New house, new start, new debt to pay off!!

Westie_Fan

Hi
Long time lurker here, felt it was a good time to finally dive in and start my own diary, after reading so many on here for so long and finding them so motivating - I'm so addicted to MSE's forums!

I spend so much time thinking about money (not in a negative way, but just thinking through the comings and goings of each penny) and reading other's diaries that I might as well start my own - to get some good advice from you good forumites and also because my OH, even though he is so supportive, just isn't that interested in hearing about every little detail!

I'm currently in the process of buying my first house so thought this time is as good as any for a diary, seeing as there is a lot going on, and a few financial challenges in the immediate to mid-term future.

So, a little info about myself:

My situation:
Live with OH in a rented house. Been here 8.5 years and love it! Handy for family and I can walk to work (in the city centre) in 25 mins. We have a Westie dog (hence the username) who is the apple of our eyes (he's 8.5 years old - we got him as soon as we moved in - I was desperate for a dog). No children, sadly not worked out for us after having various fertility treatments. But, we have made our peace with this and have a very simple, but very happy life. Thinking about getting another Westie next summer, once we have bought the house. Which brings me on to my next point:

House
We have rented off a member of OH's family for many years, and weren't very bothered about getting on the housing ladder (in the short term, at least: it was a vague aspiration for the future). However, in May the landlord informed us that they wanted to sell the house ASAP. We were shocked and dismayed, as this came completely out of the blue, and the idea of moving house was horrifying. It's hard to rent with a dog and the quality of the rental stock in my town is appalling, especially when we have been lucky and have rented a nice (well, we've made it nice) 3 bed for £400 a month - we wouldn't get a gross flat for that, even though where we live is very cheap.

So, our only palatable option was to buy the house. The landlord had previously threatened to sell in 2014, which is when I started to take some action to get my credit file in better shape (getting on electoral roll, etc.) because that threat made me feel insecure, so I wanted to be ready to move if we had to. I started to save more seriously. However, it was slow progress, as I am the only one working, and, as is the way, life gets in the way - my mom died, so I had to pay for the funeral. I needed a new car. I decided to change career, so worked part time whilst I studied for my Masters (this was the killer, I lost 14K in income over 2 years and my MSc cost 7K). Luckily this paid off, as I'm now in a job with a greater earning capacity and career development opportunities than my previous job, plus I love it!

However, all the stars aligned in May. The last of my late payments (silliness from years back) fell off my credit reports. I had a few grand saved up and was able to get my paws on the last couple of grand to make up a 10% deposit. I'm in a good, permanent job, which meant affordability wasn't really an issue. I am by no means superstitious, but if the bombshell of having to move was going to happen, May was the soonest time it could happen without it being too far of a stretch! So, to cut a long story short, I have a mortgage offer in place, the deposit ready, the conveyancing is ongoing (very slowly though - frustrating!) and by October we hope to own the house!

I know this post is getting really long, so I'll put the financials in a new post. Thanks for reading!!:beer:

Westie_Fan

I didn't discuss debt in my first post, which is kind of the point I suppose! I'm not in horrendous debt but I do want it gone, ASAP, as I want to start tarting up the house and building up my emergency fund - buying this house is going to wipe me out, not a comfortable feeling when we only have one income...

Debt
£66.50 PayPal credit - I will pay this off as soon as I get paid at the end of August (original debt was £399)
£2658.68 Credit Card - 0% until August 2018. This is the debt I want gone. I don't even know how I accrued it - I seem to have had this debt forever.
£1000 - OH Nan gave us this as a gift to help towards house buying fees, which has really, really helped lessen the stress of scrabbling the money together. Feel awful accepting it, even though I know it is given with love, it doesn't sit easily with me. I know she won't accept it back so the plan is I will give it to OH. He's not working and he won't like accepting it but I will force him too. (He's a house husband - he does absolutely everything around the house, asks for nothing and looks after our pup. He's great with money - so thrifty - saves us so much money it is unbelievable. He keeps himself in spends by doing surveys, eBaying bits and pieces, etc. He absolutely loves chasing a bargain and spends a lot of time researching bargains. I wouldn't be able to manage my very, very demanding job as well as I do without his help).

Current cash reserves (most to be spent on deposit/fees):
£4830 in Premium Bonds
£400 in current account - won't need to spend much of this before payday on 31st)
£2400 in savings account
£2600 in Help to Buy ISA (luckily I opened this at the beginning of the year so at least I will get a few hundred from it).


(Soon to be) Mortgage
£94500 (value of house 105K) over 30 years (5 year fix) 3.09%. It will cost £403 per month, and even though we didn't plan to buy the house, it will feel great to pay it knowing that eventually I will get some benefit from it. The plan is to overpay so we can be mortgage free in around 20 years (when I will be 57).

Oops, got to go take dog out for his walk now so will post long term aims/potential debts when we get back).
Cheerio for now!!

UncannyScot

Hello and welcome
Good move to join in on here and keep your focus
We're all here to help each other so if you need any info or advice on anything just post up about it and someone will come along to help out
Look forward to following your progress

Westie_Fan

So, my plan for a) paying off debts and b) building a new emergency pot (need to do this before making any plans to re-decorate the house - it also needs a new bathroom and kitchen - these are long term aims though).

£66.50 PayPal - pay it off on payday - yay! Not enjoyed having to pay it off over the past 5 months - think I'm definitely of the 'save up to buy' mind these days...

Credit Card
Currently pay the minimum off the credit card - around £26. Yesterday, I changed the direct debit to pay a flat £35 per month. I am going to save an additional £100 per month back into my Premium Bonds until I have enough to pay it off (I only have a few quid in there but I've won quite a few £25 prizes since I opened it in 2016 - OH won £25 last month on a holding of only £300!) Downside is, I will need to be disciplined not to dip into it for anything else.

This strategy means I will pay it off in 19.5 months. Hmm. Paying £100 isn't a stretch, but I don't want to pay more while the house purchase is going through and immediately after, when I need to build up a new EF/pay more pressing debts. I can only see myself being able to start saving this from the end of October's pay though, so around May 2019 is a projected end date - I need to get this down!

I think I am going to start saving the £100 from October and wait until March 18 to review - Dec, Jan and Feb are difficult months financially so I will need to get through them and then re-evaluate. If needs be, I will do a balance transfer to another 0% deal in August.

Other demands on finances to save for:

Car costs. Luckily I bought a super little car off my Uncle in March. It is in fantastic condition and so I'm not expecting a massive bill come MOT and servicing time (Feb 2018). For years I have saved £100 a month towards car costs but I'm now having to spend the money I'd saved on the house deposit. I've stopped saving this since May but as soon as house is bought I will start saving it again. Approximate costs:
MOT/Servicing (Feb 18) £250
Car Tax (March 18) £185
Car insurance £500

Self employment
I do some work on the side, it amounts to 60 hours a year (Sept-Sept) at £60 an hour and it's quite fun to do. However, it incurs some costs, which is rather annoying. Contemplating knocking it on the head, but I know I won't as I don't want to let down the person I work for...

SA Tax Bill (January) £404 (I've already submitted tax return for 16/17)
Auditing costs - £120
Professional Indemnity Insurance - £90
Membership of Professional Body - £90

These are really annoying as I have been saving for them but the house deposit has scuppered my plans. However, I am planning to use the income from Sept-Dec (approx 20 hours/£1200) to cover them whilst also having to put aside £240 of that income as tax. So, I will only 'earn' £256 of the £1200. I will put that towards emergency fund, I think.

House purchase costs
I'm currently a few hundred short of the deposit but that will be paid for from August's pay (not anticipating exchanging until the end of September - I went for a cheap online conveyancing firm and I'm bitterly regretting it now, as they are in no rush).

Mortgage has £500 cashback offer on completion and H2B ISA will bring in £700 which I think will clear the conveyancing costs (already paid for searches). I'm going to give £250 of the cash back as a first instalment to paying back OH Nan/OH, and put the other £250 towards an EF.

Other income/self employment
I've invoiced the company for which I do the self employment work for £360, this will be paid in mid-September. This will probably clear the shortfall for the deposit, meaning all my surplus for my wages will be my own. I've literally spent nothing since May, saving every penny for the deposit. All coming together now. Not planning on spending much in September, I'll be back at work on the 4 September and rushed off my feet, so no time to spend money anyway! I'll post my budget when I get paid and update spends throughout the month.

I put in an expenses claim for £112 a couple of months back - it wasn't paid in July's pay, let's see if it's been processed in August's. Not hopeful, as the department that processes expenses are in a mess at the moment, but it would be a lovely bonus. also expecting approx £25 back from the exam marking I did in July - it seems they have underpaid us by about 15p a paper - a bit of a cheek as they pay a pittance as it is. Let's see if/when that's paid - the chief examiner has said they are looking into it. Every little counts!

Places to cut back/where to increase income
Today I've cancelled pet insurance (against a few misgivings, but oh well). The plan is to self insure. I will give what I would have paid in premiums (£40 per month) to my OH for safekeeping. Luckily the dog is in good health, if anything were to happen then hopefully I will have the monthly £40s saved up plus, if it was a big bill, the EF, and failing that, the credit card. Just couldn't carry on stomaching a yearly bill of £459!

I've re-set myself up on Prolific Academic today - am set up on some survey sites but I really can't be doing with them any more as I find them so tedious. OH does quite well out of them though.

Anyway, I will stop rambling on now - off to do some cleaning and then maybe a nice bath - anything to avoid doing any real work! Expecting a spend-free Sunday, as we go to the in-laws for dinner and then generally have a quiet Sunday night in, so few opportunities to spend!

Thanks for reading!!

Westie_Fan

Thank you UncannyScot, I am sure I will have to tap on the collective wisdom on here. At the moment it's all a bit stream-of-consciousness but it's so helpful to put things down in writing!

redofromstart

Hello, and good luck with it.

Westie_Fan

So, a post-pay-day catch up.

Not in a bad position at the moment financially, although the house purchase has stalled. I'm ditching my conveyancers as they have admitted that they have done nothing since I instructed them on 28 July and they clearly have no sense of urgency. Have contacted a solicitor on a friend's recommendation and hopefully I will hear back from them tomorrow. Luckily, it will only 'cost' me £14.40 to cancel solicitor 1. It does mean that I will need to find another £300 to pay the search fees for the new solicitor, as I really need this purchase to get moving ASAP. However, I have reached my deposit target so that is all tucked away safely - just solicitors fees to pay.

Anyway, my outgoings and income for the month are:

income: 1991.35 salary. 113.40 expenses reimbursed.

Balance on payday: 2177.49
Current balance: 563.79
expecting £360 when I get income from self employment (putting this towards solicitors fees)

Outgoings:

Rent 400 PAID
Council tax 107 PAID
Gas, elect, water 100 PAID
Sky 62 PAID
Really 7.99 PAID
Groceries 285 PAID (cash given to OH who manages the household budget so i won't pay for food again this month)
Gym 11.99 PAID
TV licences 24.24 PAID
Netflix 7.49 PAID
National Lottery 16 PAID
Local charity donation 4.34 PAID
Dog food 14.99
Slimming World 19.80 (need to get this out cash and put it up for each week)
Petrol 50 (already put 30 in - manage with whats left and perhaps another 20)
Mobile phone 19.25 PAID
Dog grooming 25 PAID (MIL gave me £5 towards it, very kind)
iTunes 0.79
Put £200 in ISA
Put £470 in savings for deposit
Pet insurance 40 PAID

I usually save £200 towards credit card and car maintenance but this is on hold until the house purchase has gone through, then I will start saving hard towards them and Xmas.


Debts
Paypal 66.50 (was going to pay it early but I'll just wait for DD to take it)
MBNA 35.00

I've been a bit spendy since payday, it has been the last week of my holiday and we've been out and about. Back to work tomorrow after 4 weeks off (sob) but it will help me to get back into a routine in terms of not having time to spend money and being more ordered with my eating.

Possibly unnecessary things I've bought since PD:
£18 pub meal with OH
£7 Pub lunch with friends
£20 boots (mascara and foundation, 3 for 2 so £10 saved).
£15 new top
£23 Waitrose (half price offers - stocked up on shower gel deodorant, shampoo that'll last months and bought two bone china mugs that we already own but love, so bought two reduced from £6 to £4 each as back up in case the first ones break!! Sad I know).

Money saving steps to take this month:

I've meal planned for the week and bought in most of what we will need
I usually have a huge dinner at in-laws on Sunday, had a big breakfast today so will only need a small lunch, will bring the LO home to have for lunch tomorrow).
Taking reusable cup to work in case of impromptu Starbucks visits (booked in to training tomorrow with a friend/colleague so will probably need a coffee afterwards LOL)
Cancelled Pet Insurance and given £40 to OH to save.
Need to cancel breakdown cover - 117 to renew but I'm going to go with AutoAid instead for £43

I need to work out how much disposable I will have left after the odd little bill is paid - I think it will be approx £400. Don't need anything really, part from some new trousers for work, maybe. otherwise, I'll be battening down the hatches and will try to only spend £150 max, saving £250 towards debt repayments and emergency fund.

Westie_Fan

redofromstart wrote: »

Hello, and good luck with it.

Cheers, thanks for reading

[Deleted User]

Good luck x

Hiddenidenity

Good luck x

Westie_Fan

Post pay-day catch up.

Exciting times - exchanging/completing on the house tomorrow. My mortgage account is now live and I have already logged in to the online mortgage manager (keen!). I'm ridiculously happy to have a mortgage, even though it means I am completely cleared out, after paying fees, deposit, etc. I have just my surplus from September's payday plus £130 left in Premium Bonds (couldn't bring myself to clear it out completely).

So, my next target is to build up an EF. Luckily, I know the house inside out so I'm not expecting any immediate demands on the finances, but you never know. There's a lot that needs doing (decorating, new kitchen, bathroom) but I do not want to take on any debt, so it will be a slow, slow process. It's all liveable and we don't get many visitors (!) so I'm OK with this.

I do need to save for other things, though. Paying the deposit cleared me out - I had to use the money I had saved for the tax bill in Jan, professional insurances, Xmas, OH birthday, car tax, MOT and service. So, I need a plan to save to meet these costs. Credit card's (£2600) 0% deal ends in August and I'd like most of it gone by then. I'm confident I can get a balance transfer but I still want to get rid of it ASAP, it's just an irritant. But not enough of an irritant to strive to get rid of it at the cost of having a bit of a life?

Tax bill, professional subscriptions, etc, will be around £700 - I will need save all income from SE towards these. I've already done 3 hours at £60 ph and I am confident I will work at least 20 hours by December, so I should have enough from this so that I don't need to dip into my regular income.

Car costs - from this payday, I am saving £100 per month, meaning I will have £500 saved by Feb, when it's all due - not enough. Need to up this to £150 I think. This will need to come from my regular income.

I've opened a new current account with Tesco to take advantage of the 3% interest, so I will start building up these reserves in that account. I'm also expecting £500 cash back from mortgage so that will be a bit of a welcome boost to the coffers. Not sure how much my first mortgage payment will be but I've put aside the rent I would have paid this month to cover additional interest, etc.

Next steps: wait for last few bills to clear this month so I know how much I have left. Will update then!

Tx for reading.