Lolu's Mortgage Free odyssey

misslolu

South_coast said:

£800 a month seems high for a benefit payment? I was on Jobseeker's Allowance for 3 months last year after I got made redundant and I was only receiving £74.30 per week (also a single-person household, so no-one else's income was taken into account)

Scratch that it’s actually £400 ☠️ I accidentally ticked something I shouldn’t. That’s even worse!

misslolu

powerspowers said:

Oh gosh Lolu, nearly unpacked! Well done you and keep going on n the OPs, I think bringing down the payment is a good idea 💡 

Thanks @powerspowers the journey still seems pretty long from here though.

killerpeaty said:

Have you purchased the dining room set? Just thinking that if you are worried then you could put it off for a year to get into a more comfortable position.

It's very scary to be owing so much, I'm not that far from you in that department. I am however exceedingly lucky to have family who has come to my aid when my car broke. Unfortunately things break all at the same time! 

I have the dining set in CC but annoyingly it won’t come out till it’s dispatched which will be after my 0% purchases has ended. I’m going to have to cancel or change the payment method. It’s not coming till October so I have at least 2 paydays to judge.

 I’m sure my parents would love to help, but I know at the moment they’re asset rich and cash poor. I’d never let them sell anything to fund me, so I’m gonna have to secure myself to avoid that conversation.

killerpeaty

That's so annoying. Are you able to get another 0% CC?

I'm sorry if I sounded like I was saying your parents didn't want the help. I would never intend to say that. Unfortunately a lot of parents can't help. My mum is liquid but not like to the extent of lots and lots, more like small amounts that I would have ordinarily got a 0% Cc for.

misslolu

killerpeaty said:

That's so annoying. Are you able to get another 0% CC?

I'm sorry if I sounded like I was saying your parents didn't want the help. I would never intend to say that. Unfortunately a lot of parents can't help. My mum is liquid but not like to the extent of lots and lots, more like small amounts that I would have ordinarily got a 0% Cc for.

I doubt i'll be able to get one so soon, but luckily it's just the dining table that's giving me trouble. I got a slightly expensive one, but I can cover it from savings if need be. Depends on if I overspend on my upcoming holiday.

That's ok @k@killerpeaty it didn't come across that way 😊 .

misslolu

Another week another OP, this week's was £30.64, which brings my monthly payment down to £862.28 and my total mortgage down to £191,962.13. It really feels like it's going down super slowly, but at the moment it's really hard to overpay too much since my finances haven't quite settled down yet. This is the first month i've lived here full time so things are a bit more expensive than they were in July. I've also finally finished paying off a miscalculation of taz to HMRC but now it's going to be swiftly replaced by council tax & service charge *sigh*.

On top of that, i'm practically haemorrhaging money right now. Most of it is on takeaways (i'm only supposed to have 1 a month) but also buying things I like "for the house" that I don't particularly need. It's frustrating because i'm only now seeing just how much my expenses have increased by buying and i'm not saving my emergency fund at the rate I thought I would.

Another issue is the reluctance I have with restricting my spending when I already told myself this would be a year of me enjoying myself (within reason) since i've been restricting myself for years to save up the deposit. I'm still under 30 and I would hate to waste my youth pinching pennies, but i'm also wary of eating away my future. I'm also in debt for the first time ever (planned and on 0%) to the tune of £4,500 which isn't huge but it's a mental burden since i've never had debt before.

Couple that with a few friendships drifting away and some lockdown weight gain, and life is feeling very....."not what i wanted it to be" right now. 😞 

killerpeaty

Hi lolu, I'm sorry you are feeling like this. It's quite normal I think to have a low after buying, I think that it's the stress come down.

Friendships do drift, but you can get new ones. Have you looked at meetups?

misslolu

Thanks @killerpeaty i'm painfully shy so meeting new people at these things is so hard. I've been to a few but ended up in the corner on my phone looking really standoffish. It's something i've been working on for years, but maybe i'm just meant to only have 1 or 2 friends really good friends and not a huge group like i've always thought i wanted. 

misslolu

I couldn't do my usual overpayment because apparently, the bank doesn't let you make overpayments for a few days before and after the monthly payment date, slightly frustrating. I only had a £9 tilly tidy to go in, so I might add that on to next week's just so i'm not missing out on it.

My dining chairs arrived but 2 out of 4 of them turned out wonky 🤦‍♀️ so i'm having to return them. Realistically I don't need dining chairs since I live alone and don't host (yet) so that's a nice £250 I can pay straight off the debt. I've cancelled the dining table too so that's another £400 that won't be added on to the debt either. Hopefully by the end of next month i'll be down to £4300 though i'm not too worried about it right now. I'm also considering cancelling a media table that's been delayed for 3 months. I'm not in love with it and it's taken so long to come i eventually put my tv on the floor instead of waiting. I;m wondering to myself whether I really want to cancel it because I don't like it, or I'm just trying to save more money. To be honest it's not a necessity so it's probably a better deal for me to cancel it and get the money back for that too.

I just cancelled it! If I really want one I can save up for it like I should've done in the first place.

Okay, so that's another 200 back in my pocket, bring on the rest of the debt!

In other news, I'm trying online dating. Funnily enough I've met some really decent people but after meeting for the first time we eventually end up as friends. Not the worst outcome but obviously not what I'm going for here, wish me luck!

killerpeaty

Hi miss lolu. I find that I have to put my phone away and really push to speak to people. But then people are exhausting so maybe you do want a few close ones?

Congrats on cancelling,sometimes you have to do these things. If you aren't liking it any more then why continue to buy it?

Good luck with dating, I keep considering it but am lazy. I'm sure you will do great

misslolu

@killerpeaty I struggle with in person conversation, I'm really hyper sensitive to people and their body language so I feel like any changes in their demeanour are as a result of what I've said. Or that I've said something really stupid and now they think I'm an idiot or a weirdo or something. These are things I'm supposed to have gotten over through therapy, but I just can't seem to shake it.

Yeah I'm happy I cancelled to be honest, it was just unnecessary and there's plenty of time to find something that I really like.

I initially got it because I was hosting a housewarming but then since I didn't even come in time for that I have more than enough time to find something else.