Future Proofing my life: Deposit saving then MFW journey in under 13 years

savingholmes

I'll consider the face mask after I've moved. It does sound beneficial though.

Hope you manage to resolve those invoices - and your hotel soon.

earthgirl2

Your comment about ag0da made me go and check the reviews- they are terrible. I've booked 2 hotels with them for my trip but I'm thinking of cancelling and paying more to stay at the same hotels but with a different company. I always pay by credit card so I should be covered but don't need the stress! 

LadyWithAPlan

earthgirl2 said:

Your comment about ag0da made me go and check the reviews- they are terrible. I've booked 2 hotels with them for my trip but I'm thinking of cancelling and paying more to stay at the same hotels but with a different company. I always pay by credit card so I should be covered but don't need the stress! 

I used Ag*da to book a hotel in Miami  earlier this year and  it was a good deal though I had to argue upon check in  that it was all inclusive cost I had already paid - the hotel tried to argue there was an extra taxes charge due. Luckily I had my paperwork to prove otherwise.
Think in this current case its the hotel not Ag*da - they keep stating i can pay when I get there ..as opposed to through the site which I would rather do -  so no option to pay via Ag*da  but then they email me to say a payment link will arrive - it never does - and my credit card is on file with the booking company ... argh.. so if they cancel again today I will use another booking agent (they charge you cancellation) I also cant see if they have cancelled or hot my credit card ..

Gym 1/7 - i  finally got there and managed a 30 min swim - as I did not feel great - either I have a bit of a hangover or a cold .. had a sore throat  and am sneezing ..

Grocery spend £30.22 so now £58.75/£200
Finally went shopping for food £21.01 mr L - largely greens, some pork, mayo etc and a £3.99 Chicken poke bowl which was surprisingly tasty - Mr L now has a sushi and poke bowl section!!  i didnt have the sauce as it had  Gluten in  - I wouldnt normally buy that stuff but I was in a hurry to eat something quick after swimming  and then meet a friend
Plus I met a friend  by Waitr** and they had some reduced food (some for my now empty freezer!)  £14.62 but one was a sparkling flav water drink which goes into my treats and entertainment ..plus £2.98 locally for some sparkling water and some crisps...

Theatre last night was great - 2 rounds of 2 drinks  came to £29 - the second round included a 20% student discount   Always great to see live theatre and it was v well staged.  I had won the tickets so...

I complained online  about a coffee chain C&sta as when I went last week they had no DF milk in at all and the  double expresso i got instead was horrid. So the company saw my post and  asked me to dm them which I did including my receipt  and so they have now  have added to my c*sta card enough points for a free coffee  so thats £3 really in saved money  

I am thinking of getting a soda stream .... I love sparkling water and it looks like you can get a free machine with a years worth of cylinders -- £149 for 12 months...

House buying - I have seen online 2 flats that look interesting - garden and 2 bed - north London, but both are leasehold .. but under my 450k limit so may try to visit... I think I will have to do early tax return etc asap etc - I was thinking more spring next year but my friend is working in an EA on weekends so she is looking for me - I gather prices are coming down each month but they still £40k on avg  higher than pre covid so ..

I am watching the Tr*mp fraud trial - madness that he thinks he can arbitrarily change the value of his properties to either get decreased interest rates on loans and then lower it for tax purposes - and think thats ok and noone was hurt.. he of course benefitted hugely -
I am looking at my monthly interest on borrowing £300k - when I was looking to buy 2 years ago the rates were 1.64% now 4.88% so now an  initial interest  cost of £1220 per month  so £40.11 per day!!!! vs in 2021 £410 per month so £13.48 per day.

£40 per day in interest  wow - that will be an all consuming fight from me to OP once I get this mortgage/house buying  finally sorted.. i really dont want to borrow more than 300k.. so that means moving further out ..

Minimalism Game - did the 6/6 yesterday - now need to do a few more to hit 7/7 - I want to move less stuff

dawnybabes

Ouch, when you work the interest out like that it’s eye watering ! 

Tahlullah.H

The interest paid is the most painful part of borrowing.  £40 per day is soul destroying, made worse with it meaning you have to compromise on where you live.  If you have to move further out, hopefully you will find something close to amenities with good transport links, in a good area.

earthgirl2

Sorry to hear you are not feeling great. thanks for the info re ag0da. Feel a bit better now. I'm going to try and contact the hotels in advance under the guise of checking the gluten free options and check my bookings. 

I read your whole diary this week! It's great, you are so focused and determined. I know your mortgage, when you get it, will be paid off in no time.

LadyWithAPlan

dawnybabes said:

Ouch, when you work the interest out like that it’s eye watering ! 

Yep £40 per day interest on 300k at present, and that is me assuming I can get to my £150k deposit .. so only need to borrow £300k ... ideally therefore I should spend less if possible.. They say house prices will continue to fall - but think i need to get the ship sails ready (declutter, tax sorted and filed early, other bits needed inc the dodgy ScoT Po*wer issue resolved, invoices paid)

Tahlullah.H said:

The interest paid is the most painful part of borrowing.  £40 per day is soul destroying, made worse with it meaning you have to compromise on where you live.  If you have to move further out, hopefully you will find something close to amenities with good transport links, in a good area.

The flats I am looking at are the furthest I will have lived out.. but at least I can get a 2 bed w a small garden space .. i dont go out so much that I need to be super central any more and a garden space i think is so much better than a balcony and such flats often have a HUGE monthly service charge that most London flats seem to have - like £250/month (!)   I do like East london but more of the flats with high service charge so ...

earthgirl2 said:

Sorry to hear you are not feeling great. thanks for the info re ag0da. Feel a bit better now. I'm going to try and contact the hotels in advance under the guise of checking the gluten free options and check my bookings. 

I read your whole diary this week! It's great, you are so focused and determined. I know your mortgage, when you get it, will be paid off in no time.

Glad you feeling ok re agoda - just make sure you have everything printed in case you have internet issue once there, agoda cust service suggested the hotel tried to take payment and maybe couldnt for some reason .. hmm, I have plenty of room on my cards . I am still unclear if my hotel is booked - I cant see  that it is or it is not !! Not needed til next weekend so hopefully . I am going to a place I visit 2 or 3 times a year for work in Europe so know it well

You read my entire diary - wow you are persistent - hope it wasnt too dull  and Balthazar the robot vacuum/ mop is still happy and well., no idea what happened to the text ex but we all know he is clearly missing my DIY skills as a minimum   Once I get that £300k huge debt I  will indeed be on fire trying to get it down.. so tx for the encouragement..

GYM 2/8 - v quick leg workout before lots of walking and seeing 2 lots of friends today - gorgeous and sunny day to be out in London parks..
Gym stats - fortnight round up
My gym is not great this month so far but here are my 2 weeks after joining gym stats
BEST news is my body fat is down to 35lbs - first goal is to get under 30lbs in fat so loosing 1.73lbs of fat in 2 weeks is great - I am not worried about my weight going up - I want to get back to 108/110lbs of muscle pre lockdown levels
Weight 141.09 lbs  (+2.09lbs)
LBM   100.3 LBS 71.3%  (+3.03lbs)
Fat  35.27LBS    25%   so -1.73lbs of fat

2  WEEKS AGO starting stats
Gym starting stats Day 1  - using one of those Boditrax machines which are great
Weight  9st 13, LBM 97lbs, body fat 37lbs
LBM  69.6%  Body fat  26.6%
Initial goal - get Body fat to below 30lbs as I always feel better whilst keeping LBM the same or increase it.

Minimalist Game day 8 - threw away a pair of shoes i loved but have cracked across the sole ,.. no clue why I was keeping them!  Need to find 4 more things today to declutter to make 8/8 - I do like this daily search to clean

MB - made £150 on a football acca again yesterday ...off a £10 bet and lost £2 on another so .. plus casino swung around in my favour

Spending today  £2.70/74.51 bulk .. + £2.30 so £61.05/`£200
£6.39 in Co+p inc my 10% student discount ...
Hello Fresh arrived v late -  7am to 1700 or 1900  was the delivery time - which then got changed to 22.00 (!) then it arrived at 8pm ...not great when it has chicken in ... still I am glad I have 4 bags of mystery food to cook ...

Coffee out today + some gf biscuits £4.60 - so not too expensive a weekend.  Yesterday I only had a sparkling water and today also i didnt want alcohol  -  but feeling a bit better. 

I do want to see the Marina Abramovich exhibition  - first female artist to have a solo show in the institution's 255-year history !!!!  and also Freize is on in Regenst Park again so will look at that.  However I am abroad next sunday, then will be away at family bday stuff the weekend after ... a busy life!

savingholmes

Well done on the decluttering. I think there's a weird kind of grief with fave clothes/shoes that makes letting go of them hard.

Good luck with the saving. What were the flats like? Did you view in the end? It's worth viewing just to understand what's out there and streamline what you really want.

LadyWithAPlan

savingholmes said:

Well done on the decluttering. I think there's a weird kind of grief with fave clothes/shoes that makes letting go of them hard.

Good luck with the saving. What were the flats like? Did you view in the end? It's worth viewing just to understand what's out there and streamline what you really want.

Yes but when the shoes are physically not wearable ... why keep them.. I have a last day of cheap ebay listings but think might sell some clothes/shoes on vinted that I have never worn.. I really want to max my house deposit even as I wait for more invoices being paid - I got some Friday but not enough ...

I am seeing a flat tomorrow - first this year I think!   Private garden which is just grass at present but is outdoor space, 2 bed but second bed is tiny - not sure if I could live in it if all went wrong and i needed a lodger  ... but £425k - leasehold so under budget of £450k - the less I borrow the better but I do know I will be in it for at least 5 years . Small lounge but a separate kitchen - I really want outdoor space  and this has a 23 x 4 m garden so probably enough to build a studio out there if needed. 

I may try to see another one as well £415k but a shared garden and needs work 

I will get the £3k uplift from h2b  isa is I stay below £450k - now at £10.998  so £2750 at present.. I have not added this into my saving totals  but will cover some of the surveys and fees.


Savings up  £179.03  so now   OCT £699.54/£1132.26   +     SIPP  extra £78.18 so £353.18
EF £259.12 - I am adding to this slowly .. but I have a lot of excess cash plus money in current accounts as a float and also my House deposit  - I no longer own a car as insurance got too expensive in London

MB earnings £457
I finally added up my MB earnings from Sept 9-Oct 9 - £457 ... which of course is tax free  .. I add up all the bookies and my MB bank balance. I used to track every trade but 5 years in I don't need to. 
. so I have added £78.18 into my SIPP and £200 already paid into my h2b and the rest has stayed in the float  to £1k flat - I used to have a float of £4k but I dont do as much Mb as i used to - loads of the bookies have gubbed me and withdrawn their offers - I used to make about £4.5k a year (after the first year of loads of sign up offers) but now less - not tracked it well this year. 
I also do casino offers - so that means lots of volatility but good money there - this MB figure includes both

 I used to do 50/50 sipp/hse on mb earnings - i like getting the extra tax advantage - but it feels to me I am moving this ship towards owning a home soon (with a £40/day interest charge if I borrow £300k on current rates) However my rent has now gone up to £39.62 a day - still cheap for central london but the maths of staying where I am v centrally doesnt work as well - though I am earning some nice interest money on my house deposit  - so renting is less costly that that - works out actually at just over £20 day after my interest earnt  is taken into account.. However I am not getting any equity increases and whilst prices may continue to float down it feels right that I am finally getting this ship sailing towards home ownership and actual responsibility

Hse deposit now over £109k! (states £109,279 but i can see my £22k s&s ISA is down £250 from EOM  so I dont daily track that - I just do an end of month - either way £109k woohoo! I was there this year earlier but then took it down to add to my SIPP for year end - I have aimed in the last 3 years to put everything I own over the BR tax threshold into my SIPP .. I need to get that up as well.

I will start to recolour in my house board -  I stopped last at  £109k -  so now the focus is back to get this up £110k is the target for end Oct. it is a lot of money hanging in various places   The average house deposit for London 1st time buyer is £144k  -- I believe I will be there abouts.

My hotel has cancelled again - even though my card is on file and says its fine - but then they send an email saying we have sent you a booking link - i click on it and it looks fine. So I am giving up and booking another apartment - their system is messed up

Right off to focus on the week - hope everyone has a great one.

Karmacat

I really think you're doing the right thing in focussing on getting a place of your own, one that you're comfortable in for 5 years, at any rate.  Renters are increasingly powerless under the systems we have, and you've done so well to get so much money together, doing it would just make sense.  My niece whose cat I'm looking after has bought the same sort of property, south of Gatwick Airport, but no outside space at all.  She uses the 2nd bedroom as her office now, as well as storage for cat shenanigans, and it works well