First Time Buyer Mortgage Questions

Hi all,

I've read quite a few things on the forum but this is my first time posting.

Quick intro, we are two first time buyers with salaries of 20k and 30k and one good, one average credit score and have had an offer accepted on a property worth £185k, we're going in with a 10% deposit. The offer was accepted about two months ago and since then we've been trying to keep our bank statements a bit clearer and easy to read, could do with some advice though.

Basically I always pay on credit cards for everything and anything due to the cashback and protection they offer (pay them off in full every month), therefore submitting my bank statements to the lender won't really show that much and will also show very little about my lifestyle. My bank statement usually has a handful of transactions - deposits into a savings account, everyday spend credit card and gambling transactions. Is it worth offering to submit the credit card statements too so they can see where my money is actually going so they can create a picture of me and my lifestyle?

Another query I have is how much impact will a recent 'missed payment' (within last 3-6 months) have, and how much good will the Notice of Correction realistically do? I say 'missed payment' because I set up a standing order to send money into my regular saver for my deposit instead of moving money manually on payday, and could you believe it, come pay day I completely forgot and moved the money myself! Come standing order day it wiped my bank account into the red and it ended up being reversed. I've now contacted the credit reference agencies to add a NoC to basically say 1) it was voluntary payments to a savings account and 2) it was payed regardless, just happened to be manually a few days previous.

Also, I have a handful of gambling transactions every month, totalling £50 per month, which I see as very little as I am still living at home with very little commitments and save anywhere between £700-900 a month (I luckily live in the North East!). I've never went into my overdraft, except for the mistake mentioned before' nor have I missed a payment or anything for gambling, is that all they'll actually be concerned about or will any form of gambling flag up as a risk?

Another unusual one is that we are both part of a scheme where we provide feedback on restaurants, bars and hotels in return for free stuff, so my credit card statements probably paint the picture of somebody who has a somewhat luxurious lifestyle for my salary, my question is how personal do mortgage applications get? Am I able to provide, say, letters that can clarify these transactions and what they are or is it like an online credit card application, which is the only real experience with credit I have, which is basically a quick and automatic answer within a minute?

Apologies for the long post, I usually see myself as being good with my money but mortgage applications seem to be a much bigger and more complex kettle of fish and i'm wondering what is actually important criteria for the lender here and how much effect will the credit card statements, missed payment and NoC actually have, anybody with experience?

Cheers,
Mark