Our attempt at being MF!!

sarahevie

Hope you can get your extension for £30K - ours is on the backburner as build costs are around 70K for our double storey side extension (2 reception room, plus 2 double bedrooms upstairs/current bedroom 3 turning into a second bathroom)

Ultimately we could move for cheaper - and if we spent 70K on our house it would only be worth maximum 50K more as there's a ceiling for houses on our road which is fair enough.

There was one on our road with the extension we want and it was only priced at £30K more than one without it, it did sell within a week though so was very cheap, but even so it doesn't make me want to spend 70K on ours.

CathT

Ceiling prices is something to consider, we paid £165k for this 6 years ago but would probably only achieve £155k in todays market despite out garage conversion. I think the work would value house at £200k ish but moving could still be an option if it's all like too much hard work - depends if a bargain comes along and we can hammer this mortgage down!

CathT

Well I have managed to do a couple of things off my 'to do' list! Listed a DVD boxset on Amazon and phoned tax credits. According to the woman i spoke to though a £7k drop in income will not qualify us for any extra money or help!! She said our payments would remain the same :mad: I really do not understand the tax credits system.

No further invites from GTM as yet, hoping one comes along soon!

I really need to start maximising income so i can overpay and save plenty for maternity leave.

CathT

Received a letter yesterday morning from Halifax stating they have refunded £5 to my mortgage as a goodwill gesture, only read the letter quickly but it was something to do with variable rates. Always nice to be given money!

CathT

Reached 1000 points on GTM, cheque will be with me in 6 weeks. I think GTM is quite a good return for the effort made.

CathT

Just checked my Quidco account and noticed that £1.18 has tracked from the £59 patio set i bought from there last weekene - pretty pleased with that!

sarahevie

I requested GTM last week so will keep track on when you get yours - 6 weeks seems a while but might be quicker? It's taken me since Jan to earn so not too bad compared to some:rotfl:

Tax credits is an absolute minefield - it's the way it is on income brackets so you can earn a tiny bit more but lose loads in credits, and the same the other way income drops but not much extra is gained, if any.

CathT

sarahevie wrote: »

I requested GTM last week so will keep track on when you get yours - 6 weeks seems a while but might be quicker? It's taken me since Jan to earn so not too bad compared to some:rotfl:

Tax credits is an absolute minefield - it's the way it is on income brackets so you can earn a tiny bit more but lose loads in credits, and the same the other way income drops but not much extra is gained, if any.

Hopefully we should receive our cheques quite quickly then, i keep checking for new surveys, thought i'd never get to redeem on there!

TC are just too confusing, our income is terrible for 2011/12,i don't understand why our payments are not going up. Still hoping I may get a letter with revised payments!

I am having one of those 'i have no money - woe is me' days. Just worked out our outgoings from payday next week and it's really tight, it's been an expensive few months and I have had to put a few things on the credit card. Also have been offered a 12 months balance transfer offer from Halifax but I have £240 on that card so am assuming I need to clear that balance first leaving us really short. My I/F on other card ends in Sept.

I can make a £100 OP next month but it just feels like it's not enough!

Am also feeling stressed about consultants making my pregnancy complicated (not being allowed homebirth is just the start of it!) and my head is buzzing with the amount of appointments I have coming up

Iris_Blue

CathT wrote: »

phoned tax credits. According to the woman i spoke to though a £7k drop in income will not qualify us for any extra money or help!! She said our payments would remain the same :mad: I really do not understand the tax credits system.

No further invites from GTM as yet, hoping one co

This was exactly what I said on my diary a few weeks ago. My mat leave ends next week and we'll be down 7k and we won't get anything extra at all. strange.

Why can't you have a HB if you don't mind me asking?

CathT

I saw you were feeling down recently too Iris, i wonder if it's maternity pay/the thought of maternity pay affecting our budgets. I really thought our drop in income would qualify us for help with nursery costs but it seems our payments are not changing at all.

I was CLC for last pregnancy as I had neurosurgery when i was 13 and they didn't remove all the tumour. Had no problems with delivering DD, she was back to back, weighed 9lb 10.5oz and I pushed for just 13 minutes. I thought a HB would be possible as I had such a fab labour. However, all the reasons they gave for saying no to HB were based on DD being a big baby. I now have loads of appointments to go to including seeing an anaesthatist and 2 GTT's!