Sundaysgirl's MFW journey - better late than never!

Sundaysgirl

Thank you!


Believe me, I never imagined being in this position (it's been a mix of very good fortune, hard work and sacrifices), and it's unlikely to last long!!

hiddenshadow

Enjoy it while it lasts!

At least when it's over you'll have a shiny new house to enjoy as well, even if it comes with a non-shiny mortgage.

Sundaysgirl

Thanks, I am. Already plotting if it's possible to get under £10k this month!


I know, excited about our new house, the consolation prize is having a new MF challenge to get stuck into

chelseablue

Sundaysgirl wrote: »

Thanks, I am. Already plotting if it's possible to get under £10k this month!


I know, excited about our new house, the consolation prize is having a new MF challenge to get stuck into

Im already planning my next house and I've only been in the current one since February :rotfl:


Currently putting about £500 a month into the decorating account, so when the house is finished a lot of that can go into overpayments.


Reading that back £500 a month seems a lot on just decorating, but we also need a new fence out the back (at least £1k), new staircase (been quoted £2k), plus the drive really needs doing and that's probably at least £4k on its own :eek:

Sundaysgirl

Hah me too - and not yet exchanged on this one!

That will make such a big dent on the mortgage! £500 p/m does seem a lot, but house works are so pricey and just think of how much value you are adding (and how much more enjoyable it will be living there).


I dread to think how much I have spent over the years on mine, would guess at least £40k in the space of 8.5 years. Mind you, I'm selling for about 75% more than I paid! :eek:

chelseablue

That's what Im thinking too, it might not be our forever house but we need to at least make it nice while we're there


40 grand? Wow what did you do on it?

Sundaysgirl

EVERYTHING!


It looked perfectly liveable when I bought it but everything had been bodged. Over the years: full rewire and spots in most rooms, new boiler and rads, new (not at all MSE!) bathroom, new kitchen flooring, all rooms replastered and redecorated, new ceilings, floors (including staircase) stripped back to original boards, new fence and outdoors lighting and wiring... basically it is now a completely different, beautiful (IMO!) home, exactly how I want it. Now to do the same to the next house...!

chelseablue

Sounds lovely!


We have spots in the kitchen, bathroom and toilet, the previous owners put them in
Thinking of having them upstairs in the bedrooms and landing.


Is it a big job?

Sundaysgirl

Thank you


TBH not sure how well it would work for a landing, we have them in our bedrooms and I love it as it's so flexible - especially if you add different circuits, and a dimmer switch.


Separate circuits bumps up the price (as does the type of fitting and bulb you have - though saves in the long run) but in terms of timing etc it's not a huge job - a day or two depending on the rest of the wiring IIRC. We did it as we went along putting in new ceilings, and a lot of the time we made ourselves scarce during the works!


As an example, we paid ~£1k for 8 spots and three undercounter spots (on three separate circuits) in our kitchen a couple of years ago, I think it took them 2 days due to the undercounter stuff. We've not needed to replace any of the bulbs in that time.


Best decision we made, and we will def be doing the same in our new house.

chelseablue

I think we'd just do the bedrooms tbh.


Was just talking to our maintenance man at work (who also does up houses in his spare time!)


He said if I pay for the lights he'll come and do it for me :-D