The first hurdle - Nichelette v the huge mortgage

Nichelette

I've just done my occasional check on Halifax rates and have noticed there is a remortgage rate which is slightly higher (by £9/month) but the arrangement fee is £500 less, so if I can go for that rate that would save £300 compared to the other one. The Lloyds remortgage that's £900/month has an arrangement fee of £1499 so that makes me feel a bit better about paying the extra £50 to Halifax. 

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Congrats on your pregnancy... do chase them about your scan.  If you want the combined screening it can only be done between 11 and 13w6d, so quite a narrow window

South_coast

Please don't feel guilty about managing financially through the pandemic - it's not your fault! Yes, some people are doing OK out of it and some not so well, but I'm really not sure any of it is down to personal choices at the moment - just fate!

Nichelette

ohdearhowdidthathappen said:

Congrats on your pregnancy... do chase them about your scan.  If you want the combined screening it can only be done between 11 and 13w6d, so quite a narrow window

Thank you . I definitely want it. I did email them a week or so ago to make them aware, but they said the midwife would deal with it at the booking in appointment. Hopefully the scan will follow quickly after for that reason. I have a nephew with downs, and he is lovely but he has had so many heart operations, a colostomy basically immediately after birth and other health issues which has made me not want to subject a baby to that. It's not a criticism of those that do, but it's just how I feel personally.

 South_coast said:

Please don't feel guilty about managing financially through the pandemic - it's not your fault! Yes, some people are doing OK out of it and some not so well, but I'm really not sure any of it is down to personal choices at the moment - just fate!

Thank you! We very much appreciate what we do have, but I know there are others who work just as hard but don't get a break. Neither of us had a particularly easy time of it in our 20's for various reasons and I think it definitely makes us more appreciative. We are very lucky in a lot of respects. My husband is so lovely, and even if we didn't have anything physically just knowing he is there makes me so happy. In fact, he's probably also a lot to do with me not relapsing into depression. I'll stop gushing now!

I actually looked into other remortgage stuff yesterday and have got half an eye on getting to 85% LTV now which would save another £50 a month. I'm going to stash away the extra money instead of paying it off the CC and see how close we could get. If we can't make it I'll pay off the CC. I can't do anything until next month, but Halifax are saying we are at 78%. 1% is roughly 3k, but a lot depends on whether we're closer to 77% or 78% at the moment as we have about 4k we could overpay now. I'm reluctant to let it drag out longer than I need to in case interest rates change/brexit/covid cause instability. Going on to SVR would only be another £30/month with rates as they are, but I don't think it's worth risking it in the current climate. I'm hoping they will tell me what house value they are basing the 78% on. 

We've meal planned today and have loads of food, so DH has gone off to buy the few odd bits we need. We've become slack (probably doesn't help with me not going to supermarkets) but we'll need to plan more going forward as I know it saves a small fortune, and we're going to get hammered with childcare costs soon if all goes well, so we need to get saving! 

I always seem to get click bait stories about 'I saved a deposit by myself (whilst living with parents paying no rent, and earning a massive salary)'. It made me go and have a look at my budget books. We saved for 2 years to get our deposit whilst we were renting, and saving for our wedding actually. I used to meticulously record every penny that went out. When I looked I realised how harsh we had to be to get there, but at the end of each month when we could add a bit more, and when we got to milestones it was so rewarding. I don't want to go back to being that extreme again, but I do think I could get a bit of a handle on things as I feel like all tracking has gone to the wall. Such is life!

Nichelette

Very quick update because I can't sleep!

I overpaid £500 to test the waters and the lovely online Halifax thingy went to 77% LTV. Because of that I think we'll actually be able to get to 75% which has exceeded my expectation and aim. I can't honestly believe it. I've overpaid an additional 1.5k for now and will do the rest in time. My only minor worry is if we're bang on 75% do we get rates in the 60-75% bracket or the 75-85% one. To me it seems a bit odd the 60 one isn't 60-74? Anyway, we will deal with that when we come to it.

I had my first scan on Thursday. Baby is doing fine and was very well behaved! My husband is so happy bless him. It really is crazy to think there is a baby in there but it has definitely made it more real. The 27th is the date we lost his mum so I'm glad he has something happy to focus on instead of dwelling on that. It definitely seems to be helping him.

I bit the bullet and told my mum who is elated. I honestly thought she would be worried but she's way more excited! I've also told my little sister who was also way more excited than I expected. She has 4 of her own so I thought it would be a bit same old to her, but she doesn't really like being pregnant and I think is also excited it's not her for once!

I still have my other sister to tell which will be hard because of circumstances but I can't hide it forever. If this goes well I'd honestly consider being a surrogate for them.

Also have to tell my dad and brother which I'm going to do this weekend. All the announcing is exhausting lol. 

savingholmes

Nice to share good news.
Well done on the mortgage. You have been clearing it down in record time.

Nichelette

Made £200 from side line last night (though I'm mostly having a break from it because a) I'm sick of basically having a second job, and b) I have loads of gubbings!). So anyway, I've paid the £200 off the mortgage. Getting closer . 

I've finished telling my family about the baby now and told my team on Friday. Its been really lovely how they've all reacted, though the common theme has been shock followed by joy as they didn't expect it. I've worked or been in education (or both) since I was 16 so it will be a bit of a change for me too. Screening came back okay so that's a big relief. We've started browsing at prams and the like. Bit of a minefield! I'm going to see if there are any good black Friday deals I think. 

In other happy news, student loans are now giving up to date balances online and mine should be paid off in about 2.5 years which is better than I expected! I pay about £100 a month so that will be like a nice pay rise once it's done. Probably the only one we'll be getting for a while the way the economy is heading! 

savingholmes

Glad everything is going so well for you

Nichelette

We've made it to 75% LTV !

It looks like all the time spent trying to go hard at the mortgage has paid off, and with a little bit of luck from this stamp duty jump we've made it. I'm just waiting for the last payments I've made to update and tomorrow I should be able to do the online remortgagey thing. That will reduce our monthly payment from £1160 to £929 which is a big jump. The best bit is as long as they can turn it around quick enough it will be effective from the 1st (when our normal payment goes) with no penalty, so we'll also save the difference x3 (about £690) which I completely didn't expect. I don't know if it's more a psychological thing, but I feel so much happier now it's under 1k. I hope to be able to overpay in the region of 1k a month, but I need to jig about with my spreadsheet to see what impact the baby will have. 

I'm 16 weeks on Tuesday and starting to get a bit more rounded now! We find out what we're having a month yesterday so assuming all is still well I'm going to keep and eye out and see if there are any good black Friday deals. I'm also slowly gathering 'super' bargains as and when I see them. 

I managed to get a used one of these (it's like new) for £17. I will get a new mattress but they're only about £15 so I was really pleased with that. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chicco-Next2me-Side-Sleeping-Crib-dp-B07DNTQKSL/dp/B07DNTQKSL/ref=dp_ob_title_baby

This morning we were walking by a charity shop and I noticed a brand new one of these for £4 so I bought that too. I'm enjoying getting the bargains lol. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Angelcare-Soft-Touch-Bath-Support/dp/B00AWMV9CY/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2S8Q0IOBM6OF2&dchild=1&keywords=angelcare+bath+seat&qid=1603034210&s=baby&sprefix=angelcare+,baby,153&sr=1-3

I also got a pair of maternity jeans in the H&M sale down from £35 to £12 though I'm not sure what size I am because they are S/M/L sizing rather than numbers, and changing rooms were closed so I need to try them on later. 

Moneyfordreams

From what I remember on maternity clothing, if you were small pre pregnancy then buy small etc. Mind you that rule of thumb didn't work for me as I ballooned! I wasn't very chic during mine 26 years ago. Big shirts and normal leggings, just large and worn back to front!. I was slightly better 2nd time, Maternity jeans and Ts added.