Phew...........what an 'interesting' month. I decided to move and
within a week the house was photographed and ready for
selling and went live on Rightmove on the Thursday afternoon............the wonders of modern technology.
I
showed round 2 couples on the Friday, 4 on Saturday and 1 early Monday
morning and later that morning the Estate Agent rang with offers. One
family were ready to complete and move in as soon as solicitors could do
the work, they had sold their house and were preparing to move in with parents until they found something suitable and that's what they'll do
until they can move in here. They offered the full amount which I accepted (and they are Suffolk people with young children and I hoped for a family for this house as it hasn't had one for a very long time)
In 40 + years of selling and moving I've never had anything happen so quickly - it's good but seems much too easy...............makes me nervous! Although they've been for another look and still seemed keen.
And having decided against the new-build on a new estate I now need to find something to buy when almost nothing is for sale in any of the 4 villages I would like to live in........... could be a problem or maybe I'll rent and be right ready to buy when something turns up. Although renting probably means going back into a town for a while.
No Spend November has ended, the lock-down certainly helped because I didn't go far and unlike the March-July lock down I didn't go spending online either!
So how did it go?
1st. No Spend
2nd Food £33 + Cat £6 + Diesel £18 + Printer Paper £4. = £61
3rd No Spend
4th Swimming £2.25 + Birthday Gift for Youngest daughter
5th No Spend
6th No Spend
7th No Spend
8th No Spend
9th No spend
10th Food £18 + Cat £5 + Kitchen stuff £2.50 + Pharmacy £3.80 Christmas bits £3.50 = £32
11th No Spend
12th Whoops forgot I'd pre-ordered a book published today from up the amazon £8
13th No Spend
14th Fruit, Veg and Yellow sticker pizzas + Flowers £11
15th The cat calming stuff for Polly which I have on a 3 times a year regular order £34
16th No Spend
17th No Spend
18th No Spend
19th No Spend
20th No Spend
21st Food £26 Cat £3.75 Superdrug £1.50 = £32
22nd No Spend
23rd No Spend
24th Pensioners discount Fish and Chips £3.50.Diesel £24 = £27.50
25th No Spend
26th No Spend
27th Online Xmas gift spending £13
28th Fruit £2.50, Quarterly Electric Bill £94 (actual reading) much as last year.
29th SWIMMING BOOKED FOR NEXT WEEK!!!!! £2.25
30th Today will be a no spend..... as far as I know
Add in Direct
Debits for Council Tax, Phones, Car Breakdown Insurance,Charity
Donations plus Birthday gift and Xmas presents. Making a total of roughly just under £650 .......Not exactly a "No Spend" month but not bad.
December probable spending - A LOT - with the trees being cut down, chimney sweep,car insurance due. Christmas Gifts for children and their OH's and some Christmas food. But I solved the problem of what to buy BiL - we decided not to bother! He buys anything he needs himself anyway and I've got my 12 actually 7 Christmas treats for the 12 7 days of Christmas so we are both happy with that arrangement.
Still clearing out - now for a definite reason!
Lots of burnable bits - a box full of straw(?), hardboard etc- from the workshop went on the bonfire
A crate full of various containers of oil etc - BiL took them home to sort out for me
Lots of things including an out of date hard-hat ( yes Colin had one from somewhere that had a safety use by date on it) went into a heap ready for the tip-trip
Small bits of old electrical wires and switches into bin
Several books waiting for charity shops to open.
Old sheets and duvet - once used for dust sheets - off to clothes/fabric bank at tip
Half the jam jars that I'd been keeping went off to bottle bank
Bundle of childrens Christmas books to youngest Granddaughter
Frugal Living tips are the same as every other month
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Fingers firmly crossed for you sure. Selling and buying is a real roller coaster but I think with the stamp duty incentive people will be keen not to faff around. I've been doing a low spend month and it's almost identical to your figure.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, that means I've spent too much as there are two in your house!
DeleteYour house will love having a young family in it. Fingers crossed the sale goes smoothly. I'm sure there's just the right home for you out there. xx
ReplyDeleteHope I can find something very soon
DeleteGood luck with the house-hunting. I have ground to a halt with the sorting out of 'stuff' at the moment so can appreciate your renewed motivation though selling our house might be a bit extreme!
ReplyDeleteI knew I'd be selling sometime so it's good to have already moved out a lot of things
DeleteAmazingly quick sale and good luck with the house-hunting, but take your time and don't rush into anything you're not 100%, renting seems a good idea, it'll give you breathing space.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind renting but moving everything twice is not my first option!
DeleteNot a bad spend at all Sue, all necessary stuff. We are overspending massively on food deliveries and I can't seem to get to grips with it. Must start afresh in the new year and try to stick to budget. Meanwhile, with everything else going on healthwise, I'll just go with ghe flow, I think.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with house hunting and sorting!!
Even the book was a necessity (that's my line and I'm sticking to it!)
DeleteGood luck with the house-hunting and well done with getting the asking price (we did too, and despite it being massively under-valued because of this year's rises, he is still trying to get money off other things). I'm glad a family is having your house. They will love all that room for the children to run round in. A businessman is buying ours (that said, his wife adores it).
ReplyDeleteI thought you sounded pretty frugal. We have all sorts of money going out on things associated with moving and made the error of having a new gate post put in (other one had to be tied in place as base had rotted). A £50? job turned out to be another hundred and sum pounds on top but needs must. Septic tank cost £140 to be emptied as well. All the stuff we would have taken to sell at car boot sales, and given us a little return, has had to be given or chucked.
At least you have a Plan B if you can't find somewhere and complete in time.
Septic tank emptying is only £99 here - need to get it done sometime next month.
DeleteI hope the young family buying here don't start mucking about with the price - depends what a survey throw up I guess
Well done on the speedy sale this month and your super low spending this month, truly an eventful month for you. Renting for a while sounds like a good idea, you can always do what I have done and have a fixed six month renting period then switch it to month by month, then your rental expenses will fit in with potentially finding your next home.
ReplyDeleteWhat made you decide against the new build?
The huge trees all along the back boundary some with tree preservation orders - I realised there would be no sun and no moisture for growing. There was no sign of the trees on the sales website and they weren't visible from the road and I realised they were only going to have 1 road in and out of the estate so there would be 100+ cars going in and out passed the house I was hoping to buy.
DeleteWell done Sue. As usual I am blown away by your energy. My friends sold their house in Windermer literally overnight after putting it on the market. The buyer dropped out but another took his place equally quickly.
ReplyDeleteIt was a shock to find people who wanted it and were able to proceed within 4 days!
DeleteI remember our first house we sold on the first day too, but I think there was a bit of jiggerdy-pokery going on. It was in the late 70s and this being our first house sale we went along with the estate agent when he suggested a price. Later that same day he brought round a couple who were getting desperate and he had been helping them find something suitable. They were very keen on our house after looking round. So, no advertising, no board up, no other viewers, just that one couple. I still feel that the couple had a fixed budget and the estate agent was helping them working around that and I still feel we could have got more for it, but we were novices and didn't know any better.
ReplyDeleteNever trust an estate agent!
DeleteYour no spend November sounds like a heck of a spend to me!
ReplyDeleteDifficult not to pay the council tax!
Deleteand the phone bills and the electric bill!
DeleteMust have been a bad month! My
DeletePhone and electric will be January.
Well done on selling your home so quickly. Here's hoping you find a new home soon.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too!
DeleteThat comes as a surprise although I must confess I have taken my eye off the blogging ball for a while. I do wish you well Sue. With time out renting the house prices could very possibly fall and you can wait for just the perfect property to come along.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and God speed.
LX
It;s a bit of a surprise to me too, Once I decided that I'd had enough of thinking about things that need sorting here and needed somewhere easier. I had the place valued and two weeks later it was sold!
DeleteHope you find some where nice it's not easy but new beginnings are great
ReplyDeleteWe had the same experience 3 years ago when we sold our house in the little market town in North Norfolk. The bungalow was up for sale on friday, open house on saturday and another viewer on tuesday, who bought it straightaway. The only thing I found a bit of a pity: an eldery lady and her daughter visited on the saturday and they absolutely loved the bungalow. They were thinking of changing the cloakroom into a showerroom and had various other plans. But...the lady had to sell her (big) house first.
ReplyDeleteThe people on the tuesday (father and son) bougt it as an investment, had the money on the bank and the bungalow is rented out now. I thought at first the son was going to live in it, as he worked nearby, but no.
Anyway, selling a house is nowadays easier than buying one.
But let panic not overtake you. You will find something in the end. I hope for you rather sooner than later. Keep fingers crossed!
Around here it's suggested to buy before you sell as houses go very quickly and often for over the asking price!
ReplyDelete