SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

Sistergold

beanielou said:

I am single & very late 50's.
Finally in the last year of my mortgage which seemed huge in relation to my income.
Have just taken out a home improvement loan though!

Hello there beanielou
Thank you for mentioning your circumstances it makes me hopeful that I will also get there one day. I hope to say “its my last year of mortgage” one day! 🥰

Sistergold

Hello laddies
Answers to Reflections from the other day
7. I would also like to look at the advantages of being on my own even with this large mortgage! 
A. I can decide how long I want to pay this mortgage, I can make overpayments or make changes without having to get approval from another person. 
B. Being in this house will no longer be depended on a relationship with anyone and other than my financial circumstances changing I don't have to worry about divorce and being homeless. 
C. My house my rules.
D. My house my colours
E. Confidence in my capabilities as a woman
F. It was the best feeling ever being able to choose where to live, what kind of house, all the must haves were for me, so being single made choosing easy. 

Sistergold

Hello laddies
Answers to Reflections from the other day 
8. The challenges I have found as a single homeowner. (Will not want to call them disadvantages)
A. It can be lonesome in the house sometimes and there are jobs which are just easier if there is another adult.
B. Have now forced myself To learn all the jobs I used to leave for Mr Ex to do.
C. All finances are down to me so no one to help me, I need to be more thorough in my financial planning as there is less room for error.
D. Builders think they can just work any way they like because I am a woman since there is no male to come and stand their ground. I just find that builders just behave differently if they know you are alone, in a way it made me feel vulnerable.
E. All the jobs that Mr Ex used to do around the house which I find I just can not learn to do or I feel are not safe for me to do or two people are needed I now always need to hire someone else. So keeping a house maintained is more hustle and more expensive for me as a single person as I need to use more paid labour. 

Sistergold

Hello laddies
Answers to Reflections from the other day
9. The advantages of renting before I bought.
A. Gave me time to get to know London so as to decide which suburb to buy in.
B. Gave me time for divorce to go through
C. Gave me time to tidy my accounts and finances
D. Gave me time to save

10. The disadvantages of renting before I bought. 
A. It was difficult renting after being a home owner I felt helpless at times
B. Made it very difficult to save as had to pay full rent at the same time. 
C. At the mercy of landlord
D. Can be given notice to move no permanency 
E. Rent can go up 
F. Difficult to deal with neighbors as tenant
G. Quality of fittings up to landlord and may not be good standard so workman need to come back for same problem, repairs not being done quickly enough
H. No privacy as landlord has keys and needs to inspect from time to time.
 I. Inspection fees, and other fees like for cleaning at end of agreement.
J. Have to accept conditions of your tenancy.
K. Rent goes to pay someone else’s mortgage not your own and you will not benefit from appreciation of property despite paying rent so no benefit. 
L. Property will never be mine no matter what 
M. Landlords can be strict about you accommodating someone else long term, some want to be told if having a visitor

Sistergold

Hello laddies
Answers to Reflections from the other day
11. What I did in preparation to mortgage application. 
These are some of the things I did in preparation

A. Chose target area to live in
B. Established how much houses cost in the area
C. Checked possible mortgage I could get 
D. checked how much deposit I needed to save
E. Increased my earnings by working extra
F. Sorted out my bank accounts removing unnecessary outgoings
G. Saved saved saved
H. Made sure legally everything was okay for me to buy as was I did not want the house to be part of divorce proceedings 
I.  Decided by when I wanted to move and started process in time.
J. Being assertive when I needed to be as this was my purchase
K. Pushing myself knowing it was not going to be forever.
L.  Always maintaining a good credit score with credit agencies 
M.  Making sure I was in the electoral roll
N. Making sure details on credit agencies like Experian were correct
O. Making sure credit cards had reasonably low balances
P. Made sure all financials were in order 
Q.  Always kept a mental picture of how happy and settled I will be once it was done
R. Read all I can about the process 

KeepOnKnitting

beanielou said:

I am single & very late 50's.
Finally in the last year of my mortgage which seemed huge in relation to my income.
Have just taken out a home improvement loan though!

Hey beanielou,
Go you! What home improvements are you planning? I really hope to be able to do some things to my house once I actually own it.

Sistergold

Hey laddies
Laddies how are you keeping up with your gardens?

I have found that no day will go and I don't have something on my to do list. I guess being a single lady in a house means there is double to do? I am not a keen Gardner but I do love and appreciate a beautiful garden. My garden is a good size both at the front and back. When its sunny I do enjoy waking up and having my morning tea in the garden. All this brings me to the fact that I have to keep the garden tidy. Because of the lockdown I have now had a good chance to rest as since I moved in it seems like it has been none stop with one thing or the other making the garden the last thing to be looked at. Since I got the house in July I have left the garden to pretty much take care of itself. From how things went it looks like the previous owner had planned it to be pretty low Maintanance. I know she had a Gardner come in twice a month at £50 each visit but I just don’t want to spend £100 each month since I am now a mortgage free wannabe! So in January I paid for the garden to be cleared of the hedge, and a few trees. I wanted to use the spaces along the wall to grow my own vegetables and I also don’t want to maintain so much hedge.
Anyway past two weeks I ordered a lawn mower(manual roller), hoes, weeding tools etc. This weekend I went on to do a big garden tidy up(my first gardening since staying here 🙈🤫)  I weeded and dug up, did the lawn all day Saturday with the help of the children. Needles to say on Sunday my whole body was aching from this labour!
So laddies if you want a good all body work out properly commit to doing your own garden. I now want to see what I can plant in terms of fruit and vegetables. I want the garden to have mostly fruit and vegetables which will come up by itself year after year. So far for decorative purposes I have roses, lots of other flowers and lots of shrubs which are really beautiful and come back each year now they are just beginning to bloom.
On the edible side I have raspberries, few wild strawberries, black berries, wild mint(lovely mint tea), wild garlic, apple tree and rosemary bush. 
I want too increase my perennials laddies and I would welcome any suggestions. I was thinking of maybe some asparagus? I will also keep a patch for tomato, kale and salads which I will replant every year.
Laddies how are you keeping up with your gardens? Are any of you producing a lot of fruit and vegetables by yourself? How do you manage it? I am aiming for a garden where I will have lots of fruits to pick, and I want it to be beautiful too. I want most plants in there to be edible as well as decorative. I hope that the garden will save me money by producing my own and also keep me fit by doing the work! Its a win win I think?
🥰

beanielou

KeepOnKnitting said:

beanielou said:

I am single & very late 50's.
Finally in the last year of my mortgage which seemed huge in relation to my income.
Have just taken out a home improvement loan though!

Hey beanielou,
Go you! What home improvements are you planning? I really hope to be able to do some things to my house once I actually own it.

I am having the conservatory taken back to the brick work & starting again. 

Looking forward to it happening. 

Existing one is very old & has been patched up over the years. 

Moneyfordreams

Hi Sistergold, I have enjoyed reading your diary, but alas I am not single, However I am the breadwinner. I do lurk on many diaries so I may chip in from time to time. In the old diary format I used to leave diaries until about page three for 2 reasons, easier to find by going to the last page and because I would "get to know" the person. Your diary has been very informative and interesting from the start and I look forward to keeping up with your endeavours. 

Sistergold

Moneyfordreams said:

Hi Sistergold, I have enjoyed reading your diary, but alas I am not single, However I am the breadwinner. I do lurk on many diaries so I may chip in from time to time. In the old diary format I used to leave diaries until about page three for 2 reasons, easier to find by going to the last page and because I would "get to know" the person. Your diary has been very informative and interesting from the start and I look forward to keeping up with your endeavours. 

Afternoon Moneyfordreams
Nice to hear from you. I am sure being the only breadwinner makes it a challenge as it is for me as a single lady? Please keep in touch as I am sure you will be able to offer some much welcome advise on how to be the only one bringing the income for such a big debt(mortgage)!
Xx