The Ongoing Saga of Ruby Trying to Own A Home

rtandon27

@ruby_eskimo - I'd love to hear updates on how it's going with vinted, I've a pile of things that are too nice to give away, but truly are no longer in my regular rotation of favorites!

ruby_eskimo

rtandon27 said:

@ruby_eskimo - I'd love to hear updates on how it's going with vinted, I've a pile of things that are too nice to give away, but truly are no longer in my regular rotation of favorites!

It's a bit hit and miss to be honest.  Some people really are very cheeky in the offers they send (I mean a £20 offer for a bag that's quite collectable, listed at £50 and was brand new and RRP was £75!).  Personally I've found that you need to practically jump on people when they favourite something otherwise they lose interest and won't actually offer or buy.  I'm making it seem a lot more stressful than it is, most of the time it's perfectly fine!

Sarahwithlove

Congrats on the promotions. How is the kitchen coming along? Or is it finished now? 

debtfreewannabe321

Hope the building works are all done now Ruby and you're enjoying the new spaces

ruby_eskimo

Thanks @Sarahwithlove and @debtfreewannabe321.  Kitchen is mostly done apart from a few little bits of coving and skirting that need putting back and some paint touch ups.  Most recent project is the hallway and landing and we had the plumber here yesterday trying to fix the hallway radiator which hasn't worked since we moved in.  The irony of having the heating sorted on the hottest day of the year isn't lost on me!  But it's all sorted now so the next thing is for the team to come back and box in the pipework and then replace the dado rail and then we can start painting.  It will make a huge difference to the house by having it all painted, and another step closer to having a house that's more "us".

It's been quite funny because DH's sister is looking to buy her first house at the moment and is rinsing us for all our tips and advice when it comes to house purchasing and renovation 🤣

First of the month and the money shuffle has been completed.  This month is looking like quite a busy one but will be trying to keep the expenses down as much as possible where we can.  I'm not designed for all this socialising!

Oh and those keeping up with the saga of my dad's health - he has a new surgery date for 4 days before I'm due to go on holiday in September 🤦‍♀️  Very much hoping he gets moved to an earlier date or they end up doing the very minor version of what they planned and he's home after 1 night 🤞🤞🤞🤞

ruby_eskimo

Well July has been a total whirlwind of events and socialising.  I'm very much looking forward to a couple of weekends of doing not a lot in August!  

Some of the highlights have been:

- celebrating our friend's wedding
- attending an Indian cookery class (my christmas present to DH) and replicating the recipes at home afterwards to much success
- celebrating 19 years since our first date with a trip to see Hercules the musical which was epic, the muses are so good!

We've also been on a kick to organise the spare room / DH's office over the month where we can and have gone frome one idea to another about how best to store the things we actually need in there.  Finally we've come to the conclusion we need to buy a few hooks for coats which can go in the 3rd bedroom / dressing room and then a couple more plastic storage boxes to put in the loft and we'll be set.  Originally we thought we needed to some kind of wardrobe / drawer situtation which would have been at least £350 but after a little decluttering, DH finally moving his desk to a more suitable part of the room and selling a unit back to Ikea, we think it's going to cost us £50 at the most, not including the £20 we got back from the big blue and yello Swedish shop.

I've been selling some things on Vinted and so far have made about £30 with very little effort.  Have a huge pile of things to list still but doing a little each day is making it not seem quite so overwhelming.  We also have a pile of things to donate so will be dropping those off at the weekend.  I'm not turning into a minimalist by any means but I just don't want clutter.  I've gone through the phase of removing visible clutter in the house, but now I'm aware that there are things shoved in drawers and cupboards.  So now we tackle the non-visible clutter, which is even more difficult!

Still waiting on the builders to do the final bits in the hallway so we can start decorating that but I'm not in a rush, despite telling DH I just want one room finished!

South_coast

Aahhh, but the stuff shoved in drawers and cupboards is the just that you thought juuust miiggghht be useful one day, or you would have decluttered it the first time round - therefore definitely harder! I have a cupboard like that, but also some busy weekends at the moment, so trying to ignore it for now 🤣!

ruby_eskimo

South_coast said:

Aahhh, but the stuff shoved in drawers and cupboards is the just that you thought juuust miiggghht be useful one day, or you would have decluttered it the first time round - therefore definitely harder! I have a cupboard like that, but also some busy weekends at the moment, so trying to ignore it for now 🤣!

Glad I'm not the only one SC!  Most of our "cupboards of doom" are in the utility room because I was just throwing things in there when the kitchen was finished.  Plus the two drawers in my desk that has "important" paperwork that I couldn't file away because I couldn't get to the box where they should go.  SO I don't really have any excuses to be honest!

DH has now suggested we start the priming and sanding in the hallway this weekend 😒 so looks like we'll be decorating that before we go away.  To be honest, we have three weekends in a row with not a lot going on, so it's possible that we could get it done if the builders can do their little bits too 🤞

ruby_eskimo

Hello there!  We're back from our big holiday for the year (well next couple of years!) and ready to knuckle down and focus on the whole MSE way of life again.

It's been a bit stressful in the last couple of months with lots of different things going on, mainly revolving around my dad's surgery finally being rescheduled for 4 days before we flew out to America.  Was a bit touch and go whether we actually went because things didn't quite go to plan (there may have been some time spent in ICU...) but he insisted he would be fine so I spent a few days running logistics from the states to ensure he was making progress and got home ok.  He's making good progress but still has a long recovery road ahead of him, but fingers crossed this is it - I definitely don't want to be back in that hospital in another years' time!  

The actual holiday itself was great once I could relax a bit and gave us a lot of time in ride queues to talk about future plans and goals, hence the swift return to the wonderful MSE forums.  Of course, we want to get more projects around the house ticked off, but we also have the goal or dream of doing a big Canada / Alaska trip in 2027 and I've really come to the realisation that I'm done with "stuff".  The final point really hit home on holiday - I kept seeing merchandise and things that in previous trips I would have purchased immediately, but this time I just kept thinking "I don't need this / I already have something similar / This won't really add anything to my life if I purchase it".  

I wouldn't say I've been a shopaholic but I have had a problem with chasing a dopamine reward through shopping and the love of getting a bargain.  This is the thing I want to focus on for the rest of the year in a hope that we can actually start making proper regular overpayments on the mortgage next year, because according to the budget, there should be money left over each month to do this...  

I'll be back later on in the week with a list of goals that I have, once I've actually re-checked the budget to make sure I'm not missing anything!  Made a good start today though by bringing my own lunch, snacks and coffee to work so I haven't been tempted by the many, many food places near my office.  Hope you're all doing well (if anyone is still reading this) and I'll be checking in with diaries over the rest of the week.

debtfreewannabe321

I hope your dad is recovering well. 

And well done for not falling for all the merch on hols. I bought a few t-shirts at gigs we went to and I know I won't wear them and not really sure why I fell for it but I rarely go places with the kids any more as they're not interested, so went a bit crazy when they came t shirts all round lol. I usually buy something like a t towel or fridge magnet so it is useful. Look forward to seeing the house progress and holiday plans