A Ditherer's Diary (again)

Naomim · 12 January 2017 at 9:40AM

I often use Costa or Starbucks as they have reward schemes. I'm going to cut down to one a week, which is how it all started! There used to be a Costa in my Tesco so every Saturday morning when DD was a toddler, we'd do the food shop and treat ourselves to a drink & cake. Then I started going in on the way to work and that was it.. hooked.

I walked past again today! Planning on having one tomorrow

I did however forget lunch today. I'll probably get soup and a roll as that's cheaper than buying a sandwich meal deal.

Naomim · 12 January 2017 at 9:43PM

So this is a bit of a long one & written on my mobile so please excuse typos.

In the summer we planned an extension and an overhaul in the house. We engaged a builder but before work started he fell ill. His Dad took over the project re-quoting and telling us he'd be here am & pm. The week before work started the son was back. This time with his cousin.

Work started & things jogged along. We went on holiday for 2 weeks & when we came home it was as if nothing had been done. Then things went painfully slowly. We added works which we knew would add time to the build & costs to the budget. Everytime the builder asked for payment we made it. We kept asking for a date to move back and we're given dates that kept moving further away.

By the start of December the Dad hadn't shown his face once. It didn't look like we'd be in by Christmas. There was so much to be done, the extension roof wasn't even finished. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, We sacked the builders. However MrM asked the cousin alone to stay and finish off what he could.

During this time I found paperwork in our house relating to their "partnership". The cousin hadn't signed anything so I took pictures of it all on my phone.

We wrote to the builder saying the work was unsatisfactory and not completed in time. We are looking for recompense. He has written back saying all quotes are E & OE, that he made it clear his father was nothing to do with the company and the partnership was with his cousin. Our argument is that his father clearly had something to do with the company and we were safe to assume it was father & son, not cousin & cousin.

We paid almost everything £47k. Have an incomplete roof that's now leaking, are having to have the whole house re-wired and no en-suite or downstairs wc.

Ive been onto CAB and today I've written to him & his father seperately asking for a refund of £27k.
I know we won't get this but I'm prepared to follow the steps through arbitration & court to get something out of him.

I have all the letters though he conveniently forgets to change the dates on them so many have the same date. I've got printouts of text conversations & photo's. Whilst this is stressful I am not going to roll over.

Tomorrow MrM & I are off to our mortgage company to try and remortgage so we can get the house back in a liveable condition.

Naomim · 16 January 2017 at 2:38PM

After spending 3.5 hours with the mortgage advisor on Friday; we have borrowed another £20k and slightly extended our term so we are paying a similar amount to what we currently are.

We now have 4 mortgage products. One of them is £3k which was a loan we took out to build our conservatory 11 years ago. Because my credit card debts are now 0% I think I'm going to try and concentrate on throwing any extra money at that mortgage loan to clear it.

I'm just about to go and check the credit cards and pay my Tesco one as that's where my food shop goes onto and needs clearing down.

I brought in egg sandwiches today and spent 59p on a packet of crisps. I also managed to only buy one cup of coffee at the weekend which I'd planned on so I'm very pleased with myself!

Naomi x

EssexHebridean · 16 January 2017 at 4:24PM

Sounds obvious I know but if you're buying a single packet of crisps to have with a lunch like that look at the multipacks instead - there's usually something on offer for £1 so you can drop the price of your packet down to 20p or more. The multipack bags are also smaller so they're better for you! :rotfl:

Well done with the mortgage company and fingers crossed with the response from the builders, too.

If you do most of your shopping with Tesco take a look to see if they still offer their ClubCard plus - it effectively works as a debit card but you get 2 points per £1 spent which I *think* is a better return than the CC? Also offers in-credit interest at a reasonable rate.

Naomim · 17 January 2017 at 2:41PM

I usually do bring in crisps and fruit from home with my sandwiches. Having the electricians in, the whole house is a mess, nothing is where it should be and I just made the sandwiches and ran yesterday.

I used to do ALL of my shopping with Tesco to get the extra clubcard points but now I do the majority of it at Aldi. One opened closer to home than Tesco and it's far cheaper. There are just some bits I can't get in there.

This morning I was also rushing around after a poor night's sleep and didn't have the mojo to make lunch so I've spent £2.04 on a tin of soup and a posh bread roll. Still £1.21 cheaper than the meal deal offered near me. I also stuck my blinkers on and walked past the coffee shop again this morning.

Onto my credit cards, because I've done some balance transfers and there's fee's, my balance has gone up. I realised some of them are still interest charging as the balance transfers are only on part of the debt. For example, I owe £3,000 on my MBNA but only £2100 is on 0% interest. I think I need to call the companies and find out what balance is interest and what is 0% and when the deals end. I think my Barclaycard deal ends this month but I also don't have any other cards with credit available I can move it onto and I don't think I can (or should) apply for more credit considering I just got a new balance transfer card and applied for more mortgage money.

It's certainly giving my brain a real work out!

Naomi x

Naomim · 17 January 2017 at 3:09PM

ooh I forgot to add, I'm doing a market research tomorrow £50 which I plan to put straight against the highest credit card.

It's up in town but MrM is off work tomorrow so I can use his travelcard which is zone 1-5 whereas mine stops at zone 2. So travel will be free. It's at 12pm so I'm hoping they might put some sandwiches out too.

Naomim · 20 January 2017 at 2:47PM

Afternoon all,

Not great news this week. I've been with my employers for 16 years, started as full time then dropped to 4 days a week when the kids were born. I asked if I could come back full time as this would give me and extra £400 a month after tax but they have refused. I was banking on a yes as the work is definitely there. Over the past two years they have put in a new accounts package and doubled my department so I think they have overspent and just don't have a budget for more wages. So now I may have to think about leaving :shocked:

On a brighter note. I was paid on the 13th Jan and have so far only spent £20 out of my monthly allowance. - £10 of this was put directly into my Xmas Club so a £10 personal spend in a week isn't so bad. I am keeping track of it with a wallet app on my phone. Today I spent 49p on a bread roll to go with my soup I brought in from home. I may become a little obsessed. I've already refused a friends birthday night out MrM and I were invited to as we went to my Aunt's 90th birthday party last weekend.

On Wednesday I did a market research and earned £50. We needed a new microwave so the money has paid for that.

Sadly it's more depressing news about the house. We have had the council building regulations people round. Apparently the builder didn't get them in at all and we have to pay £550 to them. The roof ( which the builder didn't complete) isn't fully insulated, we can't have an internal door to the porch because that's also not insulated. We CAN have a downstairs WC but will have to pay the council another £165 for planning. We have a roofer starting next week and carpenters round at the moment working on putting bedroom doors on, changing the internal door and other bits. I bloody hope the mortgage goes through as otherwise I don't know how we're going to pay these people. I also hope that if we end up taking the builder to court we win and he has to pay us back lots. It sounds an awful thing to think but if I could ruin his life and make him bankrupt I'd be happy

He has caused us so much stress and money. It's a good job MrM and I actually love each other and get on as I could see other couples crumble under the pressure we've had this past year.

Now I need to make a meal plan and and think about my kitchen cupboards then visit Aldi tonight.

Have a good spend free weekend everyone! :money:

Naomi x

Nymphadora · 20 January 2017 at 4:53PM

I thought I would pop in to your diary.

I am sorry to hear about the trouble you have had with your builder. Actually shocking they can get away with doing what they have done and the fact you have to go into further debt to rectify their problems is awful.

I think the same with my employers, the work is there for me to increase my hours but the budget isn't.

Drawingaline · 20 January 2017 at 6:40PM

I hear you with the employers! We are so short handed and any request for more staff is being met with a refusal, but still expected to increase our workload.

Your house situation sounds awful, we put so much trust in builders etc, and when something like this happens you feel that the trust is just shattered. I hope the extra money works out and that it is all fixable.

Good luck!

Naomim · 21 January 2017 at 7:28PM

Just a quicky. I made a meal plan and went to Aldi. Still managed to spend £60 but this should include everything needed for packed lunches too.

I've also been and had my false nails removed. I usually have them done every 3 weeks at a cost of £20 a time. Add in tips and the fact you need whole new sets about 3 times a year that's about £400 a year! I'd never thought of it like that. So now my poor little fat fingers are back to looking like sausages! Lol.

A Ditherer's Diary (again)

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