Drip drip drip feeding the mortgage

Sepa74 · 3 July 2012 at 10:01AM

I'm with Radish, have a great time in NY. It's a fantastic city, certainly not Jersey (although I love Jersey too!). Life is for living.

Why not just get rid of the conservatory? It sounds more trouble than its worth, especially if you don't use it.

I guess the downsides of that option are the impact on the value of your house, as well as the costs of making good once it is gone.

Trust me to just make your life more complicated!! Sorry!

tjp70 · 5 July 2012 at 2:24PM

JimLad wrote: »

Wow sounds like a proper dilemma regarding the house!!

Is there any chance you could knock down the conservatory and do a two story extension? That would get you the extra bedroom you want although it wouldnt help with the area or being detached

Sadly this wouldn't work as it would just make the existing bedrooms longer. It is something we have thought about though.

tjp70 · 5 July 2012 at 2:32PM

Sepa74 wrote: »

I'm with Radish, have a great time in NY. It's a fantastic city, certainly not Jersey (although I love Jersey too!). Life is for living.

Why not just get rid of the conservatory? It sounds more trouble than its worth, especially if you don't use it.

I guess the downsides of that option are the impact on the value of your house, as well as the costs of making good once it is gone.

Trust me to just make your life more complicated!! Sorry!

We will certainly have a good time in New York.

DH & I have finally come to a decision :j If the quote for the extension is under £25k, we will do it as we think we can stretch the finances and take on a small additional mortgage of about £15k for the same remaining term as our existing mortgage (11 years).

If the quote is above this, we will get the existing conservatory repaired. The floor needs replacing and the leaks will need sorting immediately. Then, when we have paid the mortgage off which is hopefully within 3 - 5 years, we will revisit the idea of the extension.

DH has reminded me that whilst our house is not in the area that we would choose, it is not too bad here and we can live with it. Also, we would like detached, but our neighbours aren't that bad, they are not noisy at night or very early in the morning for example. And they are very friendly.

JimLad · 5 July 2012 at 3:00PM

tjp70 wrote: »

DH has reminded me that whilst our house is not in the area that we would choose, it is not too bad here and we can live with it. Also, we would like detached, but our neighbours aren't that bad, they are not noisy at night or very early in the morning for example. And they are very friendly.

Its really important to have good neighbours. We are detached, but our neighbours house is just a cars width away from ours. You may not be able to hear them inside, but their teenage son often arrives home at midnight ish on his very noisy scooter! They are lovely but he is Very annoying!

tjp70 · 15 July 2012 at 11:11AM

Nothing much to report here.

We are still awaiting the quote for the extension, so no news on that front yet.

DS has left school - I can't believe that he is old enough - how did that happen!! He's being a typical teenager - doing lots of sleeping and not a lot else. After lots of nagging, he did go job hunting round our local town last week, but unsurprisingly, no joy. He starts college (2.5 days a week) in September and I don't want him sat on his backside for weeks on end.

DD starts her last week of junior school tomorrow. I can't wait to go through the paperwork mountain in our house and throw away every school letter/timetable/revision schedule that we no longer need.

We are going away for a week straight after DD's leavers assembly on Friday. I am really looking forward to doing a week of relaxing, in a converted farm building on a farm. Even if it rains all week (which it probably will) at least it will be a change of scenery.

I have been working hard and have been able to make a £500 payment to the credit card from my business account. With the New York trip on there, it is sky high again and the interest free period runs out soon. I will not be paying a balance transfer fee to another card so I need to pay the card off pronto.

Yesterday I spent some time preparing my accounts for the accountant. I completed one company but still have to prep the accounts for my failed pet business. I am hoping that I get that completed today so I can hand them into the accountant tomorrow. My hope is, that I have put aside too much money for tax and NI and that I will have a surplus, which I can throw at the credit card. That's my hope anyway.

I have not been able to make any extra mortgage overpayments as I have been focusing on paying any spare cash to the credit card.

So todays job list is:

Complete accounts ready for accountant
Repair DDs school cardigan so that she doesn't look like a street urchin at the leavers assemblies
Bake a cake
Start making a dent in the ironing pile
Compile a meal plan - no more shopping before the holiday!

Off to do something from the list!

Cariad71 · 15 July 2012 at 1:22PM

Hello,
I've just read your diary from the beginning. It sounds as if you have come a very long way! Well done for all the hard work. As my Dad used to say 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves'.
As for the 'moving' dilemma, it sounds like you aren't truly settled where you are? I love the area that I live in and that is worth such a lot.
I'd be cautious about paying out more money on the house you live in if you are not 100% sure you won't move.
I'm mortgage free (41) but we are currently buying a bigger house (next door bar one) and hoping to rent house one. So motivated to clear the new mortgage!
Anyway, keep writing. I just wanted to let you know, your diary has motivated me!

Sepa74 · 15 July 2012 at 2:11PM

What a tough time for your DS to be leaving school

The lack of jobs around will demotivate him, making it even less likely he'll get one.

However life throws brown stuff at everyone, and the proof of character is how we deal with it.

If he is sits around too much it might be time to start asking for a bit of rent / board?

tjp70 · 15 July 2012 at 4:12PM

Cariad71 wrote: »

Hello,
I've just read your diary from the beginning. It sounds as if you have come a very long way! Well done for all the hard work. As my Dad used to say 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves'.
As for the 'moving' dilemma, it sounds like you aren't truly settled where you are? I love the area that I live in and that is worth such a lot.
I'd be cautious about paying out more money on the house you live in if you are not 100% sure you won't move.
I'm mortgage free (41) but we are currently buying a bigger house (next door bar one) and hoping to rent house one. So motivated to clear the new mortgage!
Anyway, keep writing. I just wanted to let you know, your diary has motivated me!

You've just read it from the beginning - I am very impressed. Were you bored :rotfl:

I re-read it the other day and I thought that I sounded like someone who doesn't know what they want - which is exactly what I accuse my mother of :eek: I did find it interesting to see how much we have cleared mortgage wise since I started the diary and of that, I am very pleased.

Thanks for dropping by. It's nice to know I am not talking to myself.

tjp70 · 15 July 2012 at 4:17PM

Sepa74 wrote: »

What a tough time for your DS to be leaving school The lack of jobs around will demotivate him, making it even less likely he'll get one.

However life throws brown stuff at everyone, and the proof of character is how we deal with it.

If he is sits around too much it might be time to start asking for a bit of rent / board?

Hi Sepa.

Yes, it's definitely a tough time to be leaving school. I remember searching for a job when I left education, and the local newspaper was full of them. These days the job section in the paper is a small fraction of the size it was.

DS main problem is shyness - the thought of actually talking to someone and asking if they had any jobs was a huge hurdle for him. Hopefully now he has done it a few times, it might be slightly easier.

He has been asked by a couple of companies to provide a CV. And what does he put on that??? :undecided Errr, school and expected grades?

Fingers crossed he finds something soon.

Lois_E · 15 July 2012 at 4:34PM

tjp70 wrote: »

He has been asked by a couple of companies to provide a CV. And what does he put on that??? :undecided Errr, school and expected grades?

But there's a lot more that he can say. Think of him as a whole person. Why do you think he'd be good at a job? Is he polite and presentable? Is he responsible and conscientious? Is he hard working? Is he good with people, or with mechanical things, or with computers, or something else? How do you know these things about him? What has he done so far in his life where he's exhibited those character strengths?

Obviously, to start with he should list basic details - name, address, age, etc. Then education: which school he's been at and the dates, which exams he's taken and what grades he's been predicted, any exams he's already taken and the grades (you don't say if he's 16 or 18). Also any other qualifications - has he got a driving license, for example, or done a Duke of Edinburgh award, or anything like that?

Next section is employment if there's anything at all he can put down. Has he ever had a paper round or a Saturday job or raised money for a charity? Anything that shows initiative and reliability is good.

After that he should have a section for interests and hobbies. Here he should say if he's been in any clubs or anything at school, and whether he's had any positions of responsibility in them - perhaps he captained the football team, or was the person responsible for bringing the snacks, or something. He should say if he plays an instrument, or sings in a band, or belongs to a sports team, or whatever. If he's achieved something in one of his hobbies, he can give brief details.

Finally, he should list the name and contact details of somebody (or preferably two somebodies) who can give him a reference.

Good luck. I hope he finds something.

Drip drip drip feeding the mortgage

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