Only freedom will do

Realised that it's the inside, and what it means for living a life that works for me, that counts

Well put BW, we will be keeping the feeling that the house already has (of a much loved family home) and modernising it so that it serves us as long as the last owners (they managed 30 years!!!)

The inside of this house was stunning, the outside not so much as he didn't live in an amazing area and it ensured that if there any chance burglars they went to better looking houses.

Sounds a bit like my parents house. Boring on the outside bar a well kept garden, but full of designer coffee tables and fancy finishes inside

Great stuff Ed

Thanks GG, might need a new diary in the light of current economic realities (i.e. mahoosive mortgages that I will need to arrange) :eek:

So, when's the house warming and are we invited?

Early November with a little luck and yes, all welcome!

The garage (does anyone actually use garages as garages these days?) will either be torn down and replaced with a posh shed (it contains asbestos for starters), or maybe turned into a man cave in the short term. Probably a longer term project as we'll be moving in in winter and it's not the time to build anything in Scotland!

You might regret saying that :rotfl:

What's the worst that can happen? Oh God GG - not the curtains!!!! :eek: :rotfl:

Friday again? Time must be flying, as I don't remember it passing :eek:

I woke up late this morning, think I must still be coming down from all the excitement last week. Either that, or DD's fault, she seems to be alternating religiously between peaceful and chaotic nights. We will be moving her into the nursery this weekend, the time feels right

Loving the simple things, like picking DD out of her crib in the morning, or having her sit on my lap in a sideways hug while she gazes around the room to remind herself of where everything is.

Currently in the slightly nervy holding stage found between any major transition, anxious that something will go wrong, but confident that we have done everything that we can to avoid this.

Have tried to rein in the finances a bit this week, the last couple of weeks saw me buying breakfast, coffee, lunch and occasionally dinner out as we scrambled to hold viewings and visit our own possible new homes.

Rebuilding some small streams of future income after cashing in my ISA to help fund the house purchase, up to something like £2k split between R@tesetter and Funding C1rcle. R@tesetter is reliable but unspectacular at c. 6%, FC more (but very very slow to lend out money). This leaves me about £3k 'spare' in cash, but there's a good chance that it will end up getting rolled into the house deposit. Part of me is telling me to use some of this money for the mythical 'fun' of which I have heard so much, but I have become very spending averse (bar the odd gallon of whisky).

Have accepted that matched betting is now effectively a dead duck for me. Banned by a lot of bookies and can't work up the energy to get banned by the others There are a couple of books that we will use and abuse on Mrs E's behalf once we move house, but nada in the short term. I still dip in and out of the forum every couple of days to look for risk free slots offers, as a good win at one of these is worth £20/mth over the course of the year.

Other than that? Looking forward to the weekend as some crazy cooking projects. Considering a trip to the Chinese supermarket on Saturday for giant onions (Thomas Keller french onion soup) and pigs feet (ham hock Sulze).

Happy Friday everyone :coffee: