MF by Christmas 2024 - let's do this!

beanielou

Fantastic news. Well done DH. 

Suffolk_lass

Coxy11 said:

Drains still not sorted. Company failed to arrive on Tuesday and again yesterday, so now expected on Saturday morning. Downstairs loo flush started failing yesterday evening, now fixed after I fiddled with it, but upstairs en suite loo is filling up to the brim!! Needs sorting asap.

As a result of having to wait in on Tuesday for the no-show, we didn't make it up to the community kitchen garden. We are going today instead.

Drumroll please.......DH has a job!!! He will be the new caretaker at the primary school opposite our house, 10 hrs/week. He is beyond excited - the happiest I've seen him in ages. Not sure when he is starting but it'll be soon, as previous job holder is unwell and retiring.

That is awful from the drains people  - but on the upside, congratulations to Mr Coxy - what a boost to his self esteem. I hope it goes well!

Spendless

So pleased to hear Mr C has been offered a job. Congrats to him. 

Coxy11

Hi everyone,

DH is over at the school meeting with a contractor. Still waiting for a start date as his DBS hasn't come through yet. In other news....I have secured a part time role. It's 4 days a week but I'm negotiating to do 3 days, even if they are longer days. Just waiting to hear.

The drains were finally finished on Monday - thanking the Lord DH took out drain cover when we moved as would have been £000's. They ended up replacing three sections in the end which was two days' work. We are having the roof cleaned and sealed tomorrow - very mossy due to years of neglect and the local birds keep having an 'all you can eat buffet' which is making a right mess. Need to warn the neighbours today as the company are arriving from 7am tomorrow!

We have started decorating DD's bedroom. I steamed off the chintzy border and a load of plaster came off too, so DH is going to tackle that tomorrow I think. We've also had to take up the floor as it's really squeaky as the boards were riding on the nails. We will screw them down but first we will install some more plug sockets and also insulate/soundproof in between. It's above the kitchen and DD can hear the kettle boiling! 

In mortgage news we are now below £30k for the first time ever yay! No PB wins for me this month but DH won £100 so that's £375 over the two months which equates to 0.75% return so far.

beanielou

Woohoo to be under 30k & the job. 

Suffolk_lass

That all sounds very good. I remember my Dad screwing down squeaky floorboards when I was a child. We did the same here and it worked well until the pest control people sent a clown who prised up a screwed down floorboard with a crowbar, wrecking it and the board next to it. Then he pulled down the recessed light in the right place downstairs, using a screwdriver and leaving a massive hole in the ceiling. Badly repaired, I can still always smell if we have mice in the roof, through the light fitting !

LadyWithAPlan

Congrats o the new job for OH abd being sub £30k 

Coxy11

Hi all,

It's been a while since I updated. Some progress on the house. Roof cleaned and sealed. Only one broken tile which we are taking as a win. It looks superb - like a new roof but as the reddish tiles have a grey mottle effect, not new like a new build iyswim? £1800 well spent and much cheaper than a new roof.

Some progress on DD's bedroom. DH purchased some heavy duty sanders and relevant PPE to sand off the stippled ceiling. Took him two days of hellish work and it still needs skimming  so we've lined up a plasterer who was recommended by FIL. Only trouble is he is fully booked until end of April. In the meantime we've had a company quote us for shutters for the whole house. It's a 12 week lead time, so we will order for DD and DS2's bedroom initially which will give us time to rub down and fix the windows. They are stained dark brown but with some sanding and elbow grease are a nice oak colour. They also need some putty replacing. This is all work we hadn't bargained on, but will do it properly to future-proof the house. We will remove the (badly put up) coving over the next few days and DH will make a start on replacing the skirting and architrave too. We still need to order the radiator so may do that today.

DH started his caretaking role on Monday - he's been asked to do 3.30pm-5.30pm each day which does rather curtail the day if we want to go out further afield, but they said they can be flexible if needs be. I have also secured a role with the NHS part time starting from Monday. The first week I'll do mostly from home as it's a lot of online induction training. I only need to go into the office on Friday next week. After that it'll be Mon, Wed and Fri 8.30am-5.30pm. DH will drop me at the station and it's a 4 stop/20 minute commute. The money will mean we aren't drawing down so much of our savings and means we can stop worrying about spending on the house.

Monthly budget wise we are doing okay. Food budget for this month still has a healthy £150 for the final week (starting next Monday) so I'm confident we will be under this month. We are being mindful when planning our meals and only buying what's necessary. Come the summer we will hopefully be harvesting fresh fruit and veggies from the community kitchen garden. Picked some brussels sprouts this week in return for our 2 hours of path laying and bed clearing. All good stuff.

beanielou

Happy new job. 

Suffolk_lass

That all sounds great.

Our last (Edwardian) house had had the mouldings chiselled off the doors, in order to clad them with hardboard, back in the day. We were considering what to do when our builder told us that the profile of the skirting board always used to match the doors in the principal rooms. We had what looked like a plain board under, with a fancy moulded bit above. After removing a bit and paint stripping it, the builder was able to use his profile gauge to match it and got loads of moulding made up. As well as the doors, we were able to match in all the primary living rooms and hallway skirting, repairing and restoring the original look.

And well done on the new jobs, I hope they don't disrupt your new life too much