Holey Moley!

killerpeaty

How has your decorating gone Ellie?

You must be so proud Wellies, have you seen it? Do you like it?

Spoken to the plasterer today. Brilliant news! I was told by the estate agent that basically the whole place would need replastering, but only a small section does! When working out if I could afford the place, I estimated about £5k due to my rough internet research. But it's come in at £250! I might be able to get my bathroom fully done! I also need to start decorating in the bedrooms and living room.

Also I noticed that some of the ground floor flats are for rent so being the nosy person I am, I looked at them. They're tiddly and for rent for £750 a month! More than my mortgage for my much bigger flat.

Below I have put together my current SOA, it has a lot of missing information and is just for my use to keep track.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2,168.70
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income....................2,168.70

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................711.07
Overpayments.........................38.93
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 10
Council tax............................. 152
Electricity............................. 0
Gas.....................................0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 36.62
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 6
TV License.............................. 0
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services.......................0
Groceries etc. ......................... 0
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 40
Road tax................................ 11.67
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 72
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10.4
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 20
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, Christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Monthly Investments.....................310
Professional subscriptions..............
Total monthly expenses.................. 1,443.69

So currently for internet, gas/elect, TV (if I have it), food, entertainment and savings per month will be £725.01. Ideally I want to have emergency fund savings to be minimum £50 a month, car maintenance pot of £30 ish? I need to save for a new car as well in a few years as my car is 12 years old. If I aim for a £4k car in two years then I need to save £166.67 a month. This all seems to be very expensive. Eek

longway2go

Sounds like you are beginning to settle into your new home. Fantastic news on the reduced plastering cost.

in_my_wellies

Excellent news about the plastering - and think of all the mess that's saved you.

My son lives 90 minutes away so I've only been twice but it's just right for him. A good idea to view similar properties, not nosy at all. I encouraged my son to view similar properties in his road to get ideas about how to update his kitchen but he didn't.

killerpeaty

in_my_wellies wrote: »

. I encouraged my son to view similar properties in his road to get ideas about how to update his kitchen but he didn't.

Maybe he had an idea of how he wanted his kitchen? Maybe he looked and decided he didn't like any of them! :rotfl:

I haven't actually been to my flat in about a week. I have the cold from hell and work has been interesting to say the least. I think I will concentrate on the flat stuff first and then think about changing jobs. Life is too short for dealing with silly firms who cannot stop people from crying in the office. (not me, but it's not a good sign)

killerpeaty

I'm pretty annoyed with this cold, so I have decided that tomorrow I will be happy and healthy. I have an urgent job to do so I have to be in work tomorrow.

Got the bathroom estimate through and I can just about afford it. I'm so pleased! It'll be a stretch but I'll make it work.

I need to work out the paint I need to use. I want to paint the skirting boards and the doors, they're already painted so working on that I think I can use ordinary paint..

First mortgage payment and first overpayment will be on the first! A big and small step forward!

Ellie78

killerpeaty wrote: »

How has your decorating gone Ellie?

Spoken to the plasterer today. Brilliant news! I was told by the estate agent that basically the whole place would need replastering, but only a small section does! When working out if I could afford the place, I estimated about £5k due to my rough internet research. But it's come in at £250! I might be able to get my bathroom fully done! I also need to start decorating in the bedrooms and living room.

Decorating is going s l o w l y! It's not easy when you have a dog who insists of being your shadow and a room full of furniture you can't really clear so you have to just keep moving it around to get to a different wall! Never paint your walls red, it's taking a lot of effort to get rid of :rotfl: although I've switched to a better quality undercoat/primer and that's made a huge difference.

Great news about your plastering costs! I did a DIY course last year and learnt how to plaster but haven't needed to try it out in real life yet.

killerpeaty

Oh no, a doggy shadow. Sounds like it's the cutest of annoyances :rotfl: Where do you go for a diy course?

I have bought some paint! Wilko has tubs for £10 each. I just need to get the gloss..

Plastering is tomorrow. Still having a cough.

Finding this all rather stressful to be honest. I went from having all this money from my deposit and other savings and now I'm looking at all this spending and where's all my money gone?! I know it's dopey, this is what I saved for.

Ellie78

It is very cute, although I live in fear of tripping over him and covering him in paint!

I just googled DIY course and my town and a few came up. The university had a few that looked good and I picked the one that covered lots of different skills rather than just one. I learnt brick laying, plastering, tiling, plaster boarding. It was a lot of fun!

Think about the end result rather than the money disappearing. That should keep you focussed and hopefully less stressed.

expl0rer

killerpeaty wrote: »

I'm debating about getting a TV licence now as there are threatening letters. I'm not living there yet so it would probably be a waste of money. But would buy me peace of mind.

Don't let those thugs bully you into buying something you don't need. That's their strategy, they may send you letters to intimidate you and get you to buy a licence for a peace of mind when you don't need one. TV Licensing outsources it to a private company called Capita and the only information Capita has is what addresses are not covered by a TV licence. They don't have the right to enter your property, when they knock on your door you can tell them to go away.

Some local Capita commandos are more persistent than others, but the rules are the same nation-wide. When they knocked on my door, I told them (truthfully) I didn't have a TV, they left without any more questions and have never returned.

killerpeaty

Ellie78 wrote: »

It is very cute, although I live in fear of tripping over him and covering him in paint!

Maybe he wants a new outfit!:rotfl::rotfl:

Thank you explorer for the information, I have now told them that the property is vacant, so they shouldn't bother me for a few months while the work goes on.

Yesterday I paid my very first mortgage payment! Plus the overpayment. Slightly daunting but exciting. I looked at my balance and I have paid £470 off the balance. I'm not 100% sure how accurate this is, but yay!

I also have a flat ceiling. It's so flat, so smooth, no holes or bowing from the water damage. The plasterer was very good, but he didn't appear to like the biscuits I got him. I'd love to say that I will save them for the electrician, bathroom guy or the carpet fitter, but the truth is that I'll probably eat them.

I have updated my spreadsheets, currently I have the cost of the flat less the outstanding mortgage contributing to my net worth valuation. But I'm not sure I'm happy with this and maybe I should have it as a memo note instead. Also, I found out that I have been recording the value of my current work's pension incorrectly, what a stupid system that it's not shown appropriately.

Today is a weird day for me, it's the anniversary of my dad going into a coma. He died after 10 months. It makes me reflect and wonder whether dad would be pleased with my decisions and progress. I don't know if he would like my flat, but he would like the area.

Yesterday I showed my flat to the first non-family member/tradesman, she seemed like she likes it but she is far too well brought up to let me know if she didn't like it. :rotfl:

Must do better with my spending from now on, I have spent far too much on being ill last month!