London Socialite Sees The Light

mark55man

katsu wrote: »

Good luck with the flat sale and congrats on getting your DF head firmly screwed back on.

I recommend reading a long diary that you don't know, seeing how the person changes their thinking over time. I can loose hours that way!

No way you could buy ex out and get a mortgage with a lodger in the other room? I presume £300k is too much? Just sounds like you want to stay in the area, maybe more than ex does?

That's an idea - as the property is jointly owned you and your ex would both be entitled to £7K or so rent a room (tax free) allowance so not quite sure where you are but I doubt any lodger would be paying more thsan £1K a month even in SE close to London.

However not sure rent a room (especially lodger rathen than tenant) counts in the eyes of the mortgage company - and there's always the risk of a vacancy - which would be ouchy if you didn't have a buffer

LondonGirl252

Hey Mark and Katsu,


Thanks for the suggestions. Will defo get reading up on landlordy stuff. My preference is to get rid of it as I 100% don't want to be there long term but if Ex doesn't buy it it's impossible to know how long that will take.


I can't buy him out as my equity is no where near big enough for the deposit. Our LTV is actually not that bad around 21% but my Ex put down all the deposit and Ive built up my share in the equity through paying off a higher chunk of the mortgage as I have the higher salary. So if we did rent we'd re-fix the mortgage on those terms which should get us a reasonable deal. Well, better than we're on now anyway.


We did consider renting out a room, would probably get around £500pm for it based on looking at adverts online for similar. However despite me moving out he didn't see that income as covering my half of the mortgage, he saw it as being split between the two of us. So for me once you get taxed on the income it didn't make too much of a difference and we weren't sure we'd get someone in while it was being marketed for sale.


At the moment I'm considering the following;


1) Ex buys it. Preferred option, should know in a couple of weeks.


If not...


2) Rent it out, fix mortgage for 2 years, this would mean us paying circa £8k to extend the lease and also possibly replace boiler. Needs research into full costs etc.


3) Stay as we are and try and sell it. Means I accept I have to live very tightly to avoid increasing my debt further.


4) I give up my new house, move back in with him until it sells. Would save me circa £1k per month, now me and ex are back on better terms could probably cope with this for a while however, again can't predict when it will sell and stops me from moving on with my life. I am tied in to the lease until July but i think if I give notice and they rent it then i can be released from when the new people move in.


All I can do is see what he decides when he gets his inheritance figures through and then take it from there. I like my current place, would prefer not to leave it to move back in to the flat however given how much it could save me i am now seriously considering it.


Really good to get all your completely independent thoughts and input, it's helping me think constructively so thank you.


LG

LondonGirl252

In non-house news...


Boxing was ace this morning, I got a lovely compliment from my friend that I was looking fit so I was happy with that!


Brought brekkie and lunch into work today and have food for dins at home so expecting an NSD. I did consider tracking NSD's again like i used to but now I'm on my own i shop more regularly to reduce waste so I'm not sure I'd manage many. I'd rather just come in on budget for now, get used to that and then stretch myself further.


Considering putting my bike for sale on gumtree, i never use it and it's like new so could bring in a couple of hundred quid....


LG

mark55man

making the most of your me time to really work on your fitness is great win-win-win !! you look and feel better, its good for the soul, it will pay health and habit benefits for decades (just as the opposite is true - not doing it will lead to trouble as sure as night follows day)

LondonGirl252

mark88man wrote: »

making the most of your me time to really work on your fitness is great win-win-win !! you look and feel better, its good for the soul, it will pay health and habit benefits for decades (just as the opposite is true - not doing it will lead to trouble as sure as night follows day)

100% Im loving it, I love my gym, it's so small and friendly so there's always someone to have a laugh with or kick your butt into action!

LondonGirl252

Made a lovely tex Mex salad tonight from the Veggie Joe Wicks book, was lush and enough left for tomorrow. NSD day today which is good!

Gave myself a bit of a headache today looking at my budgets, I've made 3 different ones dependant on above outcomes (I am SUCH an Accountant), glad they're done but I don't have any control just yet over the outcome so I need to stop worrying and get on with keeping in budget.

Been chatting to my boss the last few days about what work looks like for the future, the way they're re-structuring is pointing towards my role becoming non-existent. He's really open with me which is good and said that he actually doesn't know what it looks like but will keep me updated, he also said that I'm well thought of and would want to be retained so told me not to fret.

I'll have some time face to face with him at the end of the month so no doubt we'll talk more then and I also plan to ask him if my old boss passed on his promise to review my salary in April (compared to the market I'm significantly underpaid).

So lots to potentially change in 2019. This is a good challenge for me as Im not good with uncertainty and like to plan and stuff whereas the best thing right now is to wait and see what happens and not worry.

You'll have to keep reminding me of this when I go off on tangents when I write!

LG

LondonGirl252

Morning all,


Boxing done and WFH for today, waiting to hear if im meeting my friend tonight, if so I'll head into London over lunch and work from our office there for the afternoon.


Topped up on fresh stuff from the supermarket this morning, the grocery budget is already looking a little bit low, might have to have a few beans on toast/jacket potato suppers to get me through the month.


Feeling a bit meh this morning, there's a lot of month left and not much social budget. No movement on the flat. Still under-budgeted by £58.10.


Time to get my head into work and put my positive pants on.


LG

LondonGirl252

Right he has re-arranged as kids still too poorly, so that puts £20 back into my train budget and £30 back into my social budget. As i'll re-arrange for Feb when I have some social budget left.


I'm gonna take that £30 from social and split between groceries and other stuff to have a bit more there.


So now left for the month I have over and above what's already planned;


Trains/Taxi's £16
Groceries £57
Social £10
Horse-Riding £50 (this is the one I'm likely to cut out and nick cash from to cover under-budgeting)
Other £30


Also had an email yesterday from an online gambling site ive used in the past to bet on the grand national, they said they were gonna charge for my account if i didnt use it, so i logged on and i had £5 credit in there so I've withdrawn that, shut the account and reduced my under-budgeted balance by a fiver.

MuffinTops

I love it when unexpected bonuses occur. It's not comfortable having to keep such a tight view on it all, but you're back on that so quickly.

It does sound like you could be in a better position now that you and your ex are doing better now the dust has settled. I hope you find a solution that works out for you all.

Have a good day. MTx

PositiveBalance

You're doing as much as you can under the circumstances, LG: well done for that! :T