Diary of a 30-something idiot

enthusiasticsaver

Also I missed that you are entitled to UC. Why are you not claiming or at least Mr Fox could claim JSA couldn’t he? I admit I am not au fait with benefits but the entitled website gives guidance. That would help in the interim. 

foxandflowers

@enthusiasticsaver We have it tomorrow with the estate agent that I bought from. I cancelled today's appointment, because I had such a nightmare with them previously. I much prefer an estate agent that is straightforward, and doesn't oversell themselves, or overprice the asset to try and win business. I had a long chat with the EA yesterday on the phone, as they sold another house on the same estate last September. That was mid terrace, but sold for £135k, so she believes I could go in around 145-150k. She also said that when my current property was listed they had 5 offers before any of the work I have done to it, ranging from £193k-200k. 

lillypoo

Some of your pros are aspirational fox. 

You dont know there's no major work necessary on the new property and you won't do without paying for a survey. What will your situation be like if you pay for solicitor fees, searches, surveys and then for whatever reason the sale falls through?

Will it clear all debts or will you decide to use a bit of the money to treat yourself or the family? Like we have all said, go back and read all the earlier diary entries from before the last move.

Have you read the advice about benefits ?

Have you asked Mr fox how HE feels about being more frugal with your money himself?

I hope he is reading this diary to be honest

Anyway you didn't ask for my advice so I'll butt out. But please read all the replies you got yesterday. There's loads of well intentioned advice x

enthusiasticsaver

Unfortunately money spent on property rarely translates to increase in value as things like new kitchens and bathrooms are expensive but people expect a kitchen and bathroom anyway. They can sometimes make it easier to sell though. 

So if you sell at £200k plus the average 2% rise in Wales last year that would make just £202k. Costs would probably be in the region of £5-£10k. Buying at £150k would barely leave you enough to clear debts and you rarely move in with nothing which needs doing. How much equity did you release last time? 

foxandflowers

lillypoo said:

Some of your pros are aspirational fox. 

You dont know there's no major work necessary on the new property and you won't do without paying for a survey. What will your situation be like if you pay for solicitor fees, searches, surveys and then for whatever reason the sale falls through?

Will it clear all debts or will you decide to use a bit of the money to treat yourself or the family? Like we have all said, go back and read all the earlier diary entries from before the last move.

Have you read the advice about benefits ?

Have you asked Mr fox how HE feels about being more frugal with your money himself?

I hope he is reading this diary to be honest

Anyway you didn't ask for my advice so I'll butt out. But please read all the replies you got yesterday. There's loads of well intentioned advice x

Hi @lillypoo - please don't feel you need to butt out.

You are right that I don't know for certain there is no major work. If the sale fell through, that would be disastrous. I have looked into the local planning permission/flood risks/crime rates etc. None of the houses down there have any new roofs - on my culdesac out of 11 houses there are 6 new roofs so far. 

The money is strictly for clearing debts. Anything left over would go into savings that require at least 3 days to access. 

I have read the advice about benefits - I will be discussing it with Mr Fox when I have figured out how to word it. 

He said he feels excited by the idea. He has enjoyed not spending so much, doesn't want to reactivate any kind of sports TV as it is 'a waste' and is learning to enjoy the second-hand hunt. I think selling things to get by has made him realise that nothing holds value so buying new is basically throwing money away. 

foxandflowers

enthusiasticsaver said:

Unfortunately money spent on property rarely translates to increase in value as things like new kitchens and bathrooms are expensive but people expect a kitchen and bathroom anyway. They can sometimes make it easier to sell though. 

So if you sell at £200k plus the average 2% rise in Wales last year that would make just £202k. Costs would probably be in the region of £5-£10k. Buying at £150k would barely leave you enough to clear debts and you rarely move in with nothing which needs doing. How much equity did you release last time? 

Hiya, yep I understand that. I do genuinely think that the new carpets etc have made the property a lot more marketable than it was when we bought it, but I also know I won't see back what I've spent. I'd be okay with putting it up for £210k I think, although the EA suggested that 215-220k would be entirely acheievable. Last time we were due to take a lot more equity than we ended up with as our buyer dropped his price last minute, and like an idiot, I didn't back out. I think we only cleared about £55k after costs. £15k went on debt repayments roughly, and about £20k went on renovating/refurbing. Adding in the 6k we then had to spend fixing the van, and buying the car for 14k, there was basically nothing left. I was supposed to clear closer to 95k. 

avawren

I really think you need to get a workable budget in place before having a radical knee jerk reaction to sell your house. 

If Mr F is getting excited about adopting a frugal lifestyle harness that excitement and see how it goes, let him do the work to bring this to fruition.

Benefits are there to be claimed and as a previous poster has said it would give you the much £300 needed.

I would also be getting a quote to see how much the roof costs to fix and if it can be patched up for now until you have the money to pay for it.
Speak to Stepchange to see if you can delay debt payments to pay for the roof.

As I said in my previous post debt isn’t fun to repay but with the term you are looking at it’s equivalent to a mortgage term which can be overpaid at any point when you have the money.

selling your house is a quick fix to the solution but until you learn how to budget correctly nothing will change and you will soon be in the same position again but with a lot less to equity.

please read back over your diary to see that these are the same reasons you used to justify this last house move and nothing has changed except you now have less equity. 

Petal88

Lol and how would Mr Fox feel if he brought some money in... Honestly the cheek to try and put another time consuming task on you whilst you're paying off his debt, subscription and the cost of hosting his kids!

Kim_13

Any buyer could drop their price last minute, this time when you feel forced to accept it because of the money sunk on surveys on a purchase. They may even be more likely to do so as the market would appear to be going down and when their survey reveals the roof problem (if indeed it would require replacing within 5 years.) 

If Mr Fox could cashback/coupon/bargain hunt funds that would really help. Single Person Discount at Band D would mean you were essentially paying not much more than a Band A bill, so the amount he was adding to the bill should be his target (Mini Fox and visitors are disregarded in the calculation of the bill.) 

An earlier posted mentioned personal spends for subscriptions to make them more tangible, I wonder if they should be side hustled instead. This might mean he reassessed the value of any that were his, while freeing up some of the budget. Netflix might be the only one I’d exempt from this, as you’ve said the boys also use it, and it also has an end point as Netflix are clamping down on use at different locations. To others who say you shouldn’t be paying for their subscriptions, this one isn’t only theirs and it’s better than paying monetary support to their mothers when that should be a matter between Mr Fox and them.

MeandO

You Seem to be basing many of the pros and cons on the condition of one particular house you've seen that's currently on the market, Fox. It's highly unlikely that this house will still be available when you are in the position to purchase, so do the pros and cons stay the same for any other house?

I agree with @Petal88, the audacity of Mr Fox suggesting a more frugal lifestyle when he's not contributing anything to the household and won't claim benefits, expecting to get brownie points for the suggestion! He's trying to come up with ways to make YOUR salary go further so he can continue his lifestyle as it is. It's a shame he can't get quite so excited by the idea of getting a job as he is by buying second hand and saving coupons. He is trying to buy more time and pacify you Fox. Unbelievable. 

The fact that you are trying to find the right way to word the subject of benefits and work with him hints at the abusive and controlling relationship this is. You are not equals or partners or you would be able to talk freely about this without fear of finding ways to broach the subject. Actually, you wouldn't need to be having the conversation at all as any husband who actually loves, respects and values his wife wouldn't be allowing her to be burdened with all of this on her own for so long when he has the power to change it. I'm sorry, I don't want to cause upset, but you need to get out whilst you still have a chance of being able to provide a home for you and your daughter - ie. before you've been married 5 years and he has a chance of taking half of everything you've ever provided for everyone.

And yes, he's absolutely reading your diary, it's no co-incidence.