Keeping up with the Jonesy

Jonesy88

Soo HSBC sent me a notification yesterday to say they have received the mortgage valuation and have accepted it, so they are progressing the application. Yay!

We received the homebuyers survey today - there's a few points from it we need to take on board and think about but overall I'm happy. It's been forwarded to the solicitors who will take a more objective view.

In other news, it's OH birthday surprise outing tomorrow, I hope he likes it!

killerpeaty

OMG JONSEY! THAT'S SO EXCITING I'M ABUSING THE CAPS LOCK!

The house, tell me everything! I hope the blips on the report aren't a deal breaker.

So excited to hear you guys are getting ready to start your family. I hear lidl nappies are brilliant and living off one salary for a few months beforehand is useful, this is all hearsay of course, I have no experience of this.

I'm sure Mr Jonsey will enjoy his surprise

Hope your exams went well.

Jonesy88

PEATY! You're back!! I shall report on the house later and comment further because...

In other news ....


I BL00DY PASSED MY EXAMS!!!!

They were really good passes too. So chuffed. I didn't get my results until 1pm as my email didn't come through and the website kept crashing, so my stress levels were seriously building. Some people in the office passed and some failed (even 1 guy who was potentially a prize winner) so I began to really doubt myself. But then, I logged in, and 2 passes!!!

:):):):)

killerpeaty

FANTASTIC NEWS!

Although I never doubted you, you're one smart cookie. How many more do you have now?

Jonesy88

I'm onto to strategic level of Cima now KP, which means I have 3 exams and a case study left - in theory I could be done by the end of 2015! Arghh that panics and excites me in equal measure.

Soo YAY for exams but BOO for house. It's funny how when one thing goes well another seems to fall apart. Hopefully I'm just exaggerating. Our solicitor has written to us and HSBC as one of the searches has shown that the house is in an area of potential energy exploration and investigation. This can apparently affect the mortgage valuation and the matter is currently with HSBCs legal department Fingers crossed we get an answer before Christmas as it's stressing me out. I have no idea how bad it can be and my mind is running away with me.

Oh woe is me! I'm sulking so much I don't even want to post a Christmas smilie!


Just kidding
:xmastree:

killerpeaty

Try not to panic! Different banks have different ways of measuring risk so another one might give you a mortgage no problem. (this comes from watching a thing about house prices being affected by HS2)

It will all be fine.

Jonesy88

I hope so Peaty. Did you have a good Christmas? I did really well with vouchers this year - hopefully they'll come in handy for the big move.

2015 is set to be an exciting year, full of changes. Fingers crossed it will include work progession (and exam passes), a new house, and definitely a look towards extending the family!!

So with that in mind, let's review 2014 with "Jonesy's Roundup" (which you must read to the tune of Woody's Roundup from Toy Story!).

Jonesy88

As 2014 is drawing to a close, I thought i'd look back at the year to see what has changed and what i've achieved:

Jonesy88 wrote: »

Goals

2014
[STRIKE]Pay off £5000 car loan[/STRIKE]
Save £1000 for emergencies savings pot
Save £1000 in ISA
Save £4000 for baby fund - i'm broody but until we're financially secure it's not happening!
Save £5000 for a bigger house.
Get under 10st

So on first look it appears i haven't succeeded on many of my goals. Well that's true, but i have become debt free paying off my car loan and OHs CC. We have also sold our house and are currently trying to buy a new one, changing our circumstances somewhat.

As things stand today:

• Car - Gone
• Emergency Fund - Currently at £70, must improve on this in 2015
• Savings - ISA/Baby - £0
• Weight - Currently 13st 5. Atrocious.
• House Fund - Erm.. well we are buying a house so I gues this isn't needed. We've done it as we went along

Jonesy88 wrote: »

Long Running Challenges

DF by Xmas 2014: #002 [STRIKE]£3500[/STRIKE] 17/06/14 #207 (OH) £2000/£5000

1 debt vs 100 days (part 14): #04 [STRIKE]£1130[/STRIKE] 31/1/14
1 debt vs 100 days (part 15): #02 [STRIKE]£2300[/STRIKE] 25/5/14
1 debt vs 100 days (part 16): #07 [STRIKE]£2500[/STRIKE] 20/08/14
1 debt vs 100 days (part 17): #14 [STRIKE]£2000[/STRIKE]31/12/14

In 2014, I think i over-egged it on the challenges front, and so abandoned the Clothes, Christmas and £365 challenges. I was trying to do too much and losing focus. I did however stick with the 100 days challenges (rather successfully too! ) and completed my DFBXMAS goal, continuing with OHs car.

So what about 2015 goals?

2015

Pay off £3000 car loan.
Save £1000 emergency fund in ISA (combined two 2014 goals).
Save £4000 baby fund (minimum £3k)
Lose Weight (get under 10st)

I've set up a standing order overpayment for OHs loan so it will be gone by the end of 2015 (estimated November). I'm rounding down our accounts to build up the emergency fund without too much impact and well, there's no plan for the baby fund yet. However fingers crossed once we are settled in our new house we will be able to decide on how we are going to achieve this (because we really need to if we are going to have a family!). I've also joined a frump to fabulous 2015 thread in the hope of motivating me for the weight loss.

Goodbye 2014, you've been lovely. Here's hoping 2015 is even better! :wave:

killerpeaty

When will you know about the loan?

My christmas was excellent! The house is a mess, I'm achey and sore so it's been a fantastic success! How was yours?

Love the round up! (Also love toy story), you've had an amazing year and so successful in pretty much everything you wanted to do. So proud of you!

I am also going to try to get healthier this year so we shall have to cheer each other on.

Jonesy88

Well hello 2015! :beer:

The new year has started on a high - i bit the bullet on new years eve and emailed our mortgage guy from HSBC. He emailed back to say the valuation is unaffected by the report! Fantastic news! So, provided our solictor is satisfied everything is ok, we should be in mid to late Jan! That will be a brilliant start to 2015, although will make us properly skint but happy We even purchased a bed today (very grown up!) it's just a basic double, but i think it's pretty. Our plan is to move into the 2nd bedroom whilst we make the master bedroom our own - eg carpets, decorating, the price up of an ensuite! Then we will be free to save up for the master bedroom furniture (eg get a better mattress etc) whilst still having the essentials there. Btw regarding the ensuite, this is a very long term plan, but it could be cost effective to put up the stud walls whilst we're redecorating... Will just need advice on it i think. Once in our new house I estimate that we will have a £300-£400 surples each month to do up the house.


So enough house talk, let's discuss finance...

2015 will be the year for saving - for a family and for emergencies (as a responsible grown up). The house purchase will wipe out the savings so it's important to build up a buffer again.

Jan goals:

• Complete house purchase.
• Pay soliticors fees and stamp duty.
• Buy a fridge-freezer and washer (the last of the "essentials" we will need).
• Get under 13st, and go to the gym.

Scores on the Doors:

• OH Car Loan: £3000
• Savings (ISA): £40
• Baby Fund: £0