Ztan's Shared Equity Story- MFW from the word GO

gallygirl

Good luck :j. If it doesn't come off, at least you have identified what you want to do. Have you carried on looking for something else closer to home?

ztan

Hey guys
Thanks happycamel... I've just had a read through your diary and I have to be honest- R.E.S.P.E.C.T. You have a lot on your plate, but you have managed well to be in the position you are.
I dont fully understand offset mortgages etc, but given your financial background I'm sure all of that speak made perfect sense!


Gally, I am just doing another quick search now whilst I contemplate getting up to have a shower. The problem is I live in a commuter town. There is VERY little work here or nearby. Right now however I'm pretty much prepared to do anything

I'm sat snotting away here- I've picked up the flaming lurgy- and planning meals for the next few weeks. My OH and I are battling over the best ways to proceed at the moment. I have nominated myself the household "in charge of finance" person, and he seems reluctant to let me take charge, and just as reluctant to take control himself. SIGH

Been a good girl and been to Pump tonight even with the lurgy and am hitting the gym tomorrow. (I'm a utter gym freak by the by and spend a lot of my time pumping iron and busting commuting stress running races! Got my first 10k end of this month!)

edinburgher

It must be a slow day at work today, as I've just sat and read through your entire diary Also sitting here in snotty glory, so I can relate to your sniffling/suffering.

Wishing you lots of luck with your job application - I'm also looking for a new job myself and have had lots of hilarious setbacks (including not getting an interview for a job that pays 50% of my current wage and that I had 5 years experience of doing!)

Your experiences of buying a new build have made for interesting reading and in a lot of ways, things have worked out very well for you. From personal experience, the negativity you have experienced on some of the other boards comes from a combination of two things:

1) Your age - there are quite a few curmudgeons on the boards who discount anything you say unless you're 40+
2) The fact that government/developer-backed schemes in new build property have left quite a few people with burned fingers.

You and your OH seem to have got into this homeowning milarky for all the right reasons, but some of these schemes do seem to attract the sorts of people who can't really handle the responsibility of managing their own finances well in the longer term.

For a lot of us (myself included), the discipline of saving up a deposit before buying helps to develop money management skills, resilience and the confidence that we can keep the plates spinning in future. As you've seen, however, everyone's different and what works for one may not for another

ztan

Hi Edinburgher

Thanks for reading... it must have been a slow day indeed! I have been absent from here for a while so am slowly catching back up with everyone's diaries etc. It helps I've completely lost interest in work and can also fit in plenty of reading!

What you say about the curmudgeons is true, and is something I've come up against my whole life. I'm used to fighting back and proving everyone wrong though. (I got thrown out by my parents at 16, who were fully expecting me to come home grovelling and fail at "being a grown up")
Since then, I've never been one to fail at anything! I like to call it determined!

I whole heartedly agree with most people as well, that scheme's like the one my OH and I have entered into can be a complete nightmare. The problem is for a lot of people it genuinely seems like an easy way to get a house, and they don't have to sweat it. That's the mistake!

In hindsight, we would have stayed in our freezing cold flat for another 2 years, saved our little behinds off and tried to do it from scratch but this appears to have worked out well so far. And either way, I won't let it go wrong! :rotfl:I'm just too stubborn.

Have just started reading up on Life Assurance, as it's the one thing my OH and I don't have. I cannot decide if we ought to take out policies or not?

Does anyone have any advice, tips, experiences they could share? I am a tad lost and scared by the thought of confronting my own death and/ or my OH's!

edinburgher

Have just started reading up on Life Assurance, as it's the one thing my OH and I don't have. I cannot decide if we ought to take out policies or not?

Does anyone have any advice, tips, experiences they could share? I am a tad lost and scared by the thought of confronting my own death and/ or my OH's!

You absolutely need life insurance - think of all the fear you experience even *thinking* about the untimely death of a loved one and then think of how tough it would be to cope if the unthinkable happened and they were gone. Not having to think about the mortgage would make it just a little bit easier to cope with a truly horrible situation.

I'm not saying take out million pound life insurance policies and then do a 'Janine' (Eastenders) But seriously, think about the relative security that a small premium (you are young) might bring.

My wife and I both have life insurance and are older than you (I'm 29, she's 27). Neither of us pays more than £5.53 a month fixed for the life of the policy for enough insurance to just about pay off our £114k mortgage. I think it's worth £1500 each over the course of our mortgage for that sort of security - don't you?

ztan

My wife and I both have life insurance and are older than you (I'm 29, she's 27). Neither of us pays more than £5.53 a month fixed for the life of the policy for enough insurance to just about pay off our £114k mortgage. I think it's worth £1500 each over the course of our mortgage for that sort of security - don't you?

Oh I think that sounds very reasonable! I am going to do some searching and get some advice and get something sorted. Project for the weekend I think- or maybe tomorrow at work whilst I'm pretending to do something and really playing with pretty spreadsheets to manage my personal finances!

edinburgher

Hehe - I think a few of us do that. I've got our budget projected out to the end of 2013 now

Remember to shop around and to get cashback if possible (although take the best policy for your circumstances, not the one that pays the most OP money back!)

ztan

Howdy folks.. just checking in.
Am having another little "put boot up one own jacksy" phase, and bringing things back into line. Nothing like browsing MSE to make you defensive of your pennies.

OH and I are busy doing work on the house, decided we're going to be staying put for at least another 3 years so we might as well make it home.

Attempting to wallpaper for the first time ever on Saturday. That should be a laugh. We're turning our empty room into a spare room/ office/ workshop. We did some shopping around and managed to take advantage of HBase having 25% off indoor furniture and have finally ordered a sofa bed.

Did serious desk hunting around, and have managed to get a massive desk, perfectly designed for us for less than £70. Love Ikea and Ikea Hackers. Inspiration is never far away.

We're still saving lots- plans to go to Australia in 2 years time. OH has family there and we want to go before we have kids etc.

Now working on staying in the house until 2016- which should be a year of paying interest on the Equity loan, but it shouldnt be much. By our calculations, less than our OP on the mortgage, so if it means we can stay until we've got enough money for our next house we can sacrifice the OP for a year.

So plans again have changed, as always but we think we're heading the right direction.

Have just found major bonuses to my job- company perk schemes. We are lucky enough to be part of a scheme called Perkz- which gets employees discount on almost everything.
We are now doing our monthly shopping on prepaid gift cards- because I can get 5% off. So if we want to put £100 on to spend on groceries, we only have to pay £95 and we still get a full £100!
:T
There's loads, so I spend most of my free time hunting down ways we can save more money. Found out last night can get 25% discount on RAC membership... and our renewal has just gone. So I'm going to phone them tonight and see if they can add my discount to the remainder of the policy.

Anyway, back to work- happy beavering people. Keep up the good work!

ztan

Happy Monday everyone.
I had one of those weekends were EVERYTHING happens and EVERYTHING gets done.
DOH and I were on a mission to get our spare room- now to be known as the second lounge- finished. We managed to repaint the whole room, so it looks all new and magnolia again. Then yesterday we wallpapered for the first time ever.
Only a few :mad: moments and it was finished in no time.

We did our big months food shop early Saturday morning, my cupboards havent been this ful in yonks!

We also gutted and cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, garage, both cars and the front garden! Phew!

Was aiming for a NSD today after a weekend of decorating costs, but we are Sweedish Meatball Shop shopping tonight for the remaining furniture we need.

NSD tomorrow...we're off to the gym. Going to watch a footy match 1/2 price on Wednesday night. Thursday, I'm getting out for a run. Friday, getting my Mother intoxicated for her birthday. Exciting week.

Told the inlaws about my MFW plans this weekend and they scoffed at me! It only makes me even more determined when people doubt me and my ambitions. I know my life is destined to change dramatically in between now and paying off my mortgage, but doesn't mean I'm not going to make sure come hell or high water that by the time I'm 50 I'm mortgage free. That's 26 years... and I'm really aiming for 15 years.

:rotfl:

ztan

Okay, tried to do a little update earlier, and got utterly distracted by work Stranger things have happened.

Today I am learning tolerance with regards to my work colleagues. I am the victim of my youth in the workplace, and working with colleagues who are on average twice my age can lead to frustrations. Today has been no exception and we've had a few tantrums because of a lack of understanding. Not my tantrums I might add I'm calm, I know what I'm talking about!

Nehoo

Went to the sweedish "currently not selling meatballs" shopping place, had some lovely not meatballs dinner, and then carried on to do some furniture shopping. Got the bits we need to keep all of our paperwork and my jewellery tools, beads, wires etc tidy. Shoved it in the back of the poor car and headed on home.

Very chuffed today to be having a NSD after the expense of yesterday. Even more chuffed today as DOH has had the excellent news- over time is back on.
:T

Managed to clear 3 times the min payment on the CC yesterday. Tonight is moving the money around to pay off the Mr T CC. Should have some serious points coming off that and then we will be back at equal play.

Got 10 months to pay on 0% CC which paid for the garden last year. Still can't wrap my head around it being okay to have a CC. We could have paid out of our savings- but 0% is free and clever MS... guilt still bugs me about oweing money though

So today I am grateful for; (stealing this idea!)
- overtime for DOH
- the sunshine
- my gym membership so I can go to Pump and feel virtuous and muscly
- absolute radio (currently playing Meatloaf)
- MSE forums