End of building work and completely skint

[Ryeman]

We’re very fortunate to have recently completed an extension to our house, mainly financed through a re-mortgage with a bit of family help. We mostly stuck to budget with just a few small extras added in along the way, but did have a floor issue at the end which was an extra £3k. All that’s left to do is the final floor finishes i.e. vinyl and carpet. We’re about £1k short so trying to completely cut back on our spending so we can save this over the next month or two and finally finish things off. I’m putting essential spending on my credit card and reducing my payments temporarily. I’ve got a long list of furniture/furnishings we still need that I can’t even consider buying at the moment, and my car needs to go to the garage, our cat has been referred to a specialist for a neurological issue, and our tv is on its last legs, and so many other things. Any tips on getting through the next few months? It feels like we’ve taken one step forward with a brilliant extension but a massive step back in other ways - are we going to be feeling the pinch for years to come? Have we made a huge mistake? Can anyone relate?!

It doesn’t seem you have any savings and borrowed to do it, so something has to give as you need to pay it all back. To the various parties who lent it to you. All of it. So I’d not be focusing on what else you need to spend on, and more how you will manage that when you can’t even afford 1k without borrowing.

An extension definitely wouldn't have been a priority for me if I had no way of actually paying for it outright.

Sounds like you've overextended financially. I'd be inclined to put a break on spending and build up some reserves so that you can fund emergencies. Then save up for the most pressing expenditures. Don't put any more on credit, it has a way of biting back. It'll come good, but you need to manage it.

We were in similar position though we still have some emergency savings (for emergencies like losing a job!) and we just got ourselves in, and stopped buying stuff. People are a bit like ‘er - are you not going to put curtains up?! Or pictures?’ But at the end of the day we have a nice house, we’re focused on paying down mortgage, the house is clean (sometimes! Should be cleaning right now not mumsnetting)and functional and actually completely amazing, it’s just that I live in an area with a lot of conspicuous consumption and people would put themselves in non-productive debt to get an insta-ready home, which is 100% their prerogative but not my choice. I have my dream house, over 5 years it will all pan out, my favourite lamps were both £5 from charity shops with new shades from summer sales. Hang on in there, just brake the non essentials.

Are the credit cards you are using interest free? If not, I’d consider consolidating everything onto an interest free card then setting yourself a realistic goal of paying it off (or at least most of it) within the interest free period. It might just give you a little breathing space to have cash available in case of emergencies and not feel like you are chasing your tail.

The money from family was offered as a gift so only the mortgage and credit card need paying back.

No but planning to transfer my balance to an interest free card asap.

Get the cat sorted and then budget, budget, budget. We’ve been so skint we just ate versions of dried beans and rice for months while we plough all our earnings back into clearing things that need paying for. It’s painful but satisfying to get out of a hole. Then work on building a savings reserve back up.

Thanks, this sounds familiar. All our stuff is second hand and our bathroom blind is newspaper!
But my older son has his own room finally and we now have a space we can work from home, so I’m still seeing it as an overall positive.

Just live with it unfinished for a bit.

My priority in all of that would be the car as I assume you need that for work, then the cat because you need that job to pay for the cat, then the TV. Flooring, furniture etc can come later. You might need that credit card for the car.

We had a kitchen extension so I can understand the want to get it furnished and looking how you imagined but you can wait a little longer to do that.

Ah that sounds great then! And just think - if you can just be skint a bit longer you will Never. Have. To. Renovate. Again. And it’s only getting more expensive, so…

The cat comes before a new telly or anything else, obviously. Sort him/her out and make do for six months.

Thanks, this sounds familiar. All our stuff is second hand and our bathroom blind is newspaper!

Newpaper?!

Please go to a market stall, charity shop or cheap material shop and buy some material and a bit of Velcro. Stick it up on the window with the Velcro. You’ll feel a lot better and will have spent about £5.

Op help the cat as others said then you need to stop, it’s at the level you’re putting essentials on a credit card. And you’ve no savings, you need to save for 6 months to a year pay down some of your debt and start again. I’m sorry but honestly you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul right now.

What can you sell? I bet there’s loads of things in your house that you could stick on Vinted or marketplace to make some money. I’ve made over £100 just this week selling clothes that have been outgrown and kit from hobbies that the kids have since stopped. It’s surprisingly quick and easy to do. Buy things that you need in this way too rather than new - you can get some absolute bargains.

Food - really look at what you’re buying and swap for unbranded alternatives. Batch cook - economies of scale makes it cheaper and pad out things like chilli’s and bolognaise with grated veg and lentils.

As you go through the year make sure you’re shopping around for new contracts on your phones, insurance, tv packages etc. check your bank statement too for any standing orders that you’re paying for things you don’t really want or need (club memberships, magazine subscriptions, charity donations etc)

it will all be worth it for your fab extension

Same here! We got a couple of loans, one will be paid off when DH’s bonus comes through and one will go on the mortgage when we remortgage in April. We’re just being more careful with spending money, cancelling/suspending subscriptions etc for the mean time. Also it’s way nicer staying home and having friends round now that the house is done, so that’s cheaper 😄 also putting off buying all the nice new curtains, mirrors etc I have envisioned for the new rooms.

It'll all be worth it in the end 😁 I'm very irresponsible so to be honest I'd buy what you need - not £750 light fittings, but just something that's nice enough from B&Q - and then transfer the whole balance to an interest free credit card to pay off over the next year or so.

Sounds like you had an extension you couldn't really afford and have left yourself very short

Your poor cat, get him sorted out ASAP, and your car - the floor can wait

Things got very tight for us too after building an extension that ended up over budget by 5K. We hadn’t a penny left really. We lived with it unfinished for a while and it was another 3 years before we were able to slowly do up the place and buy everything. We left a whole room unfinished in the end.

I’d sort out your credit card pronto. Do up a stringent budget and stick to it.

An extension could be £200k, not many people could pay for that outright! Totally normal to extend your mortgage.

OP, we just moved house and have a load of things to do to sort the new house out, meaning we have no money left at the end of the month either. Anything you can put off buying, do. Anything you can put on interest free credit, do. Avoid credit cards unless you have a decent interest-free period on them. Spreadsheets - you don’t want to overlook anything and find yourself with a surprise bill you can’t pay. Hang in there, this will be over in a couple of months and you’ll have an amazing extension.

We're in exactly the same situation, budgeted for extension and it's still not completely finished but we've got no money left to buy some finishing touches like shutters and art work etc. We've bought some furniture from FB marketplace and outlets and actually that's better as I'm not precious about the kids using the dining table to colour and paint on as it was second hand! We took out a large extra mortgage and a bank loan to do this. The bank loan will be cleared in 2 years when a share save scheme matures but we have a tight couple of years until then, and the mortgage we will try and over pay after this.
On the plus side, I now have the kitchen of my dreams and I never want to move house as we have enough living space for us, so very happy to stay put and not take out a bigger mortgage or pay stamp duty again!
I think this is normal and most people wouldn't have enough money to pay for everything out of savings. As long as you can pay it back and can build a small savings buffer again I wouldn't be too worried. This is what I'm telling myself anyway!

You have added value to your home and made it a better place to live, which overall is expensive but cheaper than moving and all that entails. These things always cost more than budgeted for, our kitchen extension evolved into rewiring the whole house and then doing the bathroom due to a leak that was discovered above the kitchen. It was a very worrying time but we got through it and it was absolutely worth it in the end.

Is there a local freecycle type group that you could ask for a few basics like a blind - even if you hate the fabric it'll be better than newspaper until you've sorted yourselves out.

I wouldn't worry about furnishings for now, that can be done over time.

We did an extension two years ago and it made a big difference to the living space, the family are much happier with all kids having their own rooms. It will be worth it.

Definitely see what you can sell in the short term, old clothes, toys etc.

Cut where you can on food costs, less meat, own brands, bulk cooking and freezing. Reduce outgoings on subscriptions if you have any. Think about the cost of all those mid week little shops, lunches out when at work/out with kids/friends, coffees, takeaways etc get rid of them, packed lunches and home cooked meals only.

No new things, clothes other than essentials like school uniform or going out places etc for a while.

Can you temporarily slightly reduce any direct debit payments then top up at a higher rate in a few months? Utilities sometimes let you do this. That might help if you have immediate costs now and know you can make it back up later. Make sure kids are turning off devices, lights etc and cut out long showers or baths to cut gas/electric costs.

Definitely consolidate debt to a 0% or lower interest payment as that will spiral quickly. Prioritise paying that down at more than the minimum payment.

As you save once the car and cat are sorted, put the rest of the money into a separate account to go towards furnishings otherwise it will end up spent on regular household costs. You could even set up a standing order each pay day to funnel it into a selection pot automatically.

Thanks - I’ve done a lot of eBay selling in the past but it’s a faff, so was planning to try Vinted - I’ll take a look this weekend. My phone contract just ended so I’ve gone sim only for £11 a month.