From Flat to Farmhouse

Watty1

Oh my goodness you've moved. Can't you shabby chic rennovate the kitchen then snaffle the lot for a horse pot? writes the owner of 3 horses and no cash

FloppyDisk

If only! The kitchen isn't a desperate need but it will improve the house so much and I do have free rein (ha) to ride friends horses so, although not the same as my own, actually buying one would be a bit indulgent at the moment. And I'm afraid that producing some small people probably comes higher up the pecking order too so a Floppy horse is very much a pipe dream, much like the Farm House that I am clinging onto!

Watty1

ah well small people need lead rein ponies.... err ... then second ponies and natives might make a nice mum/small person share .... just putting it out there

FloppyDisk

I know, I known hence the need to move on to somewhere with our own land! Probably going to need at least a million squid or we leave all our friends and head towards Wales or oop north.

I was quite struck by something our MD said in a presentation a little while ago, and that was that you can't save your way to prosperity. There's always a few posts around here questioning whether being MF is the right path, and the general answer is of course to spread across pensions and ISAs but paying off the debt has such a psychological boost and chimes with my low risk nature!

OH now has plans to start up his own business which sets off all my alarms but could be just what we need so I am determined not to meddle and try to de-risk everything but let him focus on the opportunity while I focus on the low risk property side of things. Theres plenty to keep me busy, the flat tenants have been there nearly 2 years, the lease still needs renewing and it needs a new bathroom still. I say need, but it was snapped up when it went on the rent market so maybe it doesn't need it and I am just being a bit romantic about my old home. Maybe it does need because I could increase the rent - so I really need to do some valuations and work out how long it will take to recoup the cost.

Anyway, the plan is to have our Farm House in 10 years time. I'll set myself a pie in the sky target to contribute 600k in equity and OH can sort out the rest by making sure he can get a (short??) mortgage for the rest. And somehow fit in kids and ponies and dogs along the way???? EASY.

Watty1

i love a plan. I'm thinking about that comment you can't save your way to prosperity and in a way I think you can you just have to know where you are going early on. If 30 years ago I had thought about FIRE I could have kept the little town house (massive equity) and not played the property game. Sure I ended up with a large house with land etc but had I kept that house and still done the same jobs I could have stopped work around about 35 ....my outgoings would have been so much lower if I had kept the same life but just let the income grow. I even started a pension plan in my early 20s but abandoned it for spending the money I think I could have saved my way not perhaps into prosperity of the super rich but still into a position where I would not have needed to work. I only needed to work really when we bought this place and got the horses :rotfl:

FloppyDisk

Yes horses do re-define the meaning of prosperity don't they? :rotfl: We could have moved into the flat and be very close to being mortgage free by now, but we wouldn't be able to have our lovely daft dog.

Savingtomove

Hi Floppy disk! :j

I have just come across your diary and am subscribing as you have very similar goals to me! We are currently in a family home and hoping to move.somehwere with land in two years time. I have been horseless for 10 years but hoping to change this once we move despite 2 little people!!

I look forward.to seeing how you get on!!

FloppyDisk

Hello savingtomove! Nice to meet you, what are your moving timescales? Have they been 10 totally horse free years or have you got anything you can steal from friends?

I guess I will have to keep this diary up to date now!
Not much to report except an annoying vet bill for the dog making a bit of a dent in things. All good now, I paid up and didn't think about using the insurance as it was only just over £100 but maybe I ought to? Meh.
I am all set for the week with meals planned and a full fridge, speaking of which we have 2 fridges, both pretty tiny, but I have managed to squeeze everything into one rather than power both. Probably won't notice it at all on the bills but worth a try.

savingholmes

Subscribed - good luck on your journey

FloppyDisk

A few little steps forward this week, work have potentially found a new role for me that would be a step up. I wasn't really looking to progress but I am a bit bored at the moment and a pay rise would be nice! It has a few logistical challenges about where I would be working which makes me revert back to staying where I am but that doesn't fit with my new motto to go beyond saving money -I really need to make more of the stuff, at least for now.

The other bit of progress is getting quotes for the lease extension which I WILL start this week!

:beer: happy Sunday all!