VelvetFreak is saving up to buy a house!

VelvetFreak

Happy Friday and a belated happy new year! 

I’m coming to the end of my first week back at work and I am T.I.R.E.D. And I have a sore eye (infected eyelash?) and it hurts every time I blink 😩

I have nothing to report re. financial stuff. The process of getting my apartment ready to rent out has been slow going. Most of my stuff is has been moved to the BF’s place but still lots to do with repairs/fixing. I have told the BF that he is going to have to help me over the next few weekends because it’s too overwhelming to be doing it all myself. I hate going over there to do stuff because it’s just so boring! I’m
not putting pressure on myself to get it done quickly because I think that would just make it even worse. 

I’m now onto my last subject for my course which will start next week. Not sure how I’m going to manage to get it done on top of how much I have on my plate at work but I’m sure I’ll make it happen one way or another. 

My goal for the year is to pay off the kitchen loan. It’s a lot but it’s totally possible!  
I will do a better money update once the apartment is rented and I know where I stand with everything. 

VelvetFreak

Just a little money update for today  

I phoned the bank to enquire about switching the mortgage for the apartment over to an investor loan and they guy told me that the rate would go up from 3.09% to 3.5% (where is the EEK emoji!!!!) 

I have left it as it is for now and will begin investigating with other banks. Refinancing is always an issue as my loan is under $150k, the banks don’t even want to look at it never mind give me a decent rate *eyeroll* 

Wish I could get the BF on board with switching his mortgage to an offset but alas he has the classic male trait of not listening. His mortgage is quite hefty and would benefit from an offset account greatly as we start to save up to buy the next house together. I’m considering using his bank for the apartment loan as their rate is decent but don’t want him to then decide to refinance and move to a different bank as I think it would be easier to have the same bank going forward. 

I am finally getting a little bit of motivation to sort out the apartment. The BF is working this Saturday so I plan to go out and buy some lights and ceiling fans and paint some cupboard doors. I’ve got a tradesman coming next week to look at the leaky window/roof. 

I bought the BF one of those camera doorbell things for his birthday. I will try and install it this weekend while he is at work as he is not handy with power tools at all and I don’t need him staring at my while I do it. Am excited to have a camera out the front so I can see when estranged family members come to stalk us
and possibly even yell at them through it! 

VelvetFreak

I have made some progress with the refinancing. I have applied with a new bank who can offer 2.39% with a full offset account. Yippee! Have supplied all required documents so it’s up to them now. Fingers crossed the valuation comes back high enough. 

Work this week hasn’t been great as I have been finding lots and lots of mistakes a combination of my fault and the ex annoying coworker. But I am having a better day today knowing that the orange jerk has been ejected from the White House 

VelvetFreak

I've had a productive Saturday so far and it's not even lunch time yet . I woke up early for no reason so I hauled self over to the apartment for a couple of hours. I managed to get two coats of paint on the linen cupboard door, one coat on the wardrobe doors, pulled lots of screws/nails etc out of the wall and patched up the clothes and brought a basket load of random stuff back with me. 

I was going to install the camera doorbell but alas there isn't a wide enough spot between the door and the window for it to screw into so I will need to find a scrap of wood to screw into the wall first 

I want/need to go out and get some stuff from the hardware store but might leave it til tomorrow so I can force the BF to come with me as I hate going to those kind of places on my own

I will spend the rest of the day doing some chores in the house. Got plenty of washing to do
Am feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that needs to be done at both houses. The garden is a disgrace and the lawnmower blew up the other day so we have a half mangled/whippersnipped yard. The house is super messy because the BF never puts anything away properly and it's become the one thing that we argue over. He seems to have left it all up to me and is very hard to motivate with these things as he has zero interest in house stuff. The only thing he really cares to do is "decluttering" but the stuff never actually makes it out to the bin The pile of stuff that is down the side of the garage has recently fallen down and readers, I must admit that I have been running over it every time I pull in and out of the garage . We do plan on getting a cleaner to come in every 2 weeks to clean the bathrooms and floors etc but we need the house de-trashed before we can even think about allowing someone in here.

VelvetFreak

Happy Monday  
I am in a foul mood today and just want to go home even though there is nothing particularly wrong and I had a decent sleep last night. Not sure what my problem is but hope I can snap out of it soon! 

 
Some more painting was actioned at the apartment yesterday and we had a successful trip to the hardware store for supplies. Tomorrow is a public holiday so we’ll be back at it again, hopefully get the linen cupboard door put on and maybe paint some walls and other misc things. 

This morning at work has been spent fixing up all the silly little mistakes which I think is what is making me feel so annoyed. Hopefully these things are never picked up on as we will be in big trouble But it’s all done now and I’ve fixed it to the best of my ability so time to get over it and move on. 

I’m trying to get the BF to go for a walk with me every day after work (weather allowing) as I think it’s good for our moods and we seem to have the best conversations while out walking!

I have used a discount code for a meal delivery service that will start next week. I have done 3 weeks’ worth and will then re-evaluate if it’s worth paying full price. 

Cherryfudge

Sorry to hear you feel in an evil mood! Once the errors are all worked through and you have things running as you'd want that might right itself.
The walks are a great idea - I'm loving ours though it might be a bit different from yours - ice underfoot and a distant view of snowy hills!

VelvetFreak

Warning: incoming rant re. my horrid neighbour. I want to throttle him. 

So I drove over to the apartment to meet the window repair guy this morning (who was 15 minutes early, typical tradesman) who then informs me that my neighbour had already come out and questioned him and asked why he was there and when he said he was there to see me, the neighbor informed him “well she’s got a boyfriend and moved out, so it definitely can’t be her” and pretty much told the guy to go away. Luckily I turned up right as the window guy was getting in his car to leave. 

I don’t know why my neighbour feels the need to be so f-ing nosey and obnoxious. I don’t think I mentioned it on here yet but he did a similar thing to the furniture removal people a few weeks ago. For someone as observant as he is, she should be aware of the fact that I’ve been coming and going, doing repairs, and it wouldn’t be out of the question for someone to be there to fix a window etc. The unit hasn’t been sold or rented to anyone else so it’s pretty clear that it’s still in my possession. People don’t just move out of an apartment that they own and just leave it there sitting there to do nothing until the end of eternity. 

I have called the building manager people and complained but unfortunately there’s not much they can do unless I go to the police for harassment which seems a bit extreme. 

Next time I see this neighbour out the front I think I will say something to him. I’ve never had a go at him and usually just ignore him but I’ve really had enough. Unfortunately he is on the body corporate committee so my complaining probably won’t get me anywhere so the best I can do is have a word with him myself. I feel sorry for my future tenant who will have to put up with this idiot staring at them and questioning their every move  

Do any of you wise folks have any advice for me? I’m such a non-confrontational person that it will take a lot for me to work up the courage to say something. I feel like this is a repeating pattern in my life where I cop harassment from older men and I never feel that I can do anything about it. I am certain that if I were a young male this guy would be much less obsessed with me. 

I feel like it’s all such little things that the police probably can’t even do anything because it can all be explained away with “excuses”. This neighbour is also the nominated gardener for the building so he has a “reason” to be outside/hanging around/cleaning and just always annoying in general. 

South_coast

Urgh, how annoying 🙁 Personally (and this is just me, as I am also very non-confrontational) I would just do nothing and be pleased I was moving away from it. If I were selling, it might be different, but if you are keeping the flat and renting it out I wouldn't want to make him even more interested in it and potentially cause issues for my tenant which might make them uncomfortable and more likely to leave x

Cherryfudge

He sounds creepy as well as annoying. It would be worth telling tradespeople in advance that there is a neighbour who does this and that their information is inaccurate. I'd also advise keeping a record of his interventions and the dates, and perhaps keep the curtains shut so he can't be nosey without being obvious! If you do speak to him, can you bring a witness along?

VelvetFreak

Another weekend done and dusted  
I had a nice Saturday morning with my friend. We went to some garden shops and I bought some mini hydrangeas. Then dragged the BF out shopping and got some nice pots from the hardware store and I potted up my new plants 

We went over to the apartment this morning and took down the old curtains and I did a final coat of paint on the linen cupboard door and we tidied and cleaned up a bit.  Did not see the annoying neighbour out the front which is unfortunate because I was in the mood to confront him and I had the BF with me for backup. But never mind. 

We spent the rest of the morning in the garden, doing some mowing, ripping down the vine that is taking over, raking dead leaves and trying to clean up the patio and the paths down the side of the house. I am quite pleased with the progress as I was concerned we might have to pay someone to do it as was such a huge mess. There’s still some more vine that needs to be removed but that can wait for another day. The rest of the day was
spent being quite lazy as I found it hard to motivate myself any further. 

There is still a lot of work to be done at the apartment but every little bit gets us a little bit closer. We are both finding it hard because we hate that feeling of having to spend the whole weekend doing boring stuff/physical labour and not getting a chance to relax. I’m also waiting on a building inspector to come and have a look at where the water has been leaking in the bedroom to see if it is a roof issue or window issue. I have a feeling that I might end up having to replace the back internal wall of the bedroom due to water damage so not inclined to paint any more or clean properly until that’s sorted. 

The day the apartment is finished and ready to be rented will deadset be the best day of my entire life.