Edinburgher gets cracking!

edinburgher

You are a very good MFW and I shall take inspiration from you!

Shucks - I should probably spill my guilty secret that I haven't actually made an overpayment yet! Santander only allow a minimum payment of £500 and I'm about a month away from that.

Keep plugging away, something will come along!

I'm sure it will, I'm just trying to adjust my expectations so that I get the job that's right, not just the one that pays the same.

Thanks for popping in

ztan

Don't worry... my OH and I are 2 years in and have just agreed to our first OP. oops!
We're now going to make regular payments of £100 a month, because our mortgage dropped onto the SVR and saved us that on our standard payments. We are on a mission to improve this though...!

InaPickle

:mad: COMPUTER ATE MY POST! :mad:

You and I are sooo on the same page about this!

edinburgher wrote: »

I think you're bang on about a washing machine being essential (unless you're planning on buying your own place in the near future). A dryer, on the other hand, is bad for your clothes, expensive compared to using a clothes horse and is bad for the environment

I'm only planning on using it for the big stuff...bedding, towels etc. It's not a good idea to leave them hanging around for days over winter. Especially if I have more clients as I use at least 3 towels per client.

edinburgher wrote: »

Definitely don't pay over the odds for a one bedroom property, but consider the marginal utility of the extra room. Will you actually use it? Will the 'treatment room' let you break even vs. the cost of a one bedroom property? If not, don't even think about having a spare bedroom. Could you shoogle the furniture about in the living room/make the bedroom the living room and vice versa?

A second bedroom round here only seems to be about £50 more expensive than a one bedroomed flat. Obviously, better in my pocket than anyone else's, but it's not extortionate. And I wouldn't like to try to move the double bed from the bedroom across the strange shaped landing to the living room. Plus, a second bedroom would be nice for guests. Picklemum is moving to a different country soon. I can't expect her to sleep on the couch with her bad back when she comes to visit...but that's a less important consideration in many respects...

edinburgher wrote: »

'Nice to haves' don't put food on the table, I guess it's important to keep that in mind whenever you're looking for a home. No point in paying off the mortgage on for your landlord's two bedroom when one would suffice :rotfl:

So VERY true...don't think I haven't thought about it!

edinburgher wrote: »

Want to hear something funny? Wife and I bought a two bedroom flat in March, I don't think I even go in the second bedroom more than once a week to get the hoover. In retrospect, a nice one bed would have been fine, but eventual baby might think differently...

You made the right decision. You would have been mad to buy a 1-bed...much better resale potential. In the same way I would still buy a house instead of a flat is possible. You done good, boy!

So much to think about...flat viewing tomorrow lunchtime as well. Part of me thinks I should be looking in a cooler more accesible part of town, but cooler > expensive.

Why is flat hunting so tough?! I haven't even told you about all the flats I've tried to get to see only to have the appointments cancelled at the last minute! :eek: :mad::mad:

edinburgher

Especially if I have more clients as I use at least 3 towels per client.

Wouldn't it be easier to use a launderette for 'work' stuff?

Why is flat hunting so tough?! I haven't even told you about all the flats I've tried to get to see only to have the appointments cancelled at the last minute!

That's because letting agents are typically male chickens

Also, would a trendier central location make it easier to get to your job? Not sure what you're doing now. If a central location meant that you could walk to work, it should be factored into your budget and you might get more massage customers too?

edinburgher

Woohoo - my Amazon vouchers turned up

Bought a DVD of a M.R. James ghost story, an encyclopedia of tropical fish and an investing book for my Kindle. Suitable eclectic for a Wednesday night!

edinburgher

Must stay away from internet shopping today Made the mistake of going onto eBay for a few 'essentials' and ended up spending a fiver that I didn't really need to!

Aiming for a LSD - need some wholemeal rolls and sandwich ingredients for the next few days, but otherwise hoping to avoid spending.

Realised last night that it's exactly 6 months until my 2 year mobile contract expires. I'm happy enough to keep the phone (the newer HTC Wildfire), but I''d definitely like to switch onto a cheaper/PAYG sim-only tariff. Can anyone recommend a deal that's lower than £13.50/mth and has a reasonable data allowance?

Continuing to make token payments into the OP Pot and EF - the totals are creeping up - even with £1-2/day going into the accounts.

Work is absolutely dire, I am kicking myself for not applying for a job that I thought I was well suited to, but that paid less. Must remember that money doesn't = happy.

edinburgher

Woohoo - just sold a particularly dull book on GreenMetropolis - must be a student (Plato). Can't even remember reading that one :rotfl:

edinburgher

Realised that tje instant access account that I store my 'spare' money/pocket money in lost the bonus yesterday, so was now sitting at a rotten 0.1%! They'd also paid the interest for the last year, so £17.05 has been paid into both the OP Pot and the EF.

I have re-titled the account 'Close Me' so that I don't use it by mistake and have opened up a new account online. Quite pleased to see that Halifax are still the best (2.8%), so I don't have to go anywhere for another year :T

Continuing with this rampant vein of productivity, I have printed off a letter to their account closures department and set a phone reminder to check again in a year!

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

edinburgher wrote: »

I have re-titled the account 'Close Me' so that I don't use it by mistake and have opened up a new account online.

That made me chuckle. I often wonder what the Halifax employees think of the titles I give my various accounts with them. I think Kitchen Fund is the most boring I have!

ammonite

I'm very bad with interest rates - I stick loyal to the bank I've been with for years and couldn't tell you what rates they paid on my savings. That isn't very MSE or MFW is it!! You have inspired me to find out