Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Kittenkirst

Fab news last night is that the surveyor for the flat sale seems to think the flat will cross the line before the new house does- if this happens it is great as will save us spending the £5700 on additional stamp duty to have to reclaim later. Hurrah!

Yesterday was an NSD and free lunch as had suppliers visited- even had a few free skinny lattes which was a lovely treat.

Worked from home today (no petrol used!) and got lots done; off out for dinner tonight, it's been in the diary really nice and trying a really highly rated place so I have everything crossed for it being a good night!

Just been to visit a dear friend who's having a tough old time, I will make a effort to keep checking in on her and popping over for cuppas, don't know if it will help but will hopefully make her feel that people care.

In financial news I've managed to lock out my internet banking so will have to call the bank tomorrow morning to do my money shuffling.

Class last night was fab, great to be back in the workshop and I made a cute bangle (that I want to keep for me )

Kittenkirst

Had a fab meal out last night with friends at a beautiful restaurant! The food was fab and all round a great evening. Not cheap but it's been planned in and budgeted for so we both really enjoyed it. The couple have recently bought a new build too so we're giving us tips and ideas which was insightful too!

Unintentional trip into city centre today to open a joint account didn't go quite as planned- due to branch closures all the banks we popped into need appointments booked two weeks in advance! :embarasse

On the plus side we had a NSD which I'm quite pleased with.
We
•parked a bit out of town and walked in
•used our John Lewis vouchers for a free cuppa & cake each (saved £12.40!!!)
•used some samples in boots of the Dior face cream & serum I love as well as a hand cream and a perfume I have my eye on
•avoided buying any food (our big weakness) and talked about sorting through clothes/things when we get into the house to assess what we really need and buy accordingly, rather than at whim!
•checked my boots advantage card which I assumed had £1 or so on it to find there's £14 on it! I've been eyeing up getting new foundation which I will treat myself too once I've used up the remains of a few bottles I've had hanging around!

I've also found chargers out of storage for the few bits to pop on eb*y tomorrow and am massively looking forward to our date day tomorrow- off to see my favorite film Labyrinth and use our nectar point vouchers for Pizza Express for supper (swapped £5 of nectar for two pizza voucher!) :money:

Feeling all relaxed and chilled!

Kittenkirst

Yesterday was a fab day- finally saw the Goblin King on the big screen and had a lovely lunch out with the girlfriend. Another fairly cheap day out for us both as we:
•parked out of town again
•used our pizza express nectar voucher so paid £12 for drinks and polenta chips/tip
•Used some nice face cream from John Lewis and some fancy hand cream too!

We came home and I listed 5 DVD's on eBay to finish next Sunday and dug out chargers for the kobo & kindle so will photo and create draft listings for those this week.
We also sold an old game boy game for £27 so will post that off today!

Going to have a rummage through the car boot boxes and look at listing some of the items on eBay over the next few weeks and see if they go that way first!

Brought packed food and coffees in today to start the week as we mean to go on too and feeling all inspired.

The lovely GF flies off for work tomorrow until Thursday night so hoping to get 5 items per night drafted in eBay- that's my mini challenge for th week....wish me luck

Pearla*Merle

Sounds like a lovely weekend! And love the Labyrinth, that must have been amazing seeing it on the big screen! Think it's about time I cracked the DVD out again actually... do you think I could sit close to the telly and get the same effect? :rotfl:

You're doing really great with all the monsaving and moneymaking schemes! Good luck with eBay

EatingTheElephant

Such a great film, must have been amazing to see it on the big screen. Good luck with your eBay challenge.

Kittenkirst

It really was fab seeing it up on the big screen- I may follow your lead Pearla*Merle and sit next to the tv next time I watch the DVD :P

This week has been a little hectic- finally got notification that we're completing on the 30th!!!!!!

Exciting times indeed.

had a bit of a headache with the solicitors financial statement they drew up- first time it was missing half our deposit :eek::eek::eek:
That's now sorted but they still entered the wrong amount so it's been updated again.

Checking all financials I was still £1003 off from my list- appears Barratts have added that £1003 onto our 'extras' with no notification. The solicitors are querying it, and we have emailed them also but they never seem to reply to emails.....!!

Have had a browse in the NEXT VIP sale, very tempted by everything but trying to think practical first- I don't neeeeed hundreds of cute cushions!:p

Cashed out £26 from Pinecone which is fab :money: and the eBay drafts are going well; will update on that front on Sunday night however only 1 in 5 items on ending Sunday have bids. Worth a try with free listings though

misscousinitt

Exciting times - only a week away - bet you can't wait!!!

MCI

Kittenkirst

Today has been a very spendy day!

Managed to survive a trip to town and avoided eating a breakfast out by buying some fresh cobs and sausages from the butchers (£2.37 for four of us instead of £15+ for brekkie for two. Had a freebie from Starbucks so we got a large and split it into two. That's where the good MSE behavior stopped.

Trip to town was to open our first joint account, for bills & groceries. We opened with TSB and wil hope to do a switch deal in the new year

Went to show home to find out about options and we do owe £1000 more as it's for the over bath shower- due to Barratts changing systems it doesn't show on our options statement....so another £500 for my share that I'll be paying on Friday :eek:

Saw our actual house today and went round into the garden and saw our French doors however we spotted that they have not put the right lights in the kitchen...we paid extra to have spotlights in the kitchen with a pendant over the dining table area- they've put two pendants in so we had a chat and they are going to get it sorted asap!

Went to a tile place and didn't like any of the tiles but stopped in at a trade kitchen place and have reserved our insinkerator hot, cold & warm mixer tap....£650 plus costs for a plumber to instal.

We both also got a little excited at the next sale online VIP slots and have ordered a few wall mirrors and lots of light fittings which should all be delivered for our first week in house....£500 later we stopped adding to basket

We won't buy anything else now until we have the keys and can sort the fitted wardrobes & flooring.

Only 7 days to go now

Kittenkirst

Eb*y update: only 1 of 6 items sold however that dvd went for £7.25 wooop :money:

Listed five more items last night so didn't quite hit the amount I set as targets but relisted the items that didn't sell too.

Managed to buy some new boots in my local supermarket at lunch- 25% off today and will replace my well loved and redeemed 4x lace up knee high boots. £49 well spent on vouchers too!

House front: paid for
house contents & building insurance- cash back through quidco and a free nest smoke detector.
life insurance for me- £5.5 a month for five years- cash back through quidco
tap is now paid for, will collect it tomorrow

All in all a rather speedy day- tomorrow is college after work so will pack breakfast, lunch & snacks to prevent a stop at services for food at 6pm!

We have a big announcement at work tomorrow and rumors of re-structures. Fingers crossed for good news (which would be a secure role even if it's different to the one I do now)

misscousinitt

Almost there.

it's so easy to get carried away with the spending (I am going through the same thing with the kitchen at the moment) - but it will be fine and it will look lovely!

When you have MSE ways, it's easier to pay off the spends afterwards and you tend not to worry about it as much.

MCI