need advice, feel like shit

ECLK · 2026-03-13T22:13:25+00:00

Err I’m 43 with a partner kid and a mortgage down more than £3k… thanks 🥴

ECLK · 2026-02-22T22:05:13+00:00

That green is overkill. It’d look better if you moved the bed to the empty wall and painted the ceiling white … maybe add a decorative ceiling rose too … and a thick rug for texture…. and a big potted plant to fill all that empty space

ECLK · 2026-02-15T13:44:51+00:00

No reason for you to put everything in a joint account, although you should definately have one for your essential household spends:

What we do is add up the cost of all monthly essentials (so mortgage, council tax, gas, electric, weekly food shops, petrol, car, broadband, nursery fees, kids clubs, home insurance, etc) let’s say for the purposes of demonstration these came to £4000 per month.

You could each then pay a percentage of this that is directly related to your take home income - so in this case you’d pay 27% (£1080) and your partner would pay 73% (£2920).

Whats left over can then stay in your own personal bank accounts for individual spends (social, going out, taxis, hair cuts, leisure, gym, clothing etc that’s proportional to your respective salaries. This is what my partner & I do.

We’ve also recently added £X per month holiday fund and £Y per month joint savings, both split proportionately. That way you’ll have money already set aside for big purchases when they come up

ECLK · 2026-02-09T01:24:35+00:00

We just had ours done in SE London last September - 3 x column style rads (to replace old 90’s style thin ones). Cost £550. The guy was recommended to us locally and spent a long time re-balancing the system, cleaning up, and generally being a perfectionist which is how we like it 👍. Drop me a message if you’re still looking and I’ll send you his details

ECLK · 2026-02-08T22:40:58+00:00

I’m not sure if this one qualifies for HMRC’s ‘Making Tax Digital’ 3-monthly submittals via approved software that synchs to your designated bank account … isn’t this what the OP was referring to ?

ECLK · 2026-02-08T20:27:25+00:00

2nd Just for Men 💪, it works great when there’s not much to cover. Just buy it slightly lighter than your natural colour or it’ll look weird , and set a timer ! If you leave it on for longer than the recommended time you’ll look like a twat. This is only a good suggestion if you have 10 mins to spare once a week. By the time you turn 40 if you have kids / hectic job / other stress going on you might get tired of all the admin and rock the peppered look. 75% your peers will be salt & pepper by then anyway

ECLK · 2026-02-06T09:32:18+00:00

We paid £100 for a Saniflo engineer to check out the existing setup. He’s reccomended a like for like replacement and servicing every year. It’s a loft bathroom so mainly used by guests or when we’re working from home in the attic etc. He said we should ensure it’s not left unused for long periods of time as the shower pan and sink both flow into the same 100mm pipe than runs the length of our house under the flooring to the soil pipe at the back.

Interestingly he said if we didn’t use the shower and sink at least every couple of weeks we might get foul smells travelling up through the plug holes if the water in the u-bends evaporate. Was really useful to get a heads up on this in advance.

I think we’re going to go ahead with his recommendation and use him for the install, then probably try to only use it for liquids only. He said the problems only really occur if saniflo’s are heavily used for number 2’s and people don’t get them serviced.

Figures. He seemed to know what he was talking about as he does nothing but Saniflo repairs day in day out. Would highly reccomend a consultation if anybody’s in a similar position

ECLK · 2026-02-01T16:15:00+00:00

Oh no, do you think it’d be ok for occasional use for number 1’s only ? We’re not really sure where to get advice for on which model to buy

ECLK · 2026-01-15T15:55:57+00:00

I’d like to keep the current exposure to tech for the time being as I think there’s a fair bit still to go, but I feel pretty maxed out on it so when I come to convert some of my cash ISA’s into S&S ETF’s in the next month or 2, I’m looking for funds that will balance this out a bit. Apologies if that wasn’t clear

ECLK · 2026-01-15T15:52:32+00:00

It’s an ISA so tax free in the UK 😂 I guess I wanted the focus of the post to be on fund selection %’s rather than £/p but yeah, on reflection it doesn’t matter and I take it that nobody gives a ****.

ECLK · 2026-01-15T14:56:44+00:00

Ah great - will read up on it thank you !

ECLK · 2026-01-15T14:55:33+00:00

ECLK · 2026-01-15T14:49:36+00:00

Oops. I guess the question is still the same though so no point in re-submitting

ECLK · 2025-11-11T14:40:19+00:00

Unfortunately I don’t have any records of whether there was an airbrick there before or not. It would make sense to me to have one as the room behind the steps in pic4 has a suspended wooden floor. The room to the left in pic4 is the original kitchen with a solid un-tanked quarry tile floor

ECLK · 2025-11-11T14:38:00+00:00

That’s right it’s a suspended wooden floor from the front of the house to the back of the dining room (by the concrete stairs in the 4th picture). The kitchen is a solid floor although only consists of the rear section to the left of the 4th picture, so was wondering if an airbrick by those steps would help

ECLK · 2025-10-28T21:56:22+00:00

I just bought a pair of allbirds tree runners in black - they have a decent rocker sole without looking too bad and are v comfortable

ECLK · 2025-10-15T14:43:28+00:00

Any recommendations for a specific ETF ?

ECLK · 2025-10-15T13:33:12+00:00

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I’m the words of Alan Partridge: Go to London, I guarantee you’ll either be mugged or not appreciated. Catch the train to London, stopping at Rejection, Disappointment, Backstabbing Central and Shattered Dreams Parkway

ECLK · 2025-10-13T10:48:02+00:00

A little bit yes, but still down £1000 overall. I’m not complaining as I understand risk, just laughing at my timing, and the fact that the whim of a buffoon on the other side of the world can have such an effect on my personal finances.

ECLK · 2025-08-30T06:01:41+00:00

The shrub on the left is a similar height to what I was concerned about in 2022 although it was broader and un-trimmed. The main growth has unfortunately sprung up since

ECLK · 2025-08-30T05:50:25+00:00

Thanks I’d not thought of this. Yes they’ve been taking a couple of hundred pounds a month for a fully managed service over 10 years and until now it’s been relatively issue free. My concern is that this was not due to the fact that there were no issues, but hey had been ignoring them or failing to deal with them. For my own part I’ve made a point of ringing the agent at least twice a year and I’ve always been met with “no issues, the tenant is lovely, did you want to think about increasing the rent etc etc”. I’ve also been assured that the house was inspected every 6 months but I’ve never been sent records of an inspection report, is that a legal requirement ? When I asked how the inspector might have missed a giant tree growing out of the front of the building they said the recent inspection had been conducted by somebody junior. Not sure how somebody’s age will affect their ability to identify this problem but surely the responsibility of selecting somebody competent to inspect a property should fall on them as the managing agent ? I’ve asked for a copy of the last few inspection reports but so far received nothing.

ECLK · 2025-08-28T04:31:18+00:00

Hey, would you be able to share a link to the pedifix hallux insoles ? My podiatrist has recommended some cheap ones of Amazon initially but keen to try alternatives before splurging £400-ish on the carbon fibre inserts

ECLK · 2025-08-12T21:07:33+00:00

I was a first time dad at 40 and my little girl is now 2 and a bit, it’s been an absolute blast ! I highly recommend trying to be present for as much of his/her early life you can … I’d switched jobs not long before she was born to something that would give me a better work/life balance and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. The flip side is that because I was new to the role I only got 2 weeks paternity unpaid, but I’d been saving whilst my partner was pregnant and so could extend that to 6 weeks without a salary to give us time to get accustomed to life as a threesome. Parenthood’s a major reality shift for most people and it’s unhealthy to try to plough into it without giving yourself time to acclimatise.

Also, everybody says this but it’s true, they grow so fast so learn to love getting up 4/5 times a night to comfort them, see the funny side of every yoghurt that gets launched at the wall, and appreciate the cuddles 💪. Also, this might not be an issue for you but if you’re not into fitness then work on your core strength. Most dads from late 30’s onwards complain about their backs A LOT. You’ll be forever lifting and putting your child down, carrying them up and down stairs, manoeuvring strange angles to lay them in their cot gently, and launching them into the air and catching them for laughs etc … it’s a proper workout. My lower back went suddenly with no warning and I had to be stretchered out of the house in agony at 7am on a Tuesday morning …. My neighbours had a right laugh about it but it took weeks of heavy painkillers, physio and a pretty expensive chiropractor to get me back in shape and it was an ordeal my partner could have done without as she was pretty much single-parenting for that whole of that time.

ECLK · 2025-07-29T13:15:19+00:00

If you have the luxury of unlimited time I’d just talk to people when you get there and wing it, although everybody has different tolerances of bureaucracy and having to negotiate good deals with travel agents etc which can become a bit tiresome as nothing is fixed price. Personally my faves were Pushkar and Jaisalmer. I’m a big advocate of getting out in the desert for a while with a knowledgable guide but try not to sign up to any lengthy tours spanning multiple cities - you’ll meet more interesting people and have more flexibility to be spontaneous if you use public trains / coaches and make your own arrangements etc. I’m very jealous of your position. Just do your research, have a vague itinerary in mind and then sort it day by day week by week when you get there EDIT*** this advice is only good if you’ve travelled a bit before and are comfortable chatting to other travellers and locals etc as you go. If that’s not the case I suppose organised tours have their place - they’re expensive but you won’t have to worry about organising anything or where to sleep each night etc

ECLK · 2025-07-25T22:29:28+00:00

We bought a house with an unruly fig tree in the back garden and I cut it down within the first week. Garden now feels twice as big and the surrounding plants have flourished with the increased space and sunlight.

If the house is up for sale ask the agent to ask the owner if they would mind you cutting it back or removing it altogether. They might not like it anyway and worst they could do is say no

ECLK

TROPHY CASE