Tales from the city

ani*fan

Thanks everyone. Exciting times, although things are calmer at the moment as we wait for the survey to get done and for our mortgage to be properly agreed. Life insurance is in place and ready to go so we're getting there.

I'm trying to get my assignment done for my course. It's taking a while as it's quite lengthy. Due date: Monday 5th of June, so plenty of time. It's almost finished but will need some editing and some parts rewritten.

I've fallen behind with a few wedding tasks that need doing. My mum is going to find me a new dressmaker to adjust my dress as the one I had planned to use has started closing her shop and just not showing up for days on end. I hope she's ok, but I can't risk my dress being somewhere like that. The invites need sent out for those who are travelling from quite a distance.

Phew. There really is too much going on right now. I need to keep my head down and just keep ticking off 'to do' lists.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Jo_Blogs

Great going ani*fan and congratulations all round :T

ani*fan

Hi Jo Blogs. Yes, it's exciting times here. Thanks for that, and for dropping by.

Well me and OH have been having a think about renovations on the new flat. I've been doing loads of sums and whichever way I look at it, to do it quickly and buy things new is going to cost an absolute fortune. And this would have to go on credit. I have worked so hard to get these credit cards down, and there is still a long way to go, so the thought of more debt is quite frankly depressing. So we made some decisions.

We decided that all cosmetic work, paint, carpets and new furniture will be sourced from freecycle, gumtree and other very cheap places. I had a quick look online and found someone giving away a carpet that would fit our new bedroom and a fitted kitchen for £250. I figure there is just so much stuff in the world, lots of it going to landfill, that if we intervene in time we can kit out our new flat for pennies, paid as we go from our wages, so no debt. This is really exciting!

And as if by magic, OH's pal was getting rid of a sofa and double bed. They're in great nick and match our new colour scheme so he dropped them off yesterday and they're in our spare room, ready to go. I love it! He wouldn't take any cash at all but will be round for a couple of beers once we move in. OH's mum is giving us a fridge freezer and my mum is lending us a counter top oven until the kitchen is sorted. It's all good.

OH's parents have lent us £6k to help with the deposit and other bits. It was too much really, and some of that is being used to keep the cashflow going. i.e. we'll be getting our £1k deposit back from our rented flat. Once we're moved and everything is settled, we'll have £2k left. I would like to give them it right back and turn the £6k loan into a £4k loan but it will depend.

The flat might need rewiring and that'll need to be done before we move in. So we'll need to pay rent plus mortgage for a week or two, and the cost of the rewire. If it doesn't need rewired I may just feel I won the lottery. Need to wait and see.

Also we'll need new windows and doors as the current ones are almost falling out. We have both agreed that 0% finance and getting this done as fast as we possibly can is the way to do this. So we'll have that debt too.

Other than that we're keeping debt to a minimum. And that feels like exactly the right thing to do. Maybe I'll even get some big overpayments made on my CCs.

ani*fan

In other mse efforts, we have been sat here wearing jumpers and cosy socks in an attempt to avoid putting the heating on and keep the final gas bill down. It's been very sunny here but brr, pretty chilly. I wish our downstairs neighbours would hurry back from wherever they've gone and put their heating on, it's never this cold in here! I don't know what else I can do to save final bill costs, except for switching off lights, the bathroom fan, etc. I'm on it though.

The kitten has switched to own brand cat food. I had her on branded kitten food for a while but she's a big girl now and often eats purrball's leftovers so they're now both on the same thing. That'll save a few pennies.

We're busy using up all the food in our cupboards so we can have less to move when the time comes. We had sushi rice with our thai curry last night (bought when I had a notion to make sushi a fair few months ago). It was yummy.

Me and OH haven't even discussed a night out, meal out or anything else since the new flat became a possibility. Some things are just much more important. I'm so excited this morning! I want to move now!

ani*fan

I just looked up our sofa to see how much it would have cost new...£849!!! :money:

ani*fan

The mortgage has now been agreed so we're good to go.

We're just waiting on the survey results. Rang the guy yesterday, he didn't get back to us then when we phoned again he had gone home. :mad:

We're going to try and get access to check the electrics and better plan a moving in date. Fingers crossed they don't mind that.

I have never seen OH so stressed in all our time together. I think copious amounts of wine will be required this weekend to hold it all together.

What an emotional rollercoaster this is. Our own home!

ani*fan

The survey was fine. We're going to be moving home soon.

:beer::j:T:):D:beer::j:T

in_need_of_direction

lucky lucky you. well done

ani*fan

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

lucky lucky you. well done

Thank you INOD. I am feeling very lucky at the minute.

So once we knew we were definitely moving I got on gumtree and started looking for stuff. I found a massive, excellent quality carpet for £65 that will fit our new living room beautifully. :money: I thought this would be a tricky room to carpet because it's 4.5m x 4.9m and I fully expected to pay hundreds of pounds for one but no. We're going to pick it up on Monday.

I also found a large wooden dining table, exactly the style we like, for £40 minimum bid on fleabay. Fingers crossed I get it, I'll find out on Tuesday.

This is great fun. So many bargains to be had, so much stuff in the world that no-one knows what to do with. Gotta love it at times like this.

ani*fan

I just edited my signature and it's not appeared, what's going on?