SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

JennyJukes

Hi ladies how was everyone's weekend?  @Sistergold I bet it felt good to do a clear out!

I fixed the toilet myself by buying a replacement flush valve.  I changed the toilet seat too since it was an old plastic lid that was way too wide for me.  Who knew it was all this easy?! I treated myself to some fluffy new towels and have bought some clothing racks temporarily until I have the energy to build a wardrobe myself (or until I can maybe get the ex to help me)

So my living room and bedroom windows are double glazed but the noise from outside is unbearable.  I moved my bedroom to the smaller bedroom in the back but I'd like to move it back to the other bedroom as it is much larger.  I am a total noob so not sure if windows need to be totally replaced?  What do you guys think?  I want to know what is most likely the issue before I start looking for tradesmen and possibly get taken advantage of and buying expensive things I don't need.  I also got quotes to get the blinds changed because they're all rollers which I don't like, and apparently the way the windows are built means I can't get regular old blinds installed, I need to get the "perfect" fit like this : https://www.soeasyblinds.co.uk/perfect-fit-blinds/perfect-fit-venetian-blinds/fruitwood-2 to a tune of £617 for bedroom and living room windows, and that's with a 10% discount!  To be fair the windows are made up of 2 side windows plus one large middle window which is pretty but not convenient.  I don't want to buy the blinds yet if I need to replace windows totally but I really don't like the roller blinds especially not in the summer so want to do something ASAP.

Funny how I had all these ideas for decorating and renovating the stairs and bathroom but now that'll probably never happen since priorities have changed.  Sound proofing and blinds are number 1 priority for my comfort, a new washing machine and hoover second, some more permanent furniture, a new second hand car and maybe then I can save for renovating the stairs lol one day 

First mortgage payment on the 1st.  It'll be a few months before I can figure out how much I can overpay monthly though. 

slm6002

Well done on changing the toilet flush - it really is much easier than i thought too.  Afraid i am no help with your window situation but i'm sure someone on here will be able to help

Sistergold

@jennyjukes well done for all the DIY you are doing, it’s really satisfying right? I do know what you mean by needing to sound proof as like you I just can not sleep if there is noise filtering in. Well worth checking if some other windows can do the trick, you don’t want to be forever assigned to the smallest bedroom just because of noise! Also maybe try ear plugs? I have used them from time to time if needed. My room is quiet in general but sometimes the birds can wake me up too early! 

With the double glazing when you open the windows is the noise louder than when closed? If the windows are good then there should be a marked difference in noise, not saying all noise will be cancelled! I understand triple glazing can do better for noise but not sure by how much? Whatever window would make a difference maybe you can just change your bedroom window and leave the other windows as is? 

@jennyjukes wow time flies time for your first mortgage payment already! You will be one payment to paying off your mortgage! 🤗 xx

dawnybabes

@JennyJukes

we got our perfect fit blinds from here :  https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/perfect-fit  We had an issue with one and they fixed it straight away no problems.  We had wooden double glazing in our house and the difference in noise when we swopped to UPVC was noticeable. 

Sistergold

dawnybabes said:

@JennyJukes

we got our perfect fit blinds from here :  https://www.blinds-2go.co.uk/perfect-fit  We had an issue with one and they fixed it straight away no problems.  We had wooden double glazing in our house and the difference in noise when we swopped to UPVC was noticeable. 

Also had mine done by same company @dawnybabes, they are so quick to sort out any issues, they were made to measure and whole house needing about 18 blinds costed me under £800. I do recommend blinds to go as a first point of call. 

Sistergold

Good morning laddies. 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend? Mine was okay and marked with a lot more trips to the dumps/recycle centre. This time it was one load of cardboard and three loads of garden rubbish. I did gardening involving cutting lawn which was more like long grass and clearing an overgrown garden patch, which I still have to finish. This morning my body is really aching so I guess I had a good workout from the gardening. 

My daughter woke up feeling unwell Sunday but infact this stated from Saturday🤒. I then did a home covid test and that was positive! 😬 Tested myself and all other children and so far we are all negative 🤞. We are all keeping to our bedrooms or at least in separate rooms from her as much as we can. She has to “announce” when she goes out of her room etc so we are not all meeting up in the common areas🗣. I took her to a drive through covid test centre last night and we should get a lab result within 48hrs. 

Due to positive covid test we are isolating so lots of time to rest I guess? My youngest son was in tears as the covid timing might mean he misses his school trip. He has not been able to have any school trips or residentials due to covid and now he will be going to secondary school and he feels he has not had that much fun in primary school! I feel sorry for him but hey we have all suffered one way or the other due to this pandemic! 

Cooked 3x the chicken curry (more than I cooked last week)and double the mince meat yesterday. Batch cooking was such a hit last week my week was just so good and organised. All the food I cooked last week I just kept in the fridge. This week the amounts I cooked are colossal so I packed into storage boxes and froze them in the garage and will be taking out as we go along so that the food does not spoil. I left some in the fridge and will be replenishing as needed. So this week again all I will be cooking is the starch and vegetables! Week sorted although no work due to this covid but I guess we can just eat and rest this week. 

On the money front not much going on. I am hoping this month end I can start a more aggressive saving program just to bump savings up a bit as I think I have been a bit too relaxed with my money. On the OP front it’s a bit “boring” as not much to do as it goes by direct debit! Hoping to go below £400k on my loan by June next year as this is when my mortgage term cycle starts/ends. 

I have set a budget of £100 each for the children to choose items to redecorate/redo their bedrooms. This £100 each will not include the paint. They are very excited and they are already choosing what they want! Should have this done by end of their summer holidays. I am hoping to just repaint the whole house in the process. Currently the whole house is brilliant white but I am now going to go for a different shade of white. 

Have a wonderful week laddies! 💋

JennyJukes

So according to home report the windows are the original just upgraded to double glazing in 2003?  The property was built in 1970.  They are uPVC??  Honestly I don't know anything about windows.  The noise sounds pretty much the same whether the windows are open or closed so I guess it's the windows that are an issue or is it the sealing?  I don't know, all I know is I'm very sensitive to noise!  I have an appointment next week someone to assess my best way of sound proofing - I admit I'm terribly sound sensitive, I have sensory processing disorder and PTSD so noise is distressing to me.  Hopefully it'll be noisy so he can hear and not think I'm hearing things and am completely nuts lol.  I have thought about just sleeping in the smaller room as I do get a good sleep there but then my big room is going to waste with just my clothes and laundry stuff in, and since my house will probably be mine for a good few years it'll be worth getting the windows changed, even just the bedroom.  In saying that, the house is kind of an open plan, the stairs are in the living room and there's no way of putting a door between the upstairs and the living room (there's only doors into my bedrooms and bathroom) so I don't know if the sound would travel up through the living room, so I might need to get the living room done anyway.   My windows are fairly large so I thought maybe that's why my blinds were so expensive but I will definitely get another quote!  So hard to arrange things when you work Mon-Fri full time.  I didn't have time to order my prescription either so I will yet again miss a few days of medication.  This single lady stuff is tough sometimes lol

Sorry to hear about your daughter, and it must be difficult for your son too!, hope she will be better soon @Sistergold

Sistergold

@JennyJukes thank you for the well wishes. The most important thing is it’s your house and at least there is a bedroom which is quiet enough for you to get a good night sleep. I visited a friend who is single and has no children some weeks ago. She has a basement which is bigger than her bedroom which she uses for her cloths. I felt a bit “envious” I must say as it’s easy for her to organise her clothes in the basement. She has an open metal rail with a bottom shelf with some cloths in a her bedroom but the majority are in the basement! She has so many shoes all in the basement and she just rotates her clothes easily from there. If the noise persist you can just decide to make your big bedroom your dressing room. Anyway it’s good that you can sleep while you look into sound proofing! Xx

Sistergold

hello hello laddies. 

Hope you had a lovely weekend! Finally isolation is coming to an end at midnight tonight! Tomorrow life can go back to normal! Got so bored in isolation I decided to buy a treadmill which will be delivered this week and it was £799.99. It’s amazing how you can start shopping when you have a bit of time on your hands! Well I have been on and off wanting a treadmill and I guess the debate is over now. Hopefully I will use it often enough to justify the spend! 

Logged in to check my mortgage balance. And with two more payments I will be under £420k! I can not wait to get below £420k as this will feel much closer to my hope of getting the figure down to under £400k! I can not wait for the next mortgage payment to go through on the 14th of July! 

Today mortgage overview below 👇🏾 

I hope you are all doing well ladies and I hope overpayments are going well. 

“Baby girl” is well recovering from Covid thank God! 

Have a wonderful week ladies! 💋

JennyJukes

Good to hear she is doing well and you must be so glad to be out of isolation!  Hope the treadmill still gets some good use out of it 

My first mortgage payment went through!  I think I'm just going to overpay by seeing what I have left at the end of each month and put some to mortgage some to savings.

I had someone out to look at my windows and he told me he could do secondary glazing but he doesn't want me to spend my money on it because most likely the noise will still come through my walls.  Thin plasterboard apparently.  Oh well.  I appreciated him being honest and not making me spend 3k on windows that wouldn't make a difference.  He suggested thicker curtains and putting furniture up against the window to reduce noise and that I would get used to it.  Guess so, but for now I'll sleep in the quiet smaller bedroom!

New hoover and washing machine were delivered today but they couldn't install it because he tried to close the stopcock but the water would still run.  So now trying to get a plumber for the second time when the first one didn't even turn up for my toilet.  I'm not sure I can replace a stopcock myself but I can probably try to install the washing machine myself.  The boys who delivered it sent away for a refund because I had paid for the installation and the recycling of my old appliance though.  Oh the joys of being a home owner I suppose 

New role has come up at work that I've always been quite interested in.  It is more practical location wise a bit more money so why not.  I imagine there will be a lot of competition but don't see why it couldn't be mine