Prosperous soul in the making

savingholmes

Thanks MF
Well last night I got DD to work off some of the clothing £ she owes us by painting the utility. She still needs to finish but it's progress and she's learning life skills! Today I took DD to my sis for some socially distanced time in the garden while I took DS to get the last of his stuff from uni. We then went and collected DD and spent a little time with my sis' family first. We then got a McD's on the way back. The first since lockdown began so that was nice for all of us. While we were out DH put a load of stuff in the loft so made progress here too. I also filled up my car with fuel for the first time in 3 months!

DS says one of the foreign students had his accommodation refunded so he thinks he won't end up having to pay. It would be so good to just know! He has now handed back his key and emailed them so we are hoping to hear for sure either way soon. 

MovingForwards

Life skills are invaluable and underestimated how beneficial they are. 

Your day sounded just what was needed.

Fingers crossed you hear soon about the accomodation.

Drawingaline

We had our first McDonald's on Friday! It was wonderful, my daughter couldn't believe it when I said it is the longest I have gone without one since I was in my early twenties 😂 in our defence I worked there for over 5yrs (where I met hubby) and it's always been a safe option when abroad, and then having a larger family it is a reasonable eating out choice, especially as the small two will happily eat something off the menu (not guaranteed anywhere else!). We tend to have one McDonald's and a Chinese each month as our eating out.

Glad you got to meet up with your sister, and fingers crossed you can save money on the accommodation.

savingholmes

Thanks MF and Drawingaline
Yes was nice to have a McDs after such a long for us gap. Got home and DH had put a load of stuff in the loft too which had  ; gathered on the landing which made the house feel a little lighter. He says the loft is now full though. DD is planning to continue painting the utility later. Really pleased as she needed something to do that wasn't just college work and where she could see a visible difference. DS needs to empty my car still from yesterday. 

Today I have been journalling. Plotting out what I want to improve in the house and what we want from a new place when we are finally ready to move. I spent a lot more than I originally planned this month - and paid for some on a CC to be paid in full when stuff arrives. I could cover my bill with savings and have about £500 change - but that is less than my target EF. The bill isn't due to be repaid until July - I should have the £ by then. I've put stuff on it from online orders to reduce the risk if the company goes bust before I get the goods. 

We are planning to move some furniture around & may repaint some. We have a really tall unit in our lounge and DH's study for example (matching set) and will move both into the garage for now. I then plan to set up a temp desk in the living room (when 1k3a deliver at the end of the month). I am due to WFH until at least October. I am hoping a formal desk will help with concentration and demarcate the day better between work and play. The new living room chairs are narrower than our current ones so hopefully that will help too.  

I want to get out in the garden a little later... You know and get dressed... All the usual challenges 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Oh, would quite like a McD's, yum.  We don't really get many takewaways (too expensive for 7!).  But when we do, McD's are a go to.  The one closest to us has limited opening times and long waits, so I haven't bothered as yet.
P!zza hut have had a £5 menu recently, so we've had a couple of those for lockdown kids birthdays, yummy.

lucielle

Just caught up and having a rare day off.  All sounds busy in the SH house
L

MovingForwards

Definitely sounding positive with DD, you may have found another think she takes to.

Having a dedicated working space will make a difference, but I would keep that space just for work to give the mental separation between work and home. If it's surfing the net for fun stuff like paint colours, furnishings etc sit on the sofa.

Pleased I'm not the only one preserving the life of every day clothes 😁

savingholmes

Hi OhSh.... - a decent pizza sounds awesome may need to add that to the list of future delights
Hi Lucielle - thanks for popping by. Hope you are well. 
Hi MF - love it ''preserving the life of everyday clothes"

We have covered some of our remaining back lawn with bark. I'm not sure about it. Will see how I feel tomorrow and perhaps scale it back to just the area where we've put our existing L-shaped sofa. This is instead of the patio for now. It's neater but I prefer the green of lawn or a posh patio but figure we can always relay the lawn with turf post lockdown.

DH would like us to buy the house I saw on the net - regardless of jobs - but we originally promised DD we wouldn't move until she had finished 6th form next year. I have asked the agent if we can view it once lockdown lifts but they haven't replied. I just hope it or something similar will be available when we are ready to move. It's been on the market 9 months already - so we may be able to make a cheeky offer or they could be holding out for the perfect price. Some other interesting properties have come on the market recently in a similar area - 2 hours from our current jobs but beautiful, large gardens/acres and closer to the coast. I could probably keep my job initially provided I was willing to go into the office occasionally.

Today I've been doing another list of everything that needs doing if we were to put our house on the market. Ideally we need to clear our debts first before taking such a big risk. I also want to know the outcome of my pension situation - as the mortgage company would potentially take it into account and it could boost our mortgage chances. The house I've seen would require us to borrow upto £50K more (depending on what we got for this one and allowing for stamp duty, estate agent fees, legals).  If we were CC free it would be much lower risk for the bank and for us. I'd also prefer our neighbours to sell first as that would potentially boost our price as few people check the specific differences. 

Just you know a few random weekend thoughts... 

in_need_of_direction

I have a dream location more than the dream house that is currently on the market with there having been two price reductions to date. Part of me wants to go see it to completely rule it out while the other part is afraid to in case it really is our dream house and we can’t afford it.  It’s would also make for a much longer commute 

clearmydebts

I also have a dream location. Luckily it is only 10 minutes away from where we live! The houses are a good €100k more though but the location is perfect. It might not sound much, 10 minutes away, but it makes a world of a difference.