All very interesting .... I'm saving towards the downpayment on a home/condo ... if the prices ever come back to someplace reasonable that is .... so I don't buy much of anything these days, but had to get the glasses ... it's amazing the things I can see clearly now!!! :)

fzzy---Suggestion---When you are interested in buying,a home,
make sure that you figure ALL of your mortgage options.As I said
(in another thread),my wife saved us 10s of thousands of $,by
going with a 5yr shorter mortgage.For years,she has worked,as a
bookkeeper/accountant,so she took the time & effort,to figure them,all out. Irish
P.S.You would be suprised at how much of your payment is interest!

I know the feeling of new lenses fzzy! Congrats hun! *singing* I can see clearly now....blah, blah, blah, blah...*giggle*

We'll be getting hubby a new truck come February or March! *counting* 1+1=not enough yet!!!!!!

Oh...and BTW fzzy...Experts suggest that interests rates will never be lower and that this is the ultimate time to purchase a home! I highly doubt that prices will come down too much, if at all...but interest rates will surely go up as there is not too much more down that they can go now-a-days!

Good luck hun! Look into Fanny Mae or FHA or VA (if you are a vet)!

we just spent $1800 on plan tickets to the states and $1500 on my iBook, the next expense will be my christmas pressie i spose, i told him i want him and i to go to a play in london and maybe stay the night ;) so thatll be a chunck of change tho not near what we just spent

nikki

I just got a new laptop. I just couldn't resist! It's soooo nice, much faster than my old one. Lot's of photo editing stuff to play around with too! :p

Kleclere and I have been looking at houses. The problem is that we want to stay in a certain, small school district, and, preferably, within walking distance. It limits the choices, although we did see one last night we are kind of interested in.

Took the first step towards warding of impoverishment by the Gas Companies by buying a Honda Elite 80 moped to get around on.

Why drive something that gets 20 mpg (at 2.00 + per gallon) when I can go where I need to go @ 80 mpg?

AND ... it's lots of fun !!!

oh yeah, and how could I forget my road trip this July? :D Travelling on this year's bonus check. Driving to PA, and meeting up with 6 online women & their babies from my parenting message board, plus one other online friend, on the way, plus getting to see more of the US than I have up to this point! Driving down through Maine, then NH, 3 days in NY, 3 days in PA, then driving home again :)

Oops, I almost forgot. At some point in the semi-near future, kleclere and I are going to have to think about a minivan, too...we have five children between us. :D

thedog---It may sound stupid,coming from one that raced motorcycles.BE CAREFUL.From my over 45yrs,of riding experience,
I can tell you,they have VERY narrow wheels & get caught on everything.I rented a moped,in Bermuda,years ago,so I have
experience with them! Irish

No houses until we're back in North America. NOT even a faint possibility in Oxfordshire. People here are crazy, completely crazy.

So, the biggest expense in our immediate future is a vacation in Rome/Florence at the end of the summer. I SO wish it were now.

GingerV---Now you know ONE of the reasons for the Revolutionary
War!And you thought that it was just separation of Church& State!:D Irish

Yes Lilith...at least Mrs. WI and I waited two months to buy the second one!

<--- is nucking futs too, apparently.

Lixy I know the interest rates are low, but 2 bedroom condos here are in the $300,000+ range ... and that's just a basic one, nothing overly special or big about them .... housing rates have been going up in double digit percentages each year for about the last 4 years now ... can't stay at such an elevated price and so I'm biding my time (not in any rush whatsoever) and saving as much as I can to make as large of a down payment as possible.

Irish ... I know about the time frame, figure if possible I'll try to do a 15 year loan.

thanks you guys for the various words of advice ... to me and others ..... and for all your ideas of what you're getting or want to get ... it's fun to read about your "dreams". :)