Fed Up Being So Practical

I was very poor as a child in a one- parent family. I had no choices in my life at all, no bicycle, no toys to speak of, no holidays but we read voraciously as books could be borrowed from the library. This took me to other worlds. I made sure I gained qualifications that equipped me to earn enough money to give me choices, as I was envious of those who were better dressed, more confident and, I thought, as a consequence more happy than I. However, now I can afford to indulge myself I find I waste money on impulse buys, especially clothes, that don’t make me any happier. Although I am very interested in interior design and am pleased with my home, I too had laminate rather than a wood floor in my hall because I thought the wood could be ruined by my grandchildren‘S push chairs and beach stuff being dragged over it. I’m not happy with the plasticky look, so to distract myself I had the walls decorated ain an interesting look from the Farrow & Ball source book which I’m very pleased with. It’s my relationships with friends that please me most: you can’t buy a friend who makes you feel good about yourself, so bug-er our laminate floors!

We have a solid, not engineered wood floor in lounge and dining room, with rugs, It was laid 12 years ago, It is oiled, not varnished. The only thing I have noticed is slight shrinkage of the odd plank, possibly due to central heating. It should in theory be oiled every couple of years, but we haven’t done this. It has the occasional scratch which isn’t noticeable, but could be re-sanded and oiled if it was bad. I expect it to outlive us.

Berylsgranny, my son's place had a lovely wood floor. It soon got scratched, dented and grazed - with kids, dogs, grit and things dropped.

Muggins here crawled around with the brown oil 'renovation dye' to make it look a little better before he moved out. It put us all off wood floors.

Now, at his new place, lesson learned, there's beautiful herringbone wood-effect vinyl planks, practical, washable, dent and scratch free!

4allweknow

Engineered Wood does look good, has a different more solid sound from laminate but it does need looking after and it can chip! I'm going for Amtico for my hall when I get round to replacing carpeting.

Just to say that I had Amtico put down in my Through Lounge in my house some 18years ago. Went for top of their range, so it looked like Parquet and had an excellent border which was designed personally for me (on a computer) in the style and colours I wanted. I never regretted the cost from the moment it was finished. Lovely floor, both to look at (always got comments whenever anyone came into the house), and also so easy to keep - occasional sweep or vacuum, even more occasional wipe over with mop.

It covered my dining area, and also patio doors to garden. At the time, my g.children were all young, so lots of mess. When I sold the house eighteen months ago, it looked exactly as it had when it had been put down, and most definitely was a selling point.

In my flat I have recently had Karndean flooring laid in my large living/dining room and hallway. Note this has a 'lifetime' guarantee. Not my lifetime - that of the floor, and this guarantee can be transferred over to whoever comes to live in this flat after I have gone. Again, so easy to keep looking perfect.

I have a sister who admitted that she never let's not having any money stop her having something she wants. I've got to the stage now where I'm thinking she's right. I struggle along with things for ages that are broken she would not for a moment. It is all done ASAP. I now think that's what I wish I had done. She also has top quality things, worktops, flooring etc. Whereas I try to fix things and struggle on.

I think I'd look on it as a temporary fix and aim to replace it in a couple of years, with the wooden floor you want, as the DGC will be older (at least that would be my excuse). It might be possible to recycle the laminate to another room/the shed, or on Freecycle for example, so your practical nature can still be appeased.

Go mad! If you hate the floor, get it done with wood!

In recent years we've treated ourselves to the hospitality package (parking, nice cloakroom, drinks, meal, better seats) when we've bought tickets to a concert.

Over forty years ago we didn't go to see Queen as we thought the tickets were a bit pricey at £1.80 each... ?
When we finally saw them just few years ago, with the hospitality package, it cost £hundreds but my goodness didn't we enjoy it! ?

Old habits can be hard to break. My mother has incredibly frugal to the point of meanness and martyrdom. Some of this has subsconsiously rubbed off on me especially when I was married to an equally frugal man ( providing I discount the amount he spent on nice cars and I.T for himself) . Every spending decision
connected to the house while I was married was a compromise on what I truly wanted. Decisions were nearly always made in the most practical/ cheapest option not the nicest/ best quality.

Now I am on my own, money is actually tighter, but I am free to make
my own decisions on what I spend, so I intend to have what I want where I can afford it . I am sometimes taking longer to make decisions though. I now buy quality used items where I can't afford new rather than buy cheaper things I don't like. I still can't abide wasting money, but I would treat the laminate floor as a temporary solution and aim to change it in a few years time to something I really wanted when it has served out some of the practicalities of the original decision . The grandchildren will not be small forever and when the risk of damage has reduced, why not have what you want, budget permitting?.

I'm with you on this one I do it all the time but I accept its probably to do with growing up without much and hate to waste money if I can a cheaper alternative. By the way I to have laminate but envy my neighbours and daughters engineered wood!

I'm careful but hubs takes it further. We watched a tv programme last night where they featured Betty's Tea rooms of Harrogate. Hubs declared it a waste of money for a couple of sandwiches and cake although I wouldn't mind going. We've been to Harrogate seen it and walked past.

We've got to the stage in life that we've decided, the scrimping was all well and good but now we'd rather have stuff that truly brings us pleasure and a happy moment whenever we see or use whatever. I would say, get what makes you happy. If there are dents and scuffs, I'd bet every one would bring a happy memory.

20 years ago in my previous house , I had solid Canadian Red Oak flooring put down in my living room and hallway . It was screwed down in place and had a lacquered finish . I loved that floor . It always looked clean and shiny even though we had 2 springer spaniels charging round on it . Nothing seemed to harm it . I bought a floor buffer to keep it shining but needn’t have bothered cos a quick damp mop was all it needed.
I’m doing my bedroom over in a few weeks and would love the same floor but you can’t seem to get it anymore. Engineered oak will have to do .

Always go with what you love if you can afford it

Hi I think when we get a bit older we should treat ourselves,we’ve earned it?.
To make you smile, some years ago I was a bit snobby and wanted real oak flooring in my new kitchen, it looked great when it first went down but now, oh boy,it’s moved between the planks and there are gaps which honestly hold food bits crumbs etc. I hate it and I’m soon going to be swapping it for the newer vinyl wood effect materials . So, I’ve learnt expensive isn’t always the way forward !

Only you can decide what to do re the floor, but at the moment as I'm replacing things I'm trying to get exactly what I want, which best buys etc, not going OTT stupidly, not spending a lot of money when a cheaper one is a best buy, it's sensible to get a good price for things. I'm having major renovations done atm, and I'll get a second-hand appliance if I can't find something and upgrade when I find what I want. I've gone for a mid-range kitchen, though, it was just as nice as the much dearer ones, it was what I wanted but nicer than the cheaper ones, but I had a better worktop for example. Although I'm on my own, I've got a slimline dishwasher, should have had one when I had the children and the now ex, but I now will have a shiny sink most of the time. I've had my bathroom remodelled and have had multipanel panels on the walls so that will be easy to clean, so I'm also looking at practicalities as I gete older, so have had had that in mind too. I want it as nice as possible and hope that I'll not need to do much else for a long long time. I'll need some more stuff and will look out for good second-hand stuff so if it's not exactly what I need, once I've lived with them for a bit, I'll not have spent too much and will know better what I need
If you can afford it go for what you want. If you want more than you can afford, go for second hand maybe, I've got some second-hand curtains, 2 sets that are going to look lovely, they need taking up so am doing that, I'd have bought them new for example [and am hoping to get some more on eBay in the next couple of days]

LuckyFour - have already put two fairly large rugs down to cover up a lot of the laminate which obviously has helped. I am very lucky as I do have money to spend each month after everything is paid I realise that and tbh I'm not complaining about spending money I'm complaining about the fact that I am so practical. When I think about it DGS's are here short periods each week so I should never have let that put me off putting engineered wood down I know that now. However I have to try and take the 'practical' hat off and put the 'what I would like' on.

I just buy the very best that I can afford. The items that have been very expensive, salad servers come to mind, give me pleasure every time I use them. No pockets in shrouds!

after a lifetime of putting my ex and my kids first, i realised a while back .the best person to treat is myself!- you're worth it as the tv advert says.

I think we have changed in the last few years and we're happy to spend a bit more. It's all to do with age, and the DCs doing well in their careers and not thinking we might have to help them.

So we have got a bit more extravagent which goes against the grain for a practical bargain hunting person like me. We have spent zilch during this last year so we bought something recently I would never have dreampt of doing before. It's a sound bar for the main telly in the lounge.

I cannot begin to tell you how fantastic it is! Instead of straining to hear the mumblings of different series, the speech now is crystal clear. And we watched a film the other night, there was an explosion on it, and I jumped a mile!

It's taken a long time coming to feel OK about spending our money but I think I'm going to quite like this new way of doing things!

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Do you think it's a type of self-denial? Or perhaps you feel you don't deserve something more luxurious? If you didn't have much money growing up then it can feel horribly self-indulgent and 'naughty'.
My dear late husband was a bit like that and I am too - scared that if we let go too much it'll open the floodgates and then we'll go completely berserk, and end up living in a doorway in a cardboard box.

I think it's hard. I usually look for the practical - I have a son with learning disabilities and a husband who is careless so I tend to think that things will just get spoiled so there's no point in going for the more expensive option!
Even if it's something for me I either have to keep it hidden away so I dont get the pleasure of it or accept that its going to get battered!!

My mother was the most generous person, except with herself. She would always buy the cheapest, or most serviceable items for herself, but if any of us wanted anything she insisted we had the best available.

Now I would rather go without than buy something that ‘isn’t quite what I want’.

If you are looking at the floor everyday and really disliking it, then I suggest that you replace it with what you wanted (if you can afford it, of course). It is not healthy to be looking at or living with something everyday that makes you feel regretful or unhappy. Also, when something in my home gets dinged by someone visiting, my attitude is "well, that will remind me of the wonderful time we had when ..."