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julicorn's journey 2 - Moving Up

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  • twinklie
    twinklie Posts: 5,174 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    How exciting! I never quite found your old thread, I tend to stumble across threads rather than search for them. But as you were only a year ahead of me in getting a mortgage and you have managed to pay of significantly more than us and build a healthy savings pot, I'm following with interest to see if I can gain some top tips. 
    Reduction in daily mortgage interest since October 23 (new mortgage) - £2.36 July 25
    % of house owned/% of mortgage paid off. July 25 - 38.82%/31.66%
    MFiT-T7 #21
    MFW 2025 #2
    MF Date: Oct 37 Feb 37
  • julicorn
    julicorn Posts: 2,585 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    twinklie said:
    How exciting! I never quite found your old thread, I tend to stumble across threads rather than search for them. But as you were only a year ahead of me in getting a mortgage and you have managed to pay of significantly more than us and build a healthy savings pot, I'm following with interest to see if I can gain some top tips. 
    Thank you twinklie! I'm the same, just dip into diaries when I see them rather than really searching for them :) 

    We've thrown a lot at the mortgage over the last few years, and have been keeping a close eye on the budget to make sure we prioritise spending on the things that really matter to us. Before covid, we still managed to go on some bigger holidays though, so it's not like we've been living super frugally. Our income has increased too since we got our last mortgage, so that definitely helped (the £204k or so was top of our affordability back then, now lenders seem happy to lend us a fair chunk more). 
    But yeah, 0-based budgeting was key for us, using YNAB especially (but other methods are available, haha :D ). 
  • CathT
    CathT Posts: 7,133 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Just stumbled across your new diary and I'll be reading and following. CP is a really lovely holiday to look forward to. 
    June 2025 - part 1 - £19,145 part 2 - £21,973 Total - £41,118 29 months to go!
  • julicorn
    julicorn Posts: 2,585 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thank you @CathT! I'm really looking forward to Center Parcs. We've been a few times already, so it's a bit of a tradition by now, but we always just have such a great time there. 

    We packed up some bits in the kitchen today, and found 5 packs of cranberries :D There's always that one ingredient we forget we have already and buy another bag of. Ah well, at least this is something we can snack on. We also baked banana bread, took out the Christmas tree, and booked the storage unit from the 15th of this month. Feeling a little anxious today, with work starting again tomorrow and this whole selling/moving thing feeling much more 'real' all of a sudden - I know I have no specific reason to worry, it's just all a little scary. 

    Do any of you have any top tips on what to look out for in an estate agent? We'll get 3 or so quotes over the next few weeks, but I've not really dealt with estate agents much aside from renting (and they were all pretty shocking back then). 
  • julicorn
    julicorn Posts: 2,585 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The healthy-ish cooking is going quite well so far though! Here's what we've been having:

    1st: 
    Lunch: Leftover new year's German lentil soup (it's the secret for lots of money in the following year ;) )
    Dinner: Stuffed peppers with lemony roast potatoes and a side salad

    2nd: 
    More of that lentil soup for lunch, and spaghetti alfredo with lots of sprouts for dinner

    Today (3rd): 
    Lunch: Teriyaki stir-fry with broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, lots of cashews and sesame seeds
    Dinner: Ethiopian yellow split pea stew with spicy parsnip & sweet potato croutons

    It's all courtesy of the Lidl veg box which we got for the first time ever last Thursday. I'd never checked it out before, assuming the veg would all be bruised and about to go off, but not at all! Got a box full of really fresh and super tasty fruit and veg for £1.50. We get a local veg box delivered too, but I think this would be a fantastic top-up. I might go on the weekend again and see if I'm as lucky as that a second time round. 
  • ElmoR
    ElmoR Posts: 413 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Just wanted to pop by and wish you good luck in your next phase.
    I used to live in B&H too - the property prices are bananas compared with other parts of the UK. :o
    Often miss the place though.

    ElmoR xx
  • julicorn
    julicorn Posts: 2,585 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thanks for checking in @ElmoR ! Where are you based now?  It really is a bit wild around here - I'm a bit worried we won't find somewhere nice, but I think that's just my pessimism / anxiety speaking :D 

    It's getting real - I phoned around this morning and booked 4 (!) estate agent appraisals for next Monday and Tuesday. We're moving stuff and some slightly oversized pieces of furniture into storage this Saturday, and still have a few DYI bits to do this weekend (mainly some small-ish paint jobs, some new caulk, nothing too dramatic). Mr julicorn heroically tidied up most of the garden yesterday, while I was scraping out caulk around the bathtub (discovering 3 separate layers of mouldy caulk along the way, gotta love the previous owner's approach of just adding layers :D ).
  • South_coast
    South_coast Posts: 5,854 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I see your layers and raise you the blu-tack that my previous owner thought constituted an appropriate repair!
    Mortgage start: £65,495 (March 2016)
    Cleared 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️!!! In 5 years, 1 month and 29 days
    Total amount repaid: £72,307.03. £1.10 repaid for every £1.00 borrowed

    Finally earning interest instead of paying it!!!
  • sabsob
    sabsob Posts: 67 Forumite
    10 Posts Name Dropper
    Hi Juli, just found your new diary (and remember your name from sniffing around in the forum and finding the mortgage free wannabee annual threads, but haven't committed to that yet, still finding my feet. We are also dealing with estate agents (buying, not selling) - good luck with it all, and lovely to find a fellow crafter :)
    Declutter challenge: List 312 things in 2022: 45/312
    Mortgage-free Wannabe: Re-mortgage at start: £131,423 (27th Jan 2022)
    OP since re-mortgage: £1500
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