New Year. New House. New Budget

Lurker1972

& also 3rd time lucky!

After 2 false starts , I am determined to get a grip this time, once and for all.
Diary one taught me that the people on MSE are wonderfully supportive, full of ideas & determination.
Diary two taught me that a budget is all well & good, but if it is too tight I am going to rebel & end up going backwards

I could beat myself up over how much I have rebelled over the last few months, but I am not going to. It won't change anything.

So here I am, again, but with quite a change - OH & I are moving, hopefully before Christmas. All very sudden, we put the house on the market at the beginning of October & by the 1st November had an offer! Cue mad search for house for us & a cheeky offer was actually accepted! I paled at the initial thought of a pre-xmas completion - but then remembered that VAT was going up in 2011 so with much pushing & shoving & nagging & fingers crossed we will be in within the next 2 weeks. Yikes

So for the first time ever OH & I will share the bills on OUR house. Funds will be tight for the first few months as he still has 4 payments left on a joint loan with his ex. so we'll bumble along for a few weeks as we settle in to our new home.

The next few weeks will be hectic & stressy but in a good way.

Its also good to be back in diaryland!

beanielou

Wow, a lovely shiney new diary
Keep posting.
Hope all goes well housey wise

beanielou

Oh I like your siggy BTW

Lurker1972

Thanks Beanielou,

Had to update it as the previous ones just made me feel bad if I didnt achieve it & since the move to the new house is a huge new chapter for us, I wanted to start off with positive thoughts from day one!

I really should be sorting through & binning stuff or packing but its been a long week & I can't seem to drag my sorry carcass off the sofa!

It is difficult though to pack when we dont have a confirmed completion date - if it doesnt go to plan we could end up surrounded by boxes all over Christmas & beyond.

What I can do though is keep on top of the ironing & washing - preferably without using the tumble dryer too much - we are leaving it behind so neeed to adjust for when we do move!!

Lurker1972

I am cold, surrounded by boxes, trying to decide on whether we need life cover for the full amount of the new mortgage.....that would be the sensible option I guess, but Mr L had a significant birthday recently so premiums are higher than I anticipated!!!

dilemmas dilemmas

Lurker1972

Life assurance decisions made, fingers crossed we should exchange in the middle of next week & complete on Friday, woohoo

Will be glad to get moved and know where we are with money & routine. Meal planning has kind of gone to pot, I'm a stress-eater so am rapidly losing sight of my waistline.

So not only will 2011 be new house & new budget....it will also have to be new diet plan!! This time though I won't give up by the middle of January!

Christmas is creeping up on us a bit quickly - no time for visiting shops so will have to peruse the internet....hopefully with quidco fuelled gifts....

Lurker1972

First present bought, didnt go for the most expensive option which is impressive for me, & was able to go through quidco

Just got to hope it arrives before we move & that I get to the post first!! If i had thought about it iI would have asked for it to be delivered to my folks address! grrr stupid me

Getting my dads present in the morning, when I can use a discount card at local garden centre. Just need a plan for my mum....& thats really not easy

need to sleep on it, its been a looooong week, & next week looks to be longer, highly stressful & emotional as we leave our home of 14 years....cue some tears....

I need my zzzz's

tbourner

We did all our shopping for xmas in one day, spent £118 but had £117 saved in our ING account for presents!

As for your OP, I know what you mean about tight budgets and then rebelling, we've been doing a lot better after changing our planners and budget to allow for 1 meal out and 1 takeaway each month! We still cheat though with excuses like "It's my birthday so we can have another Chinese".

Lurker1972

Internet, I need you!! Just about stayed sane during the move, but broadband not at new house until next month! Struggling to know where we are when I can't check online banking easily.

Really makes me realise how much I took for granted. Also really looking forward to catching up with diaries and getting back into controlling money matters properly!!

Lurker1972

11 days to proper Internet access. Stressssssssss

Lurker1972

Hello Internet my old friend, I've come to talk to you again...

The last 2 months have been hard going - we can use the internet at work, but theres all kinds of usage policies so I kept it to the bare minimum - not sure that was such a wise idea as things have spiralled a bit...but no way near as bad as I had feared & now we are back on the straight & narrow.

The move ( a week before Christmas) was a huge stress, but I am still thankful that we were as lucky as we were - 74 days after the house was put on the market, we completed on the sale & purchase - which is really good in the current market.

Two months on, well I still feel a bit like we are living in someone else home, albeit surrounded by our stuff. By the middle of March the living room will have been completely us'd & we'll be able to pick the next project to work on - its all a work in progress, being planned & costed & eyes open for bargains as only to be expected!

Money wise we have balances on 0% credit cards & % sofa finance, but nothing else (not counting the mortage). we did keep some money back for the new house which we are carefully & slowly spending after much deliberation on each purchase. we considered repaying a card, but decided it wasn't the best way to go.

Meal planning is back with a force, so ought to be reducing portion size (still a work in progress) & this wiill be my first month with a proper grocery budget. Fingers are crossed that I've not forgotten how to do it!

Currently sifting through huge mountain of paperwork that has accumulated during the big upheaval - horrible job, but will feel so much better when its done....