Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Kittenkirst

Today has been a bit of a pants day- we both had organisational updates to attend where we were told our jobs are changing and we may be out into collective consultations- a number of jobs will go but we will know more Mid October.

Really not great timing but will try not to panic until we know more next month.....

Kittenkirst

I'm so excited I have been awake for hours! Today is our new home demo where they talk us through how everything works

Squeeeeeeal!

I have today & tomorrow off work so will be calling flooring peeps to come & measure for quotes, plumber to fit the insinkerator tap, picking up the tap and then lots a trip to a sofa place that's been recommended.

We've both fallen in love with some Next sofas, however I've been told they have a lot of faults so am going to do some internet review checking. We've agreed to wait on the sofas until after the 13th when we know whether we are impacted by potential redundancy or not.

gallygirl

Exciting times :j. Good luck on the redundancy

Check out M&S sofas, loads of styles and fabrics.

Kittenkirst

Phew! It's been a busy few days

We have finally completed on our first home. :happyhear :j:T

We were given the keys yesterday (as Friday was a bad day in the Hindu calendar) and so far have completed the following:

:heartpuls Had a ritual to bless the house with the girlfriends family yesterday which was lovely
:heartpuls Tiles for the kitchen, bathroom & en suite purchased- haggled for a little discount (got £88 off!)
:heartpuls Met the tiler who has measured up and quoted- booked in to start on Thursday morning to do kitchen & two bathrooms.
:heartpuls Broadband, tv and phone line with sky- hunted round for best deal & got a FREE 32" tv and should get £140 cash back with quidco too :money:
:heartpuls got carpet quote for upstairs from a guy who came out to measure up, have another company in for Friday morning to compare
:heartpuls. Booked a snagging company in for Friday afternoon (not cheap but very much recommended by friends who've recently bought)
:heartpuls booked in wardrobe fitters to measure up & quote (3 firms booked in and will then look at DIY options too)
:heartpuls ordered two sofas and dining table suite from Next- no cashback or discount but we both loved at first sight (we hadn't agreed on any furniture on the months we'be been looking) so I'm very happy. Mum is buying the dining table & chairs as moving in present which is amazingly generous!

Am pleased with the tiler as we got several tile & tiler quotes and most wanted £1300 for the kitchen alone. We'be managed it on £1400 for adding two bathrooms & got tiles we love too!

All cashback will be going into the OP pot too as we've agreed op's will be minimal until Jan so we can ensure we have enough in bills accounts etc whilst we settle in (seems sensible approach so I couldn't argue too much despite my op excitement!)

House looks just fab, can't wait for it all to come together.
On today's list is changing the energy suppliers and a guy coming to quote for putting shelving into the larder and upstairs storage cupboard (would say airing cupboard but there's no boiler )

EatingTheElephant

Happy new home :beer:

Pearla*Merle

Hurrah! Great to hear you're finally on the move! Enjoy making it your own xx

Kittenkirst

Today's fun stuffs has been:
-Organising council tax: as not moving and furnishing until november we won't pay for October - woop!
- switched gas & elec to first utility ( uswitch showed them as the cheapest) went through quidco so hopefully £40 cashback will track

Took packed lunch into work and avoided spending any money....will be having pack ups for eternity at this rate :P

Tile delivery is scheduled for Wednesday morning so I have booked a few hours off work, and we have the laminate & wood floor fitter coming over Wednesday night to give us a quote for the lounge and hallway.

Been to the house and left a mug, kettle, coffee & tea stuffs so that I can take milk Thursday and the tiler can keep himself supplied with cuppas!

Also took back some light fittings from the next sale that we decided against today and picked up a cake for someone at work later in the week. It's been a busy day indeed!

Kindle sold last night for £33 so will box it up tonight and post it tomorrow whooop! More pennies in the pot!

Excited for cashback tracking and eventually paying as that will form our first overpayments before Christmas!!
Off to read some diaries for inspiration!

apple_muncher

Congratulations! Have fun making it your own place!

Kittenkirst

This week has definitely been eventful!

Silversmith class on Tuesday was fab as usual and as I had a work meeting nearby I got to use hire car there & back saving me a little petrol

Wednesday the tiles arrived, however they just leave the pallet of tiles out the front :O so I had to unpack it and lug all the kitchen & 2 bathroom tiles into the house, which were heavier than I thought. On the way back to work a lady broke down in front of me so I jumped out and helped her push her car to a side road....felt like superwoman after those two feats, however today my body feels a little broken!!

Quote received for the camaro wood effect vinyl for the lounge hall & wc which fits what we budgeted for so work should start on that on 17th

The (floor) tiler has started work yesterday so that's all underway for the two upstairs bathrooms & kitchen, and we had a fitted wardrobe consultation which was fab but am sure it's going to be too costly!

Another carpet firm coming to measure up at 9am, another wardrobe firm at 3pm and the snagging expert at some point this afternoon...going to have to fit this around work calls isn't going to be easy :O

Payday is next week, which is fab as my savings are almost gone but we have the stairs and bedroom carpets to pay for next so hoping we can get what we need but in a Budget friendly manner!

No further word on the dreaded redundancy word, first collective consultation is the 13th so we should start to hear more from then....fingers crossed! Although with ten years under my belt the payout would not be too shabby

Kittenkirst

Morning all! Can't sleep this morning so am awake (& a little grumpy :mad: !)

Managed to sell my kindle on eBay, however forgot to wipe my amazon details out so the buyer bought books on my account this morning. Swiftly removed all saved payment info, changed passwords & requested a refund. Rookie mistake so kicking myself that I didn't sort it pre posting!

Thanks to F0xh0les diary I signed up to streetlife website a few weeks ago- what a fab website! So on Sunday I picked up two mahoosive bags of windfall apple so Sunday evening & again last night were spent peeling, coring and chopping 4.5kg of apples! Made a chundo (think I spelt that right)- a spiced apple chutney/sauce and have taken spare pots for friends to work, will pop one to the lady who donated the apples to say thank you! There's another 3kg of apples in freezer bags freezing away nicely too for apple pies, apple sauces, apple crumbles etc over winter too!

There's still loads left so gf's mum is going to offer to neighbours when they pop into the shop share the love!

Tiler is working away at the house, awaiting a few more quotes for work and wardrobes. Hoping a chippy we know will undercut a big wardrobe firm but we will see, otherwise it's Ikea & DIY which is a little daunting

Finally bought some house things- pots & pans etc- at the weekend. We went to sa*nsburys as we have saved our monthly vouchers from work for over a year & also used the accumulated nectar points (£102.50!!) so practical stuff like duvets, pillows, saucepans, tv brackets for walls are purchased for no actual cash spent! Woop

Went to John Lewis to get our tv- ended up getting the more expensive one as it included the sound bar gf wanted free (the difference in cost was less to get bigger tv and the sound bar!) we also did pricematch so got £89 off it and again used accumulated gift vouchers so tv cost us under £300 cash Yay!!!

Booked a week off (31st Oct) to hopefully move in, hoping the floors will be done by then and we should start getting our furniture delivered a few weeks after that!

Car insurance sorted pre the 26th- did comparisons and then went direct to insurers (via quidc* :money: ) so got better rate & some cashback if/when it clears!

Lots of meals out last week (including one that was paid for as a thank you for four weeks of house sitting) which was lovely catching up with friends but this week we're just glad to be in a normal routine cooking lighter dinners & packing lunches. Had egg white & veggie omelettes yesterday lunch as pack-ups, today is leftover turkey & butternut squash chilli :drool:

Payday on Friday so can pay more towards flooring- guy is putting in vinyl flooring downstairs from next week, we're still deciding on the stairs/halls & two bedrooms.

Decided my silver smith room is going to remain untouched until Jan- give me some time to save a bit more money up and fully decide how to lay it out and what flooring is best to use. I use resin, and a small handheld torch (flame) so want something practical but not ugly...will ponder some more