Time to Knuckle Down 4 March 2020 at 10:50AM in Debt free diaries 27 replies 1.4K views

lostmyusername

I had an account on here before the Great Forum Change, but resolutely ignored all reminders to make sure I had access to my email so that I could reset my password.
So, this is a fresh start. I was getting nervous about anonymity anyway.
A little about me. I live in London with my boyfriend and we have just exchanged on our first property, a teeny tiny one bedroom flat. Completion is tomorrow! It's inspired me to get back on here, because the completion statement was a higher amount than expected...leaving me with £70 in my account.
I'm working my final two weeks notice at my job so next month, I will be paid around £1,000. I start my new job at the beginning of April and won't be paid a full month's salary until the end of May (I'll get about £900 at the end of April).
The next two months will be a challenge of furnishing our new home to our liking (not buying temporary tat and then putting it in the landfill) whilst making sure we don't run up massive credit card balances.
I owe just over £30,000 at 0% and I now have a mortgage of £106,000 at just over 2%. 
My challenge is to pay off the £30,000 in the next 5 years and alongside that, save £30,000 for our future forever home. Our joint annual earnings are £70,000 with a good chance of rising to £85,000-£90,000 in the next 2 to 3 years.
Hopefully, this diary will help keep me on the straight and narrow. Wish me luck! 

lostmyusername

Right. Some savings goals.

Short Term
£150 by 15 March 2020 - holiday fund

Medium Term
£7,000 by the end of July 2020 - emergency fund.
£5,000 by March 2021 - car fund.

Long Term
£20,000 by March 2022 - remortgage/property expenses fund.
£10,000 by March 2023 - marriage fund.

Looks like we might have a bit of a cashflow issue this month. Very fortunately my family have clubbed together to gift me £2,000 to completely furnish our new place. We already have almost all the furnishings we need, so the £2,000 will be used for other expenses - most likely put in our emergency fund instead. 

I also have a £500 complaint to make, so hopefully that will come through in the next month or so. 

savingholmes

Good luck on your journey. Hope your moves goes smoothly. You are very fortunate to receive a gift towards furnishing too. How did you get to £30K in debt? Have you taken steps to make sure the over-spending stops?

Sarahwithlove

Have you looked at doing a statement of affairs for you both ready for your new place. It will help you if you know what you are going to be working with in terms of bills for your new place. 

Applewood1

Keep an eye on Gumtree and FB marketplace for furniture. You can get some amazing bargains! Good luck with the savings, you can do it! 

lostmyusername

savingholmes said:

Good luck on your journey. Hope your moves goes smoothly. You are very fortunate to receive a gift towards furnishing too. How did you get to £30K in debt? Have you taken steps to make sure the over-spending stops?

The £30k is technically a gift for my deposit, legal fees and stamp duty (~£29k) - but I've said I want to pay it back and am determined I will. It's my parents' life savings, but they aren't in a position to buy, and my property has a lot of potential at a reasonable price, so they felt it was a good idea for me to buy it. The idea is that I will eventually sell it, hopefully for a profit, and use the extra money to help fund their retirement. So the money has gone to a good cause!  

lostmyusername

lostmyusername said:

I also have a £500 complaint to make, so hopefully that will come through in the next month or so. 

Heard back from them already. They accept they were wrong and will either give me the £500 in cash, or in vouchers. Hopefully cash! If not, the vouchers will be saved for birthdays and christmases for the next few years. 

Yesterday was very expensive - paid £29k to my conveyancer! Today, another £1.5k will go to them.

I have almost all my furniture already so there is no need for me to buy any more. My plan is to keep that £2k as an emergency fund. I did have another £2k that I'd saved, intending it to be EF. However, the transaction ended up way more expensive than expected, as is always the way, so I'm wiped out! 

db2016

take the cash, its more liquid than vouchers, and as flybe today have found out, those that used vouchers to book, well they have lost out!

lostmyusername

db2016 said:

take the cash, its more liquid than vouchers, and as flybe today have found out, those that used vouchers to book, well they have lost out!

I tried, but was told "vouchers or nothing"! I know I could probably get the £500 in cash eventually, but it will take months of complaints and protracted discussion, so I've decided to just take the vouchers. I've asked for supermarket vouchers so I can just use them for my normal food shop

lostmyusername

I'm finally a homeowner! Now I have a mortgage that I can pay off!

First goal is to have a positive net worth. Approx. £5k to pay off to reach it. 

Accounts looking incredibly squeaky now, everything cost more than expected (as is always the way!). On the bright side, I have no more accommodation payments to make until April! Actually, need to find out how to access my mortgage account and work out when the first payment can be, so I can properly budget.

Once it's sorted, I'll pop up an SOA. 

lostmyusername

Morning. Busy busy weekend. Moving and unpacking, moving and unpacking. We also acquired a car, which I'm not so sure about. Boyfriend wants it so it's easier to visit family, I think it's too expensive to run. We've agreed to keep it around for a few months at least, and then reassess, but safe to say I'm not happy to have it.

Got a parking ticket this morning (after having the car for less than 24 hours!) because we accidentally parked in the wrong residents' permit zone. Who on earth would ever think that the council would issue a parking permit for the zone you LIVE rather than a zone a few streets away? So we parked outside our front door, not realising it was the wrong zone, and got a fat fine this morning. I'm angry. Planning to challenge it.

In a similar vein, got a customs fee for a parcel. Seller marked up the value by 4 x so the customs fee is massive. Have to challenge that, too.