Mighty Titan Overdraft will crumble!

hohum

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Cor blimey

I don't understand a word but as long as you know and feel more in control then it is good!!

. I have thought I would not make a good teacher, as my explanations often ending up baffling everyone but me.

I was trying to explain to my colleague why him paying back the petty cash he'd borrowed through a bank transfer would create a book keeping headache for me. I couldn't think through the steps I would do to work around it. I ended up talking about bags and how paying into the bank account would be like taking money out of bag a and paying into bag b...I confused both of us!

^ there is prob a solution to that but my brain won't process it. Transfer from account to cash, withdraw from cash. To transfer from cash to account I keep thinking you physically need to pay in cash. The problem is I have not recorded the loan. Aha! If I record the cash loan to colleague I can record it coming back in any account. Cash balance will be correct.

It would still be easier if he pays back in cash...

And further proof why I am not a teacher!

hohum

Apparently I am a visual person. Wasn't totally sure about this but my reaction to visual representation of structure/ problems bears this out. Also when I think of how to spell words, I 'see' a visual image of the word.

Anyway I am procrastinating and thought I would make a ticker for my signature, only to find I can't put links in there. So am putting in here instead:




Holy Moly. I HAVE PAID OFF £944.75 IN 7 MONTHS. And I went on holiday paid in cash. And bought presents for people. And covered annual bills. And paid off £200 of NI debt. :T me.

liltdiddylilt

Yes!!! Go you indeed!! How satisfying is that ticker!! :D

hohum

We continue to eke out our funds.

Things I never thought I would hear boyfriend say I have heard over the past two days:

'no leave the emergency fund. That's not to be touched' .

'I know I took the mick out of the budget at first, but it's actually really good'

'I used to worry about money but I don't any more'

'I know we've got money set aside for Christmas presents but now I've got money in the bank I don't want to spend it'

:rotfl:

Change IS possible!

NoOneAround

hohum wrote: »

We continue to eke out our funds.

Things I never thought I would hear boyfriend say I have heard over the past two days:

'no leave the emergency fund. That's not to be touched' .

'I know I took the mick out of the budget at first, but it's actually really good'

'I used to worry about money but I don't any more'

'I know we've got money set aside for Christmas presents but now I've got money in the bank I don't want to spend it'

:rotfl:

Change IS possible!

WOW Hohum:beer: Here's to you :j

I live for the day that THAT happens to me :Dand I'll be :j
xx
NOA

hohum

Dear lord. Traumatised. Went into town to get chutney ingredients (super cheap outdoor market). Absolutely rammed in full capitalist frenzy. My tolerance has always been low for shopping, becoming less and less as I get older. I escaped ASAP.

Also excited: broker is back in contact and working on aip. Went to see a house this morning. Both the boyfriend and I like it (!). It's absolutely on nose budget wise. Nice quiet street.

Now we have to wait for second viewing with my dad and an aip. So best not get too attached....

liltdiddylilt

Squeeeeeeeeh for housey things. Hope it all goes to plan!!

OH - brain transplant?!?! Bless him. I know how he feels. I have all my pots on YNAB and then I look at the lovely balance sitting in my account and think.. dude I don't need shoes.. or food.

I was far too freaked out to go anywhere this weekend. Or Friday. Utter insanity. So glad Christmas is done and wrapped, cards made, written etc.

hohum

liltdiddylilt wrote: »

Squeeeeeeeeh for housey things. Hope it all goes to plan!!

OH - brain transplant?!?! Bless him. I know how he feels. I have all my pots on YNAB and then I look at the lovely balance sitting in my account and think.. dude I don't need shoes.. or food.

I was far too freaked out to go anywhere this weekend. Or Friday. Utter insanity. So glad Christmas is done and wrapped, cards made, written etc.

It's OK, back to normal service as he went wild and crazy over the weekend and overspent on his spending money.

Houses....WELL

we went to see another two this morning and now I am conflicted because the other two have definite advantages.

I wrote out a pro/cons list to my Mum and Dad because boyfriend's input was 'I like them all'....:doh: so here is the edited list..

property one: back to back 3 bed terrace

Pros:

Nice, quiet no through street
Liveable with decor, could move in with no major work
Also room to decorate to our taste
Roomy back to back terrace
Looks nice - cute appeal
Near local shop/ swimming pool/ bus route
Central heating etc appears in good order, was tenanted so all recently checked
Little front garden/yard
Cellar for storage/ could eventually be converted
Within our price range (offers £99k)

Cons

A fair way into our target radius - longer bus commute/ drive to town/ further from social and family. This is the biggie for this place for me. Estimate 30-45min bus journey to city centre.
Only two buses go up past it plus it's up a big hill from town!
End terrace - not v energy efficient so bills could be higher
Two windows still single glazed
Could just be cold
Not sure if attic rooms insulated so those could do the classic cold/ hot
We'd have to wait to replace windows/ front door
A floor joist has been reinforced/ replaced on ground floor. Not sure what that's about
Cellar walls feel damp at bottom, not sure if would need to do something about it.
The area (apart from these streets) is a bit bla


Property two: three bed semi detached. I think I like this as much as the above property but it has different advantages. Boyfriend thinks it's OK and would be happy with it but prefers the third property.

Pros:

It's enormous for the price. 2 reception rooms, 3 beds, storage.
Within our budget (£95k)
The layout is really nice, could see it becoming a comfortable home very easily. some work needs doing but kitchen etc ok
Big garden with lots of potential. Greenhouse, shed, trees, etc
Solar panels on roof connected to supply
Much closer to facilities and also transport: on four bus routes. Walking distance big supermarket/ retail park. Walking distance canal. Two mini markets and takeaways nearby.
Probably easier to let a room here then up the road.
Offstreet parking
Fireplace has been in use and big supply of firewood!

Consideration:
Next door neighbours 'rough and ready' according to estate agent but were key holders for property. Their house and garden are nicely kept, even if it does have machinery in the yard...
Deceased estate

Cons:
It's on the edge of once bad rep council estate. Ex council house. Area probably unlikely to get much more gentrified but unlikely to drop massively in value due to local investment in area (redevelopment parts of estate, street furniture etc). Street is tenanted/ council and looks it. This is the biggest con.
If we ever actually have children, local schools might be an issue but that's at least 5 years in the future so perhaps cross that bridge when we come to it
No central heating upstairs and radiators downstairs are old type, could be worth replacing all. Combi boiler prob OK.
Bathroom small, some conversion been done (wall removed between toilet and bathroom, new toilet and shower installed) but needs finishing off/ tiling. No bath only shower.
Will probably need small DIY jobs looking at as on evidence of job in bathroom, not most skilled
It appears all the neighbours have dogs. (lots of barking) Would we actually be able to enjoy garden?
Not such a nice vista front of the house
Garden is overlooked

And final property. Boyfriend likes this one the most but it loses for me in lack of garden

Pros

Massive: four bedroom through Victorian terrace, of which three are double
Well maintained: elderly lady selling family home. Her late husband has done some nice DIY jobs and property is spotless.
Bathroom and kitchen don't need touching, newish and well maintained
They redid the roof a few years ago, used second hand tiles but all work is new
Street is OK
Near bus route/ corner shop
It would make a good lettable property, probably

Cons:
It doesn't have a garden
It doesn't have central heating and we'd need to wait to install it due to being at the top of budget (estimate installation 7k approx with new boiler?)
A Victorian terrace with no central heating is going to have pretty hefty running costs. And COLD.
It would need redecorating to make me feel like I am not living in an old lady's home and we wouldn't have a lot of budget left to do this (offers £104k)
What would we actually do with four bedrooms? I am concerned boyfriend would like to fill it with useless hoarded possessions. This may be unfair to boyfriend!
Street is bla
I don't get the 'yay' feeling about it


Pretty sure I'm not that in love with the four bed - why we'd need four rooms as a childless couple I don't know. But I do really like the house on the edge of the estate. I don't like the street as much as the back to back terrace though. That garden though.. and the two nice size reception rooms...

liltdiddylilt

Wow so much to think about there.

I can't tell you which one to go for. The only advice I can offer to you, is that your head is JUST as important as your heart on this. OH needs to actually give some input and stop faffing around on the fence. If he likes something, WHY? And has he thought of X,X & X?

I bought a property on a whim. To follow the same as your own format, here is what I saw:

2 bed mid terrace on a quiet street.
2 good sized reception rooms
Lovely kitchen with a beautiful cabinet on the upper row with glass in it, right opposite the door as you come in
Bathroom garish and toilet walled off, not great use of space but passable and has a shower
Garden is full of large shrubs, not bad, quite small. Backs onto childrens park (concrete jungle)
Ex's brother owns a house 2 streets away exactly the same
It is a 10 minute walk from my work which was previously 3 buses and over an hour away!
Local shopping park has Morries, and various other decent shops
Rendering has been done under a year ago
Within budget sufficiently that we can raise 5% deposit almost instantly
GCH downstairs with older style radiators
All double glazing

Cons:
You have to walk through a bedroom to get to the bathroom
No CH upstairs although the boiler is in a decent area to get pipework through upstairs
Rough looking street with several council neighbours
Barely a cm to park in front of or anywhere near the house
Back door faces neighbours back door 2 metres away at a height above the fence where you are eye to eye with them same with the kitchen window.
There are pipes all over the downstairs of the house where the radiators have been put in badly.

We went straight to the estate agents, asked them to stop anyone else seeing it and we would pay full price.

Stupidest thing I ever did. If I had gone just after school had kicked out, the noise from the park alone, let alone the kids throwing balls over and climbing the fence to get into the garden and retrieve them while the rest stood on climbing frames staring at our house would have put me off.
The neighbour stood smoking on the back porch staring at my house 90 times a day would also have killed it.
The cars trying to get up and down the street when it was so filled with cars day and night, beeping their horns and revving... also a bad thing.
The front door being right onto the pavement where people banged it accidentally walking past with shopping/prams etc awful
Having to close the blinds to stop people staring in... all day!
The policeman who was stabbed just around the corner a week after we moved in... yeah apparently normal around there.
The total and utter lack of plug sockets where anyone normal would want them!!

I could go on and on. My heart went in with rose tinted glasses. I wanted out of home, I wanted MY OWN home... and boom I ended up with that.

Don't rush. You will get there. Check the water pressure and the plug sockets for your phone and hair straighteners etc. Think about layout of the kitchen. Where would you have the kettle? A slow cooker? Microwave? etc...

Sorry to be a pain. But I don't want anyone to end up with the heap of carp I ended up with because I wanted in right now!!

Big hugs! xx

hohum

lilt, that's super useful advice so thank you!

Boyfriend doesn't think about bills, or have an idea about how much renovations cost. He also would genuinely be happy in a big house that looked like a bachelor pad, with no heating. He thinks like a single man when it comes to home desires, which is why I think he keeps saying 'all of them are OK'. There is a kernel of truth in his lack of getting really involved in that he thinks 'does it have a cellar, or where can I put my workout equipment and my amps*'. Then 'are the rooms big'. also 'does hohum like it'. I genuinely spent about 2 hours yesterday thinking about insulation of end terrace homes...this would never. ever. cross his mind

(* that he never uses and keep spending the repair money for....)

I'm absolutely going to get Dad back to look at least one of these because then at least I'll know the house is structurally sound...