Our Mortgage Free Journey

caeler

What a stressful situation. Try to be kind to yourself. You’ve had to juggle so much! @Ami-Rose
I hope the roof can be resolved quickly and become a distant memory soon. 

Ami-Rose

caeler said:

What a stressful situation. Try to be kind to yourself. You’ve had to juggle so much! @Ami-Rose
I hope the roof can be resolved quickly and become a distant memory soon. 

Thanks caeler! I took some time to sulk and wallow and now I'm moving on. It's done and I can't change it! Just caught up on your diary and feel a bit inspired again. Less like we can't have furniture and more like we're choosing where to prioritise our money. 😊

To balance out the doom and gloom of my last post, some good things from this week/the move:
- I got to spend time with my dad properly for the first time since August and even back then it was only for an hour. Last time I saw him for an extended period was last February!
- Same with my sister! Although she did visit briefly in May when I was struggling.
- Little got to meet my dad for the first time since she's been old enough to actually remember people. She took over a week to warm up to my sister, but less than a day to be besties with dad! It made me so happy seeing them giggling away together.
- While he was here he took his dad duties very seriously and bought us a bunch of starter tools, plus fitted our washing machine. We bonded over the tools. 😂

As you can see, family was a major bonus for me recently. Being in a different country has never felt so isolating since lockdowns began, but this move and my health issues gave us a reason to (very carefully) be together and for that I'm grateful. ❤️

caeler

Great news about the family time. Stay strong. x

FtbDreaming

Aww you sound like me! Can’t have any big life events without a few dramas thrown in the mix! Well at least you’re in now and you will probably find loads of jobs that need doing in the months to come but the previous owners managed to live in it until the day you moved in so just try to prioritise the most important and cheapest little jobs first then the ones that can wait will have to! 

I love that you’ve had time with the family! I think that’s the most important thing we’ve missed out on this past year. 

Don’t over pressure yourself to overpay! I only got my mortgage in August and I had big targets immediately and as quick as I got the house I was off work for 3 months.... I’m still obsessed with rounding down and doing some overpayments but have come to the conclusion that it’s a marathon not a sprint and I’m building up momentum for bigger overpayments in the end years leading up to my target. X

savingholmes

Sorry things have not gone to plan. What sort of survey did you get? Can you sue the surveyor?

Thriftmaster1973

Don't be drawn to putting too much down as overpayments, remember that small, regular  amounts help bring the debt down.

Good luck.

Thriftmaster1973

Sorry, that came out wrong, what I meant is don't cut all the good things out of your life just to overpay, it's great to be frugal but also strike a balance.

astrocytic_kitten

What a stressful time, sounds like an absolute nightmare. Though I love your descriptions of family time! Hope you get the absolute essentials sorted and manage to rest as much as you can.

caeler

I agree with @Thriftmaster1973 after I moved house it took me a while to get straight and get used to the bigger bills et al.  I did want to over pay but it took time to get to a position when I could and the last thing I needed to do was beat myself up!  I had to built up my emergency fund and there were a few things that needed doing in the house.  It will settle and then you can be all about the overpayments! @Ami-Rose

Grogged

I'm glad you're in, shame about the drama!
Personally, I'd have a word with your solicitor about the roof, you may be able to claim, especially if it wasn't up to building regs.
It sounds like you have great house that you'll be able to put your stamp on.
I'd also echo what everyone else is saying about the OPs.
Get a feel for the new house, once your bills have stabalised and you've topped up the EF, then look at the OP.
But most of all it's your home, the centre of your family - so take the time to enjoy it.
ATB, G