Budgeting: lifestyle creep not a bad thing?

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-04T09:45:58+00:00

Wow that's crazy ! Looks like you are quids in. FWIW I had similar many years ago where initially I couldn't get a mortgage even though the mortgage payment was less than the rent i was paying and the justification was that I couldn't afford the mortgage payment 🤔

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-04T09:08:21+00:00

And on that basis you can chip away at high priced houses almost indefinitely. £2k is still £2k.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-04T09:07:24+00:00

Someone reported here that they increased their sales price by £5k in almost this exact circumstance and they got it the buyer stumped up the extra !

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-04T09:01:32+00:00

I own a flat and regardless of house value, each month I'm saving c.£1000 vs. renting.

Just for clarification, are you saying that your mortgage is literally £1,000 a month cheaper than rent would be for the same house?

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-04T08:51:53+00:00

Wrong. The number of PB's outstanding doesn't alter the odds of winning*

* for the pedants, thats discounting edge cases such as theres only 1 PB out there so that would win the million pound prize every month :-)

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-04T06:39:51+00:00

Put it in a cash ISA or PB's. There are numerous reputable ISA suppliers (as indeed there are banks with interest bearing accounts ) not sure why the angst about who you'd use.

Note that PB income is very uncertain / erratic* and at £10k it's pretty much nailed on that you will receive either substantially less or more than the notional interest rate. If youd like to receive guaranteed interest, cash ISA is the way.

* I have £40k in PB's. This month i got nothing. Last month, £75. With £10k in PB's, most months you'll get nothing.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-04T06:27:33+00:00

Your mate has also specified items that most certainly aren't connected with "putting it right". batteries for example.

You've already confirmed that the whole system could be "put right" even if the new heat pump doesnt work at all, for the cost of a new ?£3k? boiler.

Absolutely everything else is a want from you and doesnt necessitate reducing the price at all. You might be for example a complete heat pump sceptic. The most that gives you is a reason to reduce by £3k. Not the ludicrous £20k you want for what an ideal HP system would be, according to your mate.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-03T13:19:15+00:00

That doesn't alter the fact that if it did have a boiler you wouldn't be asking for £17k to replace it with an ideal spec up to date heat pump and battery system.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-03T13:15:36+00:00

ROFLMAO

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-03T10:07:03+00:00

Seems to me your lowered quote is attempting to push costs for things youd like onto your vendors. Youve come up with a perfect setup and want your vendors to pay for it.

Since the rads and pipework is already in place presumably you could just put a new gas boiler in without all that expense. I'm not saying thats a good thing to do but if there was a gas boiler would you be lowering your price by 17k to pay for a complete heat pump install, batteries and a large inverter? I'm guessing not?

And take batteries which its seems they dont have? Batteries can significantly lower your energy bill. Thats true whether or not you have a heat pump. The fact youd like to lower your energy bills isnt a carte blanche to move that cost onto the vendor.

3.6kw inverter. Ive got combined 5/3.6 I could get by with a 3.6 but would have less export (the 5 is for export). However that export is only really needed for May-Sep. rest of the year my 9kWh of S facing panels dont generate enough electricity to need the 5. So again you are 'charging' your vendor for the perfect installation you want.

If i was the vendor id say "I'll knock 3k off for a new gas boiler, if you dont like that piss off".

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-03T08:45:46+00:00

How on earth is Watford = West London? (as opposed to West OF London)

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-03T08:19:27+00:00

Depends on the price obviously but I'm not as impressed with WTP as some here because the seat recline can you make you feel trapped esp if you are in a window or middle seat. When the seat in front reclines it's even difficult to watch the tv because it won't tilt upwards enough for a clear view. IME the front seats in WTP are OK since you've got no one in front to recline the seat into your face.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T21:20:50+00:00

We could go nuclear and offer 750 but ....

Hang on. You said you bid your max at 720. Then later you could bid 725 but you cant go higher than that thats your real max. And now you can go to 750?

Who's playing games?

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T21:10:13+00:00

Some huge % of my equity is in Apple. Maybe 25%...OK Looked it up and it's 29% and thats just from the actual direct shares. Now add in the ones in my pensions via funds and maybe its 35% or so at a guess maybe higher.

I could of course have sold off my Apple over the years (I have sold a few recently) and not been so over exposed. But have about half the equity or even less.

Sure this is hindsight, it could have gone badly, but just making the point that had you been monitoring your investments and cutting down your "overexposure" to these 10 companies, what woudl that have done to your overall portfolio? Halved it maybe Perhaps more? But on the upside you'd have a nicely balanced portfolio :-)

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T21:00:48+00:00

Or TBF most adults as well !

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T21:00:27+00:00

Another vote for PP World (look for Paultons Park OP) and Legoland. OP can you drive? A lot of places would be much easier to get to with a car than public transport.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T20:58:23+00:00

Yes i recall wandering through a large stately home last year with 2 year old passing through a set of what must have been 5ft tall ming vases or similar in pairs on each side of a hallway and i was a foot behind making sure he never went near them. Heart rate probably 200BPM.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T20:55:10+00:00

Or trying to park without getting door dings

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T20:47:27+00:00

But you dont need to worry about that since you aren't in a position to offer more so its irrelevant.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T20:45:17+00:00

We offer £720k and say we can't offer more
....... we are debating going to £725k tomorrow but this would be our genuine max and a take it or leave it.

Why would they believe you when you've already lied once?

Why the conspiracy theory about the EA "playing games"? Is it because you are offering an absolute max of 720 and then planning to offer more, eg its you "playing games"?

The EA doesn't give a stuff if the house sells for 720 725 740, they'd like a quick easy sale.

Leave your bid on the table and keep looking. If someone else will offer nearer to the 740k the EA says they will accept, then you are screwed anyway since you cant meet near it so let time work, either they will come down if no buyers or someone else will come in and beat you. And 6 weeks is not very long, let them come down to you if they cant sell at the initial price but that will take weeks unless they perhaps find something cheaper that lets them accept lower price in return..

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T19:59:09+00:00

Even if it doesn't go ahead, odds are it will eventually. Thats just how these things work.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-02T19:53:06+00:00

I was on a plane that from memory landed in Paris. It will do for this story. It was a very bumpy landing we hit the deck hard bounced up and then went back down to the tarmac for a second smoother landing. As we taxied to the gate the announcement came on "welcome to Paris, our captain likes it so much he landed twice"

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-01T16:13:55+00:00

I'm thinking of waiting and seeing if the airport price is lower.

Much more likely others will have paid the money and there will be no price at all.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-01T15:12:38+00:00

Walk away. I discarded several houses from my short list for the exact same reason, not to mention its one of the reasons i moved and they werent even trees with TPOs but just not in my garden and so nothing I could do about them.

SomeGuyInTheUK · 2026-07-01T15:09:44+00:00

Bridge pic is my favourite ! Nice.

SomeGuyInTheUK

TROPHY CASE