Settling in for the long haul

joedenise

Personally I'd go with the 0% CC to pay for the shower as you were planning on saving the money anyway over the next few months and means you can get the job done at a time which is convenient to you both. I'd price up the stuff you need as I'm not sure £600 would be enough even with your DH doing the work. Our shower cubical was that much on it's own although it's a large one rather than a square one which are probably cheaper.

I agree that your EF and sinking funds shouldn't be used as they are there for a particularly purpose and that's what they should be used for.

At the end of the day only you and your DH can make the actual decision about the purchases needed.

carboot_karaoke

I often use a 0% CC as a way to fund a project I used one to do our bathroom a few years ago, reserving our cash for paying trades people and in case we overspent ..we did 🙄 not by loads but it was nice to have the buffer.

Even if you do need to use it I'm sure you'll get it repaid very quickly going off your EF 😊

Dakota_Rose

Thank you @joedenise, @carboot_karaoke - it’s helpful to hear your thoughts. It’s definitely something we need to consider carefully. It will be a planned spend either way but it still feels wrong to buy before having enough saved. Working around school term times can be quite limiting but we’re lucky enough to have the school holidays off together and they do come around quickly enough. We’re not enjoying being without a shower though and the cubicle unit we’ve seen is significantly reduced at the moment.

Today has been a NSD but we have committed to pay a decent wodge of money on our special summer holiday. We have planned our Scottish/Lake District adventure stopping in three special places for a couple of nights at a time. Our first ‘special’ wedding anniversary will fall within the holiday and it’s something we have been really looking forward to planning. We have started saving already and it will be in budget but more than we would usually spend. The travelling should be manageable for the three children, who do not enjoy being in the car for very long, with the routes we have planned. Fishing for Mr D and eldest will be their main activity while away, and walking, reading, exploring and painting for the rest of us. It is so lovely to have something to really look forward to.

The rain is lashing down here so I’m pleased we took a walk out earlier on. Little one has his train track set up for the first time in ages so he will be very happy to spend the rest of the day in. It’ll be left over takeaway pizza with some chips and salad tonight so that is money-sensible at least. More Bridgerton and a chilled evening is planned for Mr D and I.

Wishing everyone a lovely Saturday evening.

Dakota_Rose

Busier Sunday than usual for us but nothing too taxing. Had dinner with friends which was nice - good food, cooked for us and good company but I’m always ready to get back home. I have turned into such a home bird in recent years and just feel hard done by if my evening routine is messed about with.

We got home a little later than I would’ve liked but all settled now. I’ve finished my book (Way Back by Sara Cox) with a nice cuppa and can say that I really enjoyed this one but found it frustrating that it had got through to print with some really obvious typos/errors in it. I think I spotted 3 or 4, which the perfectionist in me finds really poor. Still, it was very absorbing and a bit of easy-to-read escapism that was much needed this week so I’d still score it 8.5/10.

The thing with picking books up through book swaps and charity book stands (as I did today in Aldi - 4 titles thank you very much) is you often end up reading novels you wouldn’t necessarily choose to buy. So far, I haven’t been too disappointed but don’t feel as if I’ve stretched myself greatly with a wide range as I might usually.

I have the busiest of busy work weeks ahead and my mantra of ‘it’s busy not bad’ will need to be played on repeat to get me through without a meltdown of toddler proportions 😂 ‘I love my job’ is another in my top ten playlist 🙈.

Off for a reasonably early night now. Wishing you all a nice start to the week. It’ll all be downhill from this time tomorrow.

Dakota_Rose

Happy Monday all. It’s been as busy as I expected but very positive. I am really tired already and won’t do much more than have a hot bubble bath and an early night now.

Mr D has been efficiently working on the odd jobs the past week, and we now have a new (final) fence panel in place completing our new back fence, a repaired washing machine and a repaired toilet. Since we moved in 2 and a half years ago, the toilet has taken an age to refill after flushing. This has been annoying especially as we only have one bathroom between the 5 of us. As we were planning the bathroom work and costing it up, Mr D said he’d have a go at that job first and have a go he did. £5 spent and the part he thought needing replacing has been replaced and the toilet now refills within seconds. I don’t know whether to be delighted or really frustrated that we put up with it for sooo long for such a quick fix 😂

We enjoyed a lovely little roast dinner to start the week with trifle for pudding.

I’ll need to get petrol this week but have no other spends planned other than groceries but Mr D looks after that pot.

Well what a fascinating entry that wasn’t 🤣

Rhyddid2026

Oooooo trifle 😋

Dakota_Rose

Checking in briefly for accountability and to keep the good intentions. Work has been intense again today as expected so will be ready to collapse into bed again shortly.

‘Too busy to spend money’ is the positive spin I’m putting on it.

Saying that, I did stop to fill up with petrol on my way home from work tonight. £45 spent and £30 left in the petrol pot. Hoping I won’t need to spend all of it but still lots of days in the month left to go.

Lovely dinner made by Mr D tonight: chicken and leek gnocchi with asparagus and garlic ciabatta. Highlight of the day 😂

YouTube yoga was needed tonight. It has helped me unwind a little so I’m thankful to have had the time to fit that in.

Hoping others have had a more relaxing day!

Dakota_Rose

It’s hump day and what a busy one it was again. I will be so glad to see the end of this week. I feel like all I’ve done is work and sleep.

Tiniest of financial updates today (well not quite as tiny as my 70p interest post last month 😂). £3 Vinted payment has cleared so that has been sent to the shower fund. £166/£600. Hoping for some drips of interest to come through in the next week or two as my mini side hustle of selling is not hustling for me at the moment. I haven’t had the energy left at the end of work to get onto any surveys either. I’m definitely earning my salary though!

Unfortunately there’ll be no mid-week or Thursday reset for me as my work diary is jammed so just need to dig deep and get through to the end of a very long day on Friday.

One lovely thing to report is that Mr D has been working equally hard at home to help support me/cheer me up. I have come home to a delicious meal each evening and the garden is looking very pretty with fresh flowers in our planters.

Posh bath has been had and cosy pyjamas on. It’s not all bad!

Dakota_Rose

The end of the week is in sight and the bulk of my meetings have been had now. Tomorrow will be full on with events but they should be somewhat enjoyable so just need to try and keep the energy levels up for one more day. Must try and remember to wear my fitness tracker as I predict many steps.

We have a carb-heavy dinner and I’m here for it 😆 Pure comfort food but it’s definitely needed at this point in the week.

I will order a hot meal at work tomorrow for lunch as I will be working until very late at night. I’ll take a pack-up for tea in the evening, but will feel hard done by without something warm to eat at some point during the day. A jacket potato with toppings/salad and a pudding will cost me £4 so I’m prepared to part with that from my personal spends.

This evening’s plans are a bath and yoga or a book if I can keep my eyes open after the carb fest. The weekend can’t come soon enough!

Dakota_Rose

Happy weekend everyone.

Blimey, that was a week and a half! I am aching from the amount of brisk walking I had to squeeze in yesterday. 17000 steps in all. I know some posters will do this or more every day, but that’s a lot for me and my legs are telling me so this morning.

Thankfully we have a fairly chilled weekend planned. Little one has a birthday party to attend later today which he is very excited about. It’s just in our village hall so we will take a walk round to that when it’s time. We found some lovely gifts at a bargain price a month or so ago, so I just need to wrap those before we leave. That will hopefully be the most eventful part of the weekend. Rest and relaxation are called for!

We don’t intend for the weekend to be spendy. There’s nothing I desperately need or want personal spends wise this month. I have a shelf of books to be read, (well 2 shelves really) good television still to be watched and am looking forward to just spending some quality time at home.