings.
Awful to have your accommodation cancelled at such short notice. Very poor service indeed. We have had 2 holiday cottages cancelled in the past but struck lucky in that on both occasions, we ended up being offered a more expensive one at the same cost. To have the accommodation cancelled & needing to start again from scratch at short notice is talking the u-know-what when they've actually known since November. Very naughty indeed.
Good to read that your garden is being productive. Food metres not miles, & so lovely to be able to go out & decide what's looking good to eat. I'm off to pick tomatoes right now! Think I shall be bottling by the end of this week by the looks of things.
Anyway, nice to have caught up with your exploits.
F x
2026's challenges: 1) To rebuild our Emergency Fund to at least £5k.
2) To read 50 books (12/50) 3) The Re-Shrinking of Foxgloves 8.1kg/30kg
Remember....if you have to put it on a credit card, extend your overdraft or take out a loan to buy whatever it is, you probably can't afford it, as that's not your money, it's somebody else's!4 -
I came home from my weekend away to two more tubs of tomatoes in the fridge Foxgloves - I know what this weekend is going to be spent doing!
Well the jaunt down to Eastbourne was just lovely - with the shot below being my photographic highlight of the weekend so far - when even the props on the aircraft align in symmetry for you you know you are having a good day! definitely one of those moments when luck and precision from the pilots combine to give a lovely result!
The first bit of the building work is complete, we have lovely new steps at the front and are just waiting for the handrail to be manufactured and fitted to complete the job. Even without that though we are just SO pleased with how they look - they add so much kerb appeal we suspect they will end up cost-neutral when the house value is taken into account. the two chaps who did the work were excellent too - and kudos to them for working in those temperatures!
MSE Stuff:
- Eastbourne costs ended up being a little lower than they would have been without the change of accommodation - the cancelled one has now been refunded so that offset the newly booked room and most of the food/drink spend too.
- We ended up drinking in that well known weather/cutlery based pub chain most evenings, with one night being cocktail night which was particularly good fun. there was also a tasty Italian meal one night, and some delicious seafront fish & chips too.
- Accommodation for next year's AirTattoo is booked - on a cancellable basis and they don't want anything paid before June so I currently have my deposit money that was refunded from this year back where it will be earning me, not my pal, some interest again.
- Lots of garden produce - indeed as I mentioned above I do need to dedicate some serious time at the weekend to cooking and prepping. MrEH roasted a whole large squash on Friday and that has been popped into the freezer, but there is plenty more to tackle.
- Food shop this week was a shade over £30 which is fine - I need to really drill down on what can be used from the freezer before we go away though, not least as I need room to freeze the garden stuff!
- I have had notification that the second of my two Welsh building society's 6 month regular saver is maturing at the end of the month. The proceeds will be going straight to offset the balance of the money for the building work.
- My ISA has moved across and will now be earning better interest again.
Spendiness:
- I've thrown my remaining birthday money at a possible replacement camera bag. My mid sized kit bag is over 10 years old and beginning to look very tired indeed, and my large one is bigger than I need for a lot of things. My hope is that this one (which was an excellent price) might end up getting used most of the time, with the big one just kicking in when I need that bit more space. We'll see though.
- Paid £10 for a pair of beach shoes while we were away - something I'd been wanting anyway so that was a good purchase and they will go to the Hebrides with us.
🎉 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
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her14
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