The impossible dream

TallGirl

Happy NewYear hope you had a nice evening. Chase those builders January is a quiet month for most and they might now need the money after Xmas. Take care well done on getting the mortgage to where you want it. 

greent

HNY!   We, too, are still awaiting contact from builders Sadly, ours is very busy and booked up until at least Jun/ July.... sigh....

savingholmes

Happy New Year Tahlullah

Tahlullah.H

Happy New Year everyone!  My first post of the year is to say thank you.

I have been reading everyone's diaries and all have set out their aspirations and goals for 2021 - so positive when looking back at what has been achieved and hopes for the future, most of them having a financial element.  Sadly, I don't feel I have anything I wish to plan for in this vein this year.  What I learnt from 2020 was that no amount of planning can brace you for the shock of a personal extinction level event like a pandemic and if you are financially ok, you can ride out the storm - perhaps go off to your private island using your private jet.  Other, not so lucky and in far more cases than I would care to remember, the fight for life was lost not only due to the illness, but as a result of not coping with the changes that were visited on them, be that personal or financial.  

So, my New Years plans are to keep going, making small changes as I go along and ensuring that I go with the direction of the wind.  If I can afford to save, I will.  If I can afford to pay down my mortgage, I will.  If I can afford to make changes to my home, I will.  But if I can't, then I will accept that with good grace and be thankful for my health and the wellbeing of those around me.

I was reading in the news that someone was thinking of ensuring that key workers are high up the pecking order for the vaccines along with NHS staff.  The logic of this being that they are front line workers, keeping the country going.  But not all key workers are visible front line at the moment.  Covid has meant we are all at home, working in our makeshift offices, still supporting those in need.  Need isn't only physical.  Not everyone goes to hospital and the unseen key workers are still picking up the strain of helping those who have no-one else to turn to.  That need hasn't diminished during this awful year, instead it has gone up.  Lets hope that at some point, someone high up in government looks past the NHS's workload and see's all the smaller organisations which are still there, supporting the rest of the population in need without recognition.  Lets hope someone starts to think about the thousands of smaller organisations like the Samaritans and Cruse, who have been there every step of the way. 

Not everyone fighting is visible on the front line, but they are front line nonetheless.

And on that happy note of thanks, I want to say that the stuff used to treat woodworm stinks to high heaven!  But, the sofa's look fine and feel fine and more importantly, the wood has been treated and will not weaken again.  I can only assume that the wood used was already affected because I didn't have a woodworm problem before - I don't think.  Anyway, sofas done.  Just trying to think how you treat parquet flooring without lifting every single block.  I can see this being one of those things you just live with and the new owner will have to deal with it when they buy the house - when I eventually decide to sell.

Otherwise, all good on the western front.

savingholmes

I don't think you can afford to ignore woodworm. You will also struggle to sell if it's not resolved. Personally I would prioritise it - and google what you can about it - as part of getting it resolved.

Hugs about your frustrations over last year. I agree none of us can take things for granted - but then we couldn't before either - the risk was just less visible. I too support keyworkers but from home. I imagine they plan to give to those visible on the frontline as they are more likely to come into contact with infectious people. 

On a financial note - it is more important than ever to have some kind of emergency fund - even if it is only £1000. I'd prioritise that if we were a single income household. As it is I have a good sick pay and redundancy scheme at work if it came to it and although DH doesn't we could survive on one wage... It is a priority as soon as I've kicked our debt into touch though.

Tahlullah.H

Hello.  Hope all are well and not too disheartened with the latest lockdown. 

Thanks Savings for your comments, really appreciated.  I do have some money put aside as an emergency fund, but no-where near enough to cover the cost of what needs doing.  It's moments like these that you wish the mortgage was gone and the disposable income was all in a high interest savings account, waiting to be utilised.  But alas not.  It has been used to bring the mortgage down.  Still a good decision, as my LTV is 10%, assuming I have the value of my property right.  It's purely guesswork based on what is happening in the surrounding villages, rather than having an EA come out and value it.  Could be wrong, but I don't think I am far off the mark.

I had a really good day considering.  Work was good, no problems, saw a great Covid19 birthday card on Moonpig - quite a few good ones to be honest.  A good sense of humour is so important at the moment.  Needed to send a small present and card to a friend for an upcoming birthday and this was a good way of avoiding the shops.  Also came across a really funny channel on YouTube, called Alux.  It's definitely an acquired taste, but suits my sense of humour on life and why I have no money.  I am slowly trawling through the many vids whilst saying 'true..'.

Moneywise, not a lot is happening at the moment.  I have managed to arrange for someone to come and give me a quote for a blown double glazed unit.  If the price is right, I may feel the need to replace another window which is ok but not safety glass.  It's on the staircase and if you were unlucky enough to fall, you could go through it!  I never have, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen.  I would love to get a price on a new front door whilst he's here, but it may not be a sensible use of my disposable income at the moment.  It desperately needs changing and it has to have a cat flap so even more expense, so not happening.

Mortgage pay day tomorrow, so that is another positive.  I would like to make more payments, but I am conscious that I will have a lot of expenditure shortly, such as finding someone to sort out the chimney - no specialist chimney people in the area; getting the balcony and French doors done (may have to wait) ; sorting out the floor in the sitting room - woodworm is the least of my worries - the floor is sinking.   When it was built over 130 years ago they filled the foundation with soil, which over the years has eroded.  So now, the floor is clearly sinking.  Just the idea of digging up the floor, filling, insulating, concreting  and then resetting the parquet (whilst ensuring any woodworm is dealt with) is frightening!  Old houses.  Beautiful to look at but absolute money pits.  I am still giving serious thought to selling.  The new buyer could knock me down in asking price based on the fact they have to put things right.  I would still make a healthy profit and could buy somewhere else to live with the profit from the sale.  Admittedly, the new house would be smaller, not be in the middle of the countryside, or surrounded by open fields with a sea view, but that 's what would allow me to sell at a profit despite the work that would need to be done to the floor etc.  There is a real shortage of specialist tradespeople here, but the positive is that it won't prevent me from getting on with life.  The biggest concern is that the floor actually caves in, but worst case scenario, which is probably why I am not panicking, I could afford to get it fixed if I had to draw down from my mortgage.  Luckily, overpaying has it's advantages!  Shame it couldn't be covered by the house insurance.

Anyway, enough of what could go wrong and look at the positives.  It's heading back towards spring and so I will be able to start swimming again and get some exercise after months of laying down fat, especially over Christmas.  I may be able to go on holiday if the lockdown is lifted and other countries begin to accept British tourists.  If not, I might be able to get out in the campervan.  So many positives are coming.  And I saw a really pretty rainbow this morning.  It was a small one, but a rainbow nonetheless.

Right, it's time to stare at my bank balance a bit more before bed and it may just conjure some money into it from thin air!

Tahlullah.H

Mortgage payment made today and tilly tidied my accounts, so all good.  Don't think I will be able to afford any more payments considering the above, but I am today officially below £40k.  Shame it won't stay like that for long.

savingholmes

Well done on getting to 10% LTV. Sounds like you could sell up, buy a house outright and possibly put some of the excess towards retiring early. Sounds like you are in a great position.

TallGirl

Sounds fab you're doing really well. Houses are expensive but worth it in the end. Keep going almost there. 

Tahlullah.H

Cheers both.  Yes, it's a good position to be in, but spend last night (when I should have been sleeping) looking at other houses for sale with a mind to doing exactly that, selling and buying something else outright.  What it told me was that I like my house and it's location and I can't afford anything that gives me what I already have.  So, it looks like I need to dig in and do the repairs.

Got someone interested in the chimney - need to send them photos before they will give a quote.  I still think they will need to come and look - stick a camera up the flue so to speak.

The floor people said it would be cheaper to lay new parquet than try to rescue the old stuff.  Probably correct - I think the original stuff would have a market value, so may look at this more when my builder re-surfaces.  Also, may have to do the French doors into the sitting room, just to give the builder access to repair the sitting room floor!  Everything is linked in one way or the other!  But it's all good.  One step at a time.  I was a NSD yesterday, so what little I have is stretching.  A penny saved is a penny earned.