SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

ms_london

LadyWithAPlan said:

I am wildly impressed with your kitchen build progress - wow! I have found a welding course starting next Sept - I currently have no outdoor space so I can't learn from home However you have inspired me to make furniture

My 10 week diy course was great - we did basic plumbing - 2 weeks, plastering, drills, ceiling roses, etc and we finished by bricklaying !! I will do another course next term - maybe 10 weeks of carpentry.. 

@ms_london well done on your deposit - I am in a similar boat - saving to buy - but although I also live in london I am thinking I need a bit of outdoor space ..

@jak I can imagine there is so much to do, I guess OPs will have to wait their turn after rebuilding your EF and  doing what you need to have a liveable home.

@LadyWithAPlan

Thank you. Was just reading your money diary and you’ve done so well with your savings, amazing!! My big goal of 100,000 is end of February - can’t wait. 

Must be tough finding something to buy in London, especially if you want a bit of outdoor space. I lived in London for many years (hence the name). I’d love to buy in Brighton but it’s out of my price range so we’ll see where I end up. Not in a rush at the moment.

ms_london

Sistergold said:

@LadyWithAPlan, September is not too far off to do the welding course. Better do a course than just jump into the deep end! Yes after the kitchen I am looking forward to start making my own user friendly furniture with lots of storage! For now though last night I removed the floor corner unit and now have lots of cables and boiler pipe work to deal with! Feeling a bit overwhelmed on how to deal with it?! 

The floor and wall are in a very bad state just like the rest of the house before I renovated it. I am hoping to lug that corner with the new units by end of this weekend. I need to cut the countertops first though! Let’s see how I get on! 

@Sistergold

wow, you’ve done amazing with your savings too, especially being a single mum to 4 kids. 

You both seem to be great at DIY. I might look into doing a course or two myself in the future. 

Sistergold

@ms_london, it’s really important to learn some diy and then you can choose when to hire someone or when to do it yourself. What’s annoying is being charged too much for something simple and at times you can not get anyone to do the work for reasons ranging from them just being too busy or your job being to small. 

In the case of the kitchen I wanted this particular type of industrial look/feel kitchen and I was facing all sorts from being told it will not look nice to just welders letting me down to ridiculous quotes. 

With the way inflation is going diy will eventually be forced on many people I think? 

Sistergold

Better is good
Just some reflections for today. Yesterday was a busy and freezing day. I tried to move the kitchen project forward but it was really hard as I could only be out a few minutes and be back in the house/kitchen so as to warm up hands and toes to avoid frost bite. I must say I managed to cut much needed worktops painfully/slowly. So I would go out measure and mark, go back into house warm up, go back out clamp and apply masking tape to avoid damaging laminate, go back in and warm up, go out and cut worktop take it into the house, stay and warm up and repeat for each worktop. It was SLOW! But it got done in the end 💪🏾 and by the time I went to bed I had managed to fix down worktops with screws, this was done in the kitchen so not too bad. I hope to screw in the rest of wood onto the said frames. Having said that the kitchen is better. This dawned on me last night that the kitchen is better and to be honest better is good! I was putting myself under pressure wanting to get the sink and dishwasher units done by this weekend and call in the plumber but I have now decided that I will leave things for now and call in the plumber after new year! There is no need to rash, one more Christmas with old sink and old sink unit will not be the end of the world. I have to accept that although not finished I have so much more storage space now. In fact I have almost all the storage space I can have in this kitchen as you all know you don’t get much storage under the sink so there is not going to be any gain after installing new sink unit at which point I will lose a bit of storage as food macerater is going to use up a lot of the possible space under the sink. 

So the progress made is such that all units are now in except for sink unit and dishwasher unit. This is good progress I must say. I will need to figure out how to cut out for the sink etc but it should not be too bad.

So onwards and upwards from this week I will focus on decluttering and tidying up the house! 

Hope you are all keeping warm? Xx

LadyWithAPlan

Sistergold said:

Better is good
Just some reflections for today. Yesterday was a busy and freezing day. I tried to move the kitchen project forward but it was really hard as I could only be out a few minutes and be back in the house/kitchen so as to warm up hands and toes to avoid frost bite. I must say I managed to cut much needed worktops painfully/slowly. So I would go out measure and mark, go back into house warm up, go back out clamp and apply masking tape to avoid damaging laminate, go back in and warm up, go out and cut worktop take it into the house, stay and warm up and repeat for each worktop. It was SLOW! But it got done in the end 💪🏾 and by the time I went to bed I had managed to fix down worktops with screws, this was done in the kitchen so not too bad. I hope to screw in the rest of wood onto the said frames. Having said that the kitchen is better. This dawned on me last night that the kitchen is better and to be honest better is good! I was putting myself under pressure wanting to get the sink and dishwasher units done by this weekend and call in the plumber but I have now decided that I will leave things for now and call in the plumber after new year! There is no need to rash, one more Christmas with old sink and old sink unit will not be the end of the world. I have to accept that although not finished I have so much more storage space now. In fact I have almost all the storage space I can have in this kitchen as you all know you don’t get much storage under the sink so there is not going to be any gain after installing new sink unit at which point I will lose a bit of storage as food macerater is going to use up a lot of the possible space under the sink. 

So the progress made is such that all units are now in except for sink unit and dishwasher unit. This is good progress I must say. I will need to figure out how to cut out for the sink etc but it should not be too bad.

So onwards and upwards from this week I will focus on decluttering and tidying up the house! 

Hope you are all keeping warm? Xx

WOW Great focus .. but yes giving oneself grace at this very busy time of year is also very important. Those wires look messy
 
@ms_london Sister Gold encouraged me to start the diy and its been fun...plus it means I have a better understanding of the work that needs doing on fixer uppers and possible costs. I will be doing 10 weeks of carpentry I think next term

Glad you enjoyed my diary - I have lots of very late paying clients so my £125k target should have been neared but hasnt ... Glad you hitting the 100k in Feb well done! I think having that focus is so important especially as rates gone up again today

Friday1989

Under £170,000 now which feels like a great achievement. I probably have about 50% equity in the flat now. 

My flat is really struggling with damp and is freezing. The last couple of days I've just had to suck it up and put the heating on for hours because I can't have the flat under 15 degrees long term. I have a dehumidifier but it's not enough. 

slm6002

@Friday1989 I am thinking the same as you.  We can wrap ourselves up with layers of blankets but I cant risk pipes freezing or damp areas get any worse.  The heating has been on for short bursts through this cold weather just to take the edge off it and to warm the house a little.  I am still on a good fixed rate until Nov 2023 and have my solar panels but still worry about the cost.  Silly really because last year I wasn't so worried and the costs were just the same.

Sistergold

Oh wow @Friday1989, now below £170k well done! 🥳💪🏾. Keep it up! 

@Friday1989 and @slm6002, good that you are switching on the heating as damp can be a big problem. I am not on a fixed tariff and my energy bills have been climbing up! This past week I have been using a space heater I got from builder depot to heat up the garage as I have been making the kitchen cabinets in the as being outside was impossible with the current weather. So the heater and the welding ummm I hate to think how much I will pay?! Will see. 

Have a lovely week! 🌺

SecondStar

I’m hoping to be able to join this thread in earnest soon!

My ex and I broke up last week, and we own a house together as joint tenants. I’ve moved out for now, but we’re sitting down on Tuesday to discuss finances, the house, our pets, and our living situations going forwards.

It is my aim to either have him buy me out, or to have the house sold, and then to buy somewhere by myself.

Sistergold

Hope you have all had a merry Christmas! I also wish you a prosperous new year!