New Bathroom or OP or Savings - aaarrrgghh

Cortinaa_GTR

Hi Everyone,

Thought I would put this out for a few opinions and see what the consensus is. I have been in my flat since May 07 (bought at the height of the market -Doh!!) I paid £80,500 for it but through this site and a bit of rebudgeting this year I have the mortgage down to £70,250. My Oct payment will put me below the £70k mark.:D

OP has become very addictive since I'm on the SVR at 2.99% just now however I could really do with improving the bathroom. It's pretty tired looking and everytime I'm in it the annoyance levels rise! I've had two quotes so far for basically ripping it out and starting again but they are both in the region of 6k.

I have 5k of saving (emergency fund) that I have not withdrawn on for over 3 years. Should I,

Take the plunge and get bathroom done spending savings?

Save up separately to protect emergency fund?

Use half of savings and don't OP for a bit?

Any other variaration / suggestions welcome?

Ta, Parnott.

SmlSave

6k sounds a lot for a bathroom! We're budgeting £3 to do ours but we are doing a lot DIY and its a small bathroom.

Do you think the bathroom will help improve the house saleability? (in the future of course)

Personally I think I would go with using half the savings and not OP for a bit to afford the bathroom. But that's just me

Cortinaa_GTR

SmlSave wrote: »

6k sounds a lot for a bathroom! We're budgeting £3 to do ours but we are doing a lot DIY and its a small bathroom.

Do you think the bathroom will help improve the house saleability? (in the future of course)

Personally I think I would go with using half the savings and not OP for a bit to afford the bathroom. But that's just me

Jings, I need your plumber!! £5,997 cheaper than mine!:rotfl:

SmlSave

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :doh:

Silly me i meant £3k of course

Cortinaa_GTR

SmlSave wrote: »

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :doh:

Silly me i meant £3k of course

lol. Yh I know - was just being pedantic! Thanks for the input.

sheslookinhot

6k for a complete refit is not unreasonable, spent about that on mine, worth every penny. I have also recently spent about 15k on a new kitchen, all while almost paying off mortgage completely. A 0% credit card is your friend. Lets you continue to overpay, leaves your savings intact while getting a new bathroom.

Cortinaa_GTR

sheslookinhot wrote: »

6k for a complete refit is not unreasonable, spent about that on mine, worth every penny. I have also recently spent about 15k on a new kitchen, all while almost paying off mortgage completely. A 0% credit card is your friend. Lets you continue to overpay, leaves your savings intact while getting a new bathroom.

Hmmm. I'm 31 and have never had a credit card or loan (mortgage apart obviously). Always just saved up until I could afford what I wanted. I normally OP as much as I possibly can with what is left from my monthly income so a 0% CC will still need paid each month. Also do you get 0% cards if you have never had one? I thought this was generally an offer to transfer the balance from one to another?

dimbo61

Whats wrong with the current bathroom ? is the flat only a few years old ?
How much time do you spend in your bathroom ? ( cant you tell I,m a man!)
If £5K is your emergency fund then dont spend it and save up and change the bathroom suite with one from B&Q or wickes bought in the sale
Remember putting a £10K bathroom in an £80K flat wont add value

madeupname1

sheslookinhot wrote: »

6k for a complete refit is not unreasonable, spent about that on mine, worth every penny. I have also recently spent about 15k on a new kitchen, all while almost paying off mortgage completely. A 0% credit card is your friend. Lets you continue to overpay, leaves your savings intact while getting a new bathroom.

what she said

My view of overpaying is that the real skill is doing it whilst maintaining some quality of life in the meantime. Its not like your frittering the money away on something you won't remember and will stop enjoying after a few weeks or months. I probably wouldn't use emergency savings though. I'd probably go the half and half route.

I refit my bathroom when I moved in. £5k well spent.

uzubairu

madeupname1 wrote: »

what she said

My view of overpaying is that the real skill is doing it whilst maintaining some quality of life in the meantime. Its not like your frittering the money away on something you won't remember and will stop enjoying after a few weeks or months. I probably wouldn't use emergency savings though. I'd probably go the half and half route.

My sentiments too.

No point in putting all that effort into paying for it without enjoying it along the way.

Cortinaa_GTR

dimbo61 wrote: »

Whats wrong with the current bathroom ? is the flat only a few years old ?
How much time do you spend in your bathroom ? ( cant you tell I,m a man!)
If £5K is your emergency fund then dont spend it and save up and change the bathroom suite with one from B&Q or wickes bought in the sale
Remember putting a £10K bathroom in an £80K flat wont add value

My flat is over 100 years old and is very small. It was a house that has been split into a block of 4. The bathroom is not tiled and just doesn't look very nice. I would ultimately like to rent out my flat because it's in a nice area but I don't think I could with the bathroom in it's current condition and would like to enjoy the upgrade before I leave. Have attepted to add some pics but it probably doesn't look as bad as I think.

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