SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

Hazelnutty

I am another blind fan and we will be a curtain-free house by the time the renovation's finished They don't intrude into the room so it's much neater and maximises the sense of space (the difference can be really striking). I've had to order made to measure for the new house though as the windows are odd sizes but even so it's pretty good value. I've gone for roman in the bedrooms and a roller in my study. Currently thinking wooden venetian for the front room so we can adjust the light coming in while still having some privacy. 

@Sistergold you know I said I felt a spree coming on... well, I transferred £100 from a £150 buffer I keep in my virtual pots into my personal account and we spent the lot! Trip to the juice bar, some foundation for DD and a hefty (but bargainacious) trip to H&M, followed by our first pub trip since forever to the local for burgers in the evening. It did feel good to just treat ourselves I have to admit and I think I can now go back to being more frugal.

Sistergold

@Hazelnutty
Well £100 is not too bad if that has given you some shopping satisfaction. Happy frugal living. X

Sistergold

Happy Sunday ladies, hope you had a nice relaxed day? This weekend was quite a productive one. Managed to do a bit of declutter as I had booked a slot to go to our local recycle to dump some stuff. Will need to book another slot and declutter slowly putting rubbish on one side ready for that date. My house is really bursting with stuff I probably don’t need and it’s weighing me down. I have heard from different places that clutter sucks you of energy and so I just want to reduce and see if I can have my energy levels go up. 

Yesterday also managed to assemble a flat pack shoe cabinet which I bought in 2017 when I moved into my second rental. This has made the landing tidy as no more shoes on the floor. This means one less box in the garage. 

Was feeling a bit tired today and so around 2pm I took a nap and woke up just before 5pm so am feeling much rested. 

Had a warm feeling when I checked my mortgage balance last week and found that my mortgage term was down from the 22+years and now it’s 21yrs11mths, the change from twenty two to twenty one sounded nice, which got me thinking today and wondered how many days are left on this mortgage? So calculator out and it’s 8021 days to mortgage freedom if no OPs are made! Is that correct? 🧐🤔 well does not sound so bad in days as it will be going down at a faster rate of 30/31 days rather than the slower rate of 1month at a time? 🤪 just laughing at myself there for a moment now one would have to ask what is the difference between 1month and 31days? Well just sounds bigger somehow don’t know why? 
How many days left on your mortgage ladies if there are no OPs made? 

family355

Hi Sistergold,

Hope you don’t mind me stopping by-love an afternoon nap!! I’ve never really thought of looking at the days reducing before-it looks another great way to keep motivated. My current total would be around 6418-give or take a few leap years that I haven’t factored in!

Great job on the decluttering-We used to have a garage that was literally a dumping ground (Mostly of 3 kids outgrown stuff) so converted it into another room, it is now much easier to bin, sell, charity shop it straight away 🙂

Whiterose23

Sistergold said:

@Whiterose23
Oh hello. Blinds are cost effective right? For a 4 bedroomed house, total of 18 blinds at less than £700!  I have been contemplating getting voile curtains too but have not gotten that far yet! So much to do not enough money and so learning to be patient and content! 

Nice to hear from you
xx

Hi, the voiles are a great option, especially for tall windows and in older houses (like mine), are ideal for letting in the light. I don't have curtains at all at my main front windows. This is the largest window that overlooks the street and I decided to fit plain window film to the bottom half of the windows to provide some privacy (£25 approx from B&Q for the three windows), and I have blinds above them but no curtains at all. It looks fab x.

Sistergold

@family355
Hello there! Nice of you to stop by! Yes the garage can become a wasted space for sure! In my street half of the 10 houses I would say have converted the garage into living space! Will keep cracking on the clutter! 

X

Sistergold

@Whiterose23
The B&Q @£25, now that’s a good and cost effective solution! 

X

Sistergold

Hello ladies
Just a quick update. Managed to pay in another £15 OP. I know I am making small OPs at present but I guess little is better than nothing? My total OP for July is working out to be £460. Little regular OPs will eventually add up is the spirit I guess?
Have managed to add £700 to the building fund making total so far £8k and so £92k to go. 

I still have not been able to decide on which Achitect yet. They are coming in all sort of character and charges, making it very difficult to choose. The ones I like seem to charge fees decided in the moon or some other planet, so I have to keep looking I guess? I don’t want to put so much into the drawing of the plans when I still need money for the actual build! At the end of the day I need a reasonable quote and will not pay more than I have to. One good thing is I have gotten so many quotations it has helped me at least find what the average will be without necessarily going with the lowest or highest. Will see how it goes. I have one more architect booked to come this Friday I think and that will almost be it I think. Well no hurry as building fund only at £8k at present so long way to save. 

I am very excited though about the prospect of an extension as I have never done one myself! I hope I will be super organised and that the process will not be traumatic but either way it will be done. One architect gave me a rough guide that to build what I am proposing will come at about £90k to £120k so I am putting the whole build at about £150k plus. I now plan to do it in 3 phases so as to manage the finances, unless I come onto some good money between now and then. Doing it in phases will ensure I complete parts without totally running out of funds then I save for next phase, building can end up costing way more than expected. The figure is that high as I have expanded the scope of the extensions a lot beside the double storey extension. I really want to be able to enjoy the house with the children as early as possible and also possibly add to the value of the house when I eventually sell. Once I can utilise the said extension for about 10years then that’s good for me even if I don’t recover the moneys used, well that’s the spirit at present. 

Xx

Sistergold

Ladies please find the proposed works as sent to architects for quotations 

The property is in a conservation area, but it isn't of historical importance, nor does the architectural style carry any heritage qualities. In addition, some neighbours have already done similar extensions.

My requirements are as follows

1. Part double / part single side extension to create walk-in wardrobe plus en-suite to main bedroom via small lobby, linked with a small lift from downstairs, accessible ceiling storage in upstairs extension 

2. Extend current dining room to connect double storey extension to the rest of the house

3. Utility room extension at back of garage

4. Small single storey rear extension to lounge approx.1.5m to 2m in depth

5. Extend downstairs shower / create storage under stairs

6. We will consider balcony to main bedroom which is not essential but will be nice 

7. Brick shed at bottom of garden 

8. Single storey front extension to kitchen at front to create dining room

9. Enlarge kitchen cupboard by removing part of chimney, also create hatch to current dinning room If possible

10. Boiler to move into either garage or utility room 

11. Garage to be rebuild making it bigger, removing existing garage cupboards and also making it such that I can still park but also be able to use it as living space for entertaining when needed

12. Entrance porch at front 

13. Perimeter fence to front (dwarf brick wall with possibly pillars and railings)

14. Review of house to make all this work well and make best use of space and ensure enough storage

15. All the above needs to also create a utility room where I can deal with laundry etc.

16. We will consider roof options for Kitchen dining and garage roof as I understand a pitched roof with tiles would be desirable but it may deviate from the terrace so we may end keeping a flat roof but in a much robust GRP fibre resin finish.

17. Create storage where there are opportunities to pack away things in general 

Sistergold

Hello ladies
Just an update. Today is the end of month yey!  The week was good and I managed not to spend as much as I was getting the urge to. Time is surely flying and I am trying my best to save despite the need to or wanting to spend. Have managed to send £1000 to the building fund today so total now at £9k and so £91k to go. Just hoping to get over the £10k mark as that feels like it might feel like I am getting somewhere. Saving will likely to be a bit slow in August but will see how it all goes. 

Last two children are going to be collected this weekend to be with their dad for the summer holiday. The older two seem to have their own programme at to when they will go to their dad. It means I will be with half the number of mouths to feed for the whole month and hopefully expenditure will be lower unless I go and shop for cloths I can not even say I need. Instead of shopping I will try to see if I can declutter so that I can remind myself why I should not spend as it just means more stuff to store in a house that’s already busting at the seems. 

I do admire people who have managed to become minimalists or at least those who have managed to cope with the bare minimum! House cleaning must surely be a breeze the less stuff one has in the house! Hope I will get there one day!