Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

boxofpaws

When we bought ours, we fixed for 5 at 4.69%. It was a mistake, interest rates drops, income and value increases meant we were paying far too much interest for at least half of the fix. I think we paid around £10k too much interest. I try not to think about it. It got us the house, after all, and a degree of certainty. 

But interest rates are much lower now. And times, they are most definitely a- changing. Now, when we remortgage in the next 4 months, if I can get a 5 year fix under 1.5% - I will go for it! 

GeorgianaCavendish

Thanks @boxofpaws - you are totally right not to think too much about the interest paid out, you’ve got to go for it sometimes. And even interest paid is a saving on renting and paying someone else’s mortgage. 

I’m waiting for news from solicitors, although I know it does take time.  feel like I need to do some meditation or I will be a wreck by the time we get to completion! 

astrocytic_kitten

I’m convinced that the reason moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do isn’t because of the actual moving and packing and all the admin involved in changing address and all that stuff, it’s the stress of having everything in the hands of solicitors and totally out of your control. I know the process very well and I still feel like my solicitor isn’t communicating and I have no idea what’s happening. I’ve been listening to a lot of relaxing music playlists 😂

Kakiste

I completely agree with @astrocytic_kitten. I'm very organised so the idea that when you buy a house huge swathes of the process are just handed over to other people's work ethic and timescales it's a hugely stressful one. 

GeorgianaCavendish

I totally agree with you both @astrocytic_kitten and @Kakiste - I hate how much of the process is out of my control! I keep reminding myself that although this is an enormously important thing for me personally, it is the bread and butter work for the solicitors and they have many other clients in the same boat but still ...       

Going to do my monthly round up later today, just waiting to see if any more money magically appears in my account in the next few hours!  

GeorgianaCavendish

January 2022 Round Up 

Savings
Deposit Savings - 102.66%* 

Extra Income 

Prolific Academic - £27.81
Ipsos I-Say - £10.00 (Amazon voucher)
Interest on savings - £10.73 

Freebies
Dishwasher tablets - £10.00 

No Spend Days 
21 / 15 in Jan
Target for Feb = 14 NSD 

Decluttering Campaign 
22/365 items decluttered 


So ... first month of being debt free (temporarily - until the mortgage goes through!). We also reached our deposit savings (& associated costs) target this month. We are at 102.66%  (deposit plus stamp duty, solicitors fees, broker fees, mortgage fees, land registry fees etc) however, in real terms we are a bit better off because we have already used some money from this pot to pay for solicitor's searches, mortgage broker fee, and our surveyor's fees.
I haven't adjusted the target total yet because I need to have a think about how to record it in a way that makes sense to me, but for now I'm counting everything to do with the house under the umbrella "Deposit Savings" and will likely break this down a bit more as we get further along in the process and have an idea of the cost of any remedial work we need to do to the house at the outset. 
Although I've been complaining, things are actually moving a bit quicker than I expected. We don't have a chain (us = FTB, seller = selling empty property) so fingers crossed that there are not many complications ahead! 

I'll post more detailed thoughts about the house for a later update when we know more, but swirling round in my mind at the moment are thoughts about what we can do to improve the energy efficiency - bearing in mind the looming energy price hike. If I could get my parents on board with sorting out their energy efficiency too then I will be extremely happy   
I've also spent some time working out how much extra National Insurance I'll be paying once the rise comes into effect, I need to get DH to do this too and then we can get a realistic post-move budget together. 

I got through my exam in January and had moderate success with decluttering. I didn't push myself too hard on decluttering because I didn't want to procrastinate on my revision, but still managed to get quite a bit done. I'm only counting "long term clutter", not everyday things that I recycle etc - I really don't want to be unpacking boxes in the new house and wondering why the hell we have some of the stuff in them! So far, I have been rehoming or recycling items, but as I get further into it I will also see what I can sell. If anyone wants to get involved in the 2022 Decluttering thread, you can find it in the Old Style section of the MSE forum.

DH & I are going on a mini-break in Feb, it feels really strange to be spending money on something that is so frivolous (even though we planned & budgeted for this trip) and I'm finding that a little bit stressful, but I know that I need to work on this side of my relationship with money because there will be lots more spending when normal life resumes. We're also going to catch up with some friends during the month, and I hope that once my driving test is out of the way, I'll have more time (and freedom!) to get around to see people. We also have a holiday in August and some planning has happened, but further booking is on the cards for late Feb/March.

Finally, it was a decent month for surveys etc. I tried swagbucks early in the month but I found it so time intensive and stressful that I just gave up. I'm happy with Prolific, Ipsos and YouGov plus the two receipt apps. I've decided to save my Ipsos Amazon vouchers up and either use them for something for the new house, or towards Christmas presents - to be decided! 

another_casualty

Sounds like a good year ahead . 

You seem to be handling everything well . You have a good solicitor , and by following their lead all should hopefully be well .

As for the surveys ; I've only done ipsos and stopped a few weeks back. Not sure if I'll carry on with it . Not sure of my points value . I find it annoying when I start surveys that are recommended , then after 2 questions " thank you for your time " appears or words to that effect 😾 
Still, I'm a semi novice and I was trying it out .

I'll leave it there ..

EssexHebridean

That's a good reminder about the changes coming in April - we both need to calculate that as well so we know where we'll be at. 

With no chain involved it is possible for things to run through pretty smoothly simply because there are less people involved to create delays - hopefully that will apply in your case! Now almost everyone uses search agents rather than sending things off individually that really moves things along too as it tends to be quicker. 

GeorgianaCavendish

another_casualty said:

Sounds like a good year ahead . 

You seem to be handling everything well . You have a good solicitor , and by following their lead all should hopefully be well .

As for the surveys ; I've only done ipsos and stopped a few weeks back. Not sure if I'll carry on with it . Not sure of my points value . I find it annoying when I start surveys that are recommended , then after 2 questions " thank you for your time " appears or words to that effect 😾 
Still, I'm a semi novice and I was trying it out .

I'll leave it there ..

Hi @another_casualty - ipsos can be a pain at times, especially as they've recently changed their website. When you log in, at the top of the page it will say your name with a star next to it and then some numbers - those numbers are your points balance. I think you need something like 490 for a £5 amazon voucher and 980 for a £10 voucher ... it does take a while to build up the points! I redeemed my last £10 voucher around the 8th Jan and I only have 386 points at the moment  

GeorgianaCavendish

EssexHebridean said:

That's a good reminder about the changes coming in April - we both need to calculate that as well so we know where we'll be at. 

With no chain involved it is possible for things to run through pretty smoothly simply because there are less people involved to create delays - hopefully that will apply in your case! Now almost everyone uses search agents rather than sending things off individually that really moves things along too as it tends to be quicker. 

Ahh I really hope it goes through smoothly @EssexHebridean !

I think between us we'll be paying an additional £75 - £80 per month, but it is more complicated to work out for DH because he is paid through an umbrella company and so has both employee and employer deductions. Makes me glad that I followed your advice with the mortgage fix!!