First-time house renovation

suisidevw

How much are we talking Lisa?

How much have you overspent your original budget by>

lisal0u

Thanks latecomer!

I do have a good credit rating and havent missd payments! Want to do something about it now so that it doesnt get to that point!

I have a loan already and have paid off 2 of the 5 years, I could extend my loan and pay them off. Im not sure which would be best to do the 0% shuffle and just extend the loan I have back to 5 years so it would reduce monthly payments. That way I would have more spare cash to pay off the credit cards. Hmmm.

Been looking at debt management plans but they affect your credit rating and I dont really want to do that!

littlerose12345

Quick question, where did those of you who have bay windows get your curtain poles from? I saw a few weeks ago that Laura Ashley's flexi poles for bay windows were in the sale.. should have grabbed them when I saw as I think they're full price again!

jamtart6

lisal0u, the DFW board are amazing, they can live on practically thin air and will point out loads of savings you can make that you didn't even realise. I reckon they are better help than any debt management plan! 0% cards are a good idea and I know if you can pay any cards off in full, they often reduce the amount that you have to pay back

lisal0u

suisidevw wrote: »

How much are we talking Lisa?

How much have you overspent your original budget by>

My total debts are £25k Weve probably overspent by about £10k. The problem started when the bank said they would no longer pay out on retention untill we had the house vauled. They wanted £75 to do this so we said no as we wernt sure what the value of the house would be.

So we had to fund the rest of the house on credit cards and need to get them paid of asap. Im not drowning yet but know I will if I dont do something about it.

Sorry its a bit off topic but you guys and gals are always so helpful and not judgemental

suisidevw

Littlerose, we just have 'normal' rails in our bay, can get pics if that'll be helpful but they are just the standard ones! We do have LA curtains though

suisidevw

lisal0u wrote: »

My total debts are £25k Weve probably overspent by about £10k. The problem started when the bank said they would no longer pay out on retention untill we had the house vauled. They wanted £75 to do this so we said no as we wernt sure what the value of the house would be.

So we had to fund the rest of the house on credit cards and need to get them paid of asap. Im not drowning yet but know I will if I dont do something about it.

Sorry its a bit off topic but you guys and gals are always so helpful and not judgemental

Hi Lisa, are you living in your house now, is it liveable etc? How much more spending would you deem necessary to make it habitable? Sorry, I'm no expert and not sure how I can help out but will make any suggestions if poss!

littlerose12345

suisidevw wrote: »

Littlerose, we just have 'normal' rails in our bay, can get pics if that'll be helpful but they are just the standard ones! We do have LA curtains though

What are LA curtains...?

lisal0u

littlerose12345 wrote: »

Quick question, where did those of you who have bay windows get your curtain poles from? I saw a few weeks ago that Laura Ashley's flexi poles for bay windows were in the sale.. should have grabbed them when I saw as I think they're full price again!

Hiya,

We went for a curtain track in the end a the poles were expenive and I strugled to find any for a 5 window bay. The curtain track was really cheap about £12 I think from dunelm. Our neighburs have donated us some curtains which is very mse

jamtart6

it isn't really off topic as its moneysaving about renovating a house so don't worry at all!

try and work out your disposable income after all the bills have gone out.

THIS post will show you where to start. The DFW always like to see your statement of affairs (SOA) HERE
so that they can help out, but even if you just do it for yourself, you will see where you can cut back. It really depends on what type of spender you are too. If you already live as frugally as possible, take your lunch to work, car share, buy own brands etc. I think its much harder to cut back to find extra pennies.

The snowball calculator on that post I linked to is really motivating. It shows you when you will be debt free.

I'm surprised I know so much as I've not yet been in debt luckily, but I think I spend far too much time mooching on MSE

Good luck. I think the biggest thing everyone says is the hardest part is facing up to your debts and working out how much you owe. You've already done that and you've done the 2nd hardest thing which is having a will to pay it off.