Macgirl's "Stop Procrastinating and Get on with it" Diary

macgirl

Thanks Sashy, I keep an eye on you too

Today's plan is housework this morning, then taking the kids to see Alice in Wonderland for the last day of the hols.

By hook or crook the car will be listed today and then I'll update my spending spreadsheets this evening. I am still focused on moving and saving to pay for windows and outstanding jobs on this house. There are a few things we will do ourselves, so I might bend DH's ear to get cracking on some of those this weekend.

Recently, we've had loads of flyers through the door asking us to sell or rent out property as they have cash buyers / tenants waiting :j Good news!

Next weekend we have little DD's birthday party and her birthday the week after. Luckily the birthday is after payday - the party just before
So an expensive end to the month, as I think my tyres are heading towards "bald" status - eek!

Hope you all have a good day

hypno06

Fingers crossed for that car getting listed! Enjoy Alice in Wonderland - my two thought it was fab, although I've not seen it myself.

macgirl

What a fantastic day - feels like Summer! :T There does look to be a fair bit of dust around - volcanic or otherwise - but not here in Mac World

This morning I blitzed the house, did my errands, made some phone calls and completed my "To Do" list.
We then went to see Alice, but left before the end as both girls were terrified. I was reluctant to take them to see it as I thought they were too young, but a friend had taken her kids and they loved it. Little DD begged to go as she'd had seen a trailer and loves the Disney version - but Tim Burton is just that bit too dark. I enjoyed it though! Pity Johnny D's gorgeousness was hidden under all the make-up.

We then went to the park and the kids were rolling down hills in their bare feet - it was idyllic. So all's well again.

I made a detour on the way home to look at a house. It's gorgeous, listed, loads of features - nice quiet road, catchment area, £100k over budget I've just been calculating the repayments and we'd be 70 before we paid it off :rotfl:
Still..................................................................I just might go and view it.

hypno06

Right.....when was the last time you sat down with a mortgage advisor and found out exactly what you could borrow given the fact that you have money owing elsewhere, and you will presumably be taking out two mortgages, one for the house you are in now, and one for the new one?

You will only know your "true" budget once you have these figures, and there is little point in talking about what is or is not in or over budget until you have done that.

so, before you go any further, if it is more than 3 months since you sorted out your "true" position, go and make an appointment to get the absolute facts then you will know what you have to work with.

It may be that the house you are talking about now, is not as far out of your range as you think, in which case it will motivate you to get ebaying more etc.

macgirl

Thanks Hun :A

Don't know whether it's completely reckless (I'm am a very bad MSE'er - if only I could practise what I preach), but I'm kind of thinking that what appears a massive monthly repayment now - will not be in a few years..... Everyone says you should stretch as far as you can when it comes to mortgages.
We didn't initially, and were glad when nursery fees hit £1000 a month, but we're almost through that now. If we don't spend it on a house, it will get frittered away. I rang the mortgage co last week, as this house is in my name and I asked if we could go into a branch to discuss it with DH. The mortgage and bank are separate, so all advice needs to be over the phone.

I've just done an online budget calculator with my bank and it looks like we could easily afford it - BUT I can't ignore the fact I'm in serious debt and not knocking it down quickly enough, so have to be real about how I spend money

So is it right to stretch - or is it suicide?......I don't know.

hypno06

For me, I have always said that when I buy my dream house, if I have to stretch, I will do so....because even the biggest of mortgages that I could get would not be as tough as the highest level of debt repayments that we have had.

BUT, that comes with lots of ifs buts and maybes - and some of those are down to whether you have truly learned to live within your budgets, as you mention yourself.

There is a big difference between stretching yourself now, having things tight but which get easier as the years go buy, and stretching yourself now, then finding in 10 years you are in double the debt and still struggling with the light at the end of the tunnel getting further and further away.

It is essential though that you sit down and sort out the potential borrowings first, though, as all lenders keep changing their requirements at the moment, so you need to know exactly what you can borrow, what their deposit requirement would be, what debt they are taking into consideration etc. Because you will be having one mortgage each, this could have a serious impact on what you can borrow so you need to know the facts early on.

Remember PPPPP!!!

macgirl

hypno06 wrote: »

There is a big difference between stretching yourself now, having things tight but which get easier as the years go buy, and stretching yourself now, then finding in 10 years you are in double the debt and still struggling with the light at the end of the tunnel getting further and further away.

That's the dilemma.
The plus side is that our income has gone up considerably recently and I could work 5 days instead of 4, if need be. I have definitely changed in my attitude to spending and money. I don't fritter like I used to, but I do still buy clothes and am certainly not as thrifty as many on these boards.
I know I need to focus 100% on paying off my debts, as I am too relaxed and if I'm honest - annoyingly, I don't feel anxious about it. I guess I've become comfortable with it and that's bad.

I do know myself and have to take into consideration what I know I will be able to do without - and what I won't. I'm not that controlled as a person and am prone to grand gestures and throwing caution to the wind - not good.

The big stuff like flash cars and extravagant holidays don't interest me. I have been all over the World with my job and am married to a workaholic, who can live within his means. We would like to be able to take the kids to Disney in a few years - in the States, which is where my sister lives, so it would be good to think we can go there.....

We can wait a while longer and this probably won't be The House, but it was good to let my head stretch a bit and allow myself to realise that it IS within reach. I think it's best to organise a chat with an advisor, then when we are ready, it will be easier to push the button.

My apologies for being so long-winded

kissjenn

My tuppence worth is to honestly ask yourself what your appetite for risk is.

If you can afford two houses on paper but you need to work 5 days at a given salary and your OH needs to do the same, the rented house can never be vacant, you can't afford to take any form of break for maternity, sickness, redundancy etc, the houses can never undergo any form of major repair and the car can never break down then you have to weigh up if you'll be able to sleep at night knowing that.

For some people if is the ultimate challenge and actually spurs them on to paying off mortgages, opening businesses on the side, ebaying the wallpaper etc, for other people it is their worse nightmare and leads to stress, depression, insommnia etc.

My advice is to genuinely think about which camp (or which general direction) you and your OH veer towards. Trying to change your basic nature is nigh on impossible so do what feels right. You can start with a dream whcih puts you in the danger zone but instead of losing the dream find ways to mitigate the risk until you reach a comfortable place for the two of you.

I hope that makes some sense.

KJ

Keeping_Motivated

Just to add my tuppence too, I love your drive and your aspirations but please don't let them run away with you so that you end up running yourself ragged. You have wrote how your job makes you feel but you just said in an earlier post 'I could work 5 days if I have to' well of course you could but would that make you more unhappy? Also you have wrote of the guilt of you working on the children so would that 5 days top your guilt over the edge?

You will do what is right for you and your family but please don't don't lose your family/life balance for the sake of jumping for your dreams too early..be patient you will get what you want x

macgirl

Thanks both for your "tuppences", they are sincerely appreciated :A

All the "on paper" calculations are based on what we earn now. The 5 days a week would be if things took an unexpected turn, there is a potential safety net. I over-estimated and it still looked affordable (this included the mortgage payment on the rental). I can appreciate though, that if I really did have that surplus every month - why am I not-debt free (please ref; title of diary)

I agree, I do have a tendency to get carried away, but soon come back down to earth - especially as DH is Mr Cautious. He is measured and understated and gave a long blink and slow out breath when I mentioned it.....enough said (I didn't mention that I'd emailed the agent for a viewing :o:o)

We won't do anything rash. I'll just get back in my box, give myself a talking to, pay off the debt, save up and move house in time for the DD's graduations :cool:

Wish I was a bit more savvy - things could be a lot different if I'd made better choices earlier in life