The Ongoing Saga of Ruby Trying to Own A Home

ruby_eskimo

Last night we finally moved the wardrobes around so we could see what space we had to work with and it resulted in what will hopefully be the final order from the big Swedish shop.  Did manage to save about £150 through a combination of a voucher code we got when we moved in from the estate agent and buying gift cards through my work savings scheme.

We emptied the last of the boxes that the movers gave us last night so they're coming to pick those up today and then the rest of the boxes we're going to pass on to some friends who are also moving soon.  These are all the boxes that we got for free from Marketplace so just passing the good fortune along. 

Received one quote for replacing the bathroom and ceilings and knocking a wall down which came in at what we expected but having a second builder come over at lunch time that's been recommended by a friend to see what he says.  

I also have a pile of things that I want to find homes for by the end of the day and am determined that they will have magically disappeared from the corner of the bedroom by the time I go to bed.  Mainly because I'm fed up of almost tripping over them every morning and night 🤣

ruby_eskimo

In the office today for the first time in over a month and it's just not the one 😆  Managed to throw together a work appropriate outfit but not feeling my best self today.  Brought my own coffee and breakfast but we're supposed to be going out for lunch as it's our intern's last day before she goes back to uni.  Haven't really had a lot of interaction with her over the past 9 months but have been told to go as I'm the only other woman in today 🙄  Have looked at the menu and already picked what I'm having so know how much it's going to drain from the budget (and spoil another possible NSD 😂).

Managed to unpack the things I wanted to yesterday and found temporary homes for them and will hopefully manage to find permanent homes when I've sorted out a few more things.  Even though we decluttered A LOT before we moved, I'm still not happy with the amount of stuff that's lying around and keep thinking that if I've managed a few months without needing to touch it, then do I really need it anymore?  That will be a question to ask myself when we're actually in the renovating and decorating stage - do I want to put these things back in my newly decorated space or not?

On the money front, we finally got access to our new online banking for the new mortgage and already we've accumulated about £700 in interest 😬  Not going to worry about it too much for now, well at least the next 5 years as it is what it is and I can't change it.  But I can start to overpay little bits where we can.  Going to wait until the first payment comes out next week and then maybe round it up to the nearest £10 or £50 and go from there.  Also received notice that the national agreed pay rise for my sector is being implemented in October, with back pay from April also included then.  The extra will be going straight into some form of savings automatically but not 100% sure how much extra it's going to be each month.  Knowing my luck it will be about £20 🤣

South_coast

ruby_eskimo said:

That will be a question to ask myself when we're actually in the renovating and decorating stage - do I want to put these things back in my newly decorated space or not?

This is exactly the dilemma I have at the moment! Even things I know I cleaned before I put them away all look grubby and depressing now I've got them back out again 🙁!

ruby_eskimo

South_coast said:

ruby_eskimo said:

That will be a question to ask myself when we're actually in the renovating and decorating stage - do I want to put these things back in my newly decorated space or not?

This is exactly the dilemma I have at the moment! Even things I know I cleaned before I put them away all look grubby and depressing now I've got them back out again 🙁!

It's annoying isn't it.  Especially when I'm trying to be more sustainable and not buying things for the sake of buying them but in the new spaces we have I'm just like "it doesn't go...🤔"

ruby_eskimo

Afternoon all.  Had a busy weekend but don't really feel like I got a lot done!  

Saturday morning was spent at the garage for a service and MOT which the car passed but does need a new battery so going back to have that fitted on Thursday.  Then the afternoon was consumed with multiple runs to the dump to get rid of most of the fitted wardrobes out of our garden.  Think we have 2 more trips to do but then the garden will be clear of the random bits of wood everywhere.

Sunday DH went to the cricket with some friends from work, so I spent all day trying to organise the kitchen where I think I've found homes for things which work for now until we have the kitchen replaced which will be next year hopefully 🤞  Also attempted to make my own laundry detergent and we'll see how it goes this week.  I'm fully on the Nancy Birtwhistle train of eco and frugal(ish) especially when it comes to cleaning and cooking.  The laundry stuff is a little lumpy but I'm sure will do the job, plus made almost 3 litres of laundry liquid for £2.50 which is a win.  I think my parents have my stick blender so will try and get that off them when I'm there at the weekend so I can make it a bit smoother next time.

First mortgage payment comes out this week so will try and make a little overpayment and round it up after that.  Also had confirmation that the council aren't taking a payment till next month so we've got a little extra cash hanging around so can put that towards the OP.

Finally we're on 4 NSD's so far this month and can't see anything I need this week so hoping to add a little more to that total.  I did buy DH's wedding anniversary gift over the weekend which I'd also already budgeted for - this year it's our 9th, which traditionally is pottery apparently.  Didn't want to get him a mug or another flower pot but did find some pottery wine coolers which apparently are just as good as the metal ones.  DH really got into white wine while were in South Africa so have found a local-ish potter who is going to make him one in a style that I hope he'll like.  He's been talking about getting a cooler for a while and couldn't find one he liked so hopefully this one lives up to his exacting taste 🤣

South_coast

Oh, I love the idea of the bespoke wine cooler 😍 What a thoughtful gift!

And your disposal of the fitted wardrobes sounds much more sensible than the ones which came out of my Mum's house - BF set fire to the lot of them 😬 Her (adjacent) holly tree has never recovered!

ruby_eskimo

I think in his heart DH would love to have a big bonfire and just burn everything but the lure of using his chop saw to break the pieces up is far more tempting 🤣

It's only 10am but it's been a busy morning already - had a delivery from the big Swedish shop so now our living room is covered in boxes of things to assemble (a book case, a corner add on for a wardrobe and shelves).  Then just as they were leaving, a British Gas engineer turned up to replace our smart meters as apparently they were first generation that only work on 2G, which is being phased out.  Took just over an hour but all sorted and it gave me a chance to unpack another box of office stuff while the power was off.  Now back to work 😞😏

ruby_eskimo

Now we have the new smart meters, we can actually register for the energy peak save times, which will definitely come in handy.  We have yet to turn the heating on in this house because we're waiting for our plumber to come and service the boiler first (and do a few other jobs while he's here).  That's booked in for next Monday, which will hopefully be the start of all the things that we need to get done before Christmas.

I finally managed to automate all my payday money shuffle payments, ready to come out after my next payday.  It will hopefully make things a lot easier and also reassure any banks that I'm not trying to launder money by manually moving it between multiple accounts 🤣

ruby_eskimo

Had quite a productive evening yesterday - we put together one of the bits of furniture that we had delivered, made a roasted pepper and mascarpone sauce that I've frozen to make a pasta bake with next week and while the oven was on, I also made some cherry and almond muffins using up things we already had lying around 👍  Did make me realise that the oven is even worse that I thought it was so starting to panic a little about what Christmas dinner is going to look like this year 😆

ruby_eskimo

September NSD's - 10

It's been a busy few days.  Friday I was in the office as had to attend an event so that was a pretty long and tiring day.  Dinner was homemade pizza which used up random veg we had in the fridge, both in the sauce and on top.  Saturday was spent putting together our new chest of drawers.  Mistakes were made, we had to bodge a little bit of it but it hasn't fallen apart yet!  

Sunday we drove back to our home town to take DH's step dad out for a carvery lunch for his birthday.  We also took the opportunity to make use of MiL's discount in one of the big DIY stores so we could buy the shower we want for the new bathroom.  Then DH made the trek home while I stayed with my parents as had to take my dad to the hospital on Monday.  If you haven't seen my last diary, he's been quite unwell for over a year now, was in hospital for a few weeks last year and was supposed to have surgery but they cancelled it as everything appeared to be ok.  Fast forward to 6 months ago and he started getting worse again.  He's finally having surgery on Friday so this was the final pre-op bloods and scans before the big day.  After we were done at the hospital I had to take him to go pick up a new laptop that he ordered.  

Once I got home, DH bombarded me with info from our plumber who'd been at the house during the day.  He serviced the boiler and actually got the hot water hot, plumbed our washing machine in that we brought over from the old house which was much appreciated.  The bit of unexpected news was that he was recommending we replace the boiler sooner rather than later.  Now this throws a big spanner in our plans because if we replace the boiler, we could go for a combi boiler and therefore get rid of the hot water tank in the bathroom which at the moment is limiting the size of the bath we can have in there.  We'd have to have it done before we had the ceilings replaced because we'd also probably need to have some additional pipework changes made.  IF we need to have it done, then this would be the only time in my life where I'd probably use interest free credit to pay for it.  We need to sit down tonight and review the plans and the finances.  He's coming back on Friday to cap off the sink in DH's office (yes you read that right, there's a fully working sink in his office / our guest bedroom) so we can at least remove that and create a bit more space in there.

As I said, my brain is a little overloaded by everything right now but just trying to get through each day and making a little bit of progress.  I have managed to get through all the washing and hope to unpack some more clothes tonight now I have a proper wardrobe and drawers again!