TMWM

I’m back after another loss in our family. RIP Grandad.

I completely lose focus when people die. Not just focus but everything. All my motivation and even things I am working so hard for just get lost in the grief. It’s so sad to be sad.

And in all that sadness, I feel embarrassed to say that this year for me personally has been my best yet. With a new job, new career and some of the most amazing news that I’m going to share with you very shortly, I feel guilty to be so happy in my own life when it has been cruelly taken from my brother and grandad this year.

I know life goes on. And that’s whether we want it to or not but the last few weeks instead of writing my blog I reflected on happy memories of us and just how lucky I am to be alive, even on the most darkest days. I must try to not take life for granted when it doesn’t go my way, or is challenging.

But now I’m back and I want to say how much I’ve missed it! I won’t keep you waiting anymore …

The news is …. I’VE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!

I’ll just let that settle in a moment 🙂

I have finally bought a house. Yes I’m still in debt (and have more now :\) But let me tell you, this house is my dream house. New area, extra bedroom, a downstairs toilet, big garden without the 90 degree angle, it’s a NEW BUILD and the icing on the cake is it’s in the same area where my parents are.

Ever since finding myself as a single parent ten years ago, I’ve wanted – no actually I’ve yearned to move back to the area where I grew up. Where my most precious memories are. Where my friends are. Also, my parents moved back to the area last year and this only made the feeling towards moving back there even stronger.

And it’s happening. I’m still in shock. All the worry I had about paying all my debt off, then saving (probably for years) enough for a deposit and then wondering if I’d still get a mortgage when I’m knocking on the doors of 50+, has now all vanished because it’s happening! I plan to do a detailed post about the property journey so I will go into all the nitty gritty details there, but yes folks. Dreams do come true.

I’ve never bought a new house before, but let me tell you this – choosing kitchen units, worktops, carpets, flooring and tiles is the most exciting thing I have ever done – even if it has meant the debt has increased!

That’s the only bad thing, the debt has increased. Not just because I’m going to be getting a mortgage but I’ve also borrowed the deposit. All these details I will put in the property journey post. At the moment, I have stopped overpaying on my debt so I can pay cash for the mortgage arrangement fee, solicitor fees and stamp duty. And once I have been in the new house for a few months and can see what my new bills will look like, I can review my budget and start overpaying on the debt again.

Don’t get me wrong, I still want to be debt free and this will remain my focus until the debt has been paid off. As I’ve now got the house of my dreams, the next thing on the bucket list after being debt free is to focus on increasing wealth so I don’t have to work till I drop! This is starting to feel more doable even though it seems a long way off 🙂

Of course I have taken thousands of pictures of my new house being built. My friend made me laugh when I kept sharing the weekly update pictures as she says it’s like a pregnancy but for a house lol! The new house could be built as early as June, with a potential move in date of 30 June 2022…EKKKK! The packing has started and I am LOVING the decluttering opportunity! We have been doing a weekly trips to the charity shop and tip and Vinted and FB Marketplace sales have started to increase too.

I set some goals for April 2022: Make £100 selling things, £10 weekly food challenge and a no spend month. As the month as gone on, the no spend challenge wasn’t happening as I was having to pay left right and centre for house stuff, then the £10 food challenge went out the window because I just didn’t give myself the time to focus on it properly, as I’ve been spending every breath either working overtime, packing or DIY in the house I’ll leaving! It’s never ending, but I’m not stressed because I’m too excited!

I will continue with the £100 challenge from selling things though as it aligns with my current focus of making money and decluttering and have made £30 so far – only £70 left to go. I need to list a few large items to FB Marketplace in the next few days so hoping they are sold by the weekend.

What I Have Spent This Week

£31.46 Cinema

£45.21 Tesco food

£12.17 Macdonalds

£0.87 Car park

£6.15 Texaco

£19.68 Tesco beer and breakfast

£73.77 Petrol

£139.96 Sofa covers 🙂

£8.98 Washing line props and stick on house numbers for wheelie bins 🙂

£5.58 Morrisons- brown packing tape x 2

Total £343.83

Looking at what I’ve spent this last week and considering it was half term, I don’t think I did too bad. The cinema was a half term treat and included the tickets, parking and snacks. We only had one takeaway which as you know, is pretty bloomin amazing for me!

We went my brothers farm a few hours drive away so I put a full tank of petrol in. Petrol prices have come down a little since I last bought a full tank. I also bought beer and breakfast as a thank you for him putting us up. These weren’t eaten and drank together by the way! My daughter and I love it there. It is so peaceful. Watching the sheep dog Jim working his magic with the sheep had us all staring at disbelief in his ability to manage all those naughty sheep so effortlessly. It was amazing.

I have told myself not to go mad and start buying everything new for the house – It’s definitely a challenge! However, for a while now I’d planned on getting covers for the sofa as my parents gave me their old sofa which is lovely and so comfy but the colour is completely wrong for our living room. So I have ordered some navy blue sofa covers. Hopefully this will break up the cream and look lovely and homely.

Finally, my last bit of news is I have gone for YET ANOTHER promotion! I know what you’re thinking, “She’s only been in this new job two months”, and you would be right of course. Don’t get me wrong, I love my current job but when I saw the advert for the promotion I just couldn’t not apply. I have all the experience across all my career and think I’d do a great job so though, why not just go for it!

I mean, this year is turning in to the year where everything I’ve worked so hard for is coming true so why not this too! It’s more money – £8k a year more and let’s face it, with this new house and extra debt I’ve taken on, I bloomin well need it lol!! When I think about whether I should go for opportunities, it always brings me back to – What’s the worse that could happen if I don’t get it? … and you know what, absolutely nothing. If I don’t go for things I believe to be out of my reach, then I’ll never have them or find out what it’s like to have them.

So my advice is GO FOR THEM ANYWAY!

I should find out this week if I get shortlisted so will keep you all updated – Wish me luck! Hope you all have a good week.

H