To not understand how people afford home improvements

[Britishsummertime22]

I have no money left at the end of the month. How do people spend thousands on getting kitchens and bathrooms done etc??

I added it to the mortgage, so when it's sorted over 23 years it only adds a small amount to the mortgage payment. Then overpay like mad to get it paid off quicker (which is what I do)

They earn more or have less outgoings than you. The last two years we have been abroad, before that we hadn't been abroad in 8 years. Next year we likely won't go abroad and will spend the money saved on doing our bathroom up. We don't have expensive hobbies and I don't have regular expenses like getting my roots done or nails. It all adds up.

We've done a few things to the house. About 6 years ago the company DH worked for was bought over. He had shares. And he pocketed £90k. So we spent £50k on an extension and put some in the mortgage. A couple of years later we decided to get a new kitchen and do work to the garden so when we remortgaged we took some money back out again.
Most garage conversions and extensions are likely done from releasing equity from the house - makes sense if you're adding value to the house.
But for smaller home improvements we save. Things like new furniture buy on 0% interest credit and repay over time.

It's quite straightforward - different people have different incomes and outgoings 🤷🏼‍♀️

You know BG does interest free credit replacement boilers.

@Rollercoaster1920

Try diy kitchen if you are looking.

They are fabulous and so much cheaper.

Op I don't get it either although remortgaging when rates where so incredibly low makes sense.

I had to wait years, and then take out a big loan to get everything done. It’s low interest and will be paid off monthly over 5 Years.

We moved into our area a few years ago, and it was (and still is) a lot more affordable than many other areas of Greater London, but the prices have shot up in the last 10 years here - and most are around 75-100% more than they were then.

My friends and their partners who live here all earn less than my Husband and I, and only one of my friends has been to University, yet they all have lots more disposable income than us as they bought their houses here between 9-12 years ago. They all have at least 4 bedrooms, and all extended their houses before the prices more than doubled too, and so have massive and beautiful kitchen and dining spaces.

Our house has less bedrooms than this, and we have been quoted £60,000 for a small extension which we just can’t afford. We’ve also been told that if we saved for it, we wouldn’t get that money back if we were to sell. We also can’t afford to buy the next size house up, as they are so much more expensive. We feel trapped.

One of my friends here lives in a house which is nearly twice the size of ours, and yet her mortgage is £900 per month, whereas ours is nearly £2500 per month. Her monthly sum increased by £200 per month when she had her home extended - but she was able to make her home around 70% larger for this!

Many other people we know here are very similar to my friends - no Degrees, and many get to work from too (which we’d love to, but our careers don’t allow for it) and do the school runs whereas we can’t. They tend to do office type roles from home, or are trades people, or are in semi physical jobs.

Maybe it’s similar where you live OP?

Save up. Borrow. Or for me the last time, I factored it in to my house move. So got a house slightly cheaper, and made sure the money spent on renovations would not out price the street. Yes I had to go thought the pain of living on site, but got what I wanted.

Good old interest free credit!!!!

I often wonder this and then realise it's because I'm a lone parent on one salary.

Many of these answers are 'we'. If I had a partner who had same salary as me, we'd be rolling in it compared to how I am now.

Will people stop with 'I'd rather my great aunt Ethel still be here than have a inheritance' do you think people that don't have inheritances don't love their deceased relatives? Just say inheritance 😂

We do the work ourselves because my family have a business in home improvements. Therefore it is only the cost of materials we are paying for. If you choose well, and from trade suppliers, you can make a nice looking kitchen/bathroom on a budget. You’ve got to be quite creative and understand how things work though. Someone inexperienced might not be able to pull it off in quite the same way.

We got our bathroom done a couple of years ago - cost around €9,000. Took a few years to save, I would rather not borrow for something like that.

I know so many people who have fancy cars, huge tvs, go on expensive holidays, etc.....they havent paid for any of it!!LOL😆

This is the third or fourth thread I’ve seen in the last week on how do people afford x?

holidays, new cars, now home improvements 🤔

Previously, 0% finance and credit cards.

I have paid £££ to plasterers, window fitters etc in the last year, some of it as credit card cash advances.

None of this advisable but I didn't at the time have a choice.

Now, I've discovered Dave Ramsey's baby steps and I'm on my way to sorting out my finances. Google Dave Ramsey because I wish I had years sooner.

It always amazes me how homes in soaps are always perfect, you never see a tired dated looking kitchen or a sofa that has seen better days.

Are you the same poster who has asked how people afford holidays and then another thread on how they afford new cars?

Is it not obvious?

As it happens, my entire house needs redecorating, and there’s a small hole in my bathroom wall. I cba to pay for home improvements, not when there are SO MANY HOLIDAYS I want to go on 😄

People have different priorities. People have different budgets. What exactly is it that you don’t understand OP?