Learning to walk before I run

edinburgher

@Tartan_Mum - it is all a bit wild at the moment. Friends got internal remodelling done and quotes ranged from £18k-£38k!

killerpeaty

Hi ed, congrats on your news! I don't think I have any advice that you haven't already been given. Good luck with the extension, I will follow with interest!

SuperSecretSquirrel

Ed! I didn't know you had a new thread, I stumbled across it by chance...

Congratulations on the baby news!!! 

First thing that screams out at me from the SoA is that you are "short" by about 1kpm, but you include extension savings of nearly 1kpm in your outgoings...

Can you get a bit creative with the extension? At least in the short term? Can you maybe extend the horizon on it to 4 years (or 5, or 6...), vastly reducing the monthly saving requirement?

Realistically speaking, you're not going to get it done and dusted before baby arrives... You're probably not going to want the hassle and mess when baby is very small... Why not push it back a bit?

Could the children share a bedroom for a while? Could the box room be sufficient for the first few years of tiny baby's life if perhaps a fold down desk were installed in your bedroom or another living area? I'm sure there are some options available if you tear yourself from the vision of a large extension and get firmly into a need/want mindset in the short term

Other than that, I think it has all already been said - media (you're already trimming), groceries (lidl/aldi are great), grown ups pocket money, and forget about holidays for the next couple of years at least (not for financial reasons,  small children wonderful as they are can be a right hassle at times 🤣)...

I'd also drop the exercise classes. Between a small set of weights, running shoes / walking boots, and your own body weight, reasonable exercise can be had for practically free. I would also save on ynab, you can wield a spreadsheet and that means you can build your own ynab

Best of luck, it doesn't look anywhere near as bad as the top line figures suggest once you get a little creative

PS - you can buy long window cleaning brushes on poles fed by a garden hose if you want to DIY without involving a ladder

edinburgher

@SuperSecretSquirrel - proper comments when not sleep deprived

I've cut YNAB and don't know if I'll be continuing with the exercise classes. It's early doors, but I have found them to be far more effective than solo exercise. If I do continue, they will be funded from my greatly reduced pocket money line. Re. window cleaning brushes, I dropped one on my head and shoulder. Shortly after that the ladder also hit me on the head

Payday has been and gone for both of us. I've moved money into savings accounts (still spending pretty much on 0% CC with a long expiry) and our anniversary weekend has passed, with all its shameful spending While I am looking forward to our October trip to London, it has already been paid for (not that that means we won't spend more) and I'm very much looking forward to the budget line being gone.

We went for a "comfort scan" the other day and I am pleased to report that Mrs E is definitely expecting. The midwife was very pleased with development and the heartbeat, it looked like three broad beans and a flutter to me

An unpleasant bout of gastric 'flu has left me with some extra time, so I have reprieved the money tracking spreadsheet that I used for the better part of a decade and have tidied up a few calculations, removed a tab and added another tab. Not trusting an "app" makes me a bit nervous, but as I already had an Excel license, it was another cost to be cut (thanks for the push SSS).

Architect has been out today. A bit chattier than I would have liked, as I'm still getting back to my usual energy level. In any case, they seemed confident that they could offer us some rough sketches and a *very* outline cost before we committed to full plans/continuining with their services. That seems to be a sensible approach and they're going to provide these by some point next week. After that they have stated that a full "survey" visit to do CAD plans will be necessary. I've pointed out that we would like to get moving in the not too distant future, and they seemed to be in agreement that getting permissions etc. sorted out promptly would be essential. In any case, they seemed to think starting before next February would be very ambitious!

To respond to your point from the other day SSS, I think the whole difficulty with saving £900-1,000/month for 5-6 years was that it wasn't realistic for us (there is only so much you can scrimp for so long when you haven't had to). On the other hand, I think we have plenty of room to extend our mortgage payment slightly and pick up regular repayments for 1-2 years (for example, paying off CCs or a loan) before remortgaging to reflect the uplift in value with a higher mortgage payment. It's not ideal, but even if we added 50% onto our monthly payment at this point, it would still be lower than our payment when we moved in 6 years ago. Our salaries have gone up in the interim, so it would actually be less than we paid back then. Definitely appreciate the need to pay off our mortgage at some point, but also need to be flexible as to how we get the home we need.

SuperSecretSquirrel

Hi Ed, a case of crossed wires I think... I wasn't suggesting that you save 1kpm for years to pay for the extension outright, more that by extending the deadline that your "deposit" (for want of a better word) could be built up more slowly over time. You had an income/outgoings gap of around 1kpm, and an extension savings line if around 1kpm - dropping the extension savings to 300pm would go a long way towards making the ends meet!

Anyway, it's all moot as it sounds like you have a plan, and the suggestion above would only really help in terms of monthly cash flow, the capital still needs to be repaid at some point - so if your lender is willing to finance in the short to medium term I don't suppose there's anything gained by delaying. Other than maybe avoiding disruption during pregnancy / baby's first year, and maybe a reduction in costs once building material prices normalise.

Quite the feat you managed when window cleaning! I understand your reticence to DIY now

Sounds like progress being made all round, great stuff!

edinburgher

@SuperSecretSquirrel - if (and it's a big if) we can get a builder to start in February next year (for example), we could potentially get the loft finished before the baby comes along and perhaps the very messy part of the rear extension (i.e. foundations and building the "box"). This would maybe allow a little less disruption (although I am under no illusions). The plan is hopefully to decamp to the inlaws for the period Feb-May and potentially use them as a laundrette for some time afterwards (just the use of their machines, not their time as well)!

I am aware that the capital needs to be paid at some point and sometimes the steady accrual of a "gold plated" index linked pension (and the fear of still having a mortgage into retirement) is the only thing that keeps me going with a very stressful and often downright disheartening job. I'll get to be a MFW one day

Last day of work tomorrow, then bank chat on Friday. I think that we have all of our ducks in a row, but unfortunately I switched current accounts recently and only get my first full statement tomorrow, which was very poorly timed.

Last day of YNAB tomorrow - bricking it!

Busy_Mee

Wow. I pop out for a few weeks and return to hear you are expecting another little Ed. Congratulations ❤️ 

Nothing much to add to the money saving suggestions, other than I have found it useful in the past to have a month of "how low can you go " Basically a month of cutting out as much as possible as seeing what you actually miss. I've got a spending App that I use periodically to track all expenditure. This helps to rein us in and in fact I am using this in October as we have been a bit lax of late.

With regard to baby stuff, eBay is your friend. I have been buying baby clothing, brand new with tags very cheaply for DD's baby. Just search for the good brands, JL, Next, JoJo Bebe Maman etc and filter for brand new. It seems lots of people buy far too much for their babies and then end up selling it on EBay.  DD has also been given lots of things from friends, so hang on until nearer the time before actually spending any money.

edinburgher

A very busy day.

3+ hours on the phone to mortgage lender, who has AIP £60k borrowing, subject to full underwriting and survey. It was exhausting, far more detail than for a new mortgage. 

They tried to sell life and critical illness insurance fairly hard, but at £180/month we were quite happy not to proceed! 

I have to be honest that I don't fully understand the point of Critical Illness insurance? It seem to be that it pays out if a) you have a terminal illness or b) some sort of horrific accident that ruins your life? 

 I think that @tacpot12 may have been onto a better idea with PHI, which (if I understand it correctly) would pay out an income for the duration of a long term/life policy should illness or accident prevent us working? Think this + life insurance may be the way to go. I requested some quotes from a whole of market insurance broker today. Still dear, but cheaper than life + critical illness.

I am listening all, just takes a bit of time to turn the Titanic round 

happymum37

I typed a massive reply and it went missing!!!

When I gave up work we had to make harsh choices. It was 100% worth it and money saving became a new hobby without sacrificing living 

Biggest advice - meal plan and shop for food online for a bit .packed lunches at work only.  

Agree no gifts to adults in the family- we were worried about this but everyone loved it as people just don't have enough time to shop for adults as well 

Speak to the mind at school. Suggest a 5 pound limit and they will all agree. Honestly we suggested it and our school what's app went crazy in support . We now all give a fiver cash so the birthday child goes shopping. Everyone loves it 

Tot up your savings and after the weirdness of the first month of savings you will be addicted.

Xx

Sistergold

Just read through your current budget and seems like a lot going on. 

1. Pets 
2. New baby on the way(Congratulations!) 
3. Spending more than you earn by £900? 

4. Planning for an extension? 

5. £300 each pocket money

The new baby is going to need their own budget and will ofcause be a bundle of joy. 

Going forward though I think as a family you really need to review the needs and the wants? Most of us do go about spending and getting things ahead of what we have. 

My approach in this would be to first of all save X% of salary per month(for emergencies) and then finding ways to live within what left of the salary. So you should not be having -£900 in your budget. Overspending can end up getting out of hand and can cause a lot of strain in a relationship. Secondly with new baby on the way and meaning only 2 children is the extension a need or a want? With two children financial security is better than an extension. 

Just thoughts not trying to offend but as parents I feel sometimes we put ourselves under undue pressures when just doing what we can afford will still be okay.