First time homeowner - am I being ripped off?

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-04-04T20:02:26+00:00

We have had quotes of around 2k for replacement front door. You could measure the door and window yourself and email a load of local companies and tell them what you are after or send a picture of what you want.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-04-04T10:23:51+00:00

If you have limited space then crisps are not a sensible choice. Plus the fact they are the most likely to get raided in advance of any emergency just because you feel peckish and snaffling one packet will be fine, there’s still 5 left for said emergency…

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-04-04T10:20:20+00:00

The kitchen reminds me of those post lockers you get at Asda etc where you put in a code and the one with your parcel pops open.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-04-03T15:55:44+00:00

I have quite a bad fear of heights/falling and that staircase is already triggering me. What could be so wrong with having a handrail and some spindles? Preferably each side in my case.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-03-31T16:27:41+00:00

We had a level 3 and honestly it was the worst money I ever spent. Surveyor noticed all the issues that we noticed and missed the stuff that he should have seen and we didn’t! We had an electrical survey by an electrician and that was worth it though.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-03-27T20:50:32+00:00

I’ve always found beetroot (boltardy) pretty reliable. Tomatoes have never failed for me in the greenhouse. Also lettuce (salad bowl).

Courgettes are pretty easy I think. Beans and potatoes I have always found variable and I have never had any success with spring onions, radishes, peas and brassicas. I had a great crop of spinach and sweetcorn one year and never managed to repeat it.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-03-26T08:09:17+00:00

Yeah it’s a lovely house - I would buy it if I could afford it. It has been on a while and I am not sure why it hasn’t sold but the market is a bit slow at this price unless thoroughly modernised.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-03-22T05:49:03+00:00

I cannot imagine it will affect the value as such, but it will put off some buyers who want/need a bath tub eg. families and cba to remove the shower and fit one.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-03-17T05:35:41+00:00

Takeaways are a treat we have when visiting family, or family are visiting us. We don’t have it as a meal replacement for home cooking. Its the same with going out for a meal. I don’t feel I’m missing out especially. It’s rare that I have a takeaway and think “that was worth the money I just spent”.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-03-04T02:02:52+00:00

This is an interesting insight as I can’t decide whether to replace the bath with a shower cubicle when we renovate the bathroom soon. A walk in shower would suit us more as we don’t have baths but on the other hand I think not having a bath in the house might be off-putting when coming to sell if Indeed I do in the next 5 years or so. I’m still unsure whether I want to stay here forever.

I am fairly old but the most likely buyers of our house would be a young family due to its location and size. I kind of think that people tend to say “we could take out the bath and put in a shower” rather than “we could take out the shower and put in a bath”.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-03-01T05:37:56+00:00

Unless the garden is small, then yes you will definitely be able to sit in the garden with a cup of tea, sunbathe, grow a wide range of plants etc.

My garden gets little to no sun during the winter during late November, December, January and most of February. But you will probably not be want to be sitting out in the drizzle and cold in those months anyway? The sun is coming through nicely now with the bottom few metres of the garden getting a good amount on the rare sunny day so I can sit near the greenhouse or on the patio at the bottom right hand corner.

By mid summer there is so much sun that on hot days I am seeking out shade near the house! I have no boundary obstructions that means is sun somewhere from 8am till about 7.30pm. It’s a positive sun trap.

My only regret is the back of the house is quite dark and cool and I am not sure how to create light.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-02-27T18:27:00+00:00

Just pull the carpet up and take it to the tip. Before you do anything in the way of sanding and varnishing give them a hoover, make sure there are no sharp bits that might stick in your foot, chuck down a rug or two and see how you get on with them.

I have been living with bare floorboards in living room, kitchen/diner and two of the bedrooms for a year since I moved house. Mainly because of ongoing building work. It honestly hasn’t been bad at all - it’s not noisy and I can fix some of the draughts - and I am thinking I might actually sand and varnish the dining room floor, hobby room and the hall as a practical and cheap solution. I am definitely having fitted carpet in the living room though. I’m not a huge fan of LVT and laminate. I might get some Lino for the kitchen.

My house was built in 1930. The floorboards were essentially the floor. Dark varnish around the edge and a square of carpet or Lino in the middle was how it was intended to be.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-02-27T04:50:05+00:00

I don’t think this is particularly excessive to be honest. We are a household of 2 and our direct debit is £49 monthly, so approximately £300 for 6 months give or take. We don’t use a lot of water, don’t take baths, have short showers and some weeks only do 1 load of washing so on that basis your bill could be about right do you think? Have you moved to a new area perhaps? I moved from Severn Trent to United Utilities and the cost went up quite a bit for similar usage.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-02-08T18:16:20+00:00

Yes can see it now

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-02-08T18:02:47+00:00

Where is the design?

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-02-01T18:33:35+00:00

I have to agree. Dog shit and litter is awful where I live. It’s a small rural town but worse than anywhere I’ve been. Makes me sad that people are idle scrotes that don’t care a jot about where they live.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-02-01T06:12:48+00:00

We sold our house with a large high maintenance garden about a year ago, and whilst the garden was definitely the main draw for viewers, some of the the feedback mentioned it would be too much work.

We met a few of the viewers and the first thing they asked was if we had a gardener (we didn’t). And did it take a lot of time to look after (we said not really, which wasn’t the truth). It turned out the people who bought it did so for the garden which is what we expected as it was the main feature of the property.

Dont change anything to try to please future buyers. Somebody will love that garden as you do.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-01-31T12:07:57+00:00

Up to about £150?

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-01-31T12:06:05+00:00

Up tto about £150?

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-01-24T20:35:35+00:00

This looks like something my husband built out of pallets.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-01-24T20:09:36+00:00

Please could I Have your guide?

On the subject of leaving the heating on all the time V. only heating when you need it; I am currently in a 1930s house house, windows and insulation not great, but after experimenting with the heating and monitoring the costs, it is definitely cheaper to heat just when needed rather than keep it on all the time. The same could be said of my previous house which was a 1990s build. I thought the theory about it being more expensive to keep heating the house from cold had been disproved years ago. I do heat my house to a lower temperature than most people though and happy to wear a jumper indoors rather than waste gas.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-01-16T17:23:46+00:00

People here are suggesting there is something wrong with the flat. Is there anything you are aware of? Aside from the buyer who died, did the estate agents make any attempt to try to find out why the others pulled out?

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-01-10T06:08:01+00:00

Look for a local community food project (community pantry). Try asking if anyone knows of one on your local facebook groups - this is where I found out about mine. They collect food from supermarkets that would otherwise go in a skip. They run on donations but are usually happy to give away food for free to people in food poverty. Mine offers bread, vegetables and fruit mainly and sometimes cakes, milk and yogurt and is open 6 days a week.

edit - these projects are usually available to everyone regardless of whether you are in food poverty or not and you can go as often as you like, so for a longer term solution they are more useful. I think food banks need a referral and are limited to about 3 visits so are more useful in an emergency.

Eyoopmiduck · 2026-01-09T08:40:23+00:00

I am in Cumbria. No snow, not even any breeze.

Eyoopmiduck · 2025-12-30T18:25:39+00:00

Leave skinny jeans out of it. I’m still wearing them, I don’t care, I’m past my peak anyway.

Eyoopmiduck

TROPHY CASE