Fix Up, Look Sharp

GeorgianaCavendish

I'm dreading the ceiling removal @EssexHebridean ! 😬

There are a few extra issues encountered with plumbing, and I'm going to have to account for plastering (which I had somehow missed off my list!) so lots of rejigging of budgets to do - probably a job for the weekend.

GeorgianaCavendish

The extra costs keep piling up! We've got problems with a lot of the plaster all over the house, hoping to save money by boarding it but it is still likely to be expensive - waiting on the quote to come through for that but at least the guy gave us a breakdown of what we can do ourselves to prep and which bits are possible to do ourselves. 

The latest lovely surprise from the house is that the kitchen drain was not properly installed. Our kitchen is in an odd extension without enough space for washing machine etc. The previous owner got round this by adding a tiny conservatory to act as the utility room. What we thought was the kitchen drain seems to just be a hole with no obvious outlet and there is an open drainpipe under the dining room (the old kitchen) that is not connected to the kitchen ... so it's not great! We lifted the flooring in the conservatory to find that underneath is covered in black mould, although this does seem to be improving as we're spraying it every few days. 

We're trying to arrange a CCTV survey of the drains and I just hope that it will not be a huge undertaking to properly attach the kitchen drain to the drain that runs under the dining room. 

I haven't done a proper revision of the budget yet but we're edging closer to the point when we'll need to borrow to get all the professional works completed so I'm researching our finance options. I hate the idea that I'm going to go back into debt when I worked so long and hard to get out of it. I just have to keep telling myself that this is different because it is planned and to do vital work that will hopefully add value to the house (and even if it doesn't really add value, it is making it safe and habitable) and it is not just accumulating for no reason because I can't control my spending! 

EssexHebridean

It absolutely is different - it's planned, it's researched and it is also an investment in your futures - as it will give you a nice place to live. Also - you already know you have all the knowledge and resources to deal with debt, so in the longer term you'll deal with this in exactly the same way you dealt with the other debt - methodically and in as low-cost a way as possible. Having said all that, I would be lying if I didn't say that there is a little bit of me feeling infuriated that we are about to take a new mortgage - so all that common sense and reasoning needs to apply to me as well! 

What a nightmare about the drains - fingers crossed the survey will reveal a fairly straightforward fix and no additional issues to worry about! 

GeorgianaCavendish

Thank you @EssexHebridean - your words are really reassuring and although I don't wish the annoying feeling on you, it is helpful to know that I'm not the only one with these feelings about taking on more debt.

I think what I'm finding the hardest right now is not knowing the full extent of the debt - we still need to get all the quotes in from the professionals, and then we've got to allocate costs for decorating etc.

My initial thought was to get a loan* for the Pro Jobs, probably on a 5 year term (but possibly on a 4 year term to tie in with when the mortgage fix ends) - and to finance the decorating costs as we go along using a combination of cash and 0% credit cards with a view to paying them off within a shorter timeframe. 
(*not quite decided what this loan will look like, still researching - but I'm thinking it will be a personal loan)

There are some big ticket items that are sitting between 'Pro Jobs' and 'Decorating' - such as flooring and a new oven - that I'm a bit uncertain about how to finance then (loan or credit card). I'm leaning towards credit cards, because at least with flooring we don't need to get it all done in one go - we could save up to do the spare bedroom for example.

Right now, we're able to allocate £1000 per month towards house repairs which goes into our savings account (and as the bills start come in, goes out again!) with a current balance of just over 6K. When we get a personal loan, the loan repayment would come out of this £1000 meaning that we would have a smaller amount in cash going into the savings account. And of course, the credit card repayments will be coming out of this £1000 as well. 
When we've got a better idea of the figures, we'll need to tweak our budgets and it's possible we'll have a bit more money available here (£250-£300) but we also don't know the true cost of running that property in terms of utilities, so I don't want to overcommit to the house repairs pot! 

redofromstart

Another vote for 'it is different' and investing in the future. 

GeorgianaCavendish

Thank you @redofromstart - that is reassuring  

GeorgianaCavendish

CCTV drain survey is booked for Friday. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that nothing terrible is going to be revealed! 

The old, rodent infested insulation has been removed from the loft. I'd like to disinfect the space, wondering if this is something we can do ourselves or if it needs professionals (off to investigate!). We'll be reinsulating the loft, I'm waiting to hear more about the Eco Grants as we meet the criteria for the next phase (based on council tax band and EPC rating) and hopefully that will cover the cost. 

The plasterer's quote has come in for the first stage of work and it is about what I expected. To start with we're going to focus on getting the rooms we need to use first ready (bathroom, kitchen, our bedroom and our offices) - then we'll tackle the spare bedrooms, living room, dining room and the landing/hall etc in the second phase. There is a fair amount of prep work that we need to do, so we want to focus on getting the Phase 1 rooms ready - some of them only need minimal work done, some have big problems (like a hole in the ceiling!) 

Bad news is that our plumber has been admitted to hospital. I spoke to the company owner today and he said he doesn't expect our plumber back at work for a long time. He's going to put some of his other plumbers on our job, but that will probably not be until next week at the earliest. I really hope that he's ok and getting the best care, he's such a lovely guy. It is unfortunate that our project will be delayed by a few weeks but its not the end of the world. We've got lots of DIY stuff to get on with anyway, so it isn't really holding up the overall project. 

On the financial front, I think we're going to wait for the results of the drain survey before we apply for a loan as we don't want to be in the position where we need to borrow again to finance more essential work. We're also going to investigate which lenders have early repayment penalties - ideally once we are through all the renovation and decorating work, we would concentrate on overpaying the loan. But a lot can happen and plans might change! 

EssexHebridean

Definitely makes sense to get the survey results before you apply for the loan - it's the sort of thing where you definitely want to be in possession of the full facts before moving forwards isn't it. 

GeorgianaCavendish

May 2023 Round Up 

Savings

House repairs fund : £8,700

I've got a lot of moving pieces at the moment, so I'll update this in more detail in the coming weeks

Extra Income

Prolific Academic - £36.29
TopCashBack - £6.80
Storewards - £10.00
Bank Interest - £3.40


MSE Challenges 

Emergency Fund - £7200/£7500
Christmas 2023 - £475/£1000 
1p Challenge 2023 - £114.76/£667.95 
Mortgage Overpayments 2023 - £433.55/£1000
NSD 2023 - 99
Take Lunch to Work - awful! Needs to improve next month


NSD
May- 21/18
Target for June - 17

GeorgianaCavendish

I've reduced some of my savings pots slightly, including my Christmas savings - I was doing £100 per month but have reduced this to £75 per month. This should give me £925 by November which will still be enough. I set this target for saving for presents, outings, food and decorations (as it is the first Christmas in our new house - I hope we are in by then!) but I can always tweak things. 

I've so far been able to keep up with the 1p A Day Savings Challenge, but as the monthly amounts get higher and my budget gets tighter it might be necessary to abandon it. I'm still going to try but I won't be too upset if I can't make it ... I did have an idea of what I wanted to spend it on, but this might also change and instead be reserved for buying something special for the house.