Settling in for the long haul

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81869031#Comment_81869031

Very well done - make it work for you!

We had a similar thing with our bathroom when we moved here with two toddlers, many years ago. The bathroom was fine: functional rather than up to date, but perfectly serviceable and our energies were needed elsewhere.

I think the first thing that happened was after we installed an over-bath shower and discovered the tiles weren't safely stuck on. The water got behind them and one evening there were two little ones in the bath when the tiles began to slump away from the wall! So proper tiling was an urgent priority.

Probably the next event was when DH let our little boy help him paint the garden gate. Very satisfying father and son activity, then they went to the bathroom to get the paint off, putting the paint tin on the cistern as they did so. Unfortunately the cistern had a curved lid and the paint tin slid off and splattered black gloss all over the pink fluffy carpet (house previously owned by less hazardous people).

New tiles and flooring in place, one of the taps needed a new washer but was proving difficult to undo. The wrench slipped and broke the sink. The upshot of that one was an insurance claim and as a like-for-like replacement would have meant a reclamation yard and perpetuating and old fashioned bathroom, we accepted cash instead and got an entire new suite for the money.

So yes, bathrooms can sneak up on you with unexpected needs! A lot of that was about change of ownership, though. The previous people didn't have a shower and probably didn't take black paint into the bathroom. They were DIY-minded, though, as we found out when we had the electrics checked and found how close we had come to a fire. So prioritise things that keep you safe!

Dakota_Rose

Have a later start today as no early finish for me this week. This has been productive as have managed to list two more items, taking photos in the daylight, and have even got a chapter of my book squeezed in around some bits of work.

Not much else to report as yet but will likely check in again later today. I hope everyone’s Wednesdays are treating them kindly.

carboot_karaoke

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81869031#Comment_81869031

Love This 😂

Your not sad at all, "look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves " my nan used to say.

I think l could do more of this l've got myself into the habit of saving or overpaying in bigger increments. Because I don't like untidy numbers .... now thats really sad 🤣🤣

Dakota_Rose

We all have our money quirks I’m sure, otherwise we wouldn’t be here 😂

Work was busy today but productive. Mr D asked me to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home, which I gladly did as it meant avoiding a food shop for another day. Stopped at the petrol station and filled up at the same time - I don’t know why, but I avoid the petrol station like the plague. Anyway, the full tank should last me a while now, with hopefully some petrol money to be leftover at the end of the month.

Well that was a thrilling Wednesday update!

Dakota_Rose

… although I forgot to mention that we now have an almost repaired bath (waiting on silicone to dry) and other odd jobs completed round the house thanks to Mr D who has also had a very productive day!

Yes that was definitely a more thrilling addition to the humpday update 😂 🙈

Dakota_Rose

It has been utterly freezing today round our parts. I was quite shocked when I went out to work 🥶 and indulged in a heated seat for a few minutes. I try to avoid anything extra being turned on in the car to save battery/fuel but I threw caution to the wind today 😂

Very little else to report today. I have started to sort through a popular Lego set that was unwanted by my brother a while ago. If I can make sure all the parts are there then it will be a good item to have listed for sale. I was also given another set which is valued even higher. My younger brother doesn’t like the hassle of clearing things out so often offers great things to the family that we think he’s mad to be giving away. I’ll snap them up usually and treat him to a nice bottle of wine as a thank you. The two sets together are selling new for £500 so I really must make that my weekend job. I’m determined to get this emergency fund topped up so that I can start to buy things for the house again. We have a very long wish list of items for repairs/renovation and can’t wait to get cracking on them.

Our bath is now fixed and in use again. Mr D discovered a missing brick underneath the bath, exposing us to the external wall. This would account for the very cold space and won’t be helping our damp problem. He’s patched it up for the time being and resealed the bath plug handle and bath surround. It looks so much better and I’m once again feeling very grateful to have a resident caretaker at home.

We have a quiet weekend planned so hopefully lots of relaxing for myself and the children, while Mr D cracks on with some more DIY. I’ll gladly cook as usual at the weekend and we have another episode of Bridgerton to look forward to.

FootyFanDan

It has been absolutely freezing today, glad the bath repair got sorted. I am also keen on getting my emergency fund back up to a reasonable level pretty quickly, we really want to get house feeling a bit more homely and there's so much we want to do. I think my issue is I see each target as something I want reached immediately and just get so impatient.

Cherryfudge

Great to hear your bath is now all good, and you've found the source of the cold spot. It's rather alarming that the missing brick didn't get picked up on a survey, but I suppose it may not have been visible until fixtures were moved.

The price of Lego is amazing - I hope you find all the pieces!

Dakota_Rose

Thank you both. @FootyFanDan I am equally keen to just get things sorted as soon as possible. It does help to try and focus on one chunk at a time though so I’m digging deep to find my patience and keep focused.

Our house is rendered @Cherryfudge so nothing visible on the outside at all. We’ve lived here for over two years and never noticed as it’s a pretty cold house in general. It’s a 1920s house and has had improvement works done over the time. There were some fairly newly replaced floorboards under the bath and plumbing looked good, we can only think the previous owners have paid for a repair following a leak and they’ve not had the space patched back up. Unless you are fully investigating under the bath, as Mr D was, you’d never notice. The treasures these old houses hold 🙈

Wishing everyone a good day to end the working week. I am, as always, ready for the weekend.

Cherryfudge

Ah yes, our house is partly rendered and I've no clue about the condition of what's underneath it!