Where to focus - mortgage, renovations etc?

debtfreewannabe321

Brilliant news! 😃 
I hope the survey comes back ok. We've a lot of prefabs here near us and I see them up for sale every now and then and they seem to sell fine so assuming people have mortgages with them (they're not in an affluent area). 
I have my fingers crossed for you!! 😁 

South_coast

Excellent news! I really hope things go smoothly from here x

shellstar

I have been quiet because it's been pretty hectic recently. I had a big project at work but that is now in, so at least some stress is alleviated. DS is also sleeping better (or at least mostly waking at 5am, not before) so that helps as well. I won't go into ex-DP. I am getting the impression that once the house is sold, we won't be seeing that much of him. 

House wise, things are progressing on my side. My building survey advised a structural engineer take a look and that I get asbestos testing done due to some observations made. The structural engineer reported yesterday that everything is a-ok. Hurrah! The asbestos survey and tests were done on Tuesday so I am hoping to have the results of that before Christmas. Otherwise, I have my mortgage offer etc. so I am mostly waiting. The waiting may take a while as on Tuesday I was told that our buyer has lost their buyer again. I am not sure why, but their house is back up on right move. I can't imagine it will sell before Xmas so I'm keeping calm and we'll see what happens in January. It's not like we're about to exchange so I am not panicking. 

Some worse news (for me) was that I crashed my car. I went into the back of someone on the way to pick up DS. It wasn't a high speed collision but I am grateful he wasn't in the car. I honestly still don't know how it happened. It was dark and wet I guess, but I don't know how I didn't see the car in front had stopped. I'm putting it down to mental load. I've had a lot on my plate and that week was particularly full on as I was having to do house paperwork, Ex-DP was being less than communicative and work etc. The worst part for me was that AI said my car was likely a total loss (due to my car not being worth all that much I guess - the damage wasn't that bad) and so the insurance company won't give me a courtesy car. They took two weeks to collect it for assessment (re-arranged twice because they 'ran out of time') and so I've been having to fork out for hire cars. It's been so stressful. I saved for a few days as I had a work trip, but the additional mental load of logistics, driving a huge, brand new car that doesn't belong to me and the cost has been quite a lot. They've also said they may not actually make a decision until the new year. So I've actually decided just to use my emergency fund and get a new car. It means I can drive something more manageable, not these beasts of a car they've been giving me despite me ordering smaller cars. It means in the likely event they write my other car off, I'm already sorted. If they don't write it off, I'll list both for sale and keep whichever one doesn't sell first. I decided that's a problem I'd rather have over having to rent cars and live in uncertainty over the Christmas Break. 

I finish work tomorrow and I've got Monday to myself to finish prep. We're off to see Santa on Sunday. I'm hoping for a nice photo on a sleigh or something, but I suspect we won't be enjoying Santa himself. I'm then planning to start potty training on the 23rd. Apart from my mum, brother and mum's friend coming over for Xmas day, it's mostly just DS and I (and the dog) so I think I will go ahead and start that process. Sorting the car out also helps with that. Reducing everything on my plate so I can just focus on DS over the holidays.  

Hope everyone has a nice Christmas break. Onwards and upwards for 2026! 

beanielou

Sorry to hear about your car. 

daisy_1571

Sorry to hear about accident,  like you say possibly brain overload.   Is the car not driveable if it isn't much damaged? 

Dxx

shellstar

Happy new year all! Here's hoping 2026 is a stable year with positive progression! 

@daisy_1571 the car was fixable in my view, but the bumper was hanging off so not quite driveable. They did write it off in the end so I have my new car now. The car is fine. It's lower spec than my old car and I'm missing some of those features, but it gets me from A-B and my new insurance company has sent a tracking device which means my driving is monitored and hopefully that will help reduce future premiums. So far, I have a very good score in the app. 

Christmas was quiet but very nice. Potty training didn't go so well. We didn't even really get off the blocks as it turns out DS gets upset every time he feels the urge to go, and he can hold it for hours! So he just waited for naps and bedtime to let go into his nappy. By day 5 we weren't making progress despite lots of reassurance and I didn't want it to become a battle or a stressful experience for him. He clearly is comfortable on the toilet and potty, and knows what they are for as he did run to the potty without prompting when he got the urge, but found it upsetting to let go. The ERIC help line was closed over Xmas so I'll give them a call soon and discuss how best to help him. I'll probably try again when he is a little bit older. 

Money wise, it's been a spendy start to the year. The new car (though with the insurance pay out it's only cost me £2,500 so not too bad, but the insurance was almost £600 - for one accident in 20 years. Sob). My pram broke so a new one is incoming. Bought in the sales, but the village doesn't have many paths and a lot of those it does are gravel, or very uneven, so I didn't go for the cheapest. I went with the one with the best reviews for my circumstances as it's hard enough pushing it around, walking the dog etc. 

The EA called and has said there is an asking price offer on our buyers house, so fingers crossed the chain will be repaired (again) very soon. I've done ok with not worrying about that too much. 

This week also sees the start of my compressed hours. So I'll be putting DS to bed, wolfing down some dinner and then starting work again at 8pm. Mostly this Friday will be used on my first assignment, which is due at the end of the month. 

shellstar

Money wise, I got £100 on the PB and £132 in interest to my ISA. I've put them towards the emergency fund. My solicitor says she now has the title deeds to my purchase and has commissioned the searches. She also thinks she'll be sharing with me the forms in the next couple of days. Apparently our buyers solicitor is saying he hasn't received the contract pack from my solicitor, but she is currently working on his enquiries so that seems odd. I find myself much more laid back with this process than I have been on other purchases. This is the 4th house I've bought and I sold my first house during the financial crisis, so I guess after that, you just learns to go with the flow a little. I do hope I don't have to move for a long time though. 

Ex-DP has been in touch to say his tenants have given notice and he now plans to move back into that property. it's a good 90 miles from us. That goes in my favour as he's been rather lacks on the decluttering/planning on where all his stuff is going to go. Lots of 'you can have that' to things I neither need or want. Pretending to himself he's doing me a favour when he's actually just giving me responsibility for getting rid of his things. My 'thanks but no thanks' go unacknowledged so I was planning on just hiring someone to come and take it all away, but now he wants it all again so at some point he'll hopefully hire someone to take it to him. In this brief exchange he did not ask after DS, or the dog, or suggest when we might see him next. Dog is actually not well at the moment so we're off to the vets tomorrow. Hoping it won't be too spendy. 

One thing I remembered is that actually the mattress on my bed is his. Back when we were together, we took it from the bed in the spare room (his bed) and put it on our bed. The mattress now on his bed is actually 21 years old, as I bought it when I bought my first house in 2005. So I've decided I don't want to go back to sleeping on that full time, so I've just ordered myself a new mattress in the sales that will come on Friday. I've been building a pot to decorate the new house and already knew a new bed or mattress would be on the cards, so I've just taken the money from that. This has cheered me up, as my new washing machine is leaking and they weren't able to fix it on Saturday. I'm told it will be fixed next Tuesday. DS keeps asking for his Iggle Piggle PJs which are in the wash. I think I might be hand washing those and some pants before I start work again tonight. 

First assignment is... a work in progress. Taking me longer than I expected and I am really struggling to retain info. Perimenopause? I thought I'd ask the doctor, but so far I have missed out on getting an appointment 3 days in a row. I have this Friday to focus on the assignment. I hope I crack the back of it or I will begin to panic. Ex-MIL messaged to ask if I enjoyed my first day off from compressed hours. I wasn't sure how to respond. It was nice to have actual time to work on my assignment, but in reality I spent 7 hours at my desk and had the joy of a trip to Halfords to get a crack seen to in my new cars windscreen (which was obtained over Xmas when I took DS to see Ex-DPs aunt and cousin). House is still a bombsite and I can't see that changing soon. She seems under the impression I'm spending these Fridays at the spa. One day perhaps. A girl can dream. 

daisy_1571

tell her what you did?  Otherwise she might think yiu are at a spa?

shellstar

@daisy_1571 I did tell her, but then she thinks I am complaining. I wasn't, I just factually told her what I did, but I think she also thinks I'm part time so I don't think any of it really sinks in. 

shellstar

No major financial news but there is bad house news unfortunately. Our buyer has pulled out. I'm told there is nothing wrong with our house, but they've just been keeping an eye on Rightmove and spotted something else they now want instead. I was pretty close to exchange on the pre-fab and mostly just waiting for the chain to catch-up, which means I'm on the hook for pretty much all of the conveyancing costs for that. I'm cross as it feels like a really awful move to pull out so late in the day when we've twice waited for them to find buyers when they lost them. I realise they are within their rights to do this, and that is just how it goes sometimes, but it is how I feel.

The pre-fab owner is giving me two weeks to find another buyer before they relist. My EA is insisting they get up to date exterior photos 'so the listing looks fresh'. I'm frustrated because the photos will also look worse given the garden is currently half dead. I've got another agent coming round tomorrow as I am thinking of dual listing (we are out of contract with the first EA). This time I have said viewings can only be on Fridays and Saturdays as with my compressed hours there is just no way I can get ready for viewings mid-week.

So, here we go again. I am trying not to feel disheartened and trapped, but it is hard.