My Mortgage Reduction and Savings Diary

SuiDreams

I'm not sure I'll be able to get the two doors done this year, I was talking to someone who lives near me and they said that when they were getting their windows and doors priced up it was about £1000 just for a door, I need two and one of them is nearly all glass with a glass panel next to it which will need replacing as well. Does that sound right? not sure what I'm going to do now, as I wasn't expecting it to be that much.

SuiDreams

Well we're getting into the expensive part of the year now, Buildings and Contants Insurance due in October, two dogs to get annual vet checks and vaccinations, Christmas and a 70th Birthday Party for my Dad in January, someone has decided that we're splitting the costs, so there will be a venue to pay for, Cake and food, enetertainment and invites. Think I'll have to wave bye bye to all my nice new savings.

StuartGMC

SuiDreams wrote: »

I'm not sure I'll be able to get the two doors done this year, I was talking to someone who lives near me and they said that when they were getting their windows and doors priced up it was about £1000 just for a door, I need two and one of them is nearly all glass with a glass panel next to it which will need replacing as well. Does that sound right? not sure what I'm going to do now, as I wasn't expecting it to be that much.

SuiDreams, you'll usually find that you get an "economy of scale" in these matters; i.e. ask for price per door alone they will be high, as part of a larger job including windows, the price per door could drop a lot. Why not get some quotes based on both now, then do so again in mid-October/November when the squeeze may be hurting these companies such that they may improve on the prices then?

Do, however, get 3 or 4 companies to quote; one national plus some local. Get data on the physical locking systems, also the manufacturer of the system they use (if installer goes bust it is good to know that the parts etc can be sourced elsewhere). Check on the UPVC quality and life/degradation performance literature, ask for supporting data, what about the security locking system (built to BS....?). Ask for details of local houses they've installed at so you can stroll by and take a look....

A recession is a great time to get good prices on things like this!

Good luck

SuiDreams

Thanks, for this think I will have to get a couple of quotes, at least I'll have an idea of how much to save I suppose. I know what company installed my friends house and they were done last year I think, but she did say that the Front door that my Dad had installed was a lot better quality (but that was done more than 10 years ago, I do know who the company was though and they are still around). Probably should ask some neighbours who they used. I did notice that a couple of doors down, that their UPVC front door is damaged, unfortunately I don't know the people who live there as would like to know who the company was so I can avoid them.

SuiDreams

Well another expensive Bank Holiday weekend. It got quite windy yesterday morning and the Patio Table blew over and the Glass top smashed into tiny pieces all over the patio. So after a couple of hours of clearing up (had to be very careful with two small dogs), we now need a new patio set. This has been a very expensive year so far.

StuartGMC

SuiDreams wrote: »

we now need a new patio set. This has been a very expensive year so far.

Sorry to hear that. You should be able to get items in the sales now, which may work out cheaper than leaving until the Spring?

Did you check if you could claim on the insurance? (Your excess however may mean this isn't worthwhile).

SuiDreams

StuartGMC wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. You should be able to get items in the sales now, which may work out cheaper than leaving until the Spring?

Did you check if you could claim on the insurance? (Your excess however may mean this isn't worthwhile).

Don't think it would be worth it after excess and increased premiums (currently have over 5 years no claims). Having a look in the sales to see if there is anything worth getting. Going to go for something really heavy this time as its quite a windy garden.

SuiDreams

Just updated MS money for the first time in two weeks and I'm over spending yet again so need to make sure I do my update all the time and not spend any money for a few weeks.

StuartGMC

Good luck on hauling in all the spend data and then control; it does take a lot of effort and needs to be ongoing. OH moaned when I wanted the latest receipt for groceries etc as she had thought I only wanted a few to get a measure of spend. I clarified that it was a matter of taking some 3-4 months before the data/trends settled, but that I will require those receipts all the time.... just about escaped with my life :eek:

SuiDreams

I think it does help that I spend everything on the credit card, that way I have a running total for the month, but over spends occur when your not watching that balance figures. Main problem with this month was I was spending on more than one card, so did lose track a little bit. Plus bought discounted sainsbury's vouchers for groceries and then ost track of where that money went to as well. Think I got a bit bored or downloading everything every day, but I'm back on track now. I've got one dog going for his vaccinations next week approx £25 and then the other one in october and he'll probably need something to get him through firework season as well, so will cut back on groceries and treats to compensate I think.