our forever patch challenge

sammy70

The mortgage balance today, after Decembers interest added is -£137,857.93
According to the Halifax mortgage hub, we can overpay £13,968.47 in 2024 without penalty, so thats the aim..

Our water system needs replacing this year, either borehole, or mains. We are currently going through the rigmarole of getting a price for mains, then we will decide.. Im guessing due to the distance to road from our house we are looking at £30,000for mains , i hope im wrong but lets see.. the borehole option is £25,000. so either way we have a lot of saving to do. We have the money in p.bonds, so we basically need to replace the cost to replenish our full emergency fund, which will be a 24 month payment plan if the costs are what we think.

2024 will be a year of working as much as possible to pay for the work.. its a labour of love though because we love our home and any upgrades are for our beneifit, and add value to the property too

sammy70

a lovely £300 win on the p.bonds for us! that will be re-invested in bonds for the water project..

sammy70

surveyor from y.water been , we are now awaiting quote/plan, then i need to get the company out to quote for pipe laying..
An expensive week, fee for y.water to come to price for mains connection- £275, plus water certificate £30.. Then CCTV hard drive conked, cost  £300 to replace, and last but not least, my little run around failed mot, £800 for required work. Phew!! so much for saving...

South_coast

Yes, but you're so good at saving - doing some spending gives you an opportunity to get stuck into saving again 🤣👍

sammy70

y.water e.mailed yesterday to say the water certificate i sent is not on their list so i have to provide another, im fuming! they sent the link for the required one, and you need a degree in plumbing to complete it!! ive called them, awaiting call back from the lady who sent the e.mail, as im stuck on completeing the information.. 

Made a decent payment to p.bonds this week, as hubby recieved xmas bonus, so that at least is a positive.. its like pulling teeth getting jobs done, and we havent even got to the quote part of the water system yet..

sammy70

managed to sort the water authority quote at last! and came in slightly less then anticipated! the pipework company coming wednesday to quote for their side, fingers crossed its not going to be out of the budget..

The latest storm is here, 50/60mph winds meaning no cafe opening this week, gazebos down again a nd secured.i think this is the worst winds we have had for a long time, quite scary..

Fortune_Smiles

sammy70 said:

managed to sort the water authority quote at last! and came in slightly less then anticipated! the pipework company coming wednesday to quote for their side, fingers crossed its not going to be out of the budget..

The latest storm is here, 50/60mph winds meaning no cafe opening this week, gazebos down again a nd secured.i think this is the worst winds we have had for a long time, quite scary..

57mph gusts for us right now Sammy.  Not too scary at the moment as the wind isn't lifting the tiles.  That happens sometimes and they drop down again with an enormous thud and fighten the life out of me but I think it depends on the wind direction.

Hope the storm is kind to you.

Fortune x

LadyWithAPlan

keep safe 

sammy70

A new month, and the start of our new 5 year fixed rate deal. Im hoping this could be our last, it would be heaven to have the mortgage cleared 60 months!
Sadly with the expensive projects we are facing in the same time period, its looking unlikely, but lets see.

The balance today- the interest for January hasnt been applied yet- is £135,600 .
Overpaid in January- £1275.46, if we could do this every month we could have it paid in 60 month more or less, but thats without paying out for water and heating projects.. sooooo frustrating , money and lack of it drives you nuts!!

We are still awaiting the quote for the pipework, but its not looking good, as they have been back to re-look at the land, as we have a high bedrock content in this area, hence laying pipes is difficult/expensive.. lets see..

sammy70

quote for pipework, connection fee etc means total cost for mains water will be £44,000!! but.. now we have another issue, as some pipework needs to be laid across neighbours land.. the farmer who owns it has recently passed away, leaving all land/farmhouse etc to his nephew. A long estranged daughter is contesting the will, meaning a long courtcase/dispute is in motion. The nephew says he cant give permission for the pipework until everything is settled, so we are stuck in limbo.. Also, the pipe company are saying they will need to do testholes at a cost of £2500 before commencing, as if there is solid bedrock it may increase time and cost!!
We are really fed up with it, im starting to think we should go back to the borehole idea, with everything on our own land, we would just have to get the filtration system serviced each year, but we would be in control of it..