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Me and my boyfriend bought our first home on the 14th of September 2018 – I might have mentioned it. Like, a lot. I thought it might be fun to do a quick listicle of all the things being responsible for £230k worth of bricks and terrible flaky plaster has taught me.
I don’t like decorating, what I actually enjoy is choosing paint colours.
Getting stuck into going full-on Bobby Berk on your new house is always a renter’s dream. But when it comes down to it, so much of “renovation” is hideously expensive and boring. I’ve probably mentioned to you in real life how much I hate buying flooring, but I’ll say it again. It’s AWFUL!
They never have what you actually want, you’re forced to choose between 100 versions of the same thing, and it’s going to cost you £500. Actually doing DIY is a drag too. BUT I wouldn’t swap back to orange laminate and the lumpy divan my landlord stuck me with.
This tweet is a MASSIVE mood… I’ve lived my entire rented life staring at dingy, dirty pure brilliant white emulsion, and this whole house was white, top to bottom when we bought it. It makes me so happy to have colour in my life, and you won’t leave a mark on blue walls if you accidentally lean on them.
Londoners really don’t like getting on a National Rail train.
Thankfully, pretty much all of my friends have accepted an invite to come and see my new house this year, but it took some convincing. I only live 40 minutes from central London, you can get a return ticket for like £6 if you have a railcard… it’s not that DEEP!
Having a pet is the besssst.
Lola, what a sweet baby angel. I have the Cats Protection centre I got Lola from liked on Facebook, and the number of cats who’ve been handed in because a money-hungry landlord won’t let a tenant bring their animal with them when they move in is huge. It’s a cat, not a COW!
Someone is paying through the nose for the right to use your spare house and you won’t give an inch in return, even though you’ve got a deposit to pay for any damage. I’ll never understand the logic.
The need for an emergency fund is REAL.
In July, a huge patch of plaster fell off the ceiling in my bathroom. If this happened when I was a renter, it probably wouldn’t be my responsibility to pay for the repair (whether my deposit would remain untouched is another story). When you own your house, everything is your responsibility. It’s notttt fun.
We haven’t had any extremely expensive mishaps like needing a new boiler yet (touch wood), but you need to have that pot of money accessible, just in case.
The CRACK, that turned into a hole. 🙁 
Mid-way through plastering.
Owning a house is kind of cheaper than renting, kind of not.
When you factor in the cost of covering emergencies, paying to make your home look nicer, the money you spent moving house that you’ll never see again AND the increased cost of commuting – it all adds up. Although my mortgage is £200 less than my monthly rent, because I was living bills included, it’s not actually any cheaper.
However, I was living in a tiny studio flat, and now I’m in a three bed house. It’s all relative. While some of my mortgage is interest, we are paying down the capital. And hopefully, some of the work we’ve had done on the house has added value to it as well.
Want to join a community of other people trying to buy their first home? Join my free Facebook group First Time Buyer Wannabes.
The security of owning a home has given me more freedom.
This year I’ve done a lot of things I couldn’t have done back when I was renting.
- I’ve learned to drive, which I wouldn’t have been able to afford to do when I was pumping all of my spare cash into saving for a deposit.
- I got a new job – which is a risky thing to do when you want to look super stable for your mortgage provider.
- I started this blog – I have something to write about, and apparently people like it!
I actually won two and a bit SHOMO awards earlier this month! I bagged best new blog for Bronni.co.uk, which I’m sooo proud about, runner up for best specialist blog for BeautyMarkdown.co.uk my beauty blog, and best company/brand blog for my old job at Save the Student, and runner up for my current job at the Money Advice Service.
A massive thank you to everyone who nominated me, I wasn’t really expecting to win but I’m very glad I did. You can check out my fellow nominees on the UK Money Bloggers site.
Onto year two!
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