Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off!

themadvix

We’ve only got one sheet that would be big enough to do that with - think the other might be a single, but it’s large enough, just, to tuck under! But had thought about doing it with the other. Not sure my skills are up to it but might ask MIL.

 Thanks for the percentages. That’s interesting. Do you know if yours were skewed by the timber frame having to fit in an old building at all? I think (hope!), we’d be looking at a timber frame prefab thing. Although I’d love to save/live in an at risk building, I can’t see our budget stretching that far, unless we moved a long way away - although I’ll certainly do some research.

Busy_Mee

Hi MadVix. Sorry I am chiming in late but been a bit hectic. 

On self build, I would suggest doing some research in your area. Land is very hard to come by in our area and is expensive. Plots don't often come to open market here, landowners tend to do private deals with local builders. Our architect has just managed to secure a plot for his son but only because he drew up the plans. The rest of the plots went to friends and family of the landowner. Another friend of mine got a plot by leafleting houses with big gardens. You have to be quite pro-active around here.

We tried for two years to get a decent plot and ended up with plan B which was to buy a horrible house on a good plot and practically knock it down.

Also research the financing. Many people buy their plot with cash, loans are a bit tricker on land ( but not impossible). You might want to consider building up your savings rather than paying down your mortgage as there are a lot of up front costs to building and you may need to move very quickly if you find a good plot. Plans and planning are also quite expensive. DS is doing a simple garage conversation on a new build house and has already spent nearly £1000 on plans, structural engineer and building control. A full build will require a lot more for surveys of the land and such like

I am not trying to put you off. It is a brilliant thing to do and you will end up up with something nearer your dream house, but it is not for the faint hearted, it will cost you more than you budget and it is very stressful. I can't even watch GDs anymore as it brings it all flooding back 

Karmacat

Wow!  This has moved *fast*, I've only been offline for 36 hours Very exciting to potentially be debt free, and have so much more choice about how you go forward.  Thats it, really, choice, and options

Oh, PS, I walked in a new direction yesterday and found a zero waste shop!  Its a tiny shop in the very rich village next door to the town I live in (on the edge of, so to speak) so I'm betting its horrendously expensive, but since its the only option, I'll definitely check it out at some stage.  

Busy_Mee

A couple of other thoughts, I used to buy a magazine called house building and renovation, which was full of advice and ideas. It was a brilliant resource and I think they also have a website now. It might be an idea for someone to buy you as a Christmas present, a subscription to the Magazine.

We financed our build using an offset mortgage. We took the mortgage out on the crappy house but with a reserve pot that we could drawdown on to do the building work. When that ran out, we took a more traditional Repayment mortgage on the nearly finished house. Then a loan, then the kids savings and then 0% credit cards  . Thankfully all paid off now.  

It might be worth exploring a flexible offset mortgage next time you remortgage so that you can quickly get your hands on the equity in your house without remortgaging.

I think my advice would be research, research and more research 

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, lots of exciting options! 

Sorry to hear about your rubbish night in the first pub, what a palaver! 

Interesting you've had loads of streetbees stuff - I think I signed up roughly the same time and haven't had a single thing yet! Been checking several times a day (including first thing) but nothing there at all. Most mysterious!

themadvix

Thanks for all of that Busy Mee - loads to think about there. The land was my concern (why can't it be more like Rightmove?!). Agree that research, research, research is the way forward. We're not 100% set on this route yet though, so I think we'll continue with the plan to over pay. If need be, we have DH's shares which could provide some capital for land. I suspect we may end up going the grotty house and knock it down route, but we'll see - it's not something we'd be ready to do as soon as a mortgage is paid off. Have already discovered the Homebuilding and Renovating website and thought it looked like a great resource. Might well get a magazine subscription -I think it might break things down into easier to understand portions!

Good to know you've found a zero-waste shop Karma! It might be expensive (but it might not be - mine is remarkably good value I think), but there might be a couple of bits you can get there that are both good for the planet and the pocket.

Cheery, that's strange about Streetbees. The first few were about the cat food etc., but yesterday did one on insurance and another on how I was feeling re Covid etc.

Just back from a 9-mile walk around Grafham Water - have always fancied a visit and had never been. It was windy but we had a good time. Took a picnic lunch - only costs were £3.80 for ice creams (we deserved them!) and £6 for parking.

Suffolk_lass

Re the timber frame, we have thought about a small barn and build inside so the stone skin is like a loose fitting cladding. I have explored land around here and plots do come up on Rightmove from time to time, but BusyMee is right and her direct experience is more valid than our research. Our thatched place did not sell in time to finalise it.

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks for that SL. So much to consider, but no immediate hurry, so lots of research to do. I've continued to explore the homebuilding.co.uk site and it seems to be really helpful. I've called the agents and taken the house off the market this morning. They were fine and in the end we were very happy with them - would certainly go back to them. 

So the focus now has to be on maximising savings. Unfortunately, getting a part-time bar job doesn't seem to be an option at the moment, and things are pretty quiet on the cat-sitting front. So for now, it's about minimising outgoings and hoping that work picks up (bit better on that front this morning). I don't want to cut back on the quality of the food we eat (I know we could save here, but I prefer organic/zero-waste), so focus is on other aspects (and maybe cutting out some unnecessary purchases).

Using a carbon calculator the other day (as you do), I committed to using the microwave more (uses less electricity than the hob) - not something I'd really considered as a money saving/planet saving option. So far, so good! I'm a total convert to doing my porridge in the microwave (previous attempts had left the microwave caked in gunky porridge, hence my reluctance to do this before) and also made custard successfully in there last night. I've also been using it for veg more than normal (DH is not a huge fan of microwaved veg, but I think it might be more my lack of skill than a dislike of the microwave). This shall continue! And obviously I've been using it to warm up my wheat-sheep rather than putting the heating on (heating currently gets a boost if below 17 first thing in the morning - we've been avoiding it otherwise). 

I've also been paying attention to smaller portion sizes - dessert goes further if you do this! I'm also currently decanting the very last of the handwash from the 5l container into the dispenser - there was more than I thought in there (I do usually do this, but maybe not every last bit).

MS things:
* I won the sheet on Ebay - so that's on its way
* Greene King are sending me a £20 voucher for our poor experience the other day
* Clicks done
* YG survey
* More Streetbees
* PA survey
* Bread is proving, naans baked and frozen at the weekend

Gratitudes:
* Rain stayed away yesterday - planted garlic, tidied garden, cut grass, washing dried
* Family Zoom call 
* Mum and Niece calling round later
* Actual work

Have a good day all!

South_coast

You've just given me a 🤦‍♀️ moment about the veg. The last two nights I've cooked frozen veg to go with some of BF's cooking that he sent me home with, and it never once occurred to me to do it in the microwave - even as I was sat on the sofa watching the smart meter display light up! Must remember this in future!

themadvix

It's amazing, isn't it, what we forget! It sounds silly sometimes when I write the silly little things - but the number of times I've had a lightbulb moment after someone else has mentioned a small thing.... every penny counts! And despite being an MSEr and turner-offer of all things, I'm sure our smart meter is still making a difference to my mindset - which can only be a good thing! Yesterday we came in under £2 (although we forgot to charge the car the night before: ~35p) - considering I hoovered, cut the grass, DH was angle grinding (assume that's power hungry?) and we had toad in the hole and pudding, I'm sure the microwave usage must have made a difference! It can be over £2 even without the heating on and we had it on for a 1/2 hour in the morning.