eek .. we have bought a house.

[percival]

And my earnings have decreased by a third.

so this means a serious lifesyle change:
- cooking instead of takeaway dinners
- not letting good food go to rot in the fridge because I am too lazy to cook it
- taking my own lunch and snacks into work
- proper bookkeeping (c.f. Europcar scare)
- buying far fewer books
- taking back books to libraries on time, and taking out far fewer

... and finally, most importantly ...

apart from the trip to Germany in February to retrieve much of our furniture, NO trips abroad. These four trips to Germany (Christmas, christening, 60th birthdays) have made a major dent in our savings, not to mention the big American holiday. Since we want to pay off as much of our mortgage as soon as possible, we will only travel within Scotland.

So - no Iceland. Heck, by rights, we couldn't even afford my trip to Texas now!

Strange, this: if the landlady hadn't been so stupid to mention that she was thinking about getting an agent in, we would NEVER have bought the flat, because we were extremely comfortable where we were.

On the other hand, seeing that I've decided to become a good book keeper, I can't go on a healthy detox diet now. Two sets of deprivations are just too much, folks. (But then, merely cooking my own food will probably make my eating a lot healthier than it is right now.)

The life of luxury was nice - now back to reality!

Comments

[sannalim.livejournal.com]

Wow, big changes. Congrats on finding a house, though, and good luck with the retrieval of your furniture.

[sarka.livejournal.com]

*pouts*

Well, not that I don't understand. I do. It would have been nice. I'll look forward to seeing you some other time :)

Good luck with saving - and cooking your own dinner. It is tricky business...

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Yes, it would, especially since we really do want to go. But that house is quite an investment, and we want to pay off as much as possible before a baby comes and our earnings hit ROCK bottom.

percival

[awelkin.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on having a property of your own, though.

It DOES curtail what you can do, but there is some pride in owning something.

Catherine

[dr-c.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the house; I assume this is in the Edinburgh area? (Sorry if you've moved and I've been out of touch long enough to have missed that!)

I also trust that you've got reasons for confidence in the stability of the housing market, and that the negative-equity doomsday scenario (which I recall you mentioning in response to zsenya's post on the rent/buy decision) won't come true. As long as that's the case, I expect that your decision will prove a sound one. Best wishes for the duration of the payment schedule. :-)

(Oh, and by the way: If your income should increase again... accelerating payments is always a good thing.)

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's in Edinburgh, in one of the few areas that are not overpriced but still have good schools. It'll be bye-bye delis, of course, but at least we will have our own place. The big problem in Scotland is the few rights that tenants have - if you read back a little in my blog, you'll see that our landlady can safely raise the rent by 15% or more, if the fancy should take her.

Luckily, our purchase is well within the limits of what we can afford and pay off, so that we have a big in-built financial safety cushion.

We're going to move in February/March, by the way - we are already planning that move in detail. I'll mail you the new address when we move.

[sabine10.livejournal.com]

Herzlich Glückwunsch zum Kauf des Hauses. Wünsche euch alles Gute. Wann zieht ihr denn um?

Ich wünsche Dir ein schönes Wochenede.

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Ende Februar.

noch so viel zu tun!

percival

[murasaki99.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the house!! Woo-hoo, you are now People of Property! (Well, you and your bank.) Believe me, in a few years you will be glad you bought - your mortgage payments will remain stable, while rents will always go up.

Doing your own cooking is a healthy choice, enjoy yourself. Have you checked out vegweb or allrecipies.com? Good recipies on both for just about anything you might want to try. I found a wonderful fresh cranberry relish recipe on the web and made it for Thanksgiving this week. I posted the link in my most recent LJ comments.

Once again, Omedetou! (congratulations!)

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, especially since the Candida seems to have come BAX. eek ... this time in my mouth.

I've already made a meal plan.

Thanks for the recipe links, btw. You may be glad to know that the new house features a huge guest room :)

percival

[dandelionsummer.livejournal.com]

Brilliant news. Really glad that after the initial hiccup everything is moving so smoothly. It'll be amazing to have a place you really own, and it all sounds lovely!

We're moving in six days now - eek!

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Wooooooooooooohoooooooooo!

Yes, it'll be great to own our place, and it's a lovely area, as you may soon see.

Btw, one of the Carol Vorderman books is redundant, because it features the same makeovers as the other books. Fancy the redundant copy?

percival

[queenriley.livejournal.com]

Aw, congratulations! That's great news. I'm glad you were able to get the flat. Sorry it curtails some of your plans, but having your own place really is a wonderful thing.

Hey... maybe next year (if I can still swing it) when I come visit, I can somehow find a way to drag misspince and hildi with me...