Buying a little piece of Middle England; Manifesting my way to mortgage free.

debtfreewannabe321

DD has finished school! Her last lessons today were all cancelled so yesterday was actually her last day. So she's still in bed ☺️.
I will get the insurance sorted out for her today. She has her theory test booked in a week or so. 
DS wants to come home for his birthday so he will be home Sunday and stay until his birthday. 
Money is fast running out and we still have almost two weeks left of July. Will have to pull some out of the EF I think. DP has asked for quotes to be sent asap for the extra electric work we want doing and I will make a final budget based off that when it arrives.

Today I'm donning my DIY clothes and will be attempting to lift the concrete screed over the floorboards in the kitchen- wish me luck 😆. I'm hoping the fireplace is finished by the end of the week and Also the floor in the kitchen lifted. Then we can get started on the plumbing. 

I suppose before kitchen goes in I should give everything a paint too but need to wait until the electrician has channeled wires where he wants them first as I will need to patch it all up before painting. 

Right, hoping for a NSD today and tomorrow so let's see how we go ...

LilSmiler

Really nice to hear DS wants to come home for his birthday, I bet you were wondering about whether you would see him

MeandO

I think the fact DS wants to come home for his birthday says a lot. 
Just let him know you're happy to see him and he always has a home with you, I think that's all you can do.

I sympathise with your 'trying to hold it together' with the ex. I'm going through much the same with a narcissist of an ex and a DS who tries desperately to please him, it's so very hard and has got to me today. Sometimes you just can't hold it in any longer.

I'm loving hearing about your DIY! Nothing like it to keep busy and keep your mind off things. I always find 'making improvements' helps my state of mind and sense of achievement. Good luck with the concrete! x

Watty1

DS coming home for birthday, well there is a thaw I think. Nice.

beanielou

Very telling that DS is coming home for his birthday. 

KajiKita

I’m agreeing with everyone else, interesting and significant that DS is coming back to yours for his birthday … 😉

KK

debtfreewannabe321

Morning all,
Thanks for popping in @LilSmiler @MeandO @beanielou @Watty1 @KajiKita I agree with you all. He's still being very quiet on messages and I hope he's not expecting a huge birthday celebration. We literally are down to half a kitchen left and an over packed front room atm. Also hardly any money left 🫤 I was planning on taking him to the local arcade place for his birthday ☺️.

We got the final quote in for the electrician for the kitchen and also for the flooring/ underfloor heating and skirting etc. we can afford it but it means clearing out all the savings and also leaves only a couple of grand for the new bathroom and also the utility area 🫣 however we like a challenge.... And I could probably shave some more money off the quote but it would mean project managing it myself and making sure trades are in quickly so we've decided to just go with the quote we've got - it means the electrician is in on Monday! He will do first fix in the extension and then also channel from the box to the new kitchen to create a new ring for all the work being done there. It could mean we have the new cooker up and running before the end of next week. Meaning we can start dismantling the old kitchen properly. If I did it myself it might mean waiting months for trades to come in. 

Today I've emptied one corner out for the electrician to start. I've also emptied two drawers and two cupboards - I've moved things mice and ants won't touch (I hope) out into the garage as we need to remove two cupboards to channel new drains through. I tried to get through the screed yesterday and it was nigh on impossible. Under the screed was more concrete which was really deep. We aren't sure there is actually any floor boards in the kitchen area 🤔. So it is easier to just take the drainage straight across the room which is a shorter distance than the other way. Sheesh. DIY is hard work.
DP had me put some bonding stuff on the brick wall and he's out there now putting up plasterboard. We have the extractor now so that can go in but he's not sure that's an easy job either as a new lintel might be in the way 😩 sometimes I wish we had lots more money to pay people to figure out these issues and do it for us. 

I went to a carpet shop this morning (trying to see how much cheaper I could get the flooring and underfloor heating for - turned out to be 20% ISH cheaper but it would mean long delays for delivery so it's a no go. I just want my house back now) and anyway...I saw my old boss the one who wanted to demote me. Remember him? The manager who didn't actually know how to run a shop or manage people -and was in charge of many of us. Well, it looks like I had the last laugh. He's been demoted! He was in the other store in town and was stacking shelves in uniform rather than his usual shirt. 🤭 I had no sympathy as he totally upset me when I left.

In other news my friend had her interview at my work place and said it went well, they asked if she knew anyone there and she said my name and they were very kind apparently and said they thought I was great.. confirms I was right to leave the other place even when students are driving me mad sometimes. I know at least the managers have my back. 

Going to wait for DP to finish and I might try plastering the boards today...also might just wait until tomorrow. We have plenty of other things to be getting on with. I'd like everything to be done and ready for when the kitchen turns up so it can be fitted straight away and that's due Aug 13th I think (or somewhere around that date) so the clock has started on getting it done. I'd like it all signed off by the time I go back to work in September ☺️.

KajiKita

Wowsers!

This really is the worst bit, the eye of the storm of DIY!!
Maybe when DS arrives you can get him to help ….?? (I am joking!! 😂😂😉 Don’t tell him I said that!! 😂😂)

Good shout on getting the Sparky to manage and coordinate the other trades. You have enough to do! 

£2K should be enough to get a functioning bathroom and utility if you stick with super basic range from somewhere like BnQ or Travis P3rkins. Also, you are doing the hard work now of getting the services where they need to go (power, water etc.) - if you have to pop in a few FBMP seconds in either area until you can afford exactly what you want, so long as it doesn’t change the flooring (run it under the units) you can change it later 😊

Oh, and what satisfaction is there in seeing karma do her work on your ex-boss!  😉😊

KK

debtfreewannabe321

Lol we haven't actually got any walls @KajiKita or anything else actually for the utility/ shower room 😂 literally starting from an open area with that one..I reckon we can get the basics done though at the very least and I have alerts on FB for everything 😂 it's how I got the cheap sink lol. I have seen some pretty tiles and debating getting them they are totally up my street and a nice colour 😃. 

Today we've taken down the wall between old and new and I can better visualise the space. I was told 6x4 m is huge but I've measured out for our sofas and 😬 there isn't much space for a dining set. I think I might have to get clever with swapping sofas out and extendable tables for dining area when it comes to it. It's lovely and bright now though in the new kitchen area even with the pouring rain we have had all day! 

DP has tried and failed twice times with the extractor bless him. He said- can I return it tomorrow it will be someone else on the desk then I already looked an idiot getting it wrong once and twice is too much 🥰😆 awww of course I said yes. The fault was in the drill bit not being big enough and he's made a hole for 10cm less than the extractor he bought. So he bought the smaller one but the tubing part wasn't right. So he's gone off to w1ckes now to buy it all separately rather than in a set. Perhaps 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 we may get the extractor done by tomorrow eve 😆😆. The floor hasn't been levelled yet either as we bought the wrong thing for that 😂 we thought we had ready made pour stuff but it's not so that needs swapping out too. D'oh. 

I think, basically, we're both fed up with DIY now. And we will definitely be making plans to stay out for a while rather than moving on whilst paint is still drying 😆 (like last time oops). 

I have worked out we have around £400 on the ik3@ card left I think it might be enough for the few kitchen bits we needed and a dining table that will extend. Super cheap and make do for now...there are some for sale on FB but sadly we can't transport something that size....

daisy_1571

ikea extending tables are brilliant,  so clever.

Just had a thought- did ds have the idea to idea to come home for bday before or after he saw his sister get a car? 

Dxx