Wildfrog's New Year, New House (I hope!)

originalmiscellany

A new (ish) diary. Great! Wish you the best with your medium term plans for the year, and all the ups and downs it will bring.
All of our white goods have packed up in the past 2 years,a shame they all go at the same time. Last thing to break was our washing machine over Christmas. A real inconvenience, which with children I can imagine is a nightmare.
Hope your payments come through from work soon, and as you overpay your mortgage continues to become smaller and more manageable until you move and upsize

wildfrog

Thanks original miscellany, it is a shame when they go at the same time, in many ways it is more the stress of "eek so much washing to do" that was the problem.

Money is feeling a bit tight at present as I'm still waiting for tax credits to come through ( we should be getting the element to help with childare costs, we weren't getting it before as we were using the salary sacrifice vouchers but it looks like we will be better off with tax credits) but it hasn't come through yet. I rang them nearly 3 weeks ago so I'm hoping it will come through by end of the month. If it doesn't we may need to draw on savings which is frustrating, but I guess we will just put the money back into savings when it does come arrive.

Had some quotes for the plastering that needs to be done before we put the house up for sale, we've had 2 quotes so far and they have been quite a bit more than we expected, should be getting 3rd quote through middle of this week so hoping it's a bit cheaper. All the guys that quoted were recommended by friends, so I don't think they are ripping us off, just we had been a bit optimistic with our guess. Probably going to have to wait until next pay day as it looks like it will cost more than expected.

Hit the car in the car park yesterday on a pillar, pretty annoyed at myself. Paint work is scratched and slightly dented. Just glad it wasn't another car.

Been looking at Houses on rightmove.... seen 2 that look nice and they have everything we want in our budget. Probably a stupid thing to do really as it's not like we can do anything and they will probably be gone when we are in a position to start viewing!

Quite excited with our OP this month, just want to see exactly how much the tax credits will work out as to try and forcast how much we can OP in future months. Currently my aim for feb is £320 OP.
I've been trying to be more disiplined taking packed lunches to work which has saved some money which I'd like to put towards the mortgage, but fancy sandwiches and scrummy cake are so very tempting!

wildfrog

Just checked bank accounts and work have paid me the rest of my wages now so we won't be living on spaghetti hoops until the end of the month now although it will still be tight, think we might end up in overdraft by end of month.

No news from tax credits, after about 40 calls in the past few days I finally got through and managed to talk to someone. They haven't even looked at it yet. :mad:
Still, the lady on the phone seemed to think it should be looked at by the beginning of next week so fingers crossed. I keep wanting to draw up/amend our budget and want the figures for the tax credits to add to it. I'll give then a call next mon/tues if I haven't heard anything by then.

Should be getting the last plastering quote tomorrow, so hope we can book that in soon. OH has looked at replacing the kitchen floor with lino tiles (our kitchen floor is in terrible condition) and thinks it will only cost £30 :j loads less than I expected.
Tried to go shopping on Saturday as I had 2 vouchers for christmas which I hadn't yet spent. I came away with nothing except a copy of the big issue and a scratched car:o

Hoping to have a no spend day today. fingers crossed

wildfrog

oo forgot to say finally got new life insurance sorted out we were paying £32 pm:eek: now we have the same cover for £6pm:T That's an extra £26 pm (£312 per year) for the mortgage.

wildfrog

Tax credits still haven't come through, so we feel very poor at the moment.:( Can't get through on the phone either, meh.
It is stopping me spending money though, so I hope when it does come through I can put some into savings/mortgage.

Did kitchen flooring this weekend, it looks so, so much better. I quite enjoyed doing it too! Over brought on flooring, but returned the extra to the shop and they transferred the money back onto my card.

The last few grocery shops seemed to have worked out quite expensive, but checking the freezer this week I don't need to go shopping for meals as there is plently still in there. Just needed bread, milk, fruit, lunch bits and other odds and sods so this weeks grocery bill was just under £30:T

[Deleted User]

Hi wildfrog, I enjoyed reading your diary! Well done on all your housework and DIY . LOL at your flooring comment...I re-painted throughout just a few weeks before we went on the market, and realised how much nicer living there would have been if I'd done it a few years earlier! Never mind, we learn...

I'm quite new to this too, but it looks like we are seeking similar priced property and LTV's, although we have just one salary (until they loosen up on child labour that is ) so my deposit has to be a little higher. We're exploring several options for an 85% mortgage...but I'm not too sure about rates etc on anything higher. Good luck! I'll watch with interest. It hadn't occurred to me to switch life insurance...I'm off for a look now!!

wildfrog

Hi Crazylady, how did you get on with the life insurance hunt?

Well tax credits finally came through, so out of the overdraft and more to come in just under 2 weeks. Got the letter with the amounts and it is more than I expected.... until April when it drops down a bit, so I think we are going to try and save the excess the next 2 months so it will not feel any different when it drops off a bit then.

plasterer is booked for next Monday and Thursday, his quote wasn't the lowest but I asked if he would match the lowest and he agreed which is great:j

car tax is due this month, but no council tax to pay so it almost equals each other out.

Really need to sort our my phone, bill this month was nearly £50! Darn 0845 numbers.Think I'm going to get a pay as you go tesco mobile, Mr WF is on it and seems to work well for him.

Just puts some bits on freecycle, so hope they will be picked up this week. A friend passed on some clothes for DS1 which have been fab!

Feeling quite grumpy at present due to a bit of a rubbish week at work...hoping next week will be better and less stressful.

Jobs this week are:
Sort phone
Washing!
tidy understairs cupboard
make some cushion covers
Come up with a better storage system for boys toys downstairs-so messy!

linz

Wildfrog, just a quick suggestion for the 0845 numbers - try www.saynoto0870.com. I found an alternative number for my bank, First Direct as my bills were also racking up each time I had to ring them. Worth a try !

abouttimetoo

Hi Wildfrog, just caught up on your thread. Well done on your progress so far, you sound like a lady with a plan

Regards
ATT

katsu

Hi And a belated welcome :wave: Lots of great ideas on ways to find OP pennies (and pounds). I agree with you that I like reading other people's diaries too.