Life Update - Buying My First Home

 So, I have been hiding away recently as I had some big life changes that I had to focus on, including getting a new job and buying my first home! I have been very exited but I didn't want to discuss or tell anyone as I was worried about it falling through.

Buying my first home is something I have wanted to do for years but the housing market in the UK has made it seem like a pipe dream. Houses are extremely expensive, interest rates are high and this small island is increasingly overcrowded. 

As someone who grew up very working class without even my parents having their own home, getting on the property ladder seemed a long way away. 

I decided to give it a go anyway and do my best to get out of house shares and onto the property ladder to start building equity. Like many women I often dreamt of doing this with a partner and buying something with someone but recent events encouraged me to go for this alone.

(Cue flash-back from Miranda from SATC buying her apartment)

I started looking in August of last year and put in quite a few offers on small properties that I was told through my broker I would be able to afford. The town where I live is small and quite expensive for the area which has low wages which made things difficult. However, my biggest issues seemed to be the huge inflated prices of properties and people from London offering high bids and often paying in cash which was pricing myself and other first time buyers out of the market.

Fast forward 7 months and 30 offers later and I finally was able to get my foot in the door! I bought a small house with a garden and I am very excited to start this new journey of being a home owner. I am also excited to share more of my passion for cooking with you all as before I was in shared accommodation and every time I cooked I would get complaints. 

I am also really excited to learn more about home renovations (my house needs A LOT of work) and how to do things cheaply and sustainably. I really want to create a space that is as none toxic as possible limiting the amount of VOCs and other chemicals I am forced to breath in. I found a great You Tube channel called Healthy House on the Block which has some interesting information on how to do things more sustainably, but apart from that the resources are fairly thin on the ground!

I am hoping this will be the beginning of a new more positive chapter for me, where I can focus on my passions and not be trapped in other peoples drama and negativity. As someone who is introverted controlling my own space and having my own space where people respect my boundaries is something I need to thrive - to finally have this, feels like luxury!