Bathroom DIY update:

I started off with a to-do list to mitigate the impact of the fact that it’s already the second week of May and we’ve still not made a dent in the bathroom.

We’ve been preparing, but that means we’ve got an extra bathroom in pieces littered throughout the house. It’s the first thing on the list of stuff, and today was the day.

When I finished writing I realised I’d made a to-do list for the entire week instead of one day, but I started with one major job: smash tiles off wall.

Ever heard, “it’s got to get worse before it gets better”? Right.

A bit hasty…

In hindsight, I could have done this later.

Now I’ve just committed us to temporary waterproofing, but at least I’ve lit a fire under our butts. My plan was to do that whilst Lord Balders was out, but then, well, he came back. Then my list went out of the window. We spent most of the day shopping online at Screwfix for various iterations of pipe, and let me tell you, buying pipe of any sort is not retail therapy.

Lord Balders was getting stressed as well, so we went to B&Q because sometimes, you just need to see what you’re thinking of buying.

It’s also good for eyeing up different decorating ideas, because, let’s face it; Screwfix will often come out cheaper for things like pipework and tools, but it’s pitched towards the trade. B&Q is pitched towards the people who live in those houses and want to feather the nest a bit. So we bought some grout, tile adhesive and yes, a flexible pipe adaptor for the new toilet there.

Can you guess what wound me up in this picture? Grrrr…

Now, I usually dislike buying anything at full price, but sometimes you just need to. My solution to this problem is to shop through cashback websites, so we used TopCashback for the Screwfix purchases.

When it comes to B&Q, my favourite solution is to pay with my Pockit prepaid card. Regardless of whether a sale is on or not, I get 5% cashback from using that card at B&Q. Really, it’s that simple, and I do think that anyone who is in my position and has a lot of decorating to do would do well to get one.

I loaded it with £50 via my debit card just prior to shopping, as I tend to use my credit cards for general purchases. Pockit cards cost 99p, but there are often special offers for referrals, and right now you can get one with a £5 bonus credit through this referral link.

To get the credit, you have to make at least 2 loads and 5 transactions in store or online within the first month – not too hard for something actually useful, maybe 3 on the faff scale. I got mine with a £5 credit in 2014 – £4.01 profit!