Newbie and in need of advice please

dollybeads

Verbatim wrote: »

Not dumb at all Dolly. I'm sure you've picked up in a week what it took me months to realize!
Good stuff at the bank too, well done you.

Thanks verbatim, it will save me oodles of time........:wave:

dollybeads

:hello: Hi all

Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice on having lodgers? Ie any pitfalls, things to consider, ??charges etc or point me in the direction of other threads or boards.

Have never done this before, but have large house available with 3 spare bedrooms and bathrooms, and although on the market at the moment, nothings moving down sout much so it may take a year or so to sell. it would be good to get some extra income together (to pay of debts!) during this period.

Any advice help etc gratefully received.

Many thanks Dolly x

Gingerjar

Hi Dolly

Great to hear about your bank visit yesterday. Even though you didn't get everything you wanted, I hope it gave you confidence in dealing with officialdom.

Re renting out houses and lodgers, I rented out a whole property whilst going through a divorce about 10 years ago. Similar situation, house in the south that took a long time to sell. In that case, I went through a letting agncy which worked out great and paid the mortgage for 6 months while all the divorce stuff was being churned through.

I then went on, in my new home to have 2 lodgers which also worked out well. I contacted the local uni asking about any postgrad students looking for a room. I then got 2 great lodgers, both of whom were overseas students. They were good fun but beyond the drinking all night and traffic cone stage!

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Off out now to the theatre so need to change out of the jeans I've been slobbing round in all day.

Have a good weekend

Love G :j

dollybeads

Hey Ginge, have a great night out.

The lodgers thing have been mulling this over for ages, and the renting the house out, trouble is speaking to others they all have horror stories, but a colleague at work has one, weekdays only and charges £300.00 per month. This is extra income for little expenditure and tax free up to the limit which I believe is about 4k. Seems like a no brainer to me.

Your idea about postgrad students sounds a good one, like you say past the boozing, fornicating and partying stage (actually sounds quite good put like this).

Have a good weekend Dolly x

Gingerjar

Hi Dolly

Just wondered how you were doing and how your weekend went. It sounded as though you had a lot of food for thought at the end of last week what with bank visits and lodgers and all. Hope you are still feeling positive about things.

Very envious of your fab ebay sales, I sold my first 2 items this weekend and made £20 as I underestimated the postage - oops! Still it's all part of the learning curve. Just off to ferret for more quality items (ahem!) to flog.

Have a good day
G

dollybeads

Hey Ginge

Not posted for a while as V busy with work and lots of evening meetings as well!

Have been busy setting up savings accounts, transferring amounts into them to accrue over the year to pay those annual bills (this is a whole new concept for me).

Have been wrestling a bit with the spending elves the last couple of days, new laptop arrived (which was budgeted for remarkably, and 10 payments at 0%) I do need this for my studies which I hope to complete this year, as my old laptop keeps crashing and is about 10 yrs old. Have had it looked at but beyond reasonable costs of repair. But really wanted a new laptop sleeve, something a bit funky. However, things must be changing as felt really awkward about spending anymore money. And have brand new laptop bag available that I don.t currently use, (not cool and funky). So rather than spend spend spend, slept on it and have decided am not going to buy new sleeve. This might sound a bit dramatic, but i have mixed emotions about it. I am kind of mourning the loss of being able to spend like that, the "I want it, I must have it" thing. Sorry if this sounds really crass, but its the realisation that, this kind of spending is unrealistic and more importantly unaffordable. Its all a bit depressing and reinforces for me what a complete financial numpty I have been.

On a more positive note though, I am taking comfort in knowing that I am doing the right thing, and making lots of effort to make as much money as I can (and to save as much as I can) all to put towards clearing debts as quick as possible.

This moneysaving and making lark is quite addictive. More stuff on ebay today as have a day off.

Sorry for the ramble above, hope you are ok Ginge and all is well with you and yours, thanks for your post.

Dolly x;)

Superbiatch

dollybeads wrote: »

Oooh forgot, can I ask what the OS board is please, sounds good as I think I need to do some meal planning and have a shopping list for groceries, i like the idea of including wine as well within £300 budget.

Can you point us both to the thread mentioned in the quote above please?

dollybeads

Superbiatch wrote: »

Can you point us both to the thread mentioned in the quote above please?

Hi there, the link is below, its fantastic loads of tips on her on just about everything to do with saving money on food, budgeting, recycling and reusing, mending, repairing etc etc. Well worth a visit.


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

Hope that helps

Best wishes Dolly x

Gingerjar

Hi Dolly

Nice to hear from you and it sounds as though you've been super efficient and splendid.

I can empathise with you about the laptop sleeve, when I started taking control about 18 months ago I felt a real physical ache and sense of deprivation when I stopped buying stuff I wanted but didn't need. It's almost like a feeling of withdrawal and, yes, sadness. It's also about changing engrained habits which is so hard to do. So don't be too hard on yourself as you're making great progress and when your bank balance climbs and debts shrink down it's a great feeling. I felt as though I could stop panicking and worrying about bank charges, grotty letters and feeling out of control.

How about saving for the sleeve? Crazy suggestion but when I started I really wanted a very lovely ring I saw in my favourite jewellers. I decided to save for it rather than slap it on the plastic telling myself if it was still there when I had enough I'd get it. Happily it was! For the first time for decades (ahem!) I treated myself to something I'd actually saved for and it felt goooood!!!


Be kind to yourself

Ginge x:D

dollybeads

Hey Ginge thanks for your post, was beginning to think it was just me who was mourning spending. I just have never not lived off credit, so find I am a bit at sea at times.

The other night on my way home from work i needed petrol and had to remind myself not to put it on my cc, my usual thinking is that this leaves me more cash to spend in the month! I paid for it on my debit card, but its little things like this that bring it home to you.

Yours is a great idea, I have a budget of £50.00 per month (now) for entertainment which I have not spent as yet, and am under on my grocery budget by £95 for this month, so maybe there will be a little left this month and the coming months and I can buy the one i want direct from my bank account.

I can see its going to take quite a bit of getting used to, this saving and paying off debts lark. You don't realise when you start out with all the big things, how much of your life is controlled by debt.

Am still positive that things will change permanently, but guess that reality gives us a bit of kick now again.

Thanks as always for your posts and support, and glad to hear that you were able to treat yourself to something special too.

Have a good evening Dolly x :wave: