The Little Cottage by the Sea

BrimfulofSascha

That's a really good point @in_need_of_direction

I have done quite a lot since I bought the house 6 years ago.

New shower, flooring, velux in the bathroom. ( a big leak where prior owners hadn't sealed the tiling causing the floor to rot and fall through the garage roof)

Complete kitchen reno. (it was falling apart but could have waited a bit)

New boiler. (was 35 years old)

Decorated every room except the hall/stairway, and downstairs loo. (not needed but everything was dirty and tired and painted in satin and gloss- even walls)

Cut down overgrown trees and re-terraced the garden. (trees encroaching on next doors roof)

New front door. (leaked rain into the hall)

Currently building a Utility in the back 1/3 of the garage. (not a need but wanted a dishwasher in the kitchen so needed to move the washing machine out, plus will be nice to have my downstairs loo free from cat litter)

Part of this is why I have debt. I only had a small amount on the CC when I moved in.

I'm trying to save up as I go with DIY from here on in. Which is why the Utility is taking so long. I'd rather do it properly than cheap and need to replace, did that with the bathroom flooring and I hate it. will replace (again) when I have saved properly.

Other house things will be to tidy the front garden, remove the big shed in the back garden and lay a patio, strip the staircase, repaint, decorate and new carpet, new windows and radiators at some point. The house has textured ceilings too (except the kitchen and new utility) and I'm undecided whether to get the other ceilings plastered. Will probably get them done1-2 at a time as I save up to do the next round of decorating and put new carpets upstairs. Won't do new carpets as long as baby cat is surviving HCM, he is a menace in the doorways with his claws. I'd like to replace the internal doors too. I'm also considering solar panels, but won't if me and DP move in together elsewhere.

BrimfulofSascha

It's officially the first day of College for DD so £20 transferred to her account to cover this weeks train. She was up with the lark to prep her lunch and had left the house before me, which only usually happens if I'm WFH.

I spent £20.02 on petrol to get to work the next couple of days. The courtesy car is petrol and I managed a rather efficient 65.6mpg this morning, so only small fuel spend. I'm only putting in £20 a time as the garage delivered it almost empty and I'm not gifting them a full tank when they decide to tell me last minute that my car is repaired and ready for collection.

I'll need to pop and get cat food this evening, we are down to two sachets, and no treats to hide his medication in.

Other than that should be no spending until the weekend. It is my mums birthday, I have a card but will have to think of a budget friendly gift. I have a 10k "race" after work on Friday, but this is already paid for so no spending expected there. DP and I will take a coastal walk on Saturday morning and a sea dip if it isn't miserable. (DD is staying at my sisters to babysit), will try and take our own snacks and flasks of tea if I can be organised enough.

I'm hoping next weeks spending will be a bit lower as DD back to school costs should have all been covered. Will try and spend some time this week doing a stock take in the kitchen to see what we can do with what we have. I'd like to try and use up some scraps of rice and lentils and other bits in jars. Tonight's dinner is the other half of the veggie lasagne cooked on Sunday, thinking aubergine and chickpea Korma tomorrow, and probably creamy Cajun prawn pasta on Thursday to use up the last of the cream.

BrimfulofSascha

Happy Friday my lovelies!

I have only just sat down with some cheese and crackers after a morning of back to back meetings. WFH Friday seems to be the most chaotic for meetings.

I managed a quick blitz of the kitchen after my last call (washed the floors, emptied the bins, wiped the sides, washing up away) I did my weekly empty the fridge session. Not too much food waste, a very shrivelled parsnip, 1/3 of a bag of mushy spinach, a slightly furry end of ginger and some mouldy pesto. I don't know why I bother buying pesto. I don't like it, I don't think I've ever finished a jar before it's turned.

One thing I have noticed this week is how grateful I am for friends and family for cast offs. This mornings coffee was made in a French press cast off from my sister, with my oat milk frothed in a Nespresso given to me from work when they had a kitchen refit, poured into a mug gifted to me one mother's day from my daughters best friend. Today I'm wearing trousers given to me by my sister, sat at a desk I bought from a charity shop, looking out a window curtained by something I bought from eBay, my second computer monitor having been rescued from a skip, typing this on a refurbished mobile phone. So maybe I should feel a little less worried about my carbon footprint. Speaking of gifts from my sister, she dropped around some skirts/dresses when she picked up DD for a sleepover/to babysit her children. Will very much come in handy for work. My old job was very casual, this job and the one I interviewed for yesterday are quite a bit smarter and I was reluctant to buy many new clothes, I bought new shoes and a laptop bag out of a smidge of my redundancy pay.

Speaking of interviews, I hope yesterdays went well. I really like the company, the job is identical (almost) to the one I was made redundant from, in the same industry. I also have some key skills he is missing from his current team. I wasn't reserved in telling him that I was excited about the opportunity, I hope he sees that as positive, and not desperate. I do think I'll cry if I don't get a call back. My interim role is really not making me feel good about what I'm contributing to the world.

Tonight I have a 10k 'race'. It's the first event I've done this year after injury, and everything else my body has been through. Feeling a touch nervous and hoping the wind passes by 6.30. I'm planning to just plod and enjoy it.

No real money news, my weekly spends has been topped up, small grocery spend of £29, and another £20 in fuel, £15 to DD's account for her train next week. hoping to have a no spend weekend, except a birthday present for my Mum.

Right, better go, crackers have been demolished and my work to d list is getting longer.

L&L

Sascha