Monday, 28 April 2014

A time to save, and a time to spend

Those lines came to me tonight as I considered the seasons of our lives tonight.  Last year was definitely a time to save, but this year is a time to get things done, and it seems that this means spending.

This morning the gas fitter came to connect up the hob which R put in yesterday, and we thought it was going to be a simple job - the pipe was there, the connectors were there and I could see it all done in less than half an hour.  The call out fee for the first hour from the company was £40 and I honestly thought that was going to be the charge.......

Think again.

The fitter and apprentice were here for over two and a half hours, and there were new fittings and lengths of copper pipes, elbows and soldering going on.  The fitter was a very methodical chap [or you can read that as "slow" if you are not feeling terrible charitable, as I confess I wasn't this morning] and it took f o r e v e r.

The bill will come through the post later this week, and I am expecting it to be three times what I had anticipated.

As I said, it seems to be the season for spending here.

However, the kitchen looks great and it was a bonus to spend some good time with the FH's son at the weekend, who appreciated the meals I cooked him, and eating together around a table.  Simple joys, but ones worth noting and remembering.

I have already warned the girls that we need to take a tighter rein on the finances in May, and we may be looking at a very controlled month indeed - good job I have been saving up the Shop&Scan points for a couple of books I need for my studies from Amazon!

1 comment:

SusanM said...

Really pleased that things are getting done and progress is being made. Our tradesmen are wonderful up here but so very slow getting invoices out (takes up to a year so you have to keep track on what you still have to pay). Then all at once 3 big bills in one week and a new part for the boiler!!! Will need to cut back this month.