A New House For Her , A Rugby Shirt For Me

andy1886

Merry christmas and a happy new year to everybody . Another contradictory diary entry coming up ......
I've found the cheapest breakdown cover for our cars and have the finances in place for it but have not yet purchased it yet due to the expense at this time of year , I know I should prioritise but I didnot .
I have set up my savings account and have set it up online as well as my current account so I am now able to check my balances daily , something which I am doing . On the home improvement front we have replaced both front and back doors , a gift gratefully received as we could no longer lock or open either one easily . It was the first item on the to do list and has helped us out greatly as I don't think we could of financed it until autumn next year .
Now to the contradictory news . In yet another u-turn we have decided to move house , this will not be for another 5 years or so , to give me chance to pay back my debts and allow the defaults to fall off my credit file so we can get the best possible mortgage deal we can . It does mean the list of jobs to do has shrunk to getting the chimney lined which will be done next year . Then it is pay off my debt and clear the dmp . Then check the credit reports to see when my defaults finish along with getting the house ready to market along with saving up removal and selling fees along with overpaying the mortgage to get a better deposit for the next house . That is my plan for 2013 although it may well be amended along the way .

gallygirl

It doesn't actually matter how many times you alter your plans Andy. The important thing is you are putting yourself in a position where you can make choices and that is great :j.

Nice gift received (though hard to wrap I assume ). I bet it will help with the heating costs as well.

beanielou

Happy new doors
Hope 2013 is a good year for you.

andy1886

gallygirl wrote: »

It doesn't actually matter how many times you alter your plans Andy. The important thing is you are putting yourself in a position where you can make choices and that is great :j.

Nice gift received (though hard to wrap I assume ). I bet it will help with the heating costs as well.

Changing plans , tell me about it . Are we indecisive and scared of making decisions ? Yesterday I wrote my latest diary instalment and in the afternoon went online and looked at Rightmove and said to the better half where would you like to live ? We looked at various houses all of which were ok , explained how much the monthly mortgage would be and what would be left over to improve the house . All ok and no problems , then explained how the debt repayment stands today and the aim of paying it off in 2 years and then using this money to overpay the mortgage and once we are allowed a mortgage with the defaults dropping off the equity meaning that is the deposit added to what I can borrow equals house price we could buy . Still all ok , then , on the overpayment calculator , " why does that drop to zero in 5 years ?" Then had the joy of explaining if we stayed put that would be the mortgage cleared and money for us to enjoy life with holidays ,days out , clothes and all the things people more money savvy than us enjoy on a monthly basis . Answer , "Why don't we do that then ?"
So today , 24 hours on from my last entry the plan is pay off the dmp in 2 years and then overpay the mortgage for 5 years and be mortgage free by 50 . Will this change again , probably so , watch this space .

andy1886

A long , tough month has passed . Two heavy snowfalls but I managed to keep getting to work . I still havenot purchased the breakdown cover for the car , the money was needed for day to day living expenses . I think there is a problem with the exhaust on my car but again I am putting it off . The car will need a service , probably in early March so hopefully I can limp through until then and then get a diagnosis and fix it . The central heating is giving us problems but again hopefully the worst of the weather is behind us and I can delay until the warmer weather and I have funds to get a service on the boiler and fix it . Savings account has reached three figures and first part of the mortgage finishes in April so that is in my sights and another milestone passed and funds available to see to these problems . Oh , and in a predicted u-turn we will definately be moving , don't know where and when but we are going , that is the long term goal .

beanielou

Yah to first part of mortgage being finished :j :j

andy1886

Winter finally leaving us , hopefully !! Still not bought break down cover , no nearer fixing car , not moving house . We have now decided not to run away from the people we want to avoid but to stay put and live our own life . I have a long list of jobs to do to improve this house but I have decided we need / deserve a holiday for reaching our debt free milestone when it arrives , so although my focus is on becoming debt free I am in the early stages of thinking where we could go to celebrate the achievement , it will be somewhere we will only go to once so I want to do it justice and it be somewhere extra special , it gives me something to focus on whilst trying to get out of my dmp .
Otherwise it has been a fairly quiet month , nothing else gone wrong just mundane going to work and paying the bills , looking forward to April arriving although in March I need to do my review of my dmp but I have plenty of leeway in my budget to account for my extra money I am saving seperately for the emergencies that are happening and being ignored by myself , I have 5 days off work in April so will take stock of where we are at then whilst paying for car services ,mot , tax and insurances . Anything left will go on boiler service fund for the summer .

andy1886

Dmp annual review completed and the figures mean that I will be paying £6 a month more to my dmp . Happy with that and all things being equal can look forward to the next 12 months and having reached the halfway point of my dmp can begin to count down to the finish . I just hope that when my creditors realise they are getting pennies extra each they don't add interest on or in Barclaycards case increase the interest they currently charge .
I have got the car through the mot with no problems and the service through up 2 problems I knew of but not the diagnosis , so new brake discs and pads and a bush to the suspension , slightly over my budget but manageable . Tax sorted but the real good news is that I can renew the insurance and it is below £200 , never known that before . My car with its suspect exhaust goes in next week for a service and hopefully no other problems are picked up and again if I can get through that then it should be tick off the months until september for my car to need doing .
Snow lying on the ground as we approach easter weekend and I am off next monday to friday . As previously mentioned this year when I am off work we are going to do something on at least one day . So next Friday we are going to Manchester for the Cake and Bake show . My interest is fairly limited but the better half enjoys baking and wants to develop her cake skills with decorating what she wants to learn more about . Tickets bought through this site with a half price code :T . Never attended anything like this so unsure as to what to expect and whether we will be there for an hour or all day so could get there for 11 and be back home early afternoon .
Still thinking about whether to move home or not and whilst I am off I am going to order my credit report to check when my defaults were put on my file and to see if there is anything worse on there, expect Barclaycard to stuff my report up with some marker or other , and whilst off can look to sort it out or tentatively look forward to applying for a mortgage as part of a house move . I might even tempt the other half by asking to view a couple of houses so she could see whether she could live in a different house or not considering the work we have put in here and may even look at a couple of show homes on new estates .
Next update next month when I will have finished paying off part one of our mortgage :T

Mara_uk7

Just read all the way thru your diary ! wow What a rollercoaster ! Youre doing amazingly well young Andy ! The older posts about your car remind me so much of the time I used to have with mine ! One problem after another ! Its not a VW is it ? I reckon mine was a last thing friday afternoon job !

andy1886

Mara_uk7 wrote: »

Just read all the way thru your diary ! wow What a rollercoaster ! Youre doing amazingly well young Andy ! The older posts about your car remind me so much of the time I used to have with mine ! One problem after another ! Its not a VW is it ? I reckon mine was a last thing friday afternoon job !

Haha , nearly a VW but not as good , it is a Skoda and to be fair it is reliable and I do about 15000 miles a year and barely check the oil , water etc . just passed 80000 miles in it and hopeful of another 40000 . It wasnot the exhaust but the flexi hose and my mechanic being the wonderful person he is didn't replace it , just told me to monitor it and if it gers a lot worse he will change it . Price will be £85 which if I need to I can find once we are out of this month .