The impossible dream

Tahlullah.H

So, can't repair the chimney, so have to go for the Full Monty.  I only have some savings, not enough to cover all the expenditure I am going to be making this year.  Not good.  Will have to find it from somewhere, so that will be a drawdown from the mortgage.  As I suspected, by the time I have finished with the repairs to the house - chimney, floor etc, I will have pushed the mortgage back up to over £50k.  Oh well.  As I have said, I am blessed in that I can get hold of this money where others would struggle, and it's part of the mortgage, so on a low interest rate with lots of time to pay.  All good.  Tomorrow, I will begin by finding out if I can get the chimney swept!  Small steps.  I can't even imagine what I would do if I were on a DRO or under a Bankruptcy order, and the house were falling down.  What do people do in these circumstances?  How do they cope?  How on earth do they keep the faith?

sarah200

good luck!!!

Tahlullah.H

Thank you Sarah

greent

Nonidea what people would do - suspect repossessions will increase in the next 12-24 months- that or people trying to downsize, maybe? Denmark advice services will ji doubt be under increased pressure with xovid - and once furlough stops and there are even more redundancies we will see even more economic impact  

Glad you can get chimney sorted - and at least you can prioritise necessary work about nice-to have work  

TallGirl

Wow that's expensive but sounds like it needs doing plus the floor.  I've got real wood downstairs I agree about the grey wasn't me either. There are loads of oak plank type things and Kardean is suppose to be good. If you're looking for tiles I have there in the kitchen they are very durable and not cold underfoot.  https://www.howdens.com/joinery/floors/flooring/engineered-stone-flooring

They are all grey but maybe others will have engineered stone. Yes how do people on low incomes without savings budget for things like this. Guess they lost live with it for a very long time sadly. 

savingholmes

Sorry you are having to go for the more expensive option. It does sound like an essential though.

Tahlullah.H

Cheers everyone for the comments.  To be fair, it was bound to be the expensive option.  That's just the way life goes, you rarely get any good breaks!

Sent the chimney man an email yesterday but didn't hear from him today so I will ring tomorrow to see if I can get it moving.  The good news is that my accountant has now finished, ready for me to sign, but as I can't read accounts that well, I have asked him if he has applied for the tax reduction for working at home.  I did mention it to him, but best check before I sign and he sends it off.  Every little helps at the moment.

My windfall cheque finally arrived and so I have scanned it in to the bank  and hopefully, it will be cleared shortly.  Really helpful considering I had to buy the new car battery.

Still lamenting my lack of potatoes, but I will overcome!

savingholmes

Glad your check came

Tahlullah.H

All good here.  Went shopping and bought potatoes!!  You really do miss it as a staple.  Have spend the last week swaying between fixing or selling.  Along with that comes looking to see what is available to buy, and there is nothing that gives me what I want.  Actually, there was one property that genuinely met my requirements, but I acknowledge it was already £50K more than I wanted to pay.  And by the time I have done the work on mine to sell, plus all the fees associated with selling, it would push the amount I would get for mine down, plus it will have gone, so probably nothing I really want when the time comes. 

So many badly appointed properties, where you would have to swap layouts, move bedrooms to make bathrooms etc.  I thought I had a load of work to do!!  So, I am going to stay here and stick with my original plan.  It's just that I have more work to do on top.  Woke up this morning and looked at the view, and questioned my sanity as to why I even considered moving.

My Umbrella plant keeps dropping all its leaves.  It is starting to look a bit bald!  
I made another payment into the mortgage, so this is still going well.  Waiting to see if my twice cancelled winter holiday that was carried over to this year will happen, and if not then I will ask for a refund and put it towards the works on the house.

I had a full 5 NSD's until yesterday when I went to buy my potatoes.  Life seems a little strange at  moment.  Losing sight of why I am doing what I am doing.  Why spend all this time trying to pay the mortgage off when I could catch covid and die?  shouldn't I just enjoy life and my money whilst I can?  Perhaps when covid is under control, then look to restricting my spend and re-evaluate my life in pursuit of this particular dream?  I am really re-thinking this MFW dream.

Anyway, on to my dream of renting out a room in the house - this is dependent on the builder.  I am now looking to see if I should rent out my garden to campers - tent campers.  It seems you don't need any form of permission or licence if you do it for 28 days max, but some things I am reading say this has been extended to 56 days, with a maximum of 3 nights at a time.  Just long enough for a weekend.  Plus, the neighbours can't object.   Anyway, I have water in my garden, plus a patio area with a chimenea, and if I put up a small utility tent with the camping toilet in, this may just attract someone who wants to camp with a great view, but wants a bit more privacy than being surrounded by lots of other tents. 

There is nothing to stop you doing this immediately, so this may be my next money making plan, until I can get the builder in to do the work on the house.  So, next step is to look at how to advertise my garden.  I assume it would be easiest using Airbnb.  Feeling positive again.

TallGirl

Sounds sensible you cannot beat a good view and making something yours. Moving is costly business with all the fees and costs. Well done on the 5 nsd potatoes are en essential. Stay safe and try and keep upbeat I know it's hard.