I really really want to be........mortgage free!

ourcornercottage

AlexLK wrote: »

Good luck with all your targets for next year

What are you planning to do to the house?

Thanks for the good luck I may need it

House targets are

Remove one big border in garden and lay grass (country cottage garden and 7 old don't go well:rotfl:) - cost low £200 but back breaking

Remove one or even two big trees in garden ( we had 4 big trees that we don't want, getting rid of at least 1 per year. Our garden was the ladies full time job who lived here before!) cost about £500-£1000

Replace guttering for whole house - approx £2000-£3000 tbc it's a guesstimate. This is the one job I really want to get done in 2016 above any other

Renovate bed 3 approx £1000-£1250 depending upon final finish.

Edit forgot to mention the fencing that needs replacing. Once again non standard size etc so will need to be made for us. £500 ish.

Would love to start on main bathroom too but that's probably a £3000-£5000 job depending on final finish so that may go over to 2017. Perhaps start labouring part 2016 and then bit that cost 2017!

My want to do list is sooooo much longer but we have to consider finances.

Would like to remove 1 hedge and move gate, replace with new gate but that will roll over to 2017 too costs circa £1000+) but really improve our drive.
Would like to get rid of massive horse chestnut tree (costs circa £1000+).
Would love to get on mains sewage costs £2-3000),
Would love to removable replace curtains in lounge (there are 6 non standard Windows) (guesstimate £500-£1000).
Would love to replace all 3 doors but would need wooden and will be expensive. (£????)
Would love to replace fireplace and woodburner with a non horrible 1970's one (£3000) but that will mean we need to replace carpet too and the room is huge.
Then there's the rest of the downstairs to consider!!!

My house is a real long term doer upper project but we did get it cheaper so can't complain.

edinburgher

ourcornercottage wrote: »

That looks like a good starter for me. Thanks for the tip. How's the panels going I got 10kw today the best day all month I think!

0.1

Then again, I looked like a drowned rat by the time I got home! :rotfl:

Debsnewbudget wrote: »

Is that book really worth £24 ?

Deb

I would argue that reading Smarter Investing and putting the steps set out into action is all that you need to do for a decent retirement (you'll still have to save plenty of money!) If you have a £10,000 pension pot, £24 is 0.24% of that amount.

Many funds charge treble that for an annual management fee. So yes, I'd argue that it's money well spent. It has formed the cornerstone of how myself and Mrs E plan for retirement.

Also, worth checking your library for this, or an earlier version, it's very well known.

gallygirl

edinburgher wrote: »

I would argue that reading Smarter Investing and putting the steps set out into action is all that you need to do for a decent retirement (you'll still have to save plenty of money!) If you have a £10,000 pension pot, £24 is 0.24% of that amount.

Many funds charge treble that for an annual management fee. So yes, I'd argue that it's money well spent. It has formed the cornerstone of how myself and Mrs E plan for retirement.

Also, worth checking your library for this, or an earlier version, it's very well known.

Seconded. And the earlier version is fine - it's the principles that count. Wish I had read it years ago .

edinburgher

You did alright GG

ourcornercottage

Not a NSD. £5 spent on Christmas stuff and £40 to school clubs, raffle tickets etc. At this time of year school seems to rinse the money out of me!

Spoke with miniOCCs teacher yesterday who showed us end of year test they do. It's sooooo hard for 7 year olds I just can't believe it. I printed off some example papers today so he can do a few pages at home to get used to it. I think the omega 3 (aka magic brain juice!) is helping a little bit.

End of this month is going to be mad money wise need to keep a close eye on things. Have requested relevant forms to close virgin money trusts

edinburgher

Decision well made, your future self says 'thanks!'

Luckyinlife

Some amazing plans there OCC :] will be a different place once you get on top of it

I know it can be a drag when your living there but be worth it

I love the fact you can look at the panels each day to see how much they produce

Just out of interest do they produce anything on a clear night when the moon is bright ?

norfolkdream

your changes sound great, I am planning on doing my bathroom and kitchen next year. I might do a bespoke kitchen (my kitchen isnt that big) so I can take advantage of storage savers and tricks.

Your house and garden sound huge! A big job.

ourcornercottage

Luckyinlife wrote: »

Some amazing plans there OCC :] will be a different place once you get on top of it

I know it can be a drag when your living there but be worth it

I love the fact you can look at the panels each day to see how much they produce

Just out of interest do they produce anything on a clear night when the moon is bright ?

Thanks lil it can be a a drag at times but we would never be able to afford this house done so needs must

The panels don't work at night but do in the summer late evening sunshine at this time of year they stop generating at about 4pm.

Today I've been to school Christmas fair so that's £10 gone. It was fantastic though and school was really happy as they've done extremely well in the ks2 tests, in fact they couldn't have done better! MiniOCC is extremely lucky to go there and you really couldn't get better at a non fee paying school.

Since miniOCCs been having the omega 3 his behaviour has really improved, surprisingly his reading has gone up a notch too, it's really improved. It's only been 2 weeks or so and the difference is amazing. He's on reading level 10 now and has been put up 2 levels in the last month. I'm so proud of him as hes not a naturally gifted academic and struggles with concentration but he try's so hard and I think level 10 at age 7 for a boy with concentration issues is as good as we can expect. We awe working on maths too at the moment too so hopefully the improvement will go into maths too :j

In other money news I've had a £5.55 payout from TCB and another £80 confirmed. Have £60 left of my personal spends to last a week so I'm going to have £40-£50 left which is really great considering its Christmas!

Money is still shuffling around okay, checking it daily at the moment so ensure everything is in the right place at the right time.

I am also going to order that investing book today, it's my main aim for 2016 to increase my knowledge in this area.

ourcornercottage

norfolkdream wrote: »

your changes sound great, I am planning on doing my bathroom and kitchen next year. I might do a bespoke kitchen (my kitchen isnt that big) so I can take advantage of storage savers and tricks.

Your house and garden sound huge! A big job.

I'm thinking about a bespoke kitchen too, it's worth spending extra to get what you want and it'll last a lifetime. Bathroom I'm undecided upon yet, our current one is browny orange and as the tiles from the 70's are dropping off, there's another set underneath from a decade earlier :eek: anything will be an improvement!

Our house isn't that big but it really needs everything done on it so might seem big. Every room needs renovating and we are lucky to have a big master bed and big lounge. We were lucky to get for the price as the old guy really wanted a family in it who loved it so he let us have it for our maximum budget which was £50k less than he'd been hoping for. He was right, we do absolutely love it here.

The garden is 1/4 acre but the lady who had it before had enough plants and trees as if it was 10 acres! There are 6 plum trees, 3 apples, 1 pear, 1 walnut (coming down), 1 spruce style (coming down), 1 massive horse chestnut (coming down) as well as some others I don't know what they are. TBH it is completely ridiculous and she must have had to work on it full time to keep it under control.