taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be

efes_shareholder

Humdinger1 said:

@efes_shareholder so thrilled to read your news! Now you can start making plans.  Congrats on everything you've achieved so far.   Humdinger x 

thanks
I've heard through my daughter that the house sale chain is aiming for completion mid march.
I've booked a viewing for a local flat , I would prefer a house but its top end of my budget to achieve and I seem to be in a very competitive price bracket so this may not be achievable or could result in me overstretching.
The flat is 30k under my budget and I know the flats are very spacious and it comes with a garage which is a perk - I have to also consider that I could potentially keep the 30k in a very rainy day fund or get the flat done excatly how I want it and still have cash left over ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it could come down to choosing either a flat excatly how I want kitted out or a house which I have to take time to get where I want it to be.
NM is all moved in to his flat, its lovely - it was a job and I can't believe he had so much stuff in one room as we have filled the flat !! but after a long hard slog yesterday everything is all in place and we can now sit back and relax - its so quiet , ridiculously so , there are neighbours and it is in a block but you don't hear a pin drop , people say good morning on the street and its just generally feeling like a nice place to be.
22 spend today for 3 months supply of my pro biotics which would normally cost 40 so its a saving and I absolutely need them
Mum still not great but she is trying to eat more , little and often 

lucielle

All sounding good
L

efes_shareholder

Payday been and gone , just the card payment to go and then everything is done for the month.
It feels so nice to have only have a four week month to contend with , pretty sure after the long january , its going to be straight forward to get to the end of the month with an excess
Still at the flat with NM , its so relaxing and quiet here but feels quite surreal and like we are flat sitting rather then him living here - hes exceptionally tidy and organised which does help.
Saw a lovely big georgian flat on the market just up the road from here and was going to arrange a viewing but its sold within 24 hours ............property is still shifting so I don't know if I am going to see the dip in prices I would like , I guess all trying to get a foot on are hoping for the same.
It seems like the last few weeks have been manic what with mums health and NM move so I'm hoping for a more relaxed feb , mum is still having the same difficulties and we have been told it could be 6 weeks for the CT scan results so lord knows how long until we know whats causing it

efes_shareholder

Today WHITE BREAD ! 
I bought it because Google tells me for people with mums digestion problems to go for this as its more starchy and lower in fibre however tonight I've found out its still a trigger for me , my lord thank heaven for peppermint oil or id prob be sat here bloated like a hot water balloon 🎈 
Id been doing so well getting my symptons under control but you know when you exhale so fiercely that you think you will be sick too , yep its not attractive 
Sat here until I've relieved the bloating and playing over my next steps 
Clocking up my outstanding debt commitments 
I currently have 
3100 tesco 0% card
1935 ( 9 payments of 215 car finance) 
So that's  5035 to clear ASAP 
I have 6575 locked away in premium bonds , I look at this as my new home fund 
I have 790 in my nationwide esavers which I look at as my emergency fund 
I have cleared this month's commitments and late Xmas costs on the everyday card and I have 670 there until payday on the 26th 
I have my new home deposit coming from my house sale , its substantial but in my area and with my mortgability gives me a 50 % deposit at my max buying capacity of 263k.
The debts affect my borrowing ability and have to be cleared in order to get the mortgage but only at time of completion so basically if they aren't cleared by my salary in that point they have to be cleared via my bond and EF money.
I'm deliberately whether to carry on putting surplus in to the EF with a view to clearing the car when it meets half way or whacking a big portion of it against the tesco debt because seeing it closer to clearing and within reach may give me the motivation to really focus on it and drive it down as soon as possible 
Alternatively I can carry on squirreling in to the EF and then just use this to dent in to everything when the house sells ........ as ultimately this way I will know exactly what I can spend.
I'd really like to retain what I have and get rid of everything my own way , I can clear it now but it doesn't feel like i learn that way ! 
I'm excited to potentially be able to buy soon but wary not to over commit myself 
One decision whilst having prosecco tonight ( apologies for ramblings ) is that ill be making an additional payment to the tesco card , I still have last months 160 odd surplus in my current account so thats the minimum thats being paid and it gets it under 3k and the total under 5k 
Its my sons birthday and valentines this month and I have a 65 pound pcn for turning right where I shouldn't but other then that spends are minimal
Since NM moved in the last 3 days I've driven 35 miles and been home twice yet in the days before the move I did 140 miles in 2 days so being closer the fuel costs are definitely driven down 

efes_shareholder

so typically today a house which is ideal has come on the market
Its in my work town , its 2 bed , and its affordable and looks ready to move in although could do with a little tlc etc 
Trying to get a viewing but I expect half of the first time buyers in the town are too
I've done the sums , debts cleared as it stands ( so taking from my money/house rather then paying off as I am )  and money in - it would give me a surplus fund of around 10k to furnish and fix up although I'm a bargain hunter with things like that so would try and do that as cheap as possible.
I want to get a foot in the door to check it out and have been in contact with the agent but no appt as yet as person out on viewings blah blah blah 
checked my house progress, all surveys are done , draft contracts are done , just waiting on searches and queries ...............aiming to complete before end of march and so i guess i can start to up my search
the house is offers in excess off and im pretty sure i'll be outpriced but nothing to lose

efes_shareholder

agent just came back to me and viewing is arranged for saturday afternoon 

Humdinger1

Ooh @efes_shareholder how exciting! Keep us posted Humdinger x 

efes_shareholder

Humdinger1 said:

Ooh @efes_shareholder how exciting! Keep us posted Humdinger x 

thank you , i'm excited for this one as it really does tick all the boxes , I dont like the kitchen but theres nothing wrong with it , just a little bit out of date but certainly clean and usable.
I've a feeling there will be lots of competition as i'm in the same price bracket as the FTB'ers but nothing to lose by looking
I live in one of the postcodes affected by the new south african covid strain and the agent flagged that up , I hadn't even considered it as I'm always home or with NM , not going out to work etc , mum doesn't leave the house and NM gets tested weekly at work but literally 20 minutes after I got off the phone the Covid testers knocked at my door so I took the oppurtunity to have the test just in case it hampers the viewing. 

lucielle

OOOH that's so exciting.  Hope it goes well
L

efes_shareholder

I viewed a flat this evening , lovely large living areas but pretty tight bedrooms of 10ft by 10ft and 10ft by 7ft , I dont think the master is big enough for me although there was plenty of cupboard space and unlike most flats it had gas central heating and a stores cupboard being used as utility 
The main off putting thing for me was the parking, I drove past a few nights ago and the parking was ram packed and again today at 5.20 it was too 
Property had a garage and many people parked in front of them but the location of the garage for the property I looked at didn't enable this
The attractive thing was the price tag , it needed very little spent and had a  brand new combi boiler but the parking is a huge issue as potentially ill be looking to park 3 cars ........ anyway it would put 30k in my pocket , 

More worrying , when I got home mum had had a call from the hospital re her CT scan results , apparently we have been sent a telephone consultation but that hadn't arrived. They are calling back tomorrow at 8.30am , mum asked them for the results but they said they would rather not give them when she is alone and would like to talk to me.
This is very concerning , im anxious that we may have been premature in thinking we have the all clear of the C word and I'm pretty sure the colonospy would only pick up potential problems in the lower stomach and not the other concerning organ with similar symptons like the pancreas.
Also the doctor called out of the blue yesterday and requested some blood tested to check her diabetes , I wonder if they have had something through from the  hospital. I checked the form and the tests are for protein , glucose, thyroid , liver and kidneys 
I think ill have an anxious night sleep