2011 diary - MFW - Can't quite believe it!

Caroline73_2

I am trying not to look at houses. This is the only one I have actually visited. It's just so tempting.

We've been planning to move this year for so long. Having finished off debt repayments at the end of last year, it was our big plan. I am not one for having a great deal of patience. I keep trying to tell myself that the longer we are here, the more money we will have, the LTV will be lower on the new mortgage and we may get a better rate as well as having a lower mortgage. Am I satisfied? No. :rotfl:

Caroline73_2

I just had another viewer, he was a lot more promising than the previous viewers. I eavesdropped on his conversation with the EA. Just have to wait and see though.

I got paid yesterday and had some overtime so I paid that money into mortgage OP/savings. Missed out on the lottery Hubby's salary goes into the bank tomorrow, I think, so I should be able to get a bit more into the account.

I've sold another book on GM and I've managed to get a few pounds from various sites, they are all getting nearer to limits.

I ordered the Tangled DVD from HMV this morning as they were selling it for £3.99 but they cancelled the order as the price was wrong (which I had obviously figured out!)

I was hoping for a cheap week this week but forgot about Mothers Day so I need to get my mum something. I also need to get school shoes for DS1. He's 12 but has size 8 feet so I have to buy mens shoes. Unfortunately he is really skinny so I find it really difficult to get shoes that fit. Last pair were £50!

Froggy-G

Caroline73 wrote: »

I also need to get school shoes for DS1. He's 12 but has size 8 feet so I have to buy mens shoes. Unfortunately he is really skinny so I find it really difficult to get shoes that fit. Last pair were £50!

Caroline :j

Have you tried Brantano for your DS1 shoes.. They're cheap and I usually get shoes from there..

Froggy

Caroline73_2

That's where they were from, but thank you. He is skinny and his feet are so narrow there are only one or two pairs that ever fit. Never the cheaper brands Trainers seem to be ok but he's not allowed to wear them to school.

Caroline73_2

I thought I should update, it's been so long.

We're in the process of of moving house now. We accepted £104000 on ours and have offered £187000 for a lovely 4 bed detached. Our hopefully future house has been valued and mortgage approved, our house was valued yesterday so I just hope thats ok. The surveyor wasn't giving anything away. The people buying ours are going to let it out and the people we are buying from are going into rented so there is hardly a chain at all.

The house we were looking at originally is still on the market but the 'new' one is much bigger downstairs and in a better location. I'm not counting my chickens until we move though. It's stretched us though as it's more than we wanted to pay. The great thing is that the house needs nothing major doing to it. I can even live with the decor (although neither of the boys want the pink bedroom strangely). The only thing we'll do is have a shower fitted into the main bathroom, and then just decorate as we go.

As the house is twice the size of this one we need to get more furniture and stuff. I hoping to start OP the mortgage by January at the latest. The mortgage is over 21 years, fixed at a stupidly high rate until 2014. We need 90% LTV as we accepted less than had hoped for and spent more than we planned. It's a means to an end though and I can see us knocking 10 years off the mortgage fairly comfortably, with some regular OPing and a remortgage with a better LTV in three years time.

cha97michelle

Good to hear from you. You sound busy but it all sounds so exciting. Best of luck getting yourself organised for a lot of overpayments in 2012.

originalmiscellany

Well done Caroline! Get those savings going and make inroads into your new mortgage once you move. Hope it's a smooth transition to moving into your new house

pammyj74

At least you now have the concept of doing it right at the start of your new mortgage and I am sure you will slash right through it after you have settled in and got all the bills sorted.
Hope it all goes through smoothly for you, sounds like it will be an easy transaction.

And I am VERY jealous Cant wait to come and have a nosy when you are in

Caroline73_2

Over a month since my last post and we've exchanged contracts. We are completing (should it all go to plan) next Friday! I am stupidly nervous about it all. And the packing is stressing me out. I'm eating through the freezer, I've contacted most of the relevant authorities etc.

Yesterday I sent £20k to the solicitors. I have never had so much money in my account. We had managed to save about £15k of that this year, it just shows how much we can save if we try. I don't think I want to ever save that hard again. It was too strict and I need a balance!

Anyway nine more sleeps!

Caroline73_2

We are all moved in! It went really smoothly but I was so stressed. The unpacking has started but it's a long and boring job.

I'm also getting ready to tackle the finances. My mum lent me some money to cover solicitors and EA fees, so priority is paying her back. I have a credit card offering 0% interest cash advances so I've applied for an advance to pay my mum back. I'd rather owe a financial institution than my mum. I also promised to pay her back ASAP and the credit card is 0% until next July. I aim to pay it back by the end of the year but it just give us a bit of leeway if we need any spare cash in an emergency.

My plan is to pay back loan then, after bills, split all spare cash three ways into emergency fund, decorating/new furniture fund and mortgage overpayments.

Mortgage currently stands just under £170 with 21 years left to run. We are on a stupid rate for the next 3 years as we only had 10% deposit but will be in much better position after our fixed term ends.