Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Hi Chickadees.....

I have calculated that I have £51.21 to my name until the end of the year/pay day - unfortunately that has to include £20 the Christmas money my Gran has given me (bless her) - so the question is whether I should spend it on myself or put it away into the "savings" account for when I find something I really need as there will be much coming towards my leave date...

I think I answered my own question there... but it's always good to run it by you folk first...:rotfl:

I have decided to take the flat I saw prior to coming over. I have weighed up the Pro's and Con's... who wants to here them................

Okay here are the Pro's....

1. It's £350 a month all inclusive with very fast internet instead of £470 with rubbish internet.
2. I have access to a locked underground car park to ensure Hercules is safe at night.
3. Train stration is 2 minutes away. Travels costs remain the same.
4. I am closer to a very cheap gym.
5. I am very close to the cinema.
6. I am living between a massive Tesco and Morrisons.
7. I have multiple buses running front outside my door.
8. Dorothy is welcome.
9. There is a balcony for my push bike.
10. My room is not a box room and there will be a new bed for me.
11. The bathroom has a bath and a power shower.
12. There is a massive storage room so there isn't a need to be super vicious with my down-sizing if I don't want to be.
13. There is a lot of kitchen cupboard space and fridge space for all my vegetables.
14. I can bake to my hearts content.
15. It's a short term arrangement and the landlord is happy about this.

Con's

1. I am sharing with a 45 year old man in a flat.
2. It's a second floor flat with no garden.
3. His 14 year old daughter stays every second weekend (although there is every chance I will be working and it means Dorothy has a playmate).
4. I get the feeling he will eat all my bakery cakery bits..;-)
5. I have to be social - there is no where to hide although my initial advert said I like my own space and time so he might appreciate that anyway.

So the goodies out-weight the baddies ...

Thankfully I have £500 stashed as a deposit and it looks like I will only need £350 of it which means there will be £150 to add to that £20 Christmas donation to throw into my savings pot along with the £1050 that I am taking off my pay...

I suppose £1220 is not a bad start to the year is it.. with an average of £1000 a month I should be able to scrape another £300 through overtime to really pack away the pennies - however I will be living like a frugal goose again...

AND I think I will be waving good bye to night shifts for a few months or the entire time ( :wave::wave::wave:) I know that it is easy money and if I can't get a Sunday shift I will do one but I want to do other things on Saturdays... like have a little bit of a life...:rotfl:

So that's one thing off my mind...

killerpeaty

Have you met this man face-to-face? Will you have a lock on your door? Have you asked if he has any criminal convictions? Have you discussed the contract and the rules of the house? If you have all of this sorted then I say that it sounds like an excellent find.

If I ever manage to buy my own house, I've decided that I will have a lodger. I like having people around even if it's just the occasional nod and a wave. If I buy with a significant other then I'm hoping to convince him around to my way. :rotfl:

NinjaSavingKat

Peaty ....those are perfectly good questions..

I have met him, lock is on my bedroom door and his and the bathroom, he will be checked out by my workplace anyway prior to me moving in ( don't ask ) and we meet again the day after I return to London for a proper house rule chat but he seems easy going, happy to show me his passport for ID purposes.. and I did ask about convictions and he said he has none which I am inclined to believe seeing as he knows I need his full details for a check over and he will be found out if he is lying...

So hopefully it all works out as I am fed up with this moving malarky.

I like my current landlady but she is starting to act like my Mum asking me where I am going, when I am working, and I feel I can't relax when I have friends over although with this new place I don't plan to have too many friends over as I like my down time and I will be working al lot again...

Peaty you are right to want a lodger although at times I LOVE having the house to myself but it is weird when the LL is away - although I would have friends over more if I lived on my own so it wouldn't feel so lonely... I would definitely have a two bedroom house for a lodger in case mortgage rates change and I can't afford as much..

My friends who have only one bedroom flats have found themselves barely able to survive when the rates changed as they were so quick to buy a house just for themselves and with only one bedroom...

However that's far in the distance I think... I know you will get a house Peaty cause you are so determined...

Siouxsie32

Wow, all sounds fab Kat! Cheap - tick! Power shower - tick! Next to a train station - double tick! Easy going landlord that's not a convict - yip, what's not to like? Except maybe the teenage daughter I remember when I was moving south I found a fab house with a huge garden and a hot tub. I liked the landlord and was just about to say yes, when I got a text from his phone in teenage speak and decided the teenage daughter's maybe not fully over the parent's break up and might not be comfortable with another woman living with her dad. I didn't want to get caught up in it so I chose to live somewhere else. Shame, the hot tub would have been great! This teen seemed like a bit of a brat though, your one will probably see you as really cool and full of adventurous chat...not to mention, the baked goodies

Great that you're checking the guy out, although I would expect nothing less from you

What a great point you make about buying a two bedroom house - I'd never thought about it like that. My super-far fetched idea was to one day own a one bedroom house (far fetched because of London house prices and the size of deposit I'll need), but maybe stretching to a two bedroom place with scope for rental income from the spare room is another option...hmm, something else to consider

killerpeaty

Siouxsie, I've always wanted a two bed or a one bed with an entirely separate living room. When I first started thinking about "my" home I was with a serious boyfriend whom I had lived with before. I really did enjoy living with him but I have never appreciated my own space more! :rotfl: It's just not in me to spend all of my time with one person.

I do sympathise about the house prices though. I'm not in London but am in the commuter belt (my god it's a big belt isn't it?) so one and some horrible little two beds are 180k+ and that's not even in the location I want. Looking at rightmove yesterday, the cheapest property on sale in my immediate area is over 400k. :eek:

My mum bought her 3 bed house for 20-something-k 30 years ago and it was worth (just after the crash in 07) 240k... I offered her 10k for half the house :rotfl: You don't ask, you don't get :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

(My mum took this as intended, a big joke for anyone reading)

I can borrow a max of 90ish k, so I'm a long long way off. I will probably just focus on investments to up my income both passive and active.

A friend of mine's boyfriend has got himself a flat with a deposit of 15k... which he was given. I'm very happy for them obviously but colour me green.

NinjaSavingKat

Girlies I must admit this whole debt busting journey was in order to be seen as eligible for a mortgage with no loans / debts etc.. then as you both said the idea is WAY out of my reach if I have to get a deposit together first...

In my area where I am with LLL the houses are £350,000 plus for a two bed... in town where the new flats are that her daughter just bought are £160,000 for a one bed... in the rougher end of town my friend and her husband are paying £900 a month for a mortgage (bought with a £30k deposit) on a £220k house... two beds...

It's not impossible but would take years and judging by my rate of moving house I will have another 6 under my belt before I finally get somewhere.... So my aim was to buy one back home (£30k-£50k) for a 3-bed...rent it out and sit with it for a while BUT if I didn't have tenants for any period of time I would need to cover the mortgage - which I couldn't do with debts / loans....

But now I think I need to travel before I get too old....:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Siouxsie I would have run a mile as well - was it a rude text? I think since this one does not live with Dad I might be ok and they have been split for years....I am out most Saturdays and at work on Sundays so hopefully if she is a nightmare our paths won't cross that often...:T:T:T

Peaty I often think those that have money handed to them on a plate like that won't be as grateful for it and won't appreciate what they have as much as we would... and thus they might make silly choices...

I think I am resigned to never owning a house on my own in the near future although where there's an NSK will theres a way..:A

Indebted2U

Kat my one piece of advice is travel, travel, travel. I never regret for a moment the 9 years I stepped out of the real world!

There's plenty of time to get saddled with the mortgage etc when you get back but travel is mind expanding and who knows you may meet the man of your dreams and end up living in a beach hut on an idyllic island?:beer:

NinjaSavingKat

Indebted2U wrote: »

Kat my one piece of advice is travel, travel, travel. I never regret for a moment the 9 years I stepped out of the real world!

There's plenty of time to get saddled with the mortgage etc when you get back but travel is mind expanding and who knows you may meet the man of your dreams and end up living in a beach hut on an idyllic island?:beer:

9 years?? You need to tell me more!!

And yes there is that small chance I might meet someone able to put up with me...lol!!

stoplurking

Hi Kat - I have just posted a new thread to say I am now debt free as of today and can honestly say it would not have been possible without you and your challenges. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and will carry on following your journey to saving for the big travel adventures. Sounds like you are having a lovely time back home wht Mumsy and Daddy and all your loved ones. I hope you have a very Happy Christmas and a fantastic 2014. SL x

NinjaSavingKat

Stoplurking I am so happy for you!! :j:j:j:j

Cannot believe you are debt free TODAY just before Christmas - what a present that is! AND you got the 2000th post - whoop whoop!!

I have the new thread written and ready to post on the 1st January...:p... I will need all the support I can get - :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: