Saving, Living, and Ditching the Mortgage

RedLipstick

Thank you all, lots of food for thought.

I have a very demanding full time role, hardly ever stop at the regular Mon-Fri 40 hours, more like 50-60 depending on the week, but I try to stay away from my laptop on Sundays, as it used to be my designated study day. So definitely not keen on looking for a part time job at the moment, especially considering I'm quite well paid, so part time income would just end up being taxed to heaven and hell.

My role is quite niche and although these jobs are rare, they are in demand and I'm a strong candidate, so I'm not necessarily worried about finding another job, more about the time and the recruitment process that can take months. But also I'm the kind of person that doesn't see a problem with working at a supermarket if needed before I get something else, so I wouldn't sit around waiting for the next best thing if that makes sense.

I don't think there is necessarily an issue with my debt pay off trajectory, I hope, but will look at it closely. I'm averaging over £1.7k per month (over 30% debt down in 3 months) at the CCs to keep everything on track before 0% ends, so not worried about that too much I think? I don't know, maybe I should start worrying really. I have a decent amount of money after debt and bills, so quite comfortable at the moment, I could probably pay more towards CCs to speed things up. Of course things could look different if I lost my job! So it's good to keep that in mind, thank you. I can always move internally if they place my role at risk, but I wouldn't necessarily like to do something that it's not directly related to my career just because I have to jump ship promptly. I've had a chat with my manager this morning, he's confident nobody has to worry about their roles at all, but you will know yourselves what it's like, management can do well at blindsiding. They want to move people around without any job cuts so we better align with the strategy. I'm seriously allergic to "alignment" and "restructure" by now with all the different reshuffles we've had since I joined. But, mind the hierarchy, so although he says we're safe, for the key decision maker high above we're just a bunch of numbers. But good shout to look at the redundancy payouts in case something comes our way, I will check this and let my team know as well to get familiar.

I'm possibly worrying for no reason, but that's the "one income household" saga Ramsey talks about I guess. I need to start thinking to protect myself from all angles and sort out a proper plan of action. I'm highly appreciative of you all brainstorming this with me, thank you! ❤️

Sistergold

Updating your CV before there is pressure to sound like a good idea. Keeping the money meant for the 0% credit cards for now is also a good idea so that you have a solid emergency fund since there is uncertainty with current employer. It’s all good aswell that you have finished at university before you needed to think about changing jobs.
It will always workout for your good in the end.
🌺

RedLipstick

It has been a while! Too much to cover in one post but to summarise as I didn't really have time to pause.

1. Finished my uni. All well, officially graduated last month, got my papers, and the extra mental space I have now is unreal. Very happy!
2. Work continues to be very busy and challenging. And all that extra mental space is spent here. I'm through to final interview stages for two very promising jobs, proper move up. Felling as ready as I could be, I passed all the technical interviews already, so final stages should be a breeze but I'm confident I will have very strong competition for both roles.
3. Free weekends feel amazing, lots of walks, little trips around and outside of the city, weather continues to be great here in Scotland so I just use it as much as I can.
4. Now the not so exciting. I don't think I wrote about this before, but my flat continues to be problematic. Not much the flat, but the building. Yet another batch of works and quotes on the horizon, don't want to go into too much detail as the stories start to appear on the news websites. It's the same every year - due to the age, the building is not getting any better and important works are not being done. Factor blames owners, owners blame factor, voting does not bring any decent results, arguments continue, works are not being done. We're talking quotes in tens of thousands for each "item" per flat. I'm considering putting my flat up for sale. It's such a shame, I love my place, renovated it last year to a lovely standard, it's in a fantastic location.

I love living in a flat. I love the sense of security it gives me. Hate the noise but invested in proper soundproofing during renovations and it's been a bliss since. I have a balcony, large windows, lots of daylight all year round, place is warm just as I like it. It's pretty central, public transport is fantastic, close to cycle paths, parks, some wee random cafes. Some friends I talked to suggest to buy a newish house (10-20 yo) just outside of the city for the same money. First of all, the thought of selling and buying another place makes me literally sick. I will have to sell first, move to a rental/maybe stay temporary with friends, then buy, in case my place proves challenging to sell, although we've had few flats up on the market over the past few months and they've sold in less than 2-3 weeks.

Living in a house by myself scares me? But I like the idea that if my roof or heating needs fixing, it's getting done next week if I like it, not in 2035. I've researched some areas and narrowed it down to two so will just keep an eye. Even visited one town and I have to say, loved the quietness the moment we left the car. And the greenery, though I can't complain about green spaces here where I am. Another problem is that there are lots of houses that are sometimes 3 bed but less square meter than my 2bed flat, the rooms are tiny, with tiny windows. 🤨

Any single home owners here? Any thoughts please? I don't drive but the places I identified are well connected to the city - important as I work in the city and don't drive (yet I guess?). How are you finding living in a house by yourself? Any tips? Any horror stories? Any tips for selling? As soon as I gather chunk of monies for fees etc? Wait until spring?