Example plan

One DIY project, four phases and a next task that never gets lost.

A worked example, not a template. It follows one £2,400 ensuite refit through the phases it was actually done in — showing what has been bought, what is on order, what is still an intention, and what to pick up next after a fortnight away from it.

52%committed
DIY project
Ensuite refit
£1,244 of £2,400 committed or paid · £331 not yet allocated
Planned
£825
Committed
£729
Paid
£515
Unallocated
£331

The work in phases, and where it has actually reached.

A project you do yourself stops and restarts around the rest of life. Phases are what make that survivable — the plan holds which one is live, so picking it back up does not start with working out where you left off.

  1. Strip out and prepOld suite removed, walls made goodDone
  2. First fix — plumbing and electricsTray set, feeds run, cable pulledDone
  3. Tiling and flooringTiles ordered · adhesive already boughtIn progress
  4. Fit and finishVanity, screen, second fix, decoratingNot started
Next taskSeal around the shower tray before tiling the wall above it.

Three states, never merged into one number.

A single “spent” column is why most trackers stop matching reality. Plannli keeps an intention, a commitment and a payment apart — every row below is counted once, in exactly one of these.

Planned£825

You intend to buy it. Nothing is owed and the figure can still change.

Underfloor heating mat
Comparing 2 kits · £310 – £395
£340
Flooring
Measured · 4.1 m² plus 10% wastage
£210
Shower screen
Saved from a link · price watched
£180
Paint and sundries
Estimate
£95
Committed£729

A quote has been accepted or an order placed. The money is owed but has not left.

Wall tiles — Sandsend
Ordered · 8 packs covering 9.6 m²
£304
Vanity unit and basin
Ordered · 3–4 week lead time
£245
Electrician — second fix
Quote accepted · certificate included
£180
Paid£515

Money has left, with an invoice or receipt attached as evidence.

Skip hire and disposal
Receipt photographed
£120
Shower tray and waste
Invoice attached
£185
Plumbing parts — first fix
Receipt attached
£142
Tile adhesive and grout
Receipt photographed · 3 bags
£68

The cheapest price per m² was the most expensive basket.

Tiles are advertised by the square metre and sold by the pack. The advertised rate is the figure a spreadsheet records — and with 9.3 m² to cover including wastage, it is the pack size that decides what you actually pay.

Wall tiles — 3 quotes compared on what each one actually includes
DetailTilewrightSandsend TileChosenClayworks
Quoted£260£295£300
Price per m²£28.00£31.70£32.20
Pack covers1.5 m²1.2 m²0.9 m²
Packs needed7 (10.5 m²)8 (9.6 m²)11 (9.9 m²)
Left over1.2 m²0.3 m²0.6 m²
Delivery+ £39FreeFree
Lead time5 days3 days7 days
True total£333£304£319

Tilewright advertised the lowest rate at £28.00 per m², but its 1.5 m² packs forced 7 packs and 1.2 m² of leftover tile, and delivery was extra — £333 in total, £29 more than Sandsend Tile at £304. Comparing the rate alone picks the wrong supplier here.

How the total is built.

Paid4 invoices and receipts attached£515
Committed3 accepted quotes and orders£729
Planned4 items not yet committed£825
Accountedof a £2,400 budget — leaving £331 unallocated£2,069

The ring shows 52% — committed plus paid (£1,244), the money no longer available to re-allocate. Planned amounts sit outside it because you can still change your mind about them.

What is owed, and when it falls due.

Every committed amount is a payment with a date attached. Together they come to £729 — the same figure the committed column shows, because a commitment and a scheduled payment are the same thing seen from two directions.

Wall tiles — Sandsend
Ordered · 8 packs covering 9.6 m²
due on delivery£304
Vanity unit and basin
Ordered · 3–4 week lead time
due 12 Sep£245
Electrician — second fix
Quote accepted · certificate included
due on completion£180

Two decisions are still open.

A real plan always has something undecided. They sit inside the project rather than in an inbox, so the next question does not arrive as a surprise.

Underfloor heating
2 kits · £310 – £395
Comparing
Shower screen finish
No decision yet
Waiting

How this plan was put together.

1
Break the job into phases

The project is four phases rather than one long list, so the plan can hold where the work has actually reached — here, tiling and flooring.

2
Measure once, and keep the measurement

The tile area and the floor area live on the items they belong to, with the wastage allowance included. That is what makes a quantity re-checkable months later instead of a number you half-remember.

3
Compare materials on the delivered basket

The three tile suppliers sat inside one decision. Comparing pack sizes and delivery together is what stopped a £28.00 per m² rate looking cheaper than a £31.70 one.

4
Record the receipts as you go

Merchant receipts attach to the purchase they belong to. That is what makes the £515 paid figure evidence, and what tells you the adhesive is already bought when you come back to the job.

Why the total stays reliable.

1

Every item carries its own state. Planned, committed and paid are counted separately, so tiles on order are never counted as tiles already paid for.

2

Phases hold progress, not just order. The plan knows which one is live, so a project you put down for a fortnight does not have to be reconstructed before you can restart it.

3

Quantities keep their measurement and wastage allowance. A materials figure you can re-derive is one you can re-order against without measuring the room again.

Reading the numbers, answered clearly.

Planned is an intention — you mean to buy it, nothing is owed, and the figure can still move. Committed means an order has been placed or a quote accepted, so the money is owed but has not left. Paid means money has actually gone, with a receipt or invoice attached. In this example that is £825 planned, £729 committed and £515 paid.
Because the cheapest rate was not the cheapest basket. Tilewright advertised £28.00 per m² against Sandsend Tile’s £31.70, but its larger packs meant buying 7 (10.5 m²) for a 9.3 m² job — 1.2 m² left over — with delivery on top. That came to £333 against £304. Pack size, wastage and delivery are the difference between a rate and a cost.
It is committed plus paid — £1,244 of the £2,400 budget, or 52%. That is money no longer available to re-allocate. Planned amounts are deliberately excluded, because you can still change your mind about them.
It should not. Planned, committed and paid come to £2,069, which leaves £331 of the £2,400 budget not yet attached to anything. On a DIY project that gap is what tells you whether the underfloor heating is still affordable once the tiles have landed.
They do not have to. A DIY project runs on weekends and evenings, so this example tracks phases by state — done, in progress, not started — rather than by a schedule that would be wrong within a fortnight. Individual items can still carry a deadline where one genuinely exists, like a delivery date.
No. Plannli is not a how-to guide and does not estimate what a job should cost or how long it should take. It keeps the phases, materials, measurements, costs and receipts in one place so that when you come back to the project you can see where it stands.
No — it is a worked example of one real-shaped project, shown so you can see how the parts connect. In the app you start with an empty project and add the phases, materials and costs your own job actually has.
The same plan, other projects
A wedding
The same three states across a £25,000 wedding — deposits, supplier balances and a photographer decision that turned on what each quote left out.
A kitchen renovation
A £12,000 kitchen — five invoices, an accepted fitter quote and three worktop quotes still open.
DIY project planning
Phases, materials, measurements and the next task.

Start with the project already in motion.

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