Dogbooks' Diary to be Mortgage Free!

Elephantchunks · 27 May 2017 at 11:09AM

Yay! Congrats on completing! :beer: Haha I don't even know you, yet I'm really excited for you getting the keys Friday.

Dogbooks · 2 June 2017 at 9:38PM

Hi all, I've been away from here the last few days, mainly staring at paint samples on the walls trying to pick a colour- we still haven't made our minds up!

Money wise:

Income- I had £300 left over from the end of last month so that has gone into my EF (now at £1200) OH also sold a guitar for £250. Today I saved £12 as work have offered a 12% discount at B&Q- perfect timing for all the works! I also managed to claim 26p cashback on our takeaway- all adds up!

Outgoings- I went away last weekend and spent about £65.00- but that was all food, drink and travel for three days so not too bad. OH spent about £100 on tools, paint, brushes etc which came out of the money refunded by the solicitors. Definitely putting the costs of home improvements on a spreadsheet as it is so easy to lose track.

Haven't OP mortgage yet as haven't received paperwork from the mortgage provider about payments. OH has arranged direct debits to come out of his account but I am eager to start reducing it! I am not very patient and very competitive so am not good at waiting haha.

Planning on spending this weekend sorting the floor and clearing the jungle of the garden- fingers crossed for the weather!!

Dogbooks · 8 June 2017 at 9:06PM

Hi all, I've been rubbish at logging into these forums- trying to complete as much DIY as possible before moving in next Thursday! I need to catch up on everyone's diaries

Exciting news is we made our first mortgage payment today! Our usual monthly amount is £820 but they added an additional £107 on top for the few days in May. I suppose it doesn't officially count as an overpayment but I'd like to think so... Anyway it's quite nice now we've paid, it feels like we actually own it now! Need to work out how to update it on my tracker

Income: counted £10.00 of 20ps in my coin sorter which I need to take to the bank, am planning to use that for my first OP! Also earnt £1.29 cashback online- I think it takes a while for it to be processed so hoping that will add up to some substantial eventually.

Outgoings: We managed to measure up the downstairs floor which we're due to buy tomorrow and we saved £25.00 on that through another staff discount. We managed to hire a van for £65 for moving which I'm really chuffed about.

Sorted out our bills too- first council tax payment is due next month, tried getting an empty and unfurnished discount but they don't do it anymore for our area (boo!) Was worth a shot. Looked on MSE for good gas and electric deals so made a saving of £270 a year

Hope everyone else is doing really well too!!

Elephantchunks · 10 June 2017 at 8:16PM

Ooh a coin sorter? Does that have separate slots for different coins? Last week I had to count £40 worth of coins from my change vase.
It's great to hear that you were so excited to pay your first mortgage payment.
All very exciting, what DIY have you been up to?

EatingTheElephant · 11 June 2017 at 8:18AM

Congratulations on your new home and your first mortgage payment. Our first mortgage payment on our new home is due to go out next week, it will feel great to get started and start reducing the debt!

lippy1923 · 11 June 2017 at 11:21AM

Congrats on the first mortgage payment

Coin sorter sounds cool. I have a jar that counts the money but doesn't sort the coins! Might have to look into investing in one of those.

Dogbooks · 11 June 2017 at 12:14PM

Thanks EatingtheElephant- it feels a little more real when that first payment comes out! Been enjoying reading your posts and glad you're settling in well!

Elephantchunks- The coin sorter has one slot but drops the different coins into different tubes- it is meant to add up the value of the coins but mine makes up it's own figures! Still useful for sorting the coins and seeing how many coins have been saved.

OH is dreadful at dropping change all around the house, so I go around after him and we can see it build up haha!

So OH laid down the laminate flooring in the living room yesterday which looks awesome, and just one more coat of paint to do on the concertina doors between the living room and dining room- they were a dark wood varnish before but we've used white gloss. I was aiming to have the living room/ dining room walls painted before Thursday too but may have to do that in the next few weeks time once we've unpacked.

Speaking of which... really must do some more packing today...

Dogbooks · 11 June 2017 at 12:16PM

Thanks Lippy1923- I found one online for about £15- it's pretty basic but does the job and visually it's nice to see the stacks of coins building up too!

(It's quite nice to post about it online- most of my friends/ family think I'm a bit weird for it haha!)

Elephantchunks · 11 June 2017 at 3:42PM

Dogbooks wrote: »

Thanks Lippy1923- I found one online for about £15- it's pretty basic but does the job and visually it's nice to see the stacks of coins building up too!

(It's quite nice to post about it online- most of my friends/ family think I'm a bit weird for it haha!)

Love it. I may ask for one for my birthday. Then people can think I'm weird too (oh they already do).

Sounds like you're doing a good job on the house. Very money saving to fit your own flooring. Is this a first or has OH done it before?

Dogbooks · 11 June 2017 at 5:15PM

:beer: Cheers to us weirdos Elephantchunks! They may laugh, but we will have the last laugh when our pennies add up haha!

We're both completely new to any major DIY- the most we had done before was painting. We're learning a lot from OH's dad who has been a superstar and helped us lay down the floor with a friend. The floor and underlay cost about £200 for the living room and we reckon about £150 for the dining room, so well within our £2000 budget for DIY around the house

My main problem is not stopping for any breaks- I keep dragging OH around to the house after work and for long shifts at the weekend. We're getting stuff done but tiredness is beginning to catch up now. Will totally be worth it when we move in on Thursday! :j

Dogbooks' Diary to be Mortgage Free!

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