Catriona's Credit Card Countdown

karmachilovething

Congratulations!

Now the big question is are you going to take it??! :cool:

catriona79

Thanks guys! Im not sure... I didn't play it too well. I should have asked for them to match my salary...

I will be back later, but now need to get ready to go out!

dktreesea

Oh wow, that's quick to be offered a job so quickly. Congratulations! Did you decide to take it?

catriona79

Hi Debbie,

How have you been? It's spring:) happy times

Yes, I did take the job in the end, but asked them to match my salary which they (begrudgingly) did. Thanks for your nice message.
My ex boss has just rung me with what she thinks is a fantastic opportunity for me in London and I'm going to do my best to put in a good application.

Australia - I go on Tue night. Very excited and frightened!

Right, off in go to get packing a bit!

catriona79

I though I'd log in to send you all greetings from Australia. What a wonderful country, and it's been so sunny!
I've got a new business idea, my redundancy money has been paid and I will need to do my calculations very soon. For now, I have tucked my savings away in various current accounts that pay a reasonable amount. The new TSB account that pays 5% for example!

How is every tone doing? I am loving being away and think that when I get back I will be ready to tackle things! Have a few plans that I am hoping will work out! Xx

dktreesea

Hi Catriona,

How goes your trip to Australia? have you decided to come back yet? With business, I would advise you to build up your income from it part time before you give up your day job.

catriona79

Hello Debbie

I'm back and have been in my new job for 8 weeks now! It's good, I'm enjoying bits of it and it's busy, so the days go by fast!

Australia was wonderful! I loved my time there and would love to do something similar again. I was in a realny good płace when i got back, much more relaxed and happy. All good.

Sadly, some of the stress and anxiety is creeping back in now, with the boyfriend, who once was an ex. Rocky times again. Aaargh. Trying to give myself another focus and something positive to think about.

As you know, I've had my redundancy and that's helped towards my debt. Overall, I have about -£6k net worth now, which to some is probably a big bit of debt, but I've got used to debt so much now that I don't seem to be phased by it that much.

All my cards are 0% and the homeowner's loan (mini mortgage) is at 2.79%, so it's relatively cheap.

Now, I've realised that I had better do something else that brings money in, because I will be motivated by it, it will make me feel good, it will keep me working hard and help me focus as well as - .......well, I'm rubbish at saving money!!!!

So back to the grand plan of house development. Where the debt started!

I have a two bed terrace in quite a nice area. I think I picked the area well, because the prices have gone up quite a bit. Bought it for 138k in 2011 and now they go for 185k. Obviously I have also put a lot of money into it, but not £48k. It's a perfect little pad now, and I've been renting the spare bedroom for a long time now, and that helps with the debt.

I have good builders who I trust and who I have known throughout the renovation and ever since have called on them to do odd jobs.

I have asked them to quote me for doing my up the house bathroom (the last bit of the house that needs doing) and the attic into a bedroom with an en suite. Mates rates £24k. If I build in a 10% contingency that's 26.5k.

I have seen houses like mine go for 180-185 done up, and with an extra bedroom for about £210-230, depending on how recent the refurb is. I think with two bathrooms I could get 220 for it, conservative estimate. So, in theory the profit is 7.5k.

I am thinking of either selling it afterwards or renting out two bedrooms for a bit to pay off the small loan I'm going to have to take for this work, prob about 8-10k. Rental income would be 900 per month minus tax, but some of the build would be tax deductible, so that should help.

Another option would be to rent it out as a whole (or room by room, which would prob be a way more lucrative arrangement) and and get a let to buy mortgage to get another place to live for me.

The aim of the game is to be able to live by myself (without lodgers) and possibly also buy a place nearer to work. I've been spending way too much time in the car, commuting.

Obviously the downside is that I really like this area and have friends here. Also the house is well situated near a park and the high street with lots of shops. And it would be an emotional process to tear myself away from here. But ultimately, I think that I need to get away from this house anyway. My neighbours are a bit of a nightmare. It's a great shame, really.

So, my question to you, lovely people. Would you go for it? Is the game worth the candle?

I know that a developer wouldn't do it. Not enough money in it. But I think I'd actually enjoy the process and later on, it would bring me money if I rented out two rooms. Obviously that would mean renting two rooms out, which might be a bit too much, but which I could bear for a little bit. Or maybe just get shot of it and even if I earn £5k on it (after solicitors fees), that's ok too? It would take me a year at the current rate I'm saving to save up 5 grand.

Any ideas welcome.

catriona79

I forgot to say that I've kept my cash and currently have 17.5k savings and that my other option would be to plod along. I.e. Keep renting the room out, maybe pay most of the debt off with the savings and keep going at the remainder. Maybe then in a year's time I could be completely debt free.

But in the long term this safe strategy is not going to get me anywhere! And it may be a bit boring too.


Alternatively I have been thinking about buying a small buy to let, but I've realised that I haven't got enough capital for that yet. It is doable, I could have a small loan to top up to the necessary 25% deposit, but then until I'll have paid the small loan off, it wouldn't really make me any profit and even quite possibly would cost me £50 a month.
Which would be a bit annoying,because that would take a few years (5) to pay off. So that's tying myself down to renting my spare room out for a long time.

Alternatively, a cheap route would be to sell the house and buy somewhere with no mortgage. Which should be just about doable. A small 1 bed flat in a very decent location.

Or sell this house and just do up another one to sell. While renting somewhere nearer to my work. Cheaper too.

Ooh it's mind boggling.

I have been given the details of a good financial advisor and so am going to sit down with him perhaps an look at my options. Need to cost them all up myself first though. My difficulty is, it's incredibly hard to work out the price for my house with the developed attic and en suite, because there aren't that many in this particular street. There have been two recently, one beautifully presented but also with an extended kitchen went for £227 and one recently was on for 215 initially and after two weeks the price went down to 205 and then it sold within days. That one wads bit tired and messy looking and needed a new kitchen. It just looked shabby.
Mine is pretty pristine, all white and there are no children, so it's much easier to keep it like that.

Why I'm doing all this thinking is because I haven't met a man who I would like to have a child with. But I'd really like to have a child. So, to make it work I have to, pretty promptly (I was 35 in May) put myself In a position where I will be able to do it by myself, on one salary. So either having extra income or a small mortgage / no mortgage would be ideal really.

catriona79

I have a cunning plan. Fully hatched. ;-)

What the plan is - if everything comes good - is that I'm going to develop my attic into a bedroom and shower room, and do up my house bathroom at the same time.

This will increase house value, and hopefully I can then sell the house and make a profit (even if it's only 5k, it would take me ages to save that currently - but hoping for £10k)
But in the short term I will have a fully done up 3 bed house and I can then rent two rooms out, which should bring in £900 a month, conservatively.
Using that and my monthly savings I can top it up to a grand and build up a little savings pot.

I believe that financially this all makes sense and I'll be able to make it work. I haven't been able to successfully save up that much, so this is me trying to dig myself out of the hole.

The only worry is letting go of a large pool of savings. I spoke to a friend yesterday about this worry and she did say I seemed much more relaxed about money now that I've got my redundancy stashed away.

Following on from there, I will either release more equity to buy a little flat to rent out or will just start saving and then see what to do, depending on what the housing market is doing, as it's starting to slow down now.

catriona79

Well, I am back to say I've been relatively good and have been scheming re what to do next.

It's hopefully going to be a good day today! A very good friend of mine is being interviewed for a job which would make her life much easier. I really hope that she gets it. I would be so proud of her if she did!!!

Also, tomorrow I'll have a day off to go and see a recruitment consultant and also to look after the friend's little boy, who is 6. We are going to watch 3D tv at my partner's. Pizza followed by pop corn! Hope we have fun! Then my friend can stay in work longer and build up some flex before her holiday next week.

I lent £500 to a good friend at the start of the year - she needed it and had nobody else to ask for it. She hasn't been forthcoming in paying it back. She did mention a couple of months back that she was sorry she hasn't started paying it back yet and that she would. But she hasn't. I don't need the money yet, but will in the autumn and wonder whether it would be best to ask her for it. I told her already that I was ok with her giving it me back in £50 instalments. - though it's obviously going to take a while. Hence why I'm thinking of asking her, otherwise I'll have to get a larger loan when I come to realise my business idea. The loan was initially going to be paid off by £50 right away, but she hasn't managed to (for reasons that i can understand, and I did say it's fine later on in the year). Is it too harsh to ask her for it back? She isn't great with money and has been through some tough times. I know it's not great of her to not have tried paying me back, but it's not the end of the world, I don't hold it against her. I know how hard it is when you're trying to make ends meet.

Pay day next Monday! Whoop whoop!

My regular saver matures on the 1st Aug, so I'll have £3700 or thereabouts in there and have already opened a Ll*yds account to siphon it off to there. I'll add another £300 odd, then it can start earning me 4% interest.
I think that as I've paid to have the balance transfers on my credit cards, I'd better get back some of the money from the transfer fees by leaving my savings in accounts that pay interest.

I've started the YNAB trial and have liked it because it makes me consider my budget, but I don't like the way it makes you feel like you're in the red just because you don't have a "buffer". I don't want to keep my money in my current account for a long time, what's the point. So I've decided not to get it, but instead I've asked my lodger to pay me in cash and the £450 is going to have to last me for all food spends and going out spends. I've budgeted £40 a week for food and surprisingly it's been great sticking it in my purse on a Mon morning. I've not been going to the shops every night because of that and have used some freezer supplies, which is great for me. So that way it really works.

The downside is that my bf is really keen on trips to the pub and takeaways and restaurants. He doesn't have to be anywhere as strict as me. It's hard to be the one saying I don't want to do it. Or that we either have a takeaway or go to the pub, not both.

Anyway, last day in work, then it's a long weekend for me!!! Time to get out and onto the motorway now!