Getting a mortgage and then becoming mortgage-free!

Kittenkirst

Afternoon mortgage free lovelies!

The meal/party was a great success; in-laws were so surprised, completely shocked and had a truly lovely evening. the lovely fiancé and I were shattered afterwards though after running round sorting the stuffs, cake, decorations and checking all the tables to make sure everyone had plenty to eat and were happy. All dietary requirements worked out well and the restaurant were super accommodating too which really helped (We’ve left them great reviews on TripAdvisor & Google and provided a £30 tip)

The house is progressing now; the painters have been in Monday-Wednesday so I have worked from the house (as broadband working perfectly), its been more than a bit chilly so I’ve layered up on clothing and fluffy socks/jumpers, and the hot water tap is still smelling/tasting chemically so Ive been using a saucepan on the stove to heat water for my cuppas Its working well though and means I took a packed lunch every day (for brekkie & lunch).

The movers couldn’t do the 21st, so they’ve advised they can do the 20th October instead. Ive checked with my boss and he’s flexible about when I need the time off, so I have booked in for the 20th! That means we then have the movers here Wednesday, can unpack stuffs Thursday and Friday, then we can both move everything from the in-laws on the Saturday. Unfortunately the other half is on an overnight in Scotland on the 20th so i will be doing it solo, however I’m sure as soon as her parents know they will want to come and get stuck in too as they are super supportive like that.

Cat flap is being fitted for 19th I think it is, however we’ve not heard back from the blinds fitter after confirming the appointment so we have chased him up, the runner for the stairs is all paid for just waiting for confirmation of when its been made and can be fitted (will be late November/December).

On Monday my boss called to let me know Ive had a pay review and got 2.5% which I’m dead chuffed about and is an extra £925 for the year; I’m going to put the money after tax into a share save so that it builds up on its own as a little buffer pot of savings that I don’t have to do anything to. It was quite refreshing really compared to my old workplace and made even more so 
As i went for dinner with some of my old team who were telling me about my old work, and it sounds like so much upheaval and organisational change, but its still the same old treatment etc. Very pleased i made the jump to the new workplace!

I did a shift on JustEat and Uber on Sunday 4-7.30pm and earnt £51.85 which I’m pleased with. Uber pay came through yesterday so went over to the delivery ISA and JustEat pays tomorrow. I’m hoping to either do tomorrow evening or Sunday evening this week as I could do with rebuilding that pot up before the chaos of moving house starts! 

I also did that market research zoom call on Monday night, so just waiting for the £50 payment from that to clear (that’s going into the coffee machine pot of money!) . I shouldn’t have been nervous at all as it was all fine and was easy. Time passed super quick and its £50 for a very small amount of time really  

Scuba class tonight but its just a lecture in the dry, however we still have to cart the kit there (& upstairs i think!!) which I’m not looking forward to as its just super heavy!! Its also in the garage at the house so will have to get it before class starts (its not really on route though annoyingly).

Small overpayments being made and £2.18 paid out by Quidco today, so alongside £2.76 cashback on some cat food and rounding down the change, a small overpayment of £5.81 will go to the mortgage after work.

Kittenkirst

Oh, I also used Olio a bit this week and signed up to a new app called “trash nothing” which is freecycle essentially. So via Olio we picked up 3 packs of panini bread (I thought the ad was for one pack, so bonus), a 3 bean chilli soup, two packs of green beans (again thought the ad was for one, not sure if she just didn’t get many takers) & also some almond croissants (mum in laws fave) and a pretzel which we had on the way into town.

From Trash nothing app we picked up a V slicer for the kitchen; perfect and not used, just in a very tatty box. Its exactly the same as the one mum in law uses, and we used to borrow constantly so a great addition to the kitchen!

When we start to unpack our boxes, I will make sure to remember that its a cyclical process and get some stuff added to the two apps and share back as well

Kittenkirst

Last night had a lecture at scuba course (No pool session) and it was all about the dangers of scuba- not going to lie it has made me a bit wary! I know they have to tell you the bad stuff so you understand the importance of all the safety procedures/guidance etc but still

Also I had thought the £280 for the year included the hire deposit for the equipment but it didn’t. So Ive paid £50 deposit and £13 hire for the first month, with a further £13 a month to pay.

In total it will have cost

£280 to join the club/BSAC and use the facilities at the pool and the training courses
£50 deposit for the equipment hire
£156 across the year for the monthly equipment hire.

Ouch! Best get out driving this weekend again to recoup the costs!!

Overpayments this month are super slow and i think they will be for a while as we sort out the house, buy furniture etc and get through Christmas. £14.40 so far and there may be some more little bits but no big ones this month.

In-Laws are now wanting to look at a new house- I think we’ve only just gotten over the sale of ours, purchase of this one and dealing with the sale of their shop We will of course be involved and help them sort everything; just tired at the thought of it already

Kittenkirst

Had a little Pinecone survey come through yesterday and received the credit notification this morning; will cash it out to Amazon to add to the gift voucher balance.

I’m currently waiting on the work voucher (£25 Amazon from May) and the funds from market research to come through and then that will bolster the funds ready for Black Friday (I think you guys are right to try and wait it out, I can’t see the price going up so may as well wait a few weeks before ordering just in case!)

Off to the gym this morning after my coffee as last went on Monday (!) and had 3 weeks off before that with the dodgy neck pain and then the two week evil cold. Not managing to get back into the routine but i need to as it will make me feel better and my weight is ballooning a fair bit. From a health perspective i will feel better when i am in a good pattern with exercise and then the weight will take care of itself (and help my overall health too i hope!). Then we need to go pick up a birthday present for in-laws to give a 16 year old (not got a clue at the minute what to get her) and then we have a sewing afternoon round fiancés aunties house with cousins etc which is always lovely

Kittenkirst

Morning all, I managed to squeeze in another gym session on Sunday so that made 3 sessions. However, yesterday it totally wiped me out with muscle soreness (even taking ibuprofen to help mobility! Eeek!) so I didn’t go yesterday or first thing this morning. I shall go after work tonight though as I want to feel healthier/brighter so i need to put in the hard work.

Its quite chilly here today so I’m sat in joggers, a work appropriate sweater, slipper boots and a blanket! Second cuppa of the day is on the desk and I’m trying to get into work, but procrastinating a bit. 

We have a handyman coming around on Thursday evening to quote for putting sone shelving up and the tv brackets up for us, and we mowed the lawn this weekend. The lawn is pretty poor I have to say; our snagging company flagged it on their report and ive chased it up yesterday. The contractor is visiting tomorrow so I will be at the house all day (joiner is also coming to sort some snags) so not sure how that will go, but we waited 4 weeks to mow and only mowed it as the site manager asked us to. It looks awful; the turf is all dying at the edges of each strip and there are bald patches. All from them not prepping the soil properly and laying the topsoil as per NHBC guidelines. Urgh. Will see what they say tomorrow.

The £3 from Pinecone has paid out, however its in cash not amazon vouchers, so ive sent it over the mortgage alongside some change, so £9.25 has gone over this morning. 

Looking at the online mortgage statement it looks like Leeds Building Soc don’t apply the monthly interest; it shows as a line at the bottom as Interest to date and just keeps accumulating. That’s different to how I’m used to and will make checking my interest calculations/predictions on my accounts app a little harder to calculate monthly I think. 

willowparrett

As a note on the garden snagging, see if the contractor will dig a couple of trial holes for you.  You want the topsoil (nice, brown, friable soil) to be min. 15cm under any grassed areas (ideally also min. 40cm if you have any shrubs/hedges planted at the front).  Good to check what is under that layer too - developers are prone to just chucking all their rubble and rubbish under gardens, or leaving the subsoil really compacted by all of their machinery driving over it - both of which form a really compacted layer making it a) poor drainage, and b) really difficult to grow anything over.  

Although NHBC have guidelines, there should also be conditions on their planning permission that require them to meet certain garden specifications for topsoil.  If you have a look on their planning application webpage, there will either be approved plans/documents of 'landscape proposals', 'soft landscape proposals', 'landscape management plan', 'landscape and ecological management plan' or similar, or a condition on the actual planning permission decision notice with requires details of landscaping to be submitted - and one or more of the above documents associated with that.  These will normally say min. 150mm topsoil to grassed areas, min 400mm topsoil to planted areas, topsoil to BS3882 specification.  So, if the contractor digs their heels in, the council can also get involved to enforce their planning conditions. 

Just to note also, turf can be really hard to establish over a hot summer (presumably when this was laid) - it needs daily watering in the morning/evening to get it going - which is hard for a contractor to acheive (it just scorches if watered in the midday sun).  Now the weather is cooling off a bit it should be much happier - now's the ideal time for laying any replacement areas of turf, until the frosts arrive. 

Hope it goes well!  WPx   

SandyShores

They laid our lawn on one of the hottest days of the year and then didn't water it, we could see it shrinking when we went round to have a sneaky view over the fence a few days before we moved in.  Glad to say that a lot of watering and it soon perked up again - but DH religiously sprinkled it for about 20 mins every evening.  We did put a bit of compost in a couple of large gaps and they soon filled in.  A year and a half on, and its starting to take shape.  We did a bit of scarifying (by hand which nearly killed us) and then stomped up and down in those aerating shoes, before adding some more grass seed - which the birds loved.  We are going to do the same next year and hopefully will be really lush and green by then.  I can see why people have artificial lawns as it is a lot of work, but I love seeing all the insects and birds, and it is really lovely to sit on in the summer.  Part of me did wonder if we would have been better off having a discount and then having the lawn laid ourselves by to make sure there was proper topsoil and so on, but it was good to have it down before we moved in.  Its a really horrible orange clay here and it would have been a nightmare with the cat while we were waiting - as it was he managed to cover his claws in orange mud every night for ages - he now thinks its normal to have his feet washed after he's been out.

Kittenkirst

Awwww I have images of your kitty demanding a foot bath when he wanders in of an evening @SandyShores

Thanks for the response both; @willowparrett Ive checked the soft landscaping plans and it only mentions the front lawns, not the back ones oddly. Not sure if this is because its an optional extra (charge £700 for it, we had it included as an incentive) that Redrow add after?

We were at the house yesterday and they had the lovely maintenance chap and the fab site manager round throughout the day sorting some of the snags, they moved a cupboard in the utility that was in a super odd location (not in line, not in the middle of the wall and completely different location to our neighbours) so that is all looking a lot better. The landscapers were on site but didn’t make it round to us, so they are going today with the site manager to review.

We did water lots (and we’ve had a lot of rain so far too which saved us a job many evenings thankfully!) but its struggling in places and the bald areas will need some reseeding i think for sure. The Site manager had a chat yesterday and advised they have to recycle soil from the site as part of the planning and council regulations and its a clay-like topsoil so we will see what happens next.

Pinecone pennies have cleared so that’s been sent as an overpayment, alongside a £7 Tilly tidy of the joint account. Quidco cashback for Approved Foods has also been confirmed so I have asked for that to be transferred and will send that over once it clears.

The Market Research funds have also been received into my account; I’m meant to be using it towards the coffee machine, but I’m sorely tempted to just send to the mortgage instead. Will think about it a bit more before doing anything as I don’t want to leave us short to get the machine we want (will deffo wait for Black Friday though to see if any discounts or extras thrown in).

Weve got a handyman coming tonight after work to provide a quote for putting up Tv brackets and some shelving for us, and two appointments for Saturday for alarm/CCTV companies to get an idea of what’s available. We will search around for alternatives too as conscious that we don’t want a monitored alarm with subscription monthly really, we just want to make the house feel more secure for us.

Kittenkirst

Morning all,
Things are progressing along fairly quickly. Yesterday the cat flap glass was installed; it came to less than they quoted which was a bonus so cost £385 in total, and we’ve ordered the garage floor.

The garage floor company had a 10% offer on but we missed it by a day- nooooo! So i cheekily messaged the company on Sunday. I didn’t get a response (it was Sunday after all) so we purchased anyway, spending the £704 including courier cost. Anyways they responded yesterday offering me 5% off the cost so i replied thanking them but saying id already ordered. They have honoured the discount though so are refunding us £32.50. 

Glad i asked as its better than had I not- that’s a weekly shop for us so a decent saving!!

Redrow have the cleaners coming tomorrow, but no update on the other snags. They are really struggling with contractors and sickness levels at the moment so its a bit slower than we would like, but these things happen. Movers should be bringing all the stuff tomorrow to the house; they start at 8am at the storage place so I think they should be with us for 8.30am.

It going to be odd seeing our things and sofas etc again!!

Fiance is away up north with work tomorrow and staying over, so think her parents are coming to help but it should be quite straight-forward. After that I will be going to a friends house as her darling kitty has gone walkabouts- he’s been missing since Thursday so Ive offered to help look. The poor owners must be so worried (I know when Oscar went missing those few times we were so sad/worried/panicked).

In less positive news my car failed its MOT I knew there was an issue as the airbag light was on, so i let them know in advance. It seems the wire has snapped off to the switch. The garage man said on Friday he would contact Renault to try and get a new switch. He wasnt sure though if they sold the switches or it would be part of a bigger harness which would be £600+ to replace…..Noooooooo. So he said dependent on what Renault said depends on his action. He would first try replacing the switch (if they do them) if not try the wire itself. If that doesn’t work he is going to let me know today…..such bad timing really.
Being without the car the past few days has been a bit irritating as Ive been at the house, fiancé has needed her car for appointments/ gym etc which shows we would struggle with just one car. Although it wouldn’t necessarily be impossible…. Will see what he says and then go from there.

debtfreeoneday

Hope the move in went well.