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

debtfreewannabe321

Thanks @~FlowerPot~ & @HotDog2020 I am absolutely exhausted today and totally seized up. DP was impressed with my efforts of getting it done so he came in from work, had dinner, got changed and we made a final push to do the wallpapering which he hates we didn't down tools until 10 pm. It is much easier with two of us as sadly the paper may have been cheap but there was good reason for it, the quality was not good. I would line up the pattern at the top and by half way down the pattern was misaligned by a mm or so. Nothing too bad but I can get a bit perfectionist-like over this stuff and it was driving me mad 😁🤣 anyway we did the best we could. And would you believe we fell short of wallpaper two flipping strips before the end raaaaaa so I had to spend half hour finding this paper online so I could buy one more roll. We paid £8 something per roll in the sale, they only had two rolls or I would have picked up more. I found one on Amazonia for £14.99 and bought a voucher through jam doughnut to use on there so I could get some cash back (every little helps right). That will be here tomorrow along with a new toilet seat that was needed (we bought the wrong shape before and after standing all over it to paint the ceiling we may have broken it a little 😬🤣) ...so today I will try and limber up enough so I'm able to move and go and edge/cut the wallpaper over hang and caulk around edges that need it. Suffice to say DP and I will never make professional wallpaperers 🤣. 
Don't zoom in too much but this is the pretty paper I chose. I still have the other side to do which shouldn't take more than two more strips because of the door (DP already done over the door but will need to line pattern up somehow and somewhere)...I chose cream for the ceiling and woodwork as it is a horrible dark and dingy room and the white we did underneath showed every single flaw, this smoothed everything out nicely 😁

~FlowerPot~

well done, very pretty paper and looks great x

HotDog2020

very regal paper, not a bad job at all well done.

debtfreewannabe321

Ah thank you both, It is brighter in real life but I took that at 10pm last night as we downed tools So I have spent ALL morning tidying the job up as in ...tidying our mistakes lol. I have cut the excess paper from top and bottom, and caulked where needed again -when it dries I will touch up with paint again over the top. It is, dare I say it, looking almost professional now I have spent time tidying up edges and doing the finishing touches. Just those two bits of paper to go up tomorrow and tidy around those too and the room will be done. What a faff. Had the walls been good I would have just painted it, but at some point I am guessing damp proofing or something went in and they knocked out the bottom half of plaster off EVERY wall in the house and when they touched it back up they didn't bother smoothing it off and there is clear lines between top and bottom. Some rooms we could sand it back and it was unnoticeable when done but this one for some reason was the worst by far, hence why we faffed about with paper trying to make it look nice! 

I have asked DP to stop at a shop on his way home from meetings to get a few fresh bits for salad, I will do either marinated tofu or falafels in pitta bread with salad and rice for dinner later. I have only just taken the tofu out the freezer though so may have to be falafels for all. Either way I have put off the big shop for one more day!

I am going to walk into town if the wind stops howling and the rain stops bucketing it down. I will look in the hardware shop for some window trim and check out the carpet shop to see if they have a tiny bit of off cut lino for the toilet floor. I had in mind to use the laminate we had the rest of downstairs done with (apart from the carpeted front room) but DP thinks it might have got damaged when our garage roof leaked last year he will check though. I would also like to have a wander around the CSs too, I feel better when I am walking around as opposed to sat on the sofa all day. Although I was all seized up earlier I am feeling a bit more limber now as I just got up and on with it. 

I've washed up, stuck a wash in (will have to tumble dry it literally started raining as I switched the ON button) and bathed the dog this morning/ afternoon too. I have also hoovered the house. So a bit of time for me now I think and well deserved! 

Nothing much going on money wise. I have money in my account but I need to pay for two more food shops and I also have the chiropractor appointment Thursday. I am only £9.45 away from my next square so hopefully I will find the money from somewhere to send that over before next week. We are half way through our month now so most bills are paid for or the money is sat in the bills account waiting to pay for it, and we are kind of just coasting along. I will see if I can find a few more bits to sell on v1nted, I am a little annoyed as I had bags of CS stuff collected before Christmas with lots of designer names that I could have sold, and I gave it all away. Not much else left to sell now, I can't be too annoyed though as I am grateful for the space I got back from just giving it away! That's all for now

debtfreewannabe321

Afternoon all!
Well the rain never stopped until about 8pm yesterday! I walked into town anyway but it was so wet and cold I waited until around 2.30pm in the hope it would stop. My mistake, I forgot i live in sleepy-ville and all the shops are shut by 3pm I had the quickest run around the CS's and hardware shop ever! Came away empty handed....up side was I didn't spend anything. DP stopped at s'burys for fresh stuff, spent £8.60 seemed like an awful lot for what he brought back but who am I to moan those fat cats at the top need their 5th holiday homes paying for somehow. So not a NSD. 
We had falafels in the end as the tofu wasn't defrosted. So today's dinner is salad potatoes, tofu, leftover rice and salad. Nice and easy. 

I finished all DIY snagging in the bathroom yesterday and am just waiting for this last roll to turn up now so I can finish that job and then find some flooring. 

The carpet shop had offcuts but the cheapest was £20+ and too small, pfft I don't think so, the room is less than a metre wide and probably only a metre and half long. I will get DP to check the laminate first that we have in garage.

I have been on my WA group chat for work today and officially declared I am leaving. I feel a bit sad but more relieved than sad so I will be fine. I will miss my wages in the budget though.  I am still checking online every other day for new jobs but still not much coming up where I don't need a car. 

This morning DP was going off to a local-ish posh town and asked if I wanted to come and shop whilst he was in his meeting. So I got up and dressed and we were out of the house by 9am. Lots more CS there and also it was market day. 
I spent too much really but got what I wanted and needed: new mirror for the small toilet room from CS - £8.50 (a pretty one with a lady on it- think a vogue cover or something I have one already similar in the loft that I want to get out again). Cleaning products I needed and couldn't seem to get from Amazonia for less than £7 (anyone else noticed that Amason is no longer cheap!), also got some new toilet bits- brush and towel and couple of other small bits from that shop £17. I bought two pairs of sliders for garden use and popping back and forth to garage for all to use. One men's pair for DP & DS to share and one pair smaller for DD & I to share. £10 for both. I also popped into a shop to buy some herbs and spices and a few other fresh bits, £7.62. I was done and dusted within an hour and DP was still in a meeting so I went to the hotel he was in and got a pot of tea £2.60...and sat and read through some diaries on here  

On getting home I thought, Flecking heck I best check the budget and when reset day is
So my budget for the month for:

Food & toiletries was £500 (I have now added the toiletries into this instead of separate as I was doing so well keeping under budget last few months pahaha spoke too soon there eh)
DIY was £100
Clothing was £50. 
Household was £0 
Pocket money combined was £200
Health £50
Dog £20

This is where I am at with 14 days left (we have done nearly three weeks already  )
FOOD & Toiletries £475.15  
DIY £86.41 
CLOTHING £74
HOUSEHOLD £77.37
POCKET MONEY £121.69
HEALTH £118 (thanks for my dodgy back and a chiro app tomorrow)
DOG £31.28 (we bought in bulk so it should even out next month)

Some will even out the overspends, like we underspent on pocket money so that can account for the household stuff. Clothing only went over because I forgot to put in the budget the N3xt bill. Health was a must and as I haven't been in so long I have to pay more now to be re-assessed.

The food is the biggest concern but going through my daily expenses planner I realise it isn't that bad as I have been putting toiletries into this so I think I am doing ok. And perhaps it just is what it is. I have enough food in the freezer for dinners and all I need is a few cupboard staples we ran out of and also fresh stuff. But has anyone else noticed how much fresh stuff has been going up, month on month, it is ridiculous! Especially if you are mindful about wanting to buy good quality organic. It is almost certain I will go over the food budget but I will be very mindful. DP and I were discussing how we could keep the spends as low as possible, we have decided we will try shopping every other day instead of a big shop. So here we go, 14 days left of my month and that works out to about £1.70 a day nothing like a challenge eh! We also said DS not being here has helped as has our detox because we were fasting for most of the day and DD eats like a bird perhaps I will encourage ex to keep DS for a few days longer (only joking). 

I saved money on petrol today though and parking (£7 in total from my calculations) as DP will put through as business expenses as he was there for a meeting. Tomorrow will have to be private miles and any parking I need though as I am going on my own to the chiro. 

Wondering if to add a household category in to next month's budget but with my wages disappearing I feel like next month is already going to be tight....so either my savings take a hit so I can add more pots or I continue to save and OP and move money around to find money for things like that. Things that go into that is things I need for the house so this month I bought new weighing scales, things for the bathroom, kitchen etc. I will wait and see how much DP is getting for his bonus, it won't be as big as last time so I am thinking we may be short by around £150-200 per month on what we have now  

Anyway signing off for now  
No OP today as I am waiting to see where bank balance lies after chiro tomorrow. 

debtfreewannabe321

Today will be a spendy day. I have my Chiro appointment. I am grateful I have the cash in my bank though 😁 before now that would have been an overdraft expense or CC. I also have some money in the savings pot so DD can come and see if she can find some shoes & costume jewelry for her prom dress. We will have a look in the retail park shops and if no joy we will drive over to Meadowhall in the future instead (I'd rather not though as that will cost me more as I know DD will want to shop elsewhere and for other things.)

Also need to pop into the shops for some loo rolls and an aubergine and courgette. DP and I are having a linguine dish later as DD is having a friend over for a sleepover, so they can have frozen pizzas. When she has sleepovers we grab the chance to have a grown up meal that kids don't sneer their noses at 🤪🤣

Hoping for total spends of less than £150.... I will report back. (Chiro is £68 ...ouch) And I have prom money set aside. 

slm6002

My daughter managed to find a second hand dress for £6 that she plans on wearing.  I need to adjust the halter neck strap to the correct length for her and sew some beads on but that is hopefully all that needs doing.  It is black so hoping the shoes and accessories should be easy to find.  Good luck with your hunt

debtfreewannabe321

Oh good lord I need a sit down and a fan as I feel faint after that shopping trip. 

Trying to decide whether I have overspent or got a bargain and also all shopping done and dusted for prom as well as DD new school next year.....

We got to the retail park with about an hour or so to have a wander before my chiropractor appointment. N3xt was the first shop we went in as I have a card for there and can spread the cost. Shoes were extortionate (well in my opinion) and thankfully DD didn't like any 😂. We went over to TK Max as that's where she wanted to try. She found three pairs that might be suitable for prom. We quickly discarded the super high heels as she's not used to them and would have done herself a mischief no doubt. And the other pair looked horrible on 🤭 the third ones were perfect! And in the sale!! £17.99!!! I was happy about that! 
Then she mentioned...what about clothes for my new school in September....I have two taster days and don't want to be the only saddo who turns up in school uniform. 🙄 The new school for her sixth form has a strict smart dress code, formal suits or skirts/trousers with shirt or smart sweaters so we picked out a tonne of stuff and thankfully discarded 80% of it in the changing rooms but kept two 'smart' tops. One a shirt and one just a smart sweater. Then I said let's go back to N3xt (after having spent £60 in there ) to see if they have the suit jacket as TK didn't have any in her size. N3xt had one she liked and some bootcut trousers to match. She's a small size 8 and it fitted nicely so I said let's just buy it now as they might not have it in stock come September as I know how they like to rotate their stock all the time in the shop and you can't find what you saw a week ago. Hmmm. Anyway I was feeling a bit down by this point having totally blown the budget already on things I hadn't got in my mind to buy yet (although they were on a list to buy at some point...) so I tried on some linen trousers whilst she was trying on suits. I put back the £40 pair and treated myself to a £24 pair instead 😁. So £106 in N3XT. £60 in TK. £68 Chiro. I thought let's just go all in here and spent £60 in s'burys as well on the next weeks shopping 😂! Ah well at least it's done I suppose and I will go lie down now!

debtfreewannabe321

slm6002 said:

My daughter managed to find a second hand dress for £6 that she plans on wearing.  I need to adjust the halter neck strap to the correct length for her and sew some beads on but that is hopefully all that needs doing.  It is black so hoping the shoes and accessories should be easy to find.  Good luck with your hunt

My daughter got a bargain with her dress too! She said it cost less than £20 😁 and with the shoes not costing too much either it's not broken the bank. 
My DD has a red dress and it has silver speckles in it so we got silver and nude sandals to match ☺️
We will save money as we are doing her hair and makeup ourselves and we will drive her there. No posh cars or makeup artists here I'm afraid. 

debtfreewannabe321

So I signed off and the wallpaper turned up! I got straight up and on with it as I literally had one full strip to do and one around the door! 

DP helped. Well he tried. I was still measuring the door frame cut out and he had started pasting the cut bit already 🤦🏻‍♀️ I was like this is why you messed up the other bit! Grr. I took over ....my pain levels are quite high now after the Chiro and I'm aware it always gets super painful for about a day after so I wanted to get it done now and out the way but I was getting stroppy as he doubled my work with it- I should have just sent him out to his office to carry on with work 😂. We have been decorating this poxy room for over a year now! I have to tidy up top and bottom and paint edges around that bit but I can say now it is nearly done!! We will grab a cheap bit of lino at the weekend and sign that room off totally then. The laminate we had in the garage sadly was flood ruined when we got flooded last year. That's decluttered into the bin now!

I also want to price up for the bannister upstairs to be replaced before we get it valued. It's not safe. Basically it all had to be dismantled when we had a wall down and a huge steel beam had to go up the stairs. They put the bannister back together but it is falling apart (was before they started to be fair last owner put it in and didn't do a good job, so we didn't mind so much). I want these few jobs signed off and then an estate agent in. I will make my mind up whether we are staying or going then before September. On the home stretch nearly 😁

I've looked through the budget (overspends) and I will be okay. I had money in the diy/ clothing/ health / prom account so it will all even out & I am actually looking at this positively I had a mega spendy day and I actually had money to pay for everything!! Nothing is on an overdraft and nothing is on a credit card (well the N3xt is but I have the money to pay it!) I'm really happy with that. And I was just reminded DS needed a new suit for the funeral in January so ExH bought him that...so I may well be sorted for both kids in their new school come September! That would be awesome because I was fearing it was going to cost me £400 at least for both together...if I can get away with just over £100 for DD that I just spent I will be happy! Kids are SO expensive! 

Okay sorry for too many long updates. So happy about being in the black though I had to share. And also happy the last room of the house is very nearly done!