Curbing the ridiculous

Lookafterthepennies2020

Hope you all feel better soon, we had that terrible cold a week or so ago and Ds1 still hasn't fully shaken it off yet!! 

If I am not back before hope your DC has a brilliant birthday x 

Blackcats

Hope you feel better soon.  If it's the nasty cold that's going round then I've got it too and it's horrid.
Go to Devon on a fact finding trip!  Maybe what you are scared of is that your future might be in Devon and that's a really big decision.  However, until you see some properties in real life you won't know what they are really like - photos and estate agent blurb are not the same as the feeling you get when you walk in the door.  

How lovely to have a first birthday to celebrate!  Enjoy

[Deleted User]

@Blackcats - thank you - as you can probably tell by the time of this post, I am up in the middle of the night as can't sleep due to this cold.  It has made me be sick 3 times the amount of coughing (we had covid tests yesterday and are both negative) and now my ear is hurting too.  DH going to doctors in morning, I might try and get an appointment too.  Day off tomorrow (technically today) and MIL has said she will take the kids from 8-1230 so we can get some rest.  We will then have them in the afternoon.  Hope your cold improves soon - it's nasty and yes, I can't quite believe he will already be 1!

I do agree that we need to do it.  It is just more ££.  But we spoke to DH's dad earlier (he lives in uk) and he thinks we should scopes it out. The prices here get more ridiculous by the day!

[Deleted User]

Had to collect cat from cattery - £121 - so the holiday really did add up - not good.  Needed milk also.  Otherwise a NSD.  

Base for DC2's new car seat has gone awol so another is being delivered.  Once arrives will try to flog the other 3 car seats and bases.  Also need to clean and advertise the bottle making machine.  Hoping for £100 overall with those things sold.

Not sure whether I'll be able to go to work tomorrow as feeling rough still.  If not, will be a trip to the doctors.  DH went today and has been signed off for rest of week but thinks he might go in from Thursday.  MIL took the DC from 830-130 today so we both managed to get some sleep and a little rest.

[Deleted User]

Am off sick today.  Was up half the night coughing.  Sweating.  Feel rubbish.  Sore throat, headache.  Kids have been dropped at nursery so DH and I are able to rest at least.  He is in bed.  I am probably joining him in a minute.  We are both exhausted.  I have kids tomorrow but going to see if MIL will take them for the morning again and then when they come back, put them down for a sleep - to get as much rest as possible.

Thinking of making a doctor's appointment as then they will probably sign me off until Monday so I can get proper rest as the DC1 will be in nursery Fri morning and DC2 with MIL.  But alway feel guilty being off.  I did try to WFH on Monday but sometimes I think you just need to rest up properly.

A house has come on in Devon.  3 beds but with 2 holiday cottages and several acres of land.  I am hoping we might be able to squeeze a trip week after next if it is still on the market (it may not be by then).

Blackcats

Sorry you are feeling so poorly.  Get yourself signed off sick - it's sometimes the only way to recover properly.  

[Deleted User]

thanks @Blackcats - got an appointment later today so think I will.  We've both been up half the night coughing again and I'm having to use my inhaler which I don't normally.

Arghhh, so we have changed what we are looking for in Devon!  We did some research and basically, to get a mortgage for a house with holiday lets it's a special mortgage rather than high street and will be much higher rates.  We also questioned whether we would realistically have time with 2 very small DC whilst trying to settle into a new community and both working FT from home, to do a holiday let business and concluded we may not.

Therefore, we are going to look instead for a house that is a nice house in a good location but which maybe has an outbuilding or two that we could possibly convert if we felt like it later on.  This also means that we will only have to get a traditional mortgage and much much less of one.  Then I think the idea would be to try to pay it off in 5 years so we would be completely mortgage free.  By then, there would be no nursery fees, both kids would be in same place at school (so only 1 set of drop offs/pick ups) and we'd have (hopefully) settled into the community.

If we then still wanted to do holiday lets we could sell off the outbuildings to a company we would form (as no bank would be involved to say no) and get a business loan to develop them (as this would be a deductible cost for tax purposes).  But equally, if we didn't want to do it, we wouldn't have to.

In the interim, we would look to make a bit of extra cash (though with what we are looking for now as long as we both keep our jobs we shouldn't "need" it) by living off the land/selling produce - for example, we've always fancied making own charcuterie/cider etc.

 But realistically, looking at flights/ferries and the leave we have left, I don't think we will make it across to scope out areas/houses until the new year.  So I think we will just spend the time between now and then researching areas etc so that we can have a targeted approach when we do go.  We would also need to leave the DC with MIL this side of new year to go and have leaned on her pretty heavily recently due to so much illness (they are with her this morning) so I feel like we can't and also because we've both been off sick

[Deleted User]

Got given antibiotics and signed off until Monday minimum.  Glad I did as both kids were up in the night again so very little sleep despite going to bed at 8.30.

DC1 in nursery until 2.  MIL has DC2 and is picking up DC1 and bringing them both here.  DC2's birthday today - we have a cake and presents for him - he opened 1 this morning and will open the rest later.

Unless DH needs anything from pharmacy should be a NSD.

Buffythedebtslayer

Oh how crap to be so ill on his birthday. Not that being ill is a good plan at any point. I hope you are resting and drinking fluids. 
I think some proper time off work is a good idea, give the antibiotics a chance to get in there. 

take care of yourself ok? XXXX

Jellytotts

I think you're very wise to look at a standard mortgage and property for now. Once you're living in an area you can get a feel for any holiday let potential and the logistics and rules and regs.  

Enjoy your little ones whilst they're young, plenty of time for bigger dreams in a few years time.