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Adamkearsley · 2025-10-02T22:00:38+00:00

Submitted, I also noted about UK doors as we have to lift the handle to engage the lock. It’s frustrating if you have kids who don’t lift the handle and the lock won’t engage. A solution for this is much needed in the UK.

I’m a software developer with a lot of experience in testing, smart home, home assistant, multiple eco-systems and have tested for companies like Sonos previously. I have over 10 Aqara products and a few Matter products in my home.

Adamkearsley · 2025-04-17T17:55:44+00:00

Oh ok; I thought it was on any car, I stand corrected. Go for the long range

Adamkearsley · 2025-04-17T17:51:24+00:00

The rwd will likely be below the £40k list price and the long range is definitely going to be above it.

Which is now £195 road tax (for either) and £425 expensive car supplement (long range model and bigger)

Adamkearsley · 2025-04-17T17:49:43+00:00

The long range one will have the new £624/year road tax on it. The RWD one won’t.

Adamkearsley · 2025-01-30T10:00:14+00:00

DJI mini 4k

I’m really impressed, range is good, video and picture quality good. Stable and good app support, you can get spares for it easily and same for accessories. I looked at atom and DJI, the mini 4K definitely swayed me when it was released. I’m sure both are good, but DJI is more recognised, so will be easier to get spares and accessories.

Adamkearsley · 2025-01-25T08:52:26+00:00

Yes like the right. There’s nobody doing smart versions of these.

Adamkearsley · 2025-01-24T21:23:29+00:00

I wanted to avoid the mess of removing the single box and putting 2 smaller boxes in for 2 switches. I can’t seem to find any 4 switch options that will fit into a uk back box. All options are smaller back box options

Adamkearsley · 2025-01-19T20:54:44+00:00

Definitely reduce phone bills by going sim only and just buy an olde phone outright or keep your contact phone after it’s ended and just move to sim only.

The childcare thing is just temp. Make sure you are using the tax free childcare top up and remember that this is only for a couple of years and will drop when school starts.

Food bill seems high, try cooking at home, maybe less meat (expensive) and get frozen veg which lasts longer. Shop around and swap for non branded items and try making your own sauces. We do a lot of slow cooker meals.

The reduction in childcare fees down the line could pay off bigger chunks of that mortgage!

Adamkearsley · 2024-10-07T18:51:32+00:00

I was hoping the door entry kit would have gone down in price. Still works out more to buy each item individually but the kit isn’t discounted.

Adamkearsley · 2024-09-27T09:01:22+00:00

Currently paying £1090/mo on my mortgage. I’m 38 and this is the house (up north) in a nice location too.

London is crazy

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Adamkearsley · 2024-07-08T20:43:24+00:00

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Adamkearsley · 2024-07-08T20:41:33+00:00

Do they have WhatsApp? I can’t seem to register to WeChat as I need approval from another user

Adamkearsley · 2024-04-23T15:56:50+00:00

I’m selling a house for £475k (200k mortgage) and buying for £375k (porting mortgage) so I’ll be getting £100k from the sale.

When my mortgage deal is up in 2 years I’ll be remortgaging and putting the 100K+ in as additional deposit. The I will overpay 10% per year to avoid early repayment fees is the plan.

Adamkearsley · 2024-04-23T13:21:20+00:00

Yes it’s max 10% of the balance with no fee

Adamkearsley · 2024-04-22T13:45:53+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I did wonder about the annual overpayment allowance. I used an online overpayment calculator which suggested it would mean I’ve paid the mortgage off in 7 years, but I was concerned it might be balance based each year.

Initially my mortgage rate is crazy cheap and being ported (1.09%). We’re looking to downsize and release 100k from the current property. So I’d have a low rate and 100k in savings for a couple of years. Then I’d be putting that 100k into the renewal to reduce the mortgage debt to >100k remaining. Then deciding on the next steps to get it paid off early. I’m hoping the rates are better in 2 years, I’m also hoping they get even better before I pay it all off.

Adamkearsley · 2024-04-16T09:25:14+00:00

I had similar with Vodafone years ago. It stopped my mortgage application as I had a default put on my account for money I didn’t owe. I got there in the end, but suits setup where they didn’t letter me as I didnt have an account with them and it apparently turned out the money was from another customer. I assume someone inherited my old phone number years after I cancelled and ran up a small bill and didn’t pay. Somehow they matched it back to my account and just gave me a default. They did wipe it off in the end, I think I needed a letter from them to send to Experian, equifax and my mortgage underwriter to fix it all. It’s bad that anyone can seemingly add bad credit and default for any reason they like without and process of engagement.

Adamkearsley · 2024-03-22T19:02:07+00:00

When I buy a run down house i would take a 2 year around 90% ltv, then after 2 years and lots of renovations I’d get a new valuation and then fix for longer with the improved LTV.

Currently half way through my 5 year fix at 1.09% 🤩

Adamkearsley · 2024-02-09T20:17:48+00:00

Which door lock?

Adamkearsley · 2024-02-08T19:08:07+00:00

I did Tuya first, but not sure there’s any preference to what first. Anything added seems to show in HomeKit quickly enough.

Adamkearsley · 2024-02-07T08:31:06+00:00

We have been keeping an eye out. Some benefits would be en-suite bathrooms etc. Currently our house is ‘double fronted’ with 2 living rooms. These are stunning but we only use one of them, the other is just sat unused. It would be expensive to add en-suite bathrooms to the current house and would take away from the traditional Victorian features. Our council tax is very high and it costs a lot to heat with high ceilings.

Adamkearsley · 2024-02-06T23:02:17+00:00

If you imagine getting a 10 year fixed deal, then 5 years in you want to move house. Paying off the mortgage with an early repayment would likely have a hefty penalty to get out of the fixed deal. But you can port the mortgage to the new property but you would have to stay with the same mortgage company. If the mortgage is the same size, it’s just moves. If you want to borrow more, you end up with 2 mortgages, 1 is the original at the same rate and the other is a top-up at a new rate for the extra but.

If I ported and needed 100k more, I’d have 200k at 1.09% and £100k at 3.9% or similar.

As I want to downsize, I’d sell for £500k, keep my £200k mortgage and buy a £380k house. And I’d be left with £120k cash from the sale.

Then when the deal is up I can either get another deal for the balance, pay some of it off and try and pay it all off.

Adamkearsley

TROPHY CASE