SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

Sistergold

Mortgage update 
So things are looking a bit bleak on the mortgage front. Very little progress being made each month it feels? 

I know I have not updated for a while on my mortgage, it does feel a bit discouraging without the large overpayments and added to that with the ever increasing rates leading to inflated monthly mortgage payments. Is anyone else feeling a bit deflated? I have been channelling all my extra money towards the materials for welding. Remember ALL MY TOOLS and more were stolen in that burglary? So far I have spent thousands on tools and metal and other bits that’s why I had to force the welding to be successful. More like I have gone this far and can not go back type thing? What was I going to do with the welding machines, grinders, chopping saws, heavy duty drills, loads of  metal, special drill bits etc? Necessity surely caused me to persevere and now well, I am thankful for that as welding is now just one more thing I managed to do. 

Back to the mortgage very discouraging 
last month  

And this month 

Mortgage rate of 2.64% and still going up? It is still cheaper than renting similar houses so I guess it’s not all bad? BUT  at the rate of reducing by £1400 a month I will reach nowhere fast. I need to finish my kitchen and put back my overpayment to £1000 a month! Will think about it this weekend and see if I can just bite the bullet and go back to the £1000 OP before finishing the kitchen. 

Sistergold

Good morning everyone 
Have been brooding over the mortgage issue and just realised that I have a few months before the current product expires! My plan has been to be below 60% LTV when I switch to next product next year. As said previously I don’t plan to move lenders ever UNLESS my lender becomes too uncompetitive but fingers crossed I will be paid up by then. So anyway I need to get to 60% LTV well before or by the end of April next year. I have been dilly dallying about increasing my OPs from the current £100 back to ~£1000. No more of that now as yesterday I called WestBrom and topped up October OP, paid £899.99 to reach my monthly limit of £999.99. I also asked them to bump the OP back up to £999.99 starting with next month direct debit. This will mean I am back on track. As my current balance is £392486 and my 60% LTV is to be £384k with this OP I should be able to pay the £8k in the next 4 monthly payments at which point I could decide to reduce OPs again if need be. Fingers crossed I will not need to stop the higher OPs until the mortgage climate calms down. 

So I am back to making those higher OPs, back to winning ways to crash that mortgage! Xx

Sistergold

Good morning ladies 
Just a better mortgage balance update for October. 

Last month’s balance 

Balance after this month’s direct debit with £100 OP

Now a more encouraging balance after £900 OP top up

I just realised that for now I need to keep up the higher OP as all the news on problems for those with mortgages can get me down if I then login to my account and see that it has reduced by only just over a £1000. It was beginning to feel like it’s not reducing at all and making me feel a bit down. The higher OP leaves me with the feeling that I am better prepared for a seemingly more unpredictable mortgage climate. Also if I can cope with OP of £1000 now it means I can cope with that rate increase as I can use that to add to monthly payments. 

Managed to top up the building fund and balance now stands at £90k so £10k to go now. 

Happy Thursday everyone 💋 

lantanna

Good work Sistergold. It’s all a bit uncertain now isn’t it and worrying. My gas bill is the one I’m concerned about. I can’t stand the cold.  

I have an electrician coming today to give me a quote on moving some switches and someone else coming next week to put some things up.  A bit more progress….

Sistergold

Thanks @lantanna. I am also one of those people who can not manage my bill through letting the house be colder. If I don’t turn-up the heat one of the children will so it’s a losing battle. I hate the cold and I also wonder what kind of bills I will be getting this winter. It’s most likely going to be one of the “coldest winters ever” due to us all trying to keep bills down. I just hope since we had a very hot boiling summer we will also have a warmer winter this year. I hate to think how pensioners will get on if it’s too cold and they are also turning the heating down due to worry about bills. 

I am glad to hear that you are making progress on a few things in your house. It’s makes a whole world of difference convenience wise to have power sockets/switches where you want them to be. X

jak

Hello! I have officially joined you! I am now the very proud owner of a Victorian terrace. My mortgage is £100,000. A huge amount for me. @Sistergold could you advise me please? I've seen all your great DIY stuff and I'm clueless! I'm looking for a course but nothing around here so far. I need to re-attach skirting boards after plastering and wondered if you had any advice? I've looked on youtube but it all seems to vary so much. I figure wire nails are the way to go and just wondered if that's how you would do it? Also would you use no more nails glue in addition to the wire nails? 
I've loved reading your diary and the support and encouragement between all the single ladies.  
JAK x

frankersBri

jak said:

Hello! I have officially joined you! I am now the very proud owner of a Victorian terrace. My mortgage is £100,000. A huge amount for me. @Sistergold could you advise me please? I've seen all your great DIY stuff and I'm clueless! I'm looking for a course but nothing around here so far. I need to re-attach skirting boards after plastering and wondered if you had any advice? I've looked on youtube but it all seems to vary so much. I figure wire nails are the way to go and just wondered if that's how you would do it? Also would you use no more nails glue in addition to the wire nails? 
I've loved reading your diary and the support and encouragement between all the single ladies.  
JAK x

Hey Jak - I've done this myself a few times. I use Gripfill (https://www.screwfix.com/p/gripfill-adhesive-350ml/10261) which is perfect for skirting boards. Get them all measured/cut and ready, then just put Gripfill on in a couple of wavy lines, one at the top and one at the bottom. Press onto the plaster, and voila. Once dry, a little bit of caulk/filler on the top to perfect the line/gap between the skirting board and wall before you paint. 

Sistergold

Oh hello @jak, and welcome to SLLMs. Such a nice feeling being in your house isn’t it? And now it is time for some diy! Yey diy is the most exciting part of owning a house I feel. Doing what you want, how you want, when you want until it’s exactly how you pictured it. 

To fix skirting boards on, my go to would be a “grab adhesive” rather than nails or screws. Have never tried to screw on or nail on. 

jak

Thanks guys. That's great advice. I've bought some no more nails and will be doing it tomorrow. It will be a lot easier than nailing I think. I'll report back!!! 
PS> Thanks for the welcome. It's great to be here!
JAK
x

Sistergold

Good evening ladies.

 Looks like we are all very busy with work and the various diy we are doing. It’s encouraging to see that most of us are keen and happy to give doing it themselves a go. Believe you me it’s a better feeling when it’s not quite but you made it than you hiring someone they don’t the job aswell as you hoped and you have paid them in the process. 

 

As you all know to date deciding to do my own kitchen from scratch is the most daring diy I have engaged in? Thank goodness it’s actually turned out that cabinets ARE infact getting together. One thing I must say is unlike installing blinds, or shelves or other upgrades I have had to learn to be patient with the cabinet making. Just when I have progressed somewhat and think TODAY I will finish I find NO it’s quite taking longer than that. This is because as you progress you then find something else that you should do before the next step. Cabinet making has suddenly awoken a more creative mind and its really good as it makes the final product better suited for my needs. I am in the process of almost completing 6 units but they are taking longer than I thought. It’s also been a battle with the rain starting and stopping as I am welding in the open. I have accepted that it will finish when it finishes. I had 7 units cut up but I might just decide to finish the 6 which are welded up and let the 7th be part of the next lot. 

I managed to drill quite a few holes into the castor wheel fixing plates that I am making. Had to stop though as the drill is not heavy duty and it had started to smoke! From now on I will drill a few do other jobs and drill some more so that it’s not working too hard. Hopefully the drill was not damaged. On another machine I had to go and change my cutting saw as the mechanism to change the cutting wheel had jammed. Scre£fi¥ was quite good though and it was truly a no hustle experience so I will be inclined to continue buying my tools from them. The machine costed over £100 and to be honest I did not mind buying a new machine if they had said no. The cutting saw makes cutting a breeze. 

I ordered some flat metal bars with a bit of decorations which I hope to cut and use for the lower cabinet handles. The metal arrived today. The upper cabinets the hands are plain and blend into the frame which I am quite happy about but I thought let me try something else in making the lower handles. Fingers crossed I will like the final product. 

Hopefully the next time I post I will be able to report better progress but for now it’s snails pace. X