House renovation. Each month, what would be savings goes into renovating a room. The house should be done by the end of the year, baring the kitchen which is going to cost a fortune, onto the garden next year, ready for summer '25.
Is the kitchen old/knackered or just looking a bit tired? Reason I ask is I was going to change mine but it actually wasn't in bad shape, just looked tired. So I ended up just having all the cupboards and draws etc re-sprayed. Cost a fraction of what a new one would have cost and it looks brand new again
After making some poor financial decisions as a younger lad (18) have about two years left on a reasonably sized loan, positives was when I got the loan I took more cash then I needed for the debt and invested the extra which seems to have been one of my first good decisions… terms of disposable income, I try save a bit monthly to put towards houses/travel. Have a major interest in surfing so spend a lot on gear and trips, there’s gym and mma which takes up a fair bit of cash and time. Then suppose it’s city and a few beers with the lads… hard times we are living in at the moment though, I’m lucky enough not to feel it too much but saving for a gaff feels like an impossible task.
Did my own kitchen, actually a piece of piss. Took me about a week though, saved about £8k in doing so. Edit to add: a lot of these DIY jobs I am starting to come to the realisation that the amount of time spent ****ing about figuring out what you’re doing vs just paying someone with all the gear and the skills who will get it right first time, in a quarter of the time, just isn’t worth it. But the kitchen was a definite win.
If you’re in Hull I’d recommend Merlin’s on Scully lane really good bloke is Eddie Half the price I was quoted by howdens
Surfing is something I'd love to get into, I was in la Jolla San Diego a few years ago and it was huge there
We did think about that. Units could probably get away with being sprayed, but we're in an 1880s house, and some of the cupboards smell pretty fusty so I suspect we have some damp to sort out, which means I need to pull them out anyway so going to take the opportunity to insulate properly too. I plan to tackle our utility room myself next month, I'll see how that goes before committing to the kitchen I do a fair bit of DIY myself; replaced our water supply, laid a new floor slab, changed our windows, even tried my hand at lime plastering in our cellar, and I'm pretty sure it's taken at least 10x longer than it would if we have a professional doing it. Thanks, I'll take a look,
hard learning curb but one of the best things anyone could ever do, getting progressively better at something difficult and getting out into nature, not much beats it.
Whatever the figures, that’ll be the average so in no way a reflection on those families who are on lower incomes. You only have to consider those in employment using food banks
Love San Diego and the surrounding area. I spent a few years working with an office in Irvine, CA. The Mrs and Kids flew out with me a few times, over a couple of summers, they loved the lifestyle. Simple stuff like finishing work, heading across to the beach, firing up one of the communal BBQs and watching the kids play until the sunsets over the Pacific - bliss. We plan to return at some point for a proper family holiday (as every other time we've been I've worked Mon-Fri), but struggling to justify the cost when the company's not paying for the accommodation!
It's all about priorities, and i think they have changed over the years. Maybe you were right and this was not the best thread to start.
Glad it worked out for you Nikica but PLEASE if anyone is reading and thinking of doing the same ... DON'T. It would be crazy. Talking of disposable income, if you have debt (other than mortgage) then it's likely the best thing to do is pay off your debt asap, starting with the debt at the highest rate. After that, think about investing a portion (ideally in low cost diversified index funds, utilising ISA's &/or pension allowances). Your future self will thank you.
Sunsets over the Pacific are amazing aren't they! I'm quite lucky that I stay away and travel a lot for work, I'm allowed to keep all air miles and hotel loyalty points I get as well so I use those to really bring down the cost of the family holidays.
Whether you eat or put heating on. I know of some who had to make that choice last winter. Many just stayed in bed all day to stay warm.
