Flying solo

Sarahwithlove

Hope the new job goes well 

twiggy86

Sorry been missing for a week! I have now started the new job and am settling in with the team well! I have quite a few updates (all positive) and I'm not quite sure where to start! But the quick version is... my parents are giving me £1,000 (as my brother owed them some money and they've said not to worry about it, so are giving me the same!), I have paid off £2k now this year and I might be selling my house!!!

I will check in another point with the detail!!! 

LilSmiler

waiting for the details with anticipation..!

Sarahwithlove

Ohhhh thats exciting, looking forward to hearing more information 

dawnybabes

Ooh all exciting news. 

Humdinger1

Ooh @twiggy86; I'm not the only one on tenterhooks,  standing by for exciting details! Love Humdinger xx 

twiggy86

Sorry guys!!!

I'm sure there's lots of things I could waffle about but I'll stick to the big updates! 

Money from parents - My brother borrowed £2000 from my parents - he actually has about £140k in the bank but couldn't access it easily, so borrowed some to buy a bike and hadn't yet paid it back. Well my parents very kindly decided to write off £1k and give me the equivalent! It was my mum's 70th so the plan was that 7 of us were going for dinner and me and my brother would pay for everyone. However, with the other £1k he owed them, they told him to pay and then whatever was left to give me half - which I think was about £250 extra to come to me! When I asked my mum how her birthday was effectively costing them £3k her response was "well don't you have to take cakes into the office when it's your birthday?!" Blooming expensive cake!!! 

Debts - I have been slowly making extra payments this month so the total paid off for this year now stands at £2k! Current debt total stands at £6,805 - although I potentially have another £200ish to pay towards to this month. 

House - the big update!!!
So me and bf were talking as a result of the money from parents which they had said I could put towards the utility/ bathroom project (not that I had to but that thought it would give the DIY fund a "jump start" - they don't know about my debts however). So that project would involve quite a big expense and would then lead to doing the front driveway - drive needs doing but would partially need digging up so has been left until that work is complete. And then as the kitchen and current bathroom are now over 10 years old, it wouldn't be too long until they potentially start needing work/ replacing.

As it currently stands - I own my house and bf owns his flat, plus once it's gone through probate he will also own half of his dad's house (with the intention to sell). So we started discussing actually just selling all 3 properties, lumping everything all together and buying a house! Despite him owning 2 properties (or he will do), I have more equity and so that would be reflected in the paperwork (not sure how so would need to look into it but bf in particular is very clear on that principle!) - plus bf has some debts and is insistent on paying off whatever is left of mine when his dad's house sells. We also need to consider how best to structure this from a stress point and a financial point - i.e. sell all 3 properties and tie in buying with that or doing staged approach. 

I had an estate agent round on Friday and he has the same one viewing his flat on Wednesday so that we can get a rough idea of what we're working with. I currently have a mortgage of £66,500 and the property was valued at £350k - so a lot of equity there! On the one hand, our house works for us and is finally getting up together and how I've wanted it for years. But on the other hand it is going to require a good chunk of money spending, I have some bad association with it (as where me and ex lived) and I'm not sure it will never truly feel like bf's home given that it is my house. Re the last point - may be it would over time, particularly if we decorated the place together (as obviously it predominantly reflects me and my style alone). However, it seems like a good time to do it before we need to start shelling out money. 

So I'm now in the predicament of - do I continue overpaying the debts as I have been OR start stacking cash with a view to covering all the expenses associated with buying and selling?! Obviously we are only at the early stages of exploring this so things may change! 

twiggy86

Right so that's the bigger bits out the way so lets get on to this week (if I catch up on all the little bots over the last week or so this will probably turn into a novel!) 

With the new job (going well!) I am only required to be in the office 2 days a week and I am currently trialling Tuesday and Thursday, then the rest at home. So today is a "home day" - helpful as I had a doctors appointment first thing! I need to wok out my new routine to see what works for me as I think it is important for me to still get out of the house/ social interaction on days that I work from home. Unfortunately this change has timed to when my acro classes stop for summer - although there may still be Wednesday night meet ups depending on weather! (However acro classes stopping is positive for the budget as it saves me that cost each week!)

The other change with the new job is that I will now be paid on 25th of the month - whereas previously it was the last working day. So I need to decide how best to manage the budget - either ignore the funds until the end of the month or just run the numbers differently! Also this month I will be getting paid by the two jobs as I started mid-month. I have done a rough provisional budget for now as not sure how much I'll be receiving from each! 

I can't think of much worth noting for my "daily list" of jobs for today other eating meals from home - although me and bf need to do a food shop for the week later! So I will leave it there for now - of course may be back later with more waffle!  

twiggy86

Oops I knew I was forgetting something!!!

Actually all the conversations about the house were also somewhat started by me and bf getting a joint account! When we go out one of us will pay (generally bf - I think it's a "man thing") and then the other transfer over their half of the cost - e.g. for food shopping or dinner out. Anyway because of how I budget it always felt very messy, particularly if was paying him for multiple things and for my purposes I wanted to know what was for what so that I took the funds from the right place (not that I didn't trust him). 

So we have set up a joint account that we are going to start using from pay day - so will both transfer the same amount and use for those joint expenses! I was with my ex for 16 years and we never had a joint account, so it feels like a very big, grown up thing to do! One thing we will need to discuss/ consider is what we do with anything that is left in there at the end of the month. I know I will want to shuffle it off for savings but bf may have other ideas! I am much more of a saver than him, but maybe I can convince him to start saving it towards house move expenses!

Hazelnutty

Hey Twiggy it's of course totally your call but take it slow in making decisions about your properties. My biggest regret was selling up my first solely-owned property when I met my XH and lumping in for a joint one. There's a lot to be said for having something that's yours independently and not tied up with a partner, however amazing they are/strong your relationship is. Maybe at least run some options through both financial and emotional calculators e.g. holding on to it, maybe rent it out, at least for the short-medium term. Even if you are feeling committed to this path, just don't rush