Tales from the city

ani*fan

We heard back from the electrician and the news is good. :T There's about £350 of work that needs urgently doing to make the flat safe and liveable. The living room needs some serious work, which we knew given how the sockets looked. Also the cooker switch is not working and various other bits. He's going to get this done for us, and is also doing a full quote for everything else that needs doing but recommends we get a lot of it done as we go, once we're in, including the addition of more sockets, currently 2 in each room.

The bad news is that we only just realised we need to give 2 months notice on this place, not one. This could cost us £700. I'm very annoyed about this but having checked the letter after our last lease renewal, it did say. We just forgot. We have requested the lease gets ended early, and we plan to do our best when new tenants come to view. Surely if there is someone there to take on the property they won't hold us to 2 months' notice? I can't believe I overlooked this.

It may be that the rush to get the electrics fixed doesn't matter if we're stuck here for another month. Ah well.

Onwards to another debt busting day.

misstara

How annoying about the lease, 2 months is a long notice period. I hope you get it sorted.

ani*fan

Yes it is misstara, but we have someone interested in taking on the lease so it's all good.

I'm having a fairly miserable day debt busting wise.

I've been looking at the totals, still massive, and realised I've been resting on my laurels because the debt is so much smaller than it used to be. It is, however, still huge. Over £8k is a lot for one person to be dealing with.

And we're about to add the cost of new windows and also £6k to the future in- laws.

At that moment, I paid £25 of my monthly spends off the virgin credit card. But it's not enough, not even nearly enough.

I need to get my act together with it all.

hiddenshadow

Don't be too hard on yourself - I wracked up over $40k in debt on my own. We all make mistakes.

You're moving in the right direction, even if the steps are super baby-esque.

ani*fan

Thanks hiddenshadow. I really needed to hear that. Just need to keep moving forward.

I have to say, my nerves are now jangling about the flat purchase. We need to close the HTB isa but the banks are shut now til Tuesday by which point another £200 will be on it's way to the account. Good news for us, extra £50 bonus, but we'll need to wait then a day or two til it clears. Then transfer all the cash to our current account and get a closing statement to our conveyancer so he can issue a new bill, minus the anticipated bonus. Then the deposit and fees will be paid. That will be the biggest bill I've ever paid in my life.

This is nerve wracking. There is so much to think about my brain may be about to explode. The table is not as long as was advertised and is going to be a great fit. And it's beautiful, and a bargain. Relief! We have a bed to sleep in but it needs a mattress topper. And we have a sofa to sit on. That's all the furniture we're taking to start us off. We have a couple of garden chairs to use at the dining table so it's all good.

The fridge/freezer (free!) will be delivered a couple of days after we get the keys. The electrician is in that day too, fixing everything. I will be picking up the oven from my mum before then. We have boxes at OH's work that just need to be brought home to start packing.

We need to inform the coucil, the gas and electricity people and our phone/tv/internet provider. We need to clean this place until it's spick and span, really want all of our deposit back although the cats have damaged the sofa a bit so we'll see. We need to book a van for moving day, but we're not exactly sure when that will be yet.

I think it's all in hand, but it's very nerve wracking. I'll be so glad to not be renting anymore. This place has been great, but how much better to not have your home inspected every 3 months by strangers who walk in and nose around. I really can't wait to be in the new place. I've struggles to concentrate at work this week, I just can't seem to settle, there is too much to do and I want to get on with it now.

Happy Sunday everyone.

in_need_of_direction

You're doing really well. The big difference here is that there will be something tangible for the debt. Don't be getting confused between buying an asset and just frivolous spends.

Igamogam

If you are having new sockets put in or replaced consider having some put in with USB port fir charging etc We have had some done around the house and it's really handy

hiddenshadow

I recommend keeping a chart/diary of key dates/things that need to be done, and only worry about whatever things are on that day. I remember anxiously waiting for our house purchase, but there's only so many things you can focus on/worry about at one time.

Glad the table size worked out ok.

ani*fan

Thank you everyone for the good advice. USB ports Igamogam, BRILLIANT idea. :T Thanks!

Thought I'd do a quick debt tally as all the minimum payments have gone out and I've managed a few overpayments too.

Debt total today is £8,290

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

Smaller than it's ever been.

Still a long way to go, but I'm keeping on going.

hiddenshadow

So close to sub-£8k!