Light the fire...

woodfired

So we have finally had full proof of funds from the buyer this morning (sale funded by sale of company shares so had to wait a few days for those funds to clear to allow buyers solicitor to confirm full funding is in place). Finally, today, our sale has been passed to the sales progression department of the EA.

Valuation of our new house has also been done this morning, MA said we may have results as early as this afternoon but more likely to be Monday then a formal mortgage offer will (hopefully!) be issued.

We have spent the morning window-shopping in the Christmas departments at a couple of large shopping outlets near home. Didn't buy anything but sooo many plans for Christmas displays and decorations when we finally move in. I love christmas.

woodfired

We have a formal mortgage offer! Phew, that was a long time coming! Really pleased.

Fingers crossed sale proceeding ok, completion will be after Christmas but we are making lots of plans and have spent some time today clearing our main workshop/shed. Taken lots of stuff up to the farm that we wont need before we move so it is easier to clear & move on the day. DH is out there now, fiddling with bits and finishing off the sorting out. Buyers want a home buyers survey so hopefully that will be fine, we can't see any issues but you never know!

I'm attempting, not very successfully, to eat down the freezer stocks but it fills up as fast as I seem to empty it! Must try harder.

With the extra £5k in the new offer, we are on track to be approx £12k over-funded which is ace but we expect a £11k tax bill in Jan so that money won't be around for long.
We are borrowing £10k from Mum but will hopefully pay it back quickly and may not need all of it with a bit of luck.

woodfired

Starting to use some stuff up around the house. Found some half used packets of bird seed and half a box of fat balls so rooted out a feeder and the birds think its Christmas out there!

We've been out all morning and just got home, have lit the fire and we've had a late lunch of leftover chips from last night and yummy gravy. Tea will be spag bol from the freezer so no cooking involved and I shall enjoy a glass of wine in front of the fire. We had a lovely family evening last night, flicking through the music channels and singing along (especially to the Christmas songs) whilst snuggled up by the fire. Simple pleasures.

A quick look in the fridge and freezer revealed a pack of mince that needs using, will turn that into a cottage pie tomorrow which will do a couple of dinners. I also have some chicken breasts, leeks and peas that I can use in a white wine sauce, perhaps with some bacon, later in the week. Good warming dinners in this cold weather. I've lots of fruit and can get milk/bread etc from our shop so should be able to hold off the SM shop til the end of the week at least.

Happy Saturday.x

woodfired

What a lovely day today. Quite misty but really calm, the reservoir on our walk this morning was beautiful, the reflection of the surrounding hills was crystal clear as the water was so still.

So, a nice walk with children, nephew, sis and BIL. Breakfast of scrambled eggs. Lunch was ham sandwiches for kids and spicy sausage and salad wraps for me (leftovers from Thurs). More wiggle room in the fridge now, it was groaning last week. I've popped mince, veg and stock in SC to make cottage pie, bulked out with some oats. :money:
I've also peeled and chopped the potatoes ready to boil for the topping later this aft. Now watching a Christmas movie with DS whilst DH re-roofs the shed!

savingholmes

Fantastic news on the cash buyer and full asking price! Woohoo. Hope the rest all falls into place for you too.

woodfired

Thanks SH, we have everything crossed! x

woodfired

Just checking in with a bit of an update.

Buyers had a homebuyers survey done on this place last Thursday, still waiting for the results with crossed fingers.

We've had another quiet weekend, Christmas crafts at Mum's with my 3 sisters and children on Saturday which was lovely. Bless them, Mum & Dad also presented the four of us with early Christmas presents which turned out to be a cheque each for £10 000! So unexpected and so generous of them. We were going to borrow £10k from Mum for the house but to not have to pay it back is amazing and we are very lucky. We will start in our new house on a clean slate with no debt aside from the mortgage, fabulous.

I'm using up the freezer stocks as best I can, pulled out a cooked joint of beef on Sunday and rustled up a full roast dinner with yorkshire puddings in 40 minutes flat! we were intending to eat after the village light switch on & carols around the tree but the children were tired so I made it beforehand. Today I've used a pack of mince for chilli which will do tomorrow too and we'll eat up some of the chicken later in the week.

Elsewhere, I saved £16 on my shopping this week using some vouchers and bought quite a bit of xmas choc which I've hidden. I've also downgraded my shampoo to tresemme as it was on offer at £2.25 for a large bottle versus £4 for my usual (small) bottle! Decided i'll use posh stuff at weekend when wearing my hair down as 99% of the time its tied up anyway.

I got my tax statement through the post today and paid it straight away. £1770 lighter. DH's is going to be around £9k so won't be paying that just as quickly but all budgeted for thankfully.

Oh, and a £25 win on the premium bonds this month. Every little helps.

lucielle

Wow! What a lovely gesture from the parents.

L

woodfired

Evening all.

Great news today, survey is back and buyers are happy with the report! :j

All down to solicitors now and I feel like I can start packing with less fear of jinxing anything. DH has picked up another regular order today which is also good news.

Elsewhere, I have blitzed Christmas this weekend, tree and decs up, all cards written and most posted/delivered. All family/friends presents wrapped and most delivered. Only waiting for 2 gifts to arrive and we're done. :T:T It feels great! I usually make a good start then run out of steam, leaving everything til the last minute but not this year!

woodfired

Morning all.
Thought I'd post a bit of an update. Still in a funny limbo, waiting for solicitors to get on with house selling/buying. Trying to maintain money saving momentum whilst planning for new house which is hard at times. Anyway, update follows:

Christmas prep is well underway here, pretty much done in fact. Sorry to be smug! I made a conscious effort this time not to be dashing around on xmas eve finishing off jobs (I'm aware we're not there yet and this may still be the case!!) but I am much more organised than I usually am. I think having a much more relaxed job where I can get stuff done at work has played a huge part in this, especially as it will be my second Christmas in the job and I'm much more at ease and relaxed with it now.

Mum is having a Christmas party tonight and I've been tasked with bringing pigs in blankets. I'm also going to defrost some frozen-on-last-day sausages from the shop freezer and make some sticky hoi sin and sweet chilli ones to help clear some space.

Had a nice little surprise in the post yesterday. Last year I complained to T5B about the problems they were suffering with the internet banking and how it had caused me problems, they wrote a few months later to apologise and credited my account with £75. Well yesterday I had a further letter to say not all complaints had been dealt with equally and here is another £75 cheque! Thanks T5B!

My meal planing has slipped a bit lately and I need to get back on it. I'm planning and shopping accordingly but then bringing home quick freezer food from work when I'm tired and can't be bothered. As a result my freezer is filling up with meat that should have been cooked but I didn't get round to it! However, Thursday I defrosted some chicken thighs and that night used part of a pack of bacon for spaghetti carbonara. I used the rest of the bacon with some onion, garlic, white wine and the chicken to make a casserole that will be finished of with cream cheese. It sat in the SC all day then went into the fridge. We should have eaten it last night but we had a big lunch and didn't want any dinner so will have tomorrow instead.
I've got a large beef joint in the fridge that will also need cooking then portioning and freezing so I'll do that in the SC also. Must get organised!