Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Hooray it's Thursday :j one of my favourite days of the week as I spend it with my best friend drinking tea and mooching round the shops whilst having a good catch up, I'm very lucky.

Been looking on rightmove again, as you do, and have realised with our earnings and low current mortgage we could in theory move to a much more expensive house. Have seeem some lovely Edwardian semi's in town (30mins walk) but only 3 beds and up for £650k :eek: I don't think I fancy another large mortgage, so need to probably make plans to do up the house we have

As the end date is getting closer I would like to have some plans as to what we will do first, I did talk to dh at the weekend about this and he is not really fussed.(or perhaps he just wasn't listening!)

So my ideas so far are :

Decide if we will extend the back or renovate what we have. Currently we have a through living/dining/conservatory area about 33ft by 12 ft and a kitchen next to it of 10x10ft ish, no downstairs loo ( that would be very helpful).

If we extend, I would have a small living room at the front 12x12 ft as snug tv area and then knock everything out and build on the back with bifolds onto the (small!) garden kitchen ruining all down one wall at the side. So room for a loo off the hallway and a huge open plan room. I guess 50-60k if we have the shell built by a builder we've had a quote from £18k not with bifolds , plus the guy that owns the factory next door said he will do it for the cost price of his teams labour and forward on his discounts for all the fittings and kitchen etc. It's very decent of him, We get on well and let him park his flash cars in our spaces a lot

Or, leave it as it is - we don't NEED more space so just strip everything out and replace with new at a much lower cost, the main worry with this is the age of the conservatory, it's about 15 years already and was a cheap one. It does get cold in winter downstairs as it's openplan to the living room, even though it is heated.

Other issues to consider are helping the kids out.

Dd is saving to move out with her boyfriend and I want to help with a deposit , not worried to much about the boys with that yet as I am sure they will be at home a lot longer :eek:

Also need to do most of the house up -

New windows , doors, plaster everywhere, new floorings, plug sockets, light switches etc. Everything has been left as we either didn't have the money or prioritised the mortgage.

Oh and my personal wish list is :

A new mini

An old mini

Lot of of clothes

A few good cruises

Get the kids all driving and buy a car for them to share (not my mini collection )

Xmas dinner party night at the Harry Potter studio

Dino snores sleep over at the natural history museum

Lots of weekends away with dh and sometimes friends

A weekend at Burgh Island


That's it , apologies for the early morning waffle if anyone read this :rotfl:

daisy_1571

Morning NG

I think you have answered your own question. Do up what you already have and use your money for the list of things you would prefer to do. Not much point having 60grand of a mortgage to get more space that you really don't need when you could be using your monthly money to help your daughter and get your cars etc. You have consistently said since the beginning of your diary you want to help your kids get started on housing ladder and now you have the situation where your daughter is at that point. And if your lads are good friends (like they seem to be even though they have different interests) there is a chance they will consider moving out together to share a flat so they may be moving sooner than you think lol

If you find the conservatory leaches the heat out your living areas (which it will, no matter how good it is a large window area will always lose heat so by heating it you are still only marginally helping as so much will be lost) i would reckon you could look into putting your bifold/folding doors between the living room and either the conservatory as is or a replacement conservatory. That will give you option of closing the space down in winter but still have the benefit in summer.

Just a few ideas, in fact you may even decide to go back to minimum payments on your mortgage for a while since you are so close and free up monthly income to save a lump sum for your daughter as she may need your help in the next 6 months or so if she has begun looking at flats/houses ?? It would make sense to use the mortgage you already have rather than renegotiate a new mortgage ?

Daisy xx

try_harder

Loving your post today newgirly ,your list of wants looks something like mine but mine is longer and i have no spare money ,such is life

newgirly

Hi daisy and tryharder thanks for posting

Dd and boyfriend have a 3-5 year plan to move out so we have a while yet. Boyfriend is thinking save for longer to pay a better deposit and get something dearer, however prices are still going up a crazy rate (22% in two years apparently) so I can't see his plan working too well as they can't save anywhere near as fast.

We nearly too the plunge last year with the extension and got some quotes but couldn't quite spend the money.

I worry we will just get used to having and spending a lot more money and don't want that to happen, We need a proper plan. I think a good compromise may be to get the work done but do it on a fairly low budget. That way we can still spend on some frivolous stuff, start saving and then if we have he extension a few years later we won't have wasted too much when it all gets ripped out.

Had lunch with best friend today who asked if I would be going away on a girls weekend away again this year. I said I didn't know as we are trying to clear the mortgage next year. I do want to go though and also don't have anything planned with dh either, temptation is looming and it's only February!

JAMIEDODGER

That's some wish list NG It's nice to dream big x

newgirly

Aargh, have been charged by vodaphone for an account i closed in October , apparently it wasn't closed. So cross ive posted on the vent board, when the kids get home I'll ask how to do the same on their social media :rotfl: I'm sure they won't care but it will make me feel better. Thieves.

And relax.

newgirly

Vodafone sorted out , £30 has been refunded by the complaints dept finally.

We had our first budget date night last night, went to see the exorcist at the Phoenix theatre, £10 per ticket including fees and postage and when we got there they upgraded us to quite near the front in the stalls as they had shut the circle :T great play (although it's had terrible reviews) nice and scary then to planet Hollywood round the corner for a 'buy a gift' meal for two deal that cost about £28.

A very good night for a pretty low price -if you don't count the drinks dh bought at the theatre The boys had a poker night at home with half a dozen friends while we were out, we came home to everything tidied up and them tucked up in bed, it was the perfect night :rotfl:

smallholdingsister

I have always wanted to stay on Burgh Island. I imagine the hotel being like an Agatha Christie novel. Fewer murders obv.

newgirly

She wrote some of her novels there didn't she? They do a murder mystery dinner it says online, not my usual cup of tea but I imagine it's the perfect location.

A terrible tragedy has happened, I am very lucky to have received four bunches of flowers this week (from dh, best friend, mil and the guy from work who's party I organised, it's not a usual occourence!) so I didn't have enough vases, went to mum's and borrowed a couple along with a bottle of wine as it's cold and wet to go out and smashed a vase and worse still - the wine, on the way home. The boot stinks of merlot now.

We are off to york next month to help kit the flat out, however my mum has decided it's not worth cleaning it all up and putting all the new bedclothes on for one night then having to change them, so they want to stay in a hotel :rotfl::rotfl: They want to treat us to the hotel so i may say yes as a birthday present. That is just so them , buy a flat, renovate it to use as a holiday home, stay in a hotel :eek:

Kittenkirst

Oh man- not the wine?!?

You did make me chuckle about the flat & hotel!!