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Shorty

Renting, Mortgages and other things that remind us how old we all are

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I guess that might mean someday we'll move up north, maybe somewhere near Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham... don't know heh.

I wouldn't mind living close to Bath, but the prices there are still quite high. Plus we need to find a place that has jobs.

 

I don't think I've ever heard the words up north used to describe Bristol before :heh:

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I can't really fuck up. There's a process. Multiple rounds of a project. I can be a bad copywriter, and unreliable one (which thankfully I'm not) but it's nigh on impossible to be the one at fault. There would have to be systemic errors...and if a project is going that poorly, it's usually either the client being difficult or a project manager screwing up (and it's rarely the PM).

 

They can terminate me with a week's notice but I don't find that to be an obstacle as long as you are good at communicating.

 

That's pretty good. I just couldn't take the risk. In the job I'm in right now if could fuck something up that could cause hundreds of thousands of pounds of loss of earnings, if not millions. If I set the wrong persons entitlements to revoke and he can't make a big trade when he needs to...

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I don't think I've ever heard the words up north used to describe Bristol before :heh:

 

Well pretty much everything is more north from where we currently are, so it is all "up north" for me. =P

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That's pretty good. I just couldn't take the risk. In the job I'm in right now if could fuck something up that could cause hundreds of thousands of pounds of loss of earnings, if not millions. If I set the wrong persons entitlements to revoke and he can't make a big trade when he needs to...

 

Projects are in the pipe for a couple months, we review stuff all the time and it's a big team effort - everyone does their part and we all exchange comments/criticisms. Sounds like you have to make much faster calls.

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I guess that might mean someday we'll move up north, maybe somewhere near Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham... don't know heh.

Did you know that 61% of Sheffield is green space? :D Did you know our last house was a 3 bed semi with a drive, garage, back garden, basement, attic, an amazing view and £500pcm rent?

 

Just saying :p

Edited by Shorty

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.. and we all live in Sheffield (obviously the best reason).

 

I hate my neighbour but I love the house I live in. However, we're starting to think about buying due to getting fed up of beige walls and landlords.

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If there were gaming jobs in Sheffield, I never would have left. Unfortunately, the one or two places there are pretty small companies.

 

I think sometimes its a case of having to just deal with it and move. That was mostly why I'm here in Cambridge. I never envisioned moving here, not for Spotify not for Jagex. I wanted to stay up North, close to family and friends. Instead due to lack of options and the burning desire not to burden my parents for 6 + months, I sucked it up and moved.

 

Its no great surprise to you lot that I don't like it here and I am in fact, quite miserable. I've improved greatly over the past two years to be more optomistic, but when looking at your own place sets you back £600+ before bills, its impossible.

 

Thankfully, I currently live just outside Cambridge in a three bedroom house for £375, with one other person. Its not 100% ideal, but she's nice, has wonderful little doggies and I get two bedrooms. But sometimes, I wish I could move back to Sheffield or Manchester and just get myself a flat for £400.

 

Oh the dreams.

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Didn't you threaten to move out if she got another 'wonderful little doggy'? Or am I thinking of someone else?

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Didn't you threaten to move out if she got another 'wonderful little doggy'? Or am I thinking of someone else?

 

I did threaten to move if she got a puppy.

 

But that doesn't mean that I don't care for the dogs she currently has. :smile:

 

There's no real need for her to have another puppy and whilst the dogs she has now are trained and tend to behave really well, a 12 week old puppy will cause us both a bit of effort whilst I'm trying to juggle my life.

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Credit scores are pretty bizarre, especially the bit about 'checking-your-score-negatively-impacts-your-score'. I had a non-existent credit score, and had trouble getting any sort of credit. I ended up with a card that had a fairly huge interest rate, used it very sparingly and set up a DD to pay off the minimum each month. I made the issuer a tonne of money doing this lol, but I have now fully paid it off as I have sorted a house.

 

It is true what everyone has said in this thread, mortgages are very cheap right now but the deposit is a killer. I got a 3 bed, with a nice rear garden in a quiet area for £494 a month for the first two years. That £494 is split between me and my wife too, so less than £250 a month each. I am thrilled, beats paying £300 a month for a maisonette with a broken bathroom door. I just can't wait to move in now!

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Speaking about credit cards, what should I be looking for when looking for a card? I have no clue about any of this and when looking at the information about cards, it all sounds like Chinese to me...

 

For example, I was looking at the Sainsbury's credit cards (since we shop there anyway I thought that might be a good place to start looking), but they offer 4 different ones and I have no idea which one does what and which one would be best: http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/credit_cards/cca_creditcard_zone.shtml#tab-compare-all-credit-cards

 

What should I be looking out for when getting a credit card?

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Speaking about credit cards, what should I be looking for when looking for a card? I have no clue about any of this and when looking at the information about cards, it all sounds like Chinese to me...

 

For example, I was looking at the Sainsbury's credit cards (since we shop there anyway I thought that might be a good place to start looking), but they offer 4 different ones and I have no idea which one does what and which one would be best: http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/credit_cards/cca_creditcard_zone.shtml#tab-compare-all-credit-cards

 

What should I be looking out for when getting a credit card?

 

Google's compare is pretty good for credit cards. It allows you to choose an option of what you would like the credit card for.

 

Which card you go for really depends on your reasons for getting one.

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Speaking about credit cards, what should I be looking for when looking for a card? I have no clue about any of this and when looking at the information about cards, it all sounds like Chinese to me...

 

For example, I was looking at the Sainsbury's credit cards (since we shop there anyway I thought that might be a good place to start looking), but they offer 4 different ones and I have no idea which one does what and which one would be best: http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/credit_cards/cca_creditcard_zone.shtml#tab-compare-all-credit-cards

 

What should I be looking out for when getting a credit card?

 

Well you need to decide what your requirements are:

 

Will I pay it off in full every month without fail?

-No - Look for a low interest card, or a 0% interest card

-Yes - look at other incentives, such as cashback

 

Do I do almost all of my shopping in one place

-Yes - check out the store's card, they often give discounts or otherwise

-No - Look at other incentives

 

Cashback cards:

Do i want to pay monthly for it (you get better cashback for these cards, but if you don't spend much then it's probably not worth it)?

-Yes - Santander's 1,2,3 is the best (but check others out

-No - Capital One Platinum cashback (it has very high interest though - ~35% - so only get it if you can guarantee to pay off every month.

 

Once you've decided which one suits you, head over to moneysavingexpert for a list of the best cards in each category.

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Also be wary that they'll do a credit check on you - this'll be noted on your file. Too many in too short a space of time makes lenders suspicious apparently - if you ever get rejected for credit consider why before applying for any more again.

 

Personally if you're going to pay off in full each month, I'd propbably recommend trying to opt for a fee-less cashback card(even though I haven't got one, thin Capital One wanted me to have a certain income for it at the time, and I didn't want to risk not getting it).

 

Also I've forgotten if it was mentioned but I think things like having had a mobile phone contract, or any hire purchase agreements with shops, go in your favour for credit ratings(assuming you've been good with them of course).

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Also I've forgotten if it was mentioned but I think things like having had a mobile phone contract, or any hire purchase agreements with shops, go in your favour for credit ratings(assuming you've been good with them of course).

 

Any monthly bill in your name counts towards your credit rating. Utilities, phone, broadband, car. I think even rent may have an impact.

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Rent doesn't show up on credit checks, just some landlords may opt to do a check before letting to you. I shall look into how credit ratings are actually measured, as it'd be good to know what kind of finance is 'worth' a better rating.

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Rent doesn't show up on credit checks, just some landlords may opt to do a check before letting to you.

 

It will negatively decrease it if you don't make payments (and get it flagged up/taken to court).

 

But you're right, rent won't improve your credit score.

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It will negatively decrease it if you don't make payments (and get it flagged up/taken to court).

 

The key point is that it will only negatively affect it if you do get action taken against you for not paying.

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I mentioned last week I was going to look at a house last Thursday for rent.. and it seems I could well be picking up the keys to it today :eek:

 

I'm excited.. but scared :shakehead

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Has anybody ever checked their credit score with Experian or other?

 

I'm curious to see mine, but don't want to negatively affect it.

 

EDIT: Apparently checking your own score doesn't affect it.

 

Source

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Has anybody ever checked their credit score with Experian or other?

 

I'm curious to see mine, but don't want to negatively affect it.

 

EDIT: Apparently checking your own score doesn't affect it.

 

Source

 

I have a credit rating of 'Good'. Probably went down a bit because a payment bounced recently.

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So long story short, we have shitty neighbours and an unsupportive landlord which means we're moving. We're looking at moving closer to where our friends live as it gets quite expensive getting taxis to visit them.

 

So far this week we looked at a house which was nice, but on a street with druggies, and a bodge job house on @Shorty 's street (even thought his house is lovely).

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I mentioned last week I was going to look at a house last Thursday for rent.. and it seems I could well be picking up the keys to it today :eek:

 

I'm excited.. but scared :shakehead

 

Almost 2 weeks later, and all my stuff is finally moved in and the internet was sorted out this afternoon :hehe:

 

It's been a surprisingly natural transition so far..

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