Challenge of a lifetime!

cotswoldaccountant

Thanks Tilly and LauraJo for your support - it is much appreciated! I like your idea LauraJo - definitely a slightly easier aim.

The car shopping went well today, and we have bought a car we like - I think we got a pretty good deal with plenty of extras thrown in, and a reasonable(ish) price for our own car as part exchange. We went for a car with very low mileage and only three years old, so very happy with the outcome. It's annoying to have to spend the money in the first place as I'd rather put it towards the mortgage, but hopefully this car will last us for several years - at least until we are mortgage free!

cotswoldaccountant

What an expensive month this has been! New car, new boiler, and a big advertising payment for our holiday cottage is due shortly so it hasn't ended yet. The renovations on our back bedroom are going well but, as is always the case with an old house, it is a bit of a money pit - off came the ceiling and we could see the sky through the roof, so now waiting for that to be repaired. I've told OH that June is going to be a very frugal month.

On the other hand, needing to find lots of extra money all of a sudden has made me get on top of our personal finances - tax returns are complete and just mine still to file once I've checked a couple of details, accounts and tax return for OH business completed and sent off. I am starting to feel somewhat organised! Although I am good at organising all of my clients' finances, that often leaves little time for our own, and where I used to be very proactive at switching bank accounts to get good rates etc, I just don't seem to have the time these days.

The usual £3k overpayment is still not yet made - not sure I will get there this month with only 3 days left. I'm several hundred pounds down, but the lodger rent hasn't come in yet, and I'm expecting a payment from a client today, so I might not be too far off!

A couple of last minute bookings for the holiday let have helped this month, and I have a couple of new accountancy clients which I'm pleased about. Half term this week, so not easy to fit my work in, but I do have a day's childcare at the end of the week - think I'll be looking forward to that as it's always quite busy with all the children at home!

Weather miserable here - we attempted a treasure hunt in a nearby village yesterday, but it was so windy and cold we didn't last long. Today it's due to rain, so I have succumbed to the children's demands for softplay, and we are meeting friends there. They will have fun, and I am looking forward to a coffee with my friend while the children play!

cotswoldaccountant

Just updated signature, after checking mortgage balance the other day - now down to below £370k! :j:j

Still waiting for a cheque from second NCT sale several weeks ago - didn't make much, but I would quite like to get the proceeds of what I did sell!

£3.20 Quidco payout received this week too.

DS1 has gone off camping for the weekend, and OH has gone too, so I have three littlies to entertain. Funny how the dynamics change once one child is absent - DS2 is now far more interested in playing with DD than usual!

We've been toying with the idea of a conservatory at our house for several years - we have a beautiful large garden, but no view onto it from the house. Our house is listed which makes work like that much more difficult, but we saw an architect this week who seemed very positive about our plans. It would play havoc with our mortgage free target, and probably add a couple of years at least onto the mortgage free date - but on the other hand I would quite like to have the benefit of a conservatory for that couple of years more. Also I quite like the idea of NOT having to borrow more money to do work as soon as we are mortgage free. At the moment, we are quite used to having a big mortgage debt, so it wouldn't feel quite so daunting to add a bit more back onto it - we can borrow back the overpayments we have made so far. All food for thought in any case, and I'll be interested to see what the architect suggests when he gets back to us.

In the meantime, work is progressing (slowly) on our back bedroom, and hopefully this will be ready for a lodger later in the summer. Our current lodger, who rents an upstairs room, is moving out at the end of this month. Her room needs repainting so we will do that before getting a new lodger in.

Wishing everyone a good weekend!

CA

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Great news on the <£370k :T:T:T

Conservatories are great for adding views, but a b£gger when it's really cold or very hot - if we had our time again, we would have built an extension with glass which generates electricity, I think.

Listed buildings made life so much more complicated don't they, but on the other hand, you have a glorious home to live in.

Best wishes Tilly x

cotswoldaccountant

Thanks for the advice Tilly - I totally agree about conservatories being too hot or too cold. Rarely "just right"! We are planning a garden room which would have a stone tiled roof but plenty of glass windows, so we'd have the views without the extremes of temperature. It would mean we could happily use it year round, and hopefully not have extortionate additional heating bills.

I am really very excited about the possibilities - can you tell?! It will be the first time in nearly 6 years of living here that we'll have carried out some work just for our own pleasure! We've had lots of bits and pieces done in the past, but mostly essential maintenance to stop bits of the house falling down / leaking (it is over 300 years old in parts), or when we renovated our holiday cottage which was lovely but not something we get to enjoy the benefits of ourselves. A conservatory would be just for us!

fothers365

Congratulations on getting below £370K:T:T:T

Peonie

I love orangeries or an extension with bi-fold doors. Some day we'll update the extension we inherited by increasing the size of the windows and to bi-folds and installing a velux window into the sloping roof.

cotswoldaccountant

That sounds lovely Peonie. The bi-fold doors sound like a really good way to make the room feel like part of the garden. We have had a very reasonable quote from the architect we would like to use, so have asked him to go ahead and start some designs!

PrincessLou

No updates since June? Hope everything's ok, CA. I miss seeing your updates on your totals!

abouttimetoo

Thanks for posting PrincessLou. I'd missed CA posting too and a little while ago tried to find CA's thread to make a post. I tried searching under the user name search but it wasn't being recognised so glad you've found the thread


CA, hope all is well too
Regards
ATT