only ONE credit card left + mortgage. current mood: content

fru-girl

@Essex: I'm also into photography (amateur though).

Yes for me I need to get used too being without cards, otherwise I'm never going to pay off my debt and I'll stay grumpy for life

Not an NSD today, and I actually bought lunch instead of taking food from home. We were all so so disillusioned with Trump winning the US elections, we went out for lunch (£6.50 Thai food) to chat about it. Hopefully tomorrow and Friday will be NSDs, and if I plan it well, either Sat or Sun.

I'm

fru-girl

MistyMountainTop wrote: »

Any ideas where you would like to live? Being mortgage free must be a wonderful feeling, I'll bet you're looking forward to it. It's my goal to by something outright, even if it's just a garden shed.

I don't know yet where, budget will be £200-300K, with at least £200K deposit. I'd like us to be relatively close to London, commutable distance - not only because of my job opportunities, but also because I absolutely love London. I don't need a house, a 2-br maisonette will do, for just the 2 of us. I need to make a decision in the next couple of years. My DD is year 4, so secondary school is fast approaching. Ideally I would time it around that time, so that she goes to secondary in a new area. However, I don't want her to change primaries so the new location has to be commutable from where we are now, so that she could stay in her current school until end of yr 6. My mother promised to help if needed - so she'd move in with us in yr 6, and help her do this temporary commute.

It might be that I won't be able to buy the next place with cash outright, but if I reduce the mortgage amount in half it's still much better than now. I would keep the same level of monthly repayments and term and I'd be mortgage free in 10 years, not in 20

Of course, the other alternative is to stay where we are, it's a lovely area and a good school. It's just that my mortgage is high and still 20 years left on it

fru-girl

PS. I was also considering keeping my flat and renting it out so that it pays by itself, then rent in a new location - but that might not be financially sound, I need to do the numbers...

EssexHebridean

fru-girl wrote: »

PS. I was also considering keeping my flat and renting it out so that it pays by itself, then rent in a new location - but that might not be financially sound, I need to do the numbers...

Ah yes - that's also a question we're pondering for the future at the moment. I think for us, it's going to be the route we follow - as our planned move is such a long distance one and also encompasses the North/South divide issue - concern would be if we DID want/need to move back for any reason, we'd potentially find it very tough to afford to buy back in East Anglia again.

My photography is also amateur! I've had a go at semi-professional stuff in the past but as soon as you add the pressure of "having to do it" it stops being fun for me, which kind of negates the point! If someone wants to buy something from me, that's great, and I have sold a few bits here and there, but mostly it's just for me/sharing on social media etc.

fru-girl

It's stressful to be a landlord, so that must be taken into account too. And you need to budget for gap between tenants and repairs, so it's not only about the money. We shall see... I have about 2 years to decide.

Just came back from 30-min spin and ate leftovers from yesterday. 10 more mins for coffee than back to my desk to do some number crunching for a project. I was very productive today at work, sometimes I surprise myself with how much I can get done in one day.

EssexHebridean

Well if we do go the renting out route the fees for an agent to deal with it will definitely need factoring in - no way we'd be prepared to do it ourselves, not least because it would be impractical if we were going to be at the other end of the country. (Or rather, the other end of a different country!) If anyone is going to get a phone call at silly o'clock because the tenants have locked themselves out, it's not going to be me! :rotfl:

MistyMountainTop

I'd be afraid to be a landlord - I've read too many stories about horror tenants that know how to work the system, won't leave a property and won't pay the rent. Or the ones that strip out all the original features and do a runner. :eek:

I know there are good tenants out there because I am one, I look after the house and love it as if it were my own. I'd think an agency who does thorough background checks would be the only way to go, especially if you aren't in the immediate area.

fru-girl

Agency route is definitely the way to go.

@Misty: last time I rented (ended early 2012) I was told I was a perfect tenant and our landlord begged us to stay. Rent was £1500 pcm, this was W London so... thanks, but no thanks, I bought my own place. Luckily back then I was still able to buy - I wouldn't be able to but my own place now. My income has increased by 10K since then, and my flat value has increased by ~ £140K... crazy market).

Feeling meh today, tempted to skip film night and go to yoga instead. Ex has DD this weekend, and I need to deep clean the kitchen and do some decluttering.

Glam single life


PS. On the +side, I'm requested to travel for biz in December and I'm happy I can do it, my mum will be here in the last 2 weeks of December so I don't need to beg ex to cover.

fru-girl

Work done! Off to yoga, no mood for film alone (money wasted )

Managed an NSD today. Bank account is looking surprisingly good, this NSD thing seems to be working, it keeps me focused.

Not looking forward to the weekend, too much cleaning to do!

No dating although I'm child-free this weekend (and when I do get a date, I need to find a babysitter... ).

fru-girl

Back to say that I'm super-busy and feeling like I'm overspending! My aunt is visiting from overseas and my grocery bill was huge, but also ate out yesterday and worried now that money won't last until paydate. 10 days left and bank account is only £80. There are no more bills but these money will have to cover 1 grocery spending plus whatever else until the 25th.

I did have a couple of NSDs but also spendy days...