The last year has been a bit of a roller-coaster for Craig and I. We’ve been unhappy for awhile, not with each other, but just with life here in Reading. We’re bored of spending thousands of £s on rent, have concerns about Dexter’s schooling, and my mental health has been particularly hard to manage over the last few months.
When you’re fed up and depressed it can be pretty hard to put your finger on what is making things difficult, and even harder to do anything about if you don’t have the finances to put it right. Thankfully, our own restlessness happens to have coincided with my mother’s. My brother has recently moved out of her home and she’s lonely and as disillusioned with this town as we are. So a few months ago we decided to pool our resources and buy one large house to accommodate us all.
The search has been challenging and, at times, heartbreaking. We were pushing it to find something big enough for our budget here in Tilehurst but we still put in offers and held our breath. Then the realisation came that we should just take the plunge and look further afield; leave what we know and get out whilst the kids are young enough to handle the transition. Thankfully we’ve managed it and are now moving some 20 miles away to a big 4 bed detached property that couldn’t be any more right if it tried. Far from being anxious about moving towns, I’m so excited for our fresh start.
As we wait for the exchange to happen, we’re trying to get our heads around the logistics of merging two family homes into one property. Although we currently private rent, this was an unfurnished property so we have plenty to take across to the new house. Similarly mum has some 15 years worth of clutter to sort.
We’re not strangers to moving house. In fact, Craig and I have moved 6 times in the last 6 years (don’t ask!). Ordinarily we’d load up his transit and simply go back and forth between houses, but given this is further away, this time we’ll be getting in professionals and have used Shiply to compare prices and cut costs. It’s a simple enough process - you simply enter your location, property type, and no of bedrooms for house A & B, then your date of departure and your email address. They’ll then share the job with a number of delivery companies local to you, and invite them to quote you directly for the job. That’s it, no hassle, no cold calls, and all third party contractors are feedback-rated for your peace of mind. This being the first home we’ve ever bought, keeping costs low is so important, and with Shiply quotes coming in at up to 75% cheaper than standard rates, it means we can make those pennies stretch even further.
So the next few months are likely to be pretty stressful. The legal bits are progressing nicely, but there’s plenty of packing to do, and plenty of trips to the tip! But it’ll all be worth it when we settle into our new home and have a new area to explore. Something had to give, and thankfully it’s not our sanity or our relationship. Change brings opportunity, and this family are grabbing it with 8 grubby little mitts.
