Black Cat's Year

black_cat

We actually hope to move house and increase the mortgage before paying it off early!
Here's to a great 2016 :beer:

black_cat

We started overpaying the mortgage in January 2014 even though we were still paying off some debt - I just rounded the figure down to the nearest £100 each month. Over the past two years that has equalled an extra three mortgage payments. Now that we're debt-free we'd like to move house. However, we still want to pay off the mortgage as soon as possible. Although this is my diary, DH is on board.

I love the new year so this is the ideal time for me to move forward. No resolutions this year but I do have goals, plans and dreams!

newgirly

Best of luck

black_cat

OK - I managed just two posts on my MFW diary! How's that for commitment? It's been a good 7 months financially but work's been very stressful. I'm (we're) back on track now. Still looking to move house but we've got the funds to do some work on the current property to help it sell more quickly. We could soon be in the position to pay a sizable chunk off our mortgage so the thought of staying where we are and being mortgage-free is very attractive...

So, I think the plan is to:

1. get the house up to scratch
2. pay off the mortgage
3. decide a budget for moving - or stay where we are

Let's see what we can get done by the end of the year

edinburgher

You'll know what's likely to work best for your own situation, but do consult a few estate agents before expending any significant amounts of money doing up your current place. We had all sorts of plans for things we *could* have improved about our old flat, but all the EA advised us that we'd be better off leaving them to whoever came after us. We still got a very satisfactory price

black_cat

Edinburgher - thank you for the advice, much appreciated. Most would be cosmetic and not cost much but we do need new damp-proofing and I'm concerned that that might put some buyers off. Two houses near us have sold recently and, although I don't know exactly what they sold for, the better one was on for £12,500 more than the other. We're getting the quotation for the damp-proofing next week so I'll contact then estate agent after that.

black_cat

Today:

• Exchanged euros and put £150 in the bank
• Free Costa lunch and coffee break using points
• Charity Shop brand new Boden jacket for £10 - excellent for work and will go with lots of things
• Took two big bags of clothes and books to the charity shop - cleared some space
• Took three pairs of shoes to cobbler to be re-heeled ready for autumn/winter

I decided a couple of weeks ago not to buy any new clothes, shoes, accessories or jewellery until I've got to my target weight (I've lost 1st 11lbs so far). The only exception will be underwear! I don't want that to be an excuse to go mad in charity shops though - I'm a MFW, after all! I'm also sorting all my clothes out (hence donation to CS), so that the big stuff goes, I wear all that I've got and I make the bedroom look bigger when it comes to sell.

I'm actually looking forward to going back to work next week - fewer opportunities to spend money - although I'm pretty focussed right now.

black_cat

Used £40 of Nectar points to stock up on offers (things we usually buy) - including hairspray, hair dye, coffee, rice, loo roll - as well as the week's food shopping.
Road tax paid today - £30 for the whole year!
Lovely salad for dinner - healthy and cheap.
Washing dried on airers.
Spreadsheet updated.
Still working on organising wardrobe...

black_cat

Survey for damp-proofing done today. Approximate quotation is £3-4,000. That included re-plastering, radiators and new skirting boards. I'll be really pleased if it comes in at under £5,000 as our total home-improvement budget is £10,000!
Current plans:

• Clear downstairs as much as possible (tip, storage, upstairs) - September, week 1
• Strip hall, stairs and landing wallpaper - September, week 1
• Damp proofing, plastering and skirting boards - September, weeks 2-4
• External house painting - September, week 4
• Replace fence and gate side entrance - September, week 4
• Replace blown panes (spare room, bath room, conservatory) - October, week 1
• Paint downstairs wood work and ceilings - October, week 2
• Begin painting downstairs (sitting room, kitchen and conservatory) - October half term
• Paint spare room wood work and ceiling -
• Strip wallpaper and remove lighting and curtains in master bedroom -
• Paint entire master bedroom -
• Redecorate (or gut) bathroom -
• Redecorate hall, stairs and landing -
• Laminate flooring in sitting room, bathroom and hall -
• Re-carpet stairs, landing, and bedrooms -
• Lay conservatory flooring -
• Sort out garage - February half term

All by Christmas (or February half term, more likely)!
Decide to stay put or put house on the market spring 2017
I'm sure it will take longer than that - but those are my plans :j

black_cat

MFW small steps:

• Washing drying on line
• Oats for breakfast
• Emptied 20 sachets of sweetener into the "sugar" bowl (collected over the weeks)
• Picked up shoes from cobbler and organized wardrobe - everything sorted for going back to work
• Washing up done
• Played with cats - free entertainment
• Free car-parking

I can't wait for the damp-proofing quotation to come in as it seems manageable and we can start moving things along...

black_cat

Visit to the zoo today - "free" as we're members (great value for money). Spent £15 on coffee and lunch for 2 but we've been invited out for dinner so that will be free!:)