Prosperous & Creative Soul & MFW Year 3

savingholmes

KajiKita said:

Oooh, well done on finding seeds and bulbs!!! 😊❤️🎉

KK

Thanks KK - the bulbs were sprouting - so I hope they survive. As far as I know they are muscari - grape hyacinth. I love those and had a lot at the previous house. There aren't many plants with such a gorgeous blue. Not done anything with the seeds yet. It's really cold here today about 2 degrees. I'd have liked to do something in the garden but it's too cold.

The workman is back again today - doing the pointing. TBF he's been doing a cracking job. He told me day 1 he has OCD - and I think that is helping him see the job through rather than rush the last part and skimp on the details. I think he under-estimated how long things would take - but that is positive for me. I'm hoping that the pointing is okay despite the cold.

A neighbour who has lived here since the houses were first built - said this house has never looked so good which was encouraging. Partly because of being outside taking coffees to the workman etc I've spoken to one or more neighbours every day this week. I gave some of my packing boxes and bubble wrap to a neighbour who is moving and they are happy to have more when I'm ready. Next door on the other side has had a load of the old roof batons. I've also offered him the new guttering left by my seller. Hopefully in good neighbour stakes I'm off to a good start. They all seem very friendly. Of my little row of 5 houses on this side of the junction - I've only not spoken to 1 at the end of the cul-de-sac - and even their direct neighbours haven't seen them this week. I had heard he'd injured himself. I've spoke to a neighbour who is on the corner next to the junction too and one from the row below so not doing badly for only have been here a few weeks.

I need to make myself do a little more unpacking and sorting today. I have a handyman coming most of the week from tomorrow and it would be good to be a bit more organised.

I'm listening to the Salt trilogy again... Ray has such a soothing voice - and has so many fears of her own - it makes me more comfortable and self accepting - while at the same time helping me see my own negative patterns and encouraging me to break out of them. 

I did a load of washing yesterday - and have another load in today. I expect I'll need to up the water direct debit to at least the medium level. I was debating buying a dehumidifier - but bought a moisture and temperature reader instead. Downstairs seems to be in tolerance although at the high end. I think I'll leave it upstairs for a bit and see what that says. It can only improve with the recent external improvements. If my drier is definitely broken though - I'm tempted to get one with a laundry function.

jwil

I'm also listening to the first of the salt books at the moment.  I find it encourages me to keep walking through my knee pain.

Glad you are getting to know the neighbours.

savingholmes

Thanks Jwil. 

I've paid my £9.2K bill - up £5K from the original estimate. For that I've had my roof felt stripped and relaid with fresh batons, new ridge tiles, new verge to the roof. New soffits, fascias, gutters. Pointing done in the 2 apex's of the gable walls, along the top row of the front of the house, on a corner and in a huge crack in the garage. He also resealed the outside of a window where it was loose. I'm covered by a 15 year guarantee for the main work - just hope I never had to use it. It means my savings took a much bigger hit than I anticipated on this first chunk of work. 

My wish list of big ticket home improvements includes:

• New flooring throughout the downstairs. If I have to screed first - the cost is likely to rise from my anticipated £4.6K to more like £5.9K
• Dig out the concrete and extend the drive to be suitable for 3 cars, add sleepers to retain planting area to the side and part of the front, take out part of the front fence. I was going for tarmac and paver edging - 3 quotes ranging from £4.5 to 7.3K. They are all slightly different though in how they were planning to do it so not true like for like quotes
• New patio / slider / bifold door - sister's cost £3K (bifold) - need to get proper quotes for it fitted with any other related work

There's no way I could do those and keep my desired EF though - so I'm trying to take a step back and consider it. If I'm going to do them at some time in the future though I may as well do them now to maximise my enjoyment of them. I've got a big enough savings pot - but it would reduce my remaining EF considerably - although as some of you have indicated the work I've had done this week was all work that would have come from an EF so effectively I've frontloaded the work now rather than leave it hanging over me. 

Merlin's_Beard

I would definitely look at that list and decide that now the roof is done, nothing is structurally important. Might be worth taking a bit of a breather, settling into the house, and then tackling them one by one? 

savingholmes

Merlin's_Beard said:

I would definitely look at that list and decide that now the roof is done, nothing is structurally important. Might be worth taking a bit of a breather, settling into the house, and then tackling them one by one? 

Thanks Merlin.

Unfortunately I also have a long list of other jobs that need doing - some of the garden ones I may be able to do / may be able to find a cheaper gardener than the current handyman solution. He can apparently do electrics but not plumbing. He's coming tomorrow and is due to be with me most of the week so it will be interesting to see how long some of these things take.

Potential work for the handyman (£25 p/hr) & or others 

1. Change locks on front and back doors
2. Fit video doorbell and help me get it set up
3. Put electrics through into utility and garage and add a light to the understairs cupboard
4. Fit 3 external lights (2 existing points, 1 new). If those lights are nice when switched on - may buy 3 more for another £90+ to replace 3 at the rear (which while pretty don't bring much light).
5. Fit new lights for garage, hall, lounge, utility (possibly others to follow but not yet bought)
6. See if sliding patio door fixable - if it is replace blown glass, door lock etc. If it's not talk through options.
7. See if tumble dryer fixable - if it is - add ventilation point - and either buy or tell me what what to buy in terms of pipe
8. Fit new blind to work from home space and landing. Discuss best options for other areas
   
9. Hang a very high picture in the stair well
10. Move triple wardrobe combo from my WFH space into my bedroom and move 6 drawer unit into bedroom 2 for now
11. Fix the utility floor
12. Ideally advise on & the fit new stair rail (so one on both sides) and make existing one safe (it wobbles!)
13. Ideally fit extra spindles to the stair balustrade so it's compliant
14. Fit some grab bars (I sometimes lean on the sink downstairs - and it wobbles - grab bars could help alleviate that risk). I bought some from the Rng3 no idea if suitable or not.
15. Advise me on mirrors - and what different walls could cope with - then hang existing &/or combination of new ones
16. Change the tubular catch on a few doors - to stop them being able to be pushed open by the cat
17. Possible canopy by front door (c£90 on Am****)
18. Possibly extend canopy to the side and back of the house
19. See if can fit castors to some of my existing furniture to make it easier to move around (return what don't need to Am****)
20. Fit hose pipe holder
21. Fit rotary washing line
22. Depending on flooring decision - could remove hallway flooring - and temporarily fit carpet from the garage that matches the stairs. I may need to buy a little underlay - although I do have a little somewhere - not found it yet - other than what I've used from the previous wooden flooring underlay. The hallway flooring - could see if could temporarily fit in the lounge to delay that decision / need further and make it less irritating. I did find about 10 boards that matched the kitchen but don't think they'll go far.

Possible plumbing & related joinery / plastering / tiling work

1. Review pipework - could the washing machine be moved back to the kitchen area so that the part garage conversion can be freed up as an art space / other? If the old pipework was tidied up - would there be room for the tumble dryer near the back door or does the apparent internal soil pipe preclude that? Is there an easy way of moving that pipe outside?
2. Box in soil and other pipes
3. Lag pipes in the garage as needed (these seem to be my heating pipes!)
4. Tidy up pipes under radiator in lounge
5. Take bath out - tile underneath and behind (where part missing - roll eyes) using spares left by the seller - refit 

Other structural & joinery work

1. Get advice/quotes on converting the garage properly and related costs - can then decide if it is worth doing or not - and where it fits compared to my wishlist of other items such as flooring, the driveway etc
2. Get new lintel put in for utility area (part converted garage) and widen the doorway (had to leave architrave off to move washing machine in etc) as narrow door
3. Fit architrave and missing skirting boards (probably not worth doing until after the floor decision)
4. Current utility area has an ugly boarded ceiling - check if that can just be skimmed

Garden 

1. Remove bamboo and grasses
2. Severely prune bay tree - possibly remove
3. Consider improving the lighting
4. Consider improving the paving
5. Plant additional borders - as a minimum existing back grass area needs aerating as water logged

I'm almost as worried about how the cost of these individual items could mount up - as I am about the bigger ticket items I referred to earlier.

CCW007

It can feel really overwhelming when you list it all, I understand your anxiety and why you are as concerned about that list as the big projects.

Hopefully you can talk it through with your handyman to understand what is essential and what can be de-prioritised. 

beanielou

Wow.  That's some list!
I worry about needing some painting done!

TallGirl

That is a long long list and the desire to get it all done now is clearly there. Please slow down live it some of and see if it does need changing. You are the only person living there do you need 3 parking space and an extra room in the garage? Great the roof is done definitely worth getting done now. 

savingholmes

CCW007 said:

It can feel really overwhelming when you list it all, I understand your anxiety and why you are as concerned about that list as the big projects.

Hopefully you can talk it through with your handyman to understand what is essential and what can be de-prioritised. 

Thanks. It's nice that others 'get it'. It's tempting as I have a chunk of £ right now - so I have a lot of choices - I'm just trying to make ones that are cost effective now - and for the future. I've even been debating the merits of delaying when I increase my AVCs or changing how much I plan to increase to my AVCs to compensate for my higher bills -  but that would affect my eventual retirement date options. My EF feels more 'notional' as in theory it's a set and forget option that should just sit in the background almost like a foundation.

I've been reading a journal from 4-5 years ago today. At the time we were over £30K in debt and owed about £145K on our interest only mortgage. At the time we had £80-100K equity. There was also major family turbulence going on... For me that year was pivotal in my financial journey as I found Dave R - and got a healthier appreciation of how much staying in debt was costing - and finally had a plan that took me beyond CC freedom. Things happened in that year that also indirectly led to my divorce 2 years later - by which point we were close to CC free. Using his steps - I estimated we could be mortgage free by age 61 and would then be able to retire or semi-retire if we wanted. It's weird to think that despite the divorce I'm still on track to be mortgage neutral by my early 60s with the option of retiring early if I want - PROVIDING - I stick to my AVC plan and don't deviate too far.

Currently I owe around £185K on the mortgage (as they refunded a payment) and have about £36K in the bank / savings after allowing about £1.25K for the handyman - if I cancel the floor order - and around £33K if I don't (ignoring fitting and screed costs which aren't yet ordered). So that's £65K equity plus say the £10K from the works plus £33-36K = £108-111K. I know it's not a £ for £ straight return but over the long term it will help and it is easier to think of it in my mind as 'invested' in the house and transformed from notional £ into a physical object.

savingholmes

Thanks Beanie and TG. Yes it is a big list. If I waited BIL might do some of them longer term but he lives quite a distance away so it doesn't seem fair to rely on that.  

My head keeps circling the EF question. A full 1 year little impact on my life style EF would be around £28.5K net. A basic EF with few frills would be closer to £22K with my mortgage accounting for over half of that. I'm trying to work out what's the minimum level of EF I'd be comfortable with - if I invested the other £ in doing up the house. If I was made redundant in 15+ months time - I'd get unreduced pension for life as well as a decent payout. My highest risk period is therefore the next 15 months.

1. My worst case scenario would be getting sacked & losing p1p at the same time which is pretty unlikely. 
2. The next worst would be statutory redundancy pay only which is unlikely - in which case I'd get around £12K plus another £2K in benefits over the next 6 months - so £14K for the year plus p1p which would tide me over a good while before I needed to touch my EF. It is highly likely I'd be able to get a job within that time. However any savings over £16K would mean I wouldn't qualify for help beyond the 6 month point.
3. The next worst would be long term sick & then getting sacked - but I'd get the equivalent of 9 months income so that would be okay and give me time to adjust. In that scenario I'd stop paying into AVCs and save as much as I could. I might then  qualify for other benefits so again would be unlikely to need a full EF. 
4. In the unlikely event my sickness/disability was severe / permanent I might then qualify for unreduced pension benefits which could give me around £14K a year. I'd have p1p too.
5. If I was made redundant tomorrow on current terms I'd get £30K tax free and put any extra into my pension and would then qualify for up to £2.2K in benefits plus I'd have p1p. I could then last over a year on that £ which should be plenty of time to get a new role.

Now the roof is done - the next biggest risk would be underground pipes or the windows. I think other than the patio door they are okay. After that it would be issues with my car. It's 7 years old and diesel though so should be fine. I'm not planning to replace it for at least 3 years - at which point I might be looking around £20K if I wanted something relatively new. In an ideal world - I was planning to just run it until it became too unreliable - in which case it could take me to beyond age 60 which would be fab.

Looking at my list above (and I apologise for repeating myself as this is a point my brain circles repeatedly in this and previous diaries) - I think the minimum EF I'd want would be enough to cover the mortgage for 12 months - so around £11.5K with more being better. My ideal is £20K plus so it's covering job loss / risk of car loss / other major emergency. I'm therefore trying to weigh up my wish list against that desire.