Reducing Debt - being accountable and taking responsibility

DrSpendLittle

A NSD so far. I think DF and I may either go out for an early evening pint or pick up a nice bottle of wine. We've both had a busy week at work and fancy a relaxing start to the weekend. Dinner is planned - DF is going to make homemade Chicken Kievs. Will keep the vampires away at least.

DF doing some minor household maintenance work this weekend. Might be some spends incurred.

I'm seeing friends on Saturday and will probably have lunch and perhaps coffee.

Direct debits slowly going out of the account. Budget looks healthy. Hope the car service isn't too expensive.

Have a good weekend!

T-28

redofromstart

All go in here! Exciting times with the countdown and the house on the market.

You can get insurance for twins...

We bought at the top end of our budget, and then a bit more. I don't regret it but it has forced some decisions over the years.

wishingthemortgaheaway

Insurance for twins, that's brilliant

Starmummy

I can't believe you are going to be free next month. That is such wonderful news Dr S.

Good luck with the house, it is all very exciting for you at the moment.

I've just revised your diary and it has certainly given me some extra oomph. Especially the way you talk about you and DF working together. I think I have been too harsh on my expectations of Mr Star of late.

So thank you

BabyStepper

kevchambers...OP already has this situation well and truly nailed to the wall...only DAYS now to go!

:T:j:beer:

wishingthemortgaheaway

BabyStepper wrote: »

kevchambers...OP already has this situation well and truly nailed to the wall...only DAYS now to go!

:T:j:beer:

27 in fact (there's an online brexit countdown which is really helpful for these updates...)

DrSpendLittle

Oooh, have I been visited by a 'troll'...? How exciting

26 days to go!

I'm impatiently waiting for all my credit files to be updated to show my £992.64 balance. One hasn't been updated for ages and still shows a balance of £4192! Hopefully in the next few weeks it will all be sorted.

Got DF to register for MSE Credit Club last night and check his Experian credit file, just so we're fully fine and clear for making mortgage applications. He's at 999 (which I know is meaningless) and has a clean file. He will do Noddle and Clearscore today. He has no debt and only one credit card that he barely uses. All should be fine. Plus, we already have an AIP so I'm taking that as read.

Had some spends yesterday as expected with the girlies but all budgeted for. Was lovely to catch up and put the world to rights. A really nice day.

Today is more of sorting out spaces around the house that need our attention, like integral storage cupboards that viewers may want to look in etc. We may need to hire a storage unit whilst we have the house on the market as we do have quite a lot of sports equipment that clutters (its was interesting having to move it all whilst the house was photographed!). I've found one a few miles up the road for £40 per month. Will chat with DF today about it.

I also want to buy a new house plant to replace a tired looking one but I'm mindful of keeping spends low. Everything we don't spend in this house can be spent in the new house, so to speak.

An Ocad0 order will be coming tomorrow - I've used my £16 voucher which was delightful!

It's rainy and dull today - perfect weather for sorting the house out!

DSL

DrSpendLittle

Nooks and crannies sorted. We're not going to rent a space for now. We will use our cars as storage units If we get stuck, we will reconsider. Its only small stuff like bags, books and random crap that we don't quite know what to do with. Nothing major. Everything else can go in the loft for now.

DF has spent a few ££s on decoration stuff this morning and is currently giving the kitchen a fresh lick of paint. It looks much better. It wasn't necessary but we wanted to cover up some patches that had got slightly 'beaten up' when the new boiler was put in.

We've a few 'proceedable' viewings booked this week. It's all happened very quickly. We're prepared for all eventualities - selling quickly, selling slowly, missing out on the house we've seen etc. What will be will be. The EA has mentioned another few houses that will probably be coming on the market shortly, so that's given us some confidence to proceed with selling ours.

I remember writing something a few posts ago questioning what will take up my thoughts when I finally pay off my debt. Well, I most certainty know it will be selling / buying! It's all I ever think about now. I'm so glad there is very little overlap between the two. Plus, the extra incentive to remain frugal is enticing. My new mantra is "what we don't spend living here we can spend living there".

DSL

enthusiasticsaver

Nice to have a new objective to focus on. Up until now it was repaying debt and now it will be moving house. I also would urge you to keep spends as low as possible while you are at this stage. We have always found moving house to be more expensive than we thought either in terms of legal fees, new furniture or the dreaded utility bills. If you move into an older house often there are things you want to do almost straight away.

DrSpendLittle

Enthusiastic - I've spent quite a lot of time going over my anticipated 'new house' budget in YNAB where I account for bigger utility bills etc. I've also used a lot of different calculator tools to try and get some sense of moving fees and expenses and I've got quotes from local movers already. I'm hoping its all fairly accurate. I've also done a hypothetical furniture plan for each room in the new build dream house and costed the items up, mainly via Ikea to start off with. I've also done square metre estimates for carpets / flooring and blinds. Now that was expensive! All a bit geeky if I'm honest We'd need to cashflow furniture over the first 6 months. Carpets and blinds would be a priority for moving in. For older houses (which we haven't seen any we like yet) we'd look to consider the costs of bathrooms, kitchens, roofs, windows, gardens, driveways as well. We could easily spend £50-£80K less on an older house and have those expense bringing it up to our taste. Definitely makes me want to push a bit more to secure the new build dream home if we can.