Here we go...a new MFW!

resilie

Wow you have so much energy. I'm getting tired just reading your to-do list

Congrats on the move and keep up the good work

feelingfestive

Thanks Resilie - I certainly don't feel like I have as much energy as my list suggests.

It's going pretty well at the moment. Today's plan is to complete a Risk Assessment for an overseas trip! It's pretty epic - I'm on 19 pages so far and am only half way through! The joys of health and safety!:p
Having a friend over for a gossip and an Indian tonight so it will be a slightly pricy day. BUT I'm intending to only get one dish and try to avoid all of the extras that make it really expensive.
We are still totally in love with our new home. I'm looking forward (although I don't know why) to the first big payment coming out so that we can really see where our finances are ready to start OP'ing. We didn't want to start yet until everything from the move has calmed down. We've had to buy a few things for the house as well, which although not very expensive, is eating into our potential first OP.
Onwards!

feelingfestive

Well all is going well in the feelingfestive household! We have been settling in to our new home really well and all of our boxes are now unpacked! Mr FF is intending on buying some things for his man cave (garage) but I can't complain as the horse costs me quite a bit of money too!
We had our architect friend over to have a look at it on Sunday and he's going to draw up a few ideas for use to have a look at and then decide what we want to do. He thinks that with our elaborate plan we need a ballpark figure of £25000. Although this seems very :eek: it's actually savable in the next two years if we really crack on and we should still be able to make overpayments (although small) at the same time! This should fit well into the grand plan of having the house finished by the time I am 30 (4 years next month) to begin thinking about having mini ff's!
So that's us for now. Manic day ahead but glad I'm not out on the school trip as it's belting down with rain and is set to continue all day!

feelingfestive

So my new mortgage balance has finally started to show on my internet banking and as a result I have needed a little sit down!

My new total mortgage is: £205281.95 :eek::eek::eek::eek:
It did not seem that much when we were talking about it, it all seemed a little abstract. Now that it is actually on my account it's very scary! I have a big kick now to really get going.

The first mortgage payment of £2421 comes out on July 1st and then it settles (:eek:) to £1211. We need to pay back family £4000 for the move but I'm hoping it won't take long to pay this back. The plan is to OP a bit as well in order to start beating the interest. Does anyone know how I work out the daily interest?
I still feel like I need to stay sat down just that little longer! :eek:

feelingfestive

Well I just couldn't resist! I have made my first ever overpayment :j:j I was going to make a Tilly Tidy (thanks Tilly! ) and made a payment of £70.60 to tidy up my current account. Really pleased and I feel that I've actually made a start. It will be a very long road so I thought I'd set out some targets for the rest of 2013.

1. Pay back family members £4000
2. Get mortgage to sub £201000 (ideally sub 200k but we'll see)
3. Save £3000 towards house changes
4. Get architect stuff done £1850

Might put these in my signature (when I work out how to do it) so that I can see progress towards my goals.

feelingfestive

New signature test post!

Woo! Sorted!

feelingfestive

Hmmmm dilemma's! I applied to do my doctorate and got onto the course. I then decided that due to finances I wouldn't be taking my place. Now I've been offered half of the funding each year (for 6 years) from my school which is truly wonderful but now I have no idea what I'm going to do :undecided Do I accept that I'm going to be a bit skint for a couple of years but further my career in the long term or do I accept that hopefully I can do the doctorate later and focus on mortgage and house now? I have no idea at all what to do. Mr FF is incredibly supportive and has said it is completely up to me and he will help out as much as he can. My parents have said they will help as well when/if they can! Anyone fancy telling me what to do? Maybe I should take a poll!

resilie

PhD in what? So half funded and no salary? What's the scope of earning extra by teaching undergraduates etc? Sit down and draw up a table how much it will cost you- fees plus lost earnings. Then look how much you would earn more by getting the extra qualifications.... also remember that studying is a pleasure in itself and usually more chilled out than a real job and that in itself is worth something....

feelingfestive

Thanks for your message resilie!
The PhD is actually a Doctorate in Education and is a part time course so I would still be teaching full time whilst studying part time. I did this whilst I did my Masters in Education and really enjoyed being part of the up and coming educational thought whilst trying it out on my students! So I would still have my full salary and support from my school as an extra. It would open up options to me in the future to become an expert teacher (the governments label, not mine! :rotfl:) and potentially open doors of being involved in university teaching in the future. I think in the long run it would work out but it would make the next 2-3 years really tight and make us alter our plans slightly. It's trying to weigh up short term pain for long term gain really. I like your idea of writing it all down but I still can't make a decision even then!

resilie

Personally I would go for it under the circumstances. .. You could look into further funding to cover the fees (I know this is difficult in the social sciences but worth a try) and you could probably do extra stuff at uni to earn some extra .... but it's up to you.... why did you apply? I think you secretly want to be an academic;)