London Socialite Sees The Light

Brightspark87

Hi! wow so sorry to hear about the running issues I know that sometimes getting out there and exercising is a great (free!) way to release stress and relax a bit.. I hope it improves for you and even if you have to defer at least you've got lots of time for a training plan....

Great news about BF, happy that you are being sensible but having such lovely chats about moving in together! x

LondonGirl252

Hello!


Sorry its been so long!


Work has been great, I have now been here 3 months and although it's been very busy I am enjoying the new responsibility a lot!


The biggest news is that the bf and I have decided to start looking to buy a house together!


This needs to be as close to Windsor as possible which means we'll probably be able to afford a shoe box if we're lucky but it's worth a go!


You all know my financial situation but luckily he has fantastic savings of £35k for our deposit. He knows I have none but I earn a lot more than him so I can pay the bulk of the mortgage and over time hopefully I can save enough to pay him 50% of the deposit back or my mortgage payments will balance it out or something!


I shall keep you updated!


I have a total win situation with HMRC recently. They sent me a cheque for £955 in the post for a tax rebate! Unfortunatley I had car bills and a bunch of other stuff so it mostly got spent but we did use a little bit of it to pay for a little holiday to Cornwall next week... seriously guys these cottages are fantastic breaks on a budget, we paid £377 for the week (granted its March) but still! I am very much looking forward to it!


I still haven't been able to run. This is getting me down, I have put on about 1.45 stone in weight which kills me. Literally - none of my clothes fit and I worry about about blood squeezing through! But I went and got moulded insoles for my trainers today so I am hoping that these will help. Going to try a little jog jog tomorrow and see.


hope you all have lovely weekends ahead.


LG x

mark55man

sounds like you are doing great all round - I love Cornwall nothing like a nice day in early Spring - feels like you are stealing from nature

if you are going all the way down I love Portreath and St Ives (my absolute fave) - take lots of 2ps for the arcade - very MSE

shame about the running - maybe you need something low impact like cycling or indoor rowing

LondonGirl252

Cornwall was lovely! We made it to St Ives, it was a lovely sunny day so we had a walk on the beach and had lunch outside!


Well the weekend was a bit of a disappointment, we saw 4 houses around the Windsor area and I knew it would be an expensive area to buy but bl00dy hell its worse than I thought, we need about £50k more than we had budgeted and even if we got lent that the monthly mortgage payments would be tight.


So we had a long talk and decided maybe its not right for us to buy right now. with M being in the military it makes the most financial sense for us to get married and have an army house for a while which would allow us to save tonnes to then be in a better position to buy. However, while I made it clear I am up for that, the decision to propose is very much his and it needs to be because he wants to spend the ret of his life with me and not to make it easier for us to live together.


So the problem I now have is that I'm not up for waiting for ages to be able to move in, recently I have become beyond fed up of flat sharing, I just need my own space. I don't want to have to deal with everyone else's dirty dishes just to clear enough space to cook my dinner (as an example!).


So, I'm giving myself 6 months over the summer to completely blitz the last bit (£1,450) on my credit card and save up £1,500. At this point unless anything has changed I will rent a 1 bed flat over towards Windsor somewhere (its not a huge amount more than what a pay now in rent) and M will contribute to bills and food and pretty much live with me but keep his room in barracks so that he has space for all his army kit.


Downsides: Higher travel costs, higher rent, higher bills
Upsides: Closer to M, Away from flatshare, can still afford to save


Any thoughts? I feel like I need to plan without taking into account marriage and if that happens then its a massive bonus.


The good thing is that I have become more motivated to get back on the MSE track than ever now.

Erme

You know what LG - you get to a certain age in life where flat sharing is not pleasant

I'd personally clear the last of the unsecured debt then go for a rented flat in windsor/slough. It is of course - up to you, but you can't put a price on these things

I am blessed. I am in a small but lovely social housing place and my benefits pay my rent but even if they didn't it's very reasonable

I'll be praying you get a nice pad after the summer

lulabelle

Hey London girl, sorry to hear the house buying is not a reality at the moment but hang in there. x

mark55man

been a while since I seen it mentioned, but as a professional qualified person you might be very suitable for house sitting - there was a thread on it but that years ago


only risk is you will have to keep finding new ones, but may be really cheap - if do rent you will have to sign up for 6 months or a year and you may get stuck if things move quickly


nice problem to have :-)

LondonGirl252

Cheers guys


Money saving has been going well. I had a good month, reduced my outgoings well, cancelled my gym membership etc etc got a plan to clear my cc by June payday. Then save save save


Until yesterday a friend emailed to say she'd booked us in for a riding lesson and paid a non-refundable £69 in advance EACH! To put it into perspective I usually pay £26. I was hopping. I don't have that much money this month so had to ask if I can pay her after payday, just couldn't believe someone would pay out that much money without checking first.


Anyway, had a great conversation with a mortgage advisor on Monday, and so pleased I did. It is SO hard as a first time buyer to understand the best way to go about these things, I used this site but even then made mistakes. Anyway he said we should be OK with getting the mortgage we want in a few months, once I've passed my probation at work and cleared my credit card.


So I'm feeling a lot more positive again, just 2 and a bit months until we're sorted (fingers crossed for a positive probation review) and looking again.

satchmo1

I'd definitely tell "friend" that if she was tempted to book again in futre, she MUST check first because there isn't enough money to pay over the odds, and in future you wouldn't accept the cost.

LondonGirl252

Defo!!!!


Just sat down now planning how much budget I have for the weekend.... not much!!!!