I have £2000 to either do this or that.... Help me decide please!

[Ghouleez]

Our boiler is an ancient combi and needs replacing. It is hugely inefficient and dodgy and we don't fancy it's chances through another winter to be perfectly honest. It takes ages to heat up the water and we are on a water meter. A new one would cost us around £1750

and

we also need to do up our back garden as it's a horrible concrete mess. We have a little boy who wants to play outside and I also work from home as a child minder and i cannot take the children outside to play in it. It's not nice or safe. We want to be able to sit outside next summer and see a lawn with a flower bed. This would cost £1600.

Our heads are saying 'boiler' and our hearts are saying 'garden'.

Boiler every time. Chances are it'll need replacing anyway if you spend the money on something else and then what will you do?

As it is nearly winter I would say boiler,and if you have the cash save up for garden for summer if poss?

I think I would be the same. Have you had several quotes for the boiler? And would it be possible to do the garden work either yourself or with friends etc fir at least part of it to bring costs down?

do the boiler! you surely can do the garden for a lot less than that???

The quotes are the lowest we could get.

The money is all we have. (netto baked beans and rain water for drinks until 2020)

Family would be doing most of the labour with the garden anyway.

Defo boiler.

Have you looked into those grants for boilers that everyone is doing atm? You get money if you choose an energy-efficient one. Maybe you'd be able to do both?

Why do you lot have to be so sensible??? I knew you would say 'boiler' really. < sticks out lower lip sulkily >

Oh, and if the boiler broke, your childminding business would be over until you'd sorted a new one! I know it's hard, especially as the boiler hasn't actually packed-up yet and is technically still working... but just imagne the nightmare if it suddenly, completely, broke. In November.

I disagree about the boiler - I had exactly £2000 for one too but I spent it on a pony instead . I would choose a beautiful garden over central heating any day - isn't central heating supposed to be quite bad for you anyway? Maybe you could get a woodburner for less than half that, and it's at least environmentally sustainable or whatever the phrase is.

it's fine! if you have plenty of family help i am certain you could do the garden for a lot, lot less

rip up concrete, sow grass seed, dig a flower bed.
i'm possibly being too simplistic? but really, £1600 seems like a lot of money for doing a garden

have you got fireplaces? much cosier than radiators

A pony! What a great idea Mitchy! And if the boiler suddenly went 'poof' then I could set the pony up on a treadmill and get it to generate our household electricity that way! Oh the possibilities!

At this time of year, the bit of our drive that is concrete and level gets the most use of our entire garden as boys play there with their bikes/scooters/football/basketball hoop.. Are you completely not allowed to do that as a childminder?

Bear in mind that you can do your garden in stages but the boiler is just one big bill. If you do the boiler now, how soon can you do the first bit of your garden redesign?

my new boiler (worcestor bosch) , complete system flush out and fit came to £1500. Bought the boiler online at cheap boilers online or sommat like that, fully guaranteed, etc, then got a recommendation for a good local plumber. Our system needed the flush, but if we hadn't had it, it would have been £250 cheaper.

My kids no longer cry when it's time for a shower. I am so pleased that my boiler will be unlikely to break down in the bitterly cold snow=time this year as it has done the past two years, leaving us with no heat or hot water for the week each time it took to get the parts.