DrSpendingLittle's New Home - staying accountable and responsible

DrSpendingLittle

Had a good few NSD's recently. Put petrol in the car yesterday and picked up a few grocery items whilst I was paying for fuel and that was it for spends. I think today will be a NSD but I have a feeling we do need some more milk. I'll need to check when I get home from the office. I've brought my lunch into work and have access to a coffee machine, so there are no other anticipated spends for the day.  

I still need to buy LO some jumpers, wellies, winter hat and a winter puddle suit. Fortunately his winter coats from last year still fit him which is fabulous! That reminds me, I do need to check his existing puddle suit as it's the same age as his winter coats, so it might still fit. I've got a basket full of items for an online order so I just need to finalise that but I'm going to hold off a little longer - part of me wants to wait until we get the mortgage offer before I spend the money! 

I'm fully focused on saving as much as I can now for the house move. I'm hoping to be in the new house before xmas but if it is delayed it's no big deal as it gives us an extra month (or maybe two!) to save as much as possible. Being in rented and having most of our stuff in storage makes it all a little less stressful regarding moving logistics, plus we'll likely have at least a two week crossover between our rental ending and completion.

I paid £500 to the solicitors a couple of days ago to get the ball rolling and searches sent off, so the costs are starting to accrue. We will need to pay for a full structural survey and it looks like our mortgage fee will be £1500, which we won't be adding on so will need to pay that too. The cost to get our items delivered from storage is £650 inc. all insurances, so there's quite a few ££s to account for. 

Back to work for me! 

DSL

DrSpendingLittle

Quick check in whilst I wait for LO to wake up. Had a decent few days financially. Got a big food shop arriving this afternoon with meals for the coming days plus some kitchen and household stock items. I've also ordered LO some jumpers, vests, winter hats, new shoes and wellies. His puddle suit still fits him so he'll keep going with that for a little longer.

Had quiet day yesterday, just a local walk in the afternoon and some cleaning in the morning. Today we are heading out to see friends this morning and then will probably go for a local walk this afternoon after nap time. Spends should be low, nothing major expected. 

I'm hoping to hear about the mortgage this week. We submitted all our relevant documents / bank statements last week so I'm hoping they'll be able to assess them and our application this week.

LO is calling so I need to dash! 

DSL

DrSpendingLittle

Had a NSD on Sunday and Monday. Spent £20 in M&S today on a little top up shop of items I was undecided on so didn't put in Sunday's big food shop. They'll help make meals for the fish and meat I bought.

Roasted a chicken yesterday whilst WFH which did a meal for LO and will do a meal for us and LO again tonight, plus maybe lunches tomorrow too.

Lots of activity on the house move today - requests for further documents from the lender, updates on what the vendor will be leaving via the estate agent, and documents to sign from the solicitors. Luckily I'm having a quiet week at work and I'm WFH so can dip in and out of it all on my breaks. I still need to book a L3 survey once the mortgage offer comes in but other than that, we are fairly organised. It seems the vendor wants to move faster than we and the Estate Agent had initially anticipated, so we might be in sooner than expected if all goes to plan. 

DSL

Sarahwithlove

Regarding air fryer I think it depends on how many you are cooking for. One or 2 people it's ideal for, i use mine all time as it's just me but a family maybe not so much.

lady1964

We have a Ninja for the two of us and use it regularly, my DD has a double one for four of them and also uses it regularly as she can cook two seperate things in it for her family, Ninjas aren’t cheap so you have to balance the cost with the usage you think you’ll get out of it. 

DrSpendingLittle

Busy few days - when is it not?! Spending very much in control but I haven't logged into YNAB for a good few days so I must make some time to catch up with that before payday. Need to shift some money between categories as I didn't anticipate paying for solicitors fees this month!  

We got our mortgage offer through a few days ago which is great. We added the fee (£1495!!!) onto the mortgage but we will pay it off via an overpayment in the first month to avoid the interest charge. We've booked a L3 survey but that won't be taking place until the third week in October as he's busy. That should be fine as I doubt we'll be through all the legal work before then. All else is progressing satisfactorily. Our solicitor is just so very good, pricey but worth the extra for peace of mind - she's already sent me the mortgage report and deed to sign! The vendors are not leaving much by way of fixtures and fittings so we will probably arrange a pre-exchange viewing to take measurements for the little one's bedroom curtains at least so they can be ordered after exchange, though the black out blind should work fine as a stop gap. 

Having a day off work and have had a few spends - took the car for a wash as the sap was building on it and I treated myself to a coffee whilst I was out. Picked up a couple of puzzles from a charity shop for the little one, a few quid each, and some sandwiches for lunch.  

About to head back out to return an item from LO's recent clothing order and do a small top up shop. I then need to do a major reset of the living room and kitchen as chaos has well and truly ensued and it looks like a mini hurricane has passed over LO's toy basket. I also do need to put a load of washing on. Domestic goddess I am not. 

I'm feeling anxious about having to spending money from savings, even though it is for the house move. Whilst we will have a prudent amount of ££s set aside for an emergency fund and general savings once we'd paid our deposit and completed, I can't shake the anxiety of having a bigger mortgage, less disposable income, less ££s saved and some rather large monthly payments. Once LO gets more free hours at nursery next year, things will ease, that is unless L4bour decide to means test free childcare hours. It's such an established policy, at least for his age category next year, that I doubt it. Plus with the declining birth rate, we do need to help people afford to have children, especially as everything else is so much more expensive nowadays. 

Right, better dash back out so I can get back home and start digging amongst the lego to try and find the living room floor! 

DSL  

DrSpendingLittle

Thanks @lady1964 thats really useful to know - the cooking separate things is actually one of the attractions to it. Small portions for the little one is probably the main thing. I just need to think about, like you say, whether I will use it enough to justify the price. 

DrSpendingLittle

Nap time so a chance to sit down with a coffee and take stock of finances. What to update on? 

Well, we received a bill this week from the utility company serving our old house - apparently there are reversed charges / times they didn't bill us and we now owe them £360! Not happy. I've called them up and ask them to explain themselves - it seems they don't issue bills unless you submit a meter reading and there were times over the past 18 months when we didn't do that regularly enough. You'd think when we provided the move out day final meter reading that their system was able to compute an accurate final bill - but alas, apparently that is not possible. Anyway, one to chalk up to experience and a salutary lesson to provide monthly meter readings to energy companies so they provide accurate bills!  I wonder if the new house has a smart meter? I might well get one installed when we move in to avoid this kerfuffle in the future. 

It's payday tomorrow and my budget is done. It was quick and easy because this month is going to be very much 'rice and beans, beans and rice'. No frills, no personal spends, no frivolity whatsoever. I need to save as much as possible to cashflow the building survey and solicitors fees, though I suspect I'll still need to take some ££s from savings. It's looking like early to mid November for completion but if it were early December I wouldn't be too upset as I'd have an extra month of interest payable on the house deposit ££s.  

Spends this month have been as expected - I was on budget for groceries and eating out; under budget for petrol; and over budget for the Little One though we did do the 'winter clothes shop' for him. All other categories are fine. The only personal spends I had were on egregiously-priced fish oils and some vitamins. It's now two years postpartum for me and I am feeling the effects of not having taken care of myself properly during that time. I feel depleted of vitamins and need to get back on track. I also need to book a dental appointment, get back to a regular exercise routine and take better care of my skin. My body is saying enough is enough! 

On that note, I've finally arranged life insurance this week in anticipation of the new mortgage. It's a bit more expensive than I was anticipating. I went for life and critical illness cover (which also covers child critical illnesses) plus a family income benefit. I have been thinking about whether to cancel the critical illness to keep the price down but I can't bring myself to... Murphys law and all that. Sadly I know a few young families where one parent has died from, or is suffering with, a critical illness. So, I think I will keep it and just accept the cost. I have removed the extra 1% I was paying into my pension, so that will free up £47ish per month to cover some of the cost in the mean time. When LO goes to school and nursery fees are no more, I will put that extra 1% back into my pension.   

I've been working on the new house budget recently and roughly figuring out how much we need to spend on fixed expenses, fluid expenses, yearly savings pots, savings and personal fun money. It's going to be tight for a year or so whilst we await our £950 per month childcare bill to slowing come down as we become eligible for more free hours. I don't think I'll renew my YNAB subscription when it expires next May. We will get a couple of joint accounts when we move, one for bills and one for spending / yearly savings pots and I'll just use a spreadsheet to keep track of where we are at.

I've been thinking and I will probably start a new MFW diary when we move to keep on track of spends - the only way we are going to be in a position to overpay the mortgage and put some aside for LO's future before he finishes nursery is by being very mindful of day to day spends, so I think having a MFW diary will help keep me accountable and responsible.

DSL 

DrSpendingLittle

Forgot to add, I paid my credit card off in full when the statement was issued last week. You'll recall I decided to use it for fuel spends, having been concerned I was not demonstrating proficient use of available credit to a mortgage lender. The only problem was I kept forgetting to use it so I only accrued a £35 balance. Anyway, earlier this week I decided to put a food shop on it, so I will pay that off once the statement is issued mid month. 

DrSpendingLittle

Budget for October is done. It is going to be very tight as we have a L3 building survey to pay for, plus the surprise £360 bill from our previous energy company. We also have a couple of family celebration events this month - luckily we don't have to travel too far to them, so no overnight costs involved, but I've budgeted £250 for the meals and gifts. Nursery fees will be slightly less this month as LO is only in 21 days and we are in the tax free entitlement period so we'll get a £250 contribution towards that bill. I might need new glasses too. I sat on mine last month and they're not sitting correctly on my face. I don't want to bend the arms too much incase they snap off.  

So, budget wise, I am looking at: Frequent expenses £950 (inc. £100 for eye test & new glasses); Bills £1210. House purchase £750; Nursery £380; Savings £250; and Car maintenance £150 (new tyres & some other work needed). That leaves about a £300 shortfall which I'll need to use interest on savings to cover. Interest should land in my account tomorrow, so I will transfer that over then. 

I've started writing a list of things we'll need to buy when we move into the new house. Some are 'essentials', some are 'need soon' and some are 'wants'. I want to get the house professionally cleaned, inc. carpets before we move in and we'll need to change the locks too, so they will be priorities.

DSL