But it can be difficult. With mortgage lenders often requiring at least 20% of the value of the property many of us continue to rent. However, it can be done and there are real benefits of taking the most important plunge you could ever make.

Here we’ve given you just a few reasons why buying a home could make all the difference.

Your money will mean something

You’ve probably heard the phrase that renting is “dead money”. It’s no lie. Plunging your hard earned wages into a rental property isn’t going to get you anywhere. Yes you may have to stretch yourself to afford the deposit in the first place when buying, but each month you’ll know that whatever you pay out in mortgage payments will be an investment for your future.

The end is in sight

It may appear that your mortgage payments will never end, but they will one day. And when that day comes you’ll completely own your own home and won’t need to worry about expenditure going out each month. It may seem a long way off, but with rising life expectancy people are living longer. And with a longer life the benefit of owning your own property starts to look just that little bit more appealing.

Help could be at hand

If you’re looking to get your foot on the first rung of the property ladder, but struggling to meet the demands of mortgage lenders, help could be on its way.

Currently, the Coalition Government is promoting a scheme which provides you with assistance if you’re looking for a new home, without the need to stump up huge sums for the deposit. If you’re creditworthy, help could be on hand.  Those in charge of running the country know the benefit of being a homeowner and they want you to join in!

Keep your eyes open on what’s happening in your local area. The next time when you sigh looking at how much your rent eats into your monthly pay cheque, investigating what you’ll be paying in mortgage payments area could well put it all into context.

With a little help – you could be in your new home before you know it.

Because of the origin being related to something he had shifted over to me, I knew he would be more willing to listen, even if he did it half-heartedly. Plus, he was a tad intrigued as to how I had gotten so side tracked. Expecting it to be yet another one of those long explanations from me regarding how my mind went from home insurance to puppies, he took a seat and reclined back to hear the tale. I imagine he was pleased when the connection was explained in one sentence. I saw a section for pet insurance on the home page of the insurance site. I think he actually let out a sigh of relief, for he knew he had just salvaged a good five minutes from being sucked up by the twists and turns of the inner workings of my mind.

Experience told me that my window of opportunity to get him on board was brief. As such, I had already printed out a bunch of photos to assist me in my presentation. So, I then quickly slid a couple of pictures of the most adorable Boxer puppy into his lap, and let them work their magic. This was the clincher, because one reason we have not brought a dog home is that we could never agree on the breed. But, Boxer has always been on the top of his list. I have always felt that such a hyper pet would become a burden, but I think the expression on the puppies face in the photos convinced me that he could be a good boy. Needless to say, it is a done deal, we have officially purchased the pup, and the insurance. Now the only conflict I foresee is how we will ever agree on a name for him.

As my spouse has directed me to handle the home insurance this go round, I saw the appeal of the precious pooch as a sign of sorts. Now brace yourselves but, I have a history of finding exactly what I am looking for by following these kinds of signs if you will. I do not question it, in fact I do not even know what it is all about, but there you have it. Plus, I had to start somewhere, and I have no experience in the arena of insurance.

Some of the other things I have been led to by such signs actually include our home. You see when we were viewing houses we seemed to be doing the circuit, but nothing was causing bells and whistles to go off. That is until we arrived at this delightful cottage, with the beautiful butterfly garden I have previously written about here.

On the day we visited the house, we went outback to take in the outdoor space, and as we did a butterfly landed on my husbands shoulder. Honestly, I was a little jealous that it had not selected me to make acquaintances with, but then once another perched itself right next to the first one I was doubly envious. This is actually where the name for this site came from.

I imagine most of us have little eccentricities like this, fortunately my family accepts mine with a smile. It doesn’t hurt that I am rarely, if ever misled by these signs of mine, and they have seen the benefits over the years. Of course, I do not leave all things up to chance, and recognise when decisions need to be made upon hard facts, and such. That’s why I am going to try and get my husband to expand upon what he has looked for in the past, and what exactly was missing from our old policy provider before I go any further on this project. Hopefully, he will be pleased that I have started to take an interest in this finally, but will not feel this is one of those things I need to crack on with on my own. A girl can hope can’t she.

Needless to say, while I am not the one who handles this area of our marital home, I was all ears. I can’t begin to imagine the difficult times the neighbours have drudged through recently, and to even start to think of how a bad situation could have been a catastrophic situation had they not been properly insured makes me get a lump in my throat.

While we have never had any need to call upon our insurance company regarding a claim, the reality of it is these things happen to people everyday and night. And now that we personally know a couple that has had to rebuilt their lives and part of their home due to faulty wiring, it definitely has come to light as to how important it is to know that you have what you need. That the security, and support of a good insurance provider and policy is in place. Instead of just going with the one that offers the best rate, we all need to go with what will be most effective in the time of a crisis. Much to my relief, my husband has always felt this way, and put all of my fears to bed by showing me a copy of our policy after our guests left.

So, when we decided to get married we sat down to figure out what we would do for furniture. How it came as a total shock to both of us that we would have to start from scratch, I will never know. But, there it was clear as day, we needed it all, a bed, sofa, nightstands, coffee table, dinning table, chairs and so much more.

Being quite young, we had not truly established our individual styles and were torn between going all out and purchasing trendy pieces in fashionable colours of the eighties, or sticking to simple neutral tones on more versatile items. Thank goodness sensibility outweighed all and we went for the safer bet. Otherwise we would have been replacing all of the furniture we purchased within the next five years.

But, we chose to be practical instead and have hung on to several of the pieces of furniture we originally purchased back in the eighties. A perfect example of this is the coffee brown leather couch we got, it is so durable we may never have to buy another. This is an article that has defied many things that should have stained, cut, or damaged it. Instead it has fought a very good fight against tiny hands with peanut butter and jelly smeared across them. All the hair left behind by our great dane has easily been wiped away, and no evidence that it ever was there remains.

So, if you are in the market for your first batch of furniture, or know someone who is, let them know that while that lime green suede bean bag couch might be appealing now, chances are that it will not be something that will make it to the five year mark. It is just not practical in style, colour, or upkeep. Certainly, lime green will not always be in style, the slouchy design will prove hazardous for the more mature in age, and you will surely not care to refill it with polystyrene beans every few months for the next thirty years.

The key is to be practical, and it will pay off for a long time to come. Stick to neutral tones for big ticket items, and you should be able to transition them into new environments for as long as you care to. This does not mean you have to avoid the fun stuff completely, just select smaller, less expensive items in polka dots or psychedelic patterns. Both you and your wallet will be thankful you did.

As it is, you should be switching out your hard working winter bedding shortly. So, take this as a cue to bring in some contrasting colour that will remind you that Spring is here when you wake up in the morning, and as you drift off at night. Each year, frilly and floral bedding can be found blossoming all over the shop and department floors. You can even find buyers seeking out the newest most springy beds (pun intended). Some of my favourite spring designs don't always include the traditional flowers, but rather I have a taste for stripes and textures; whether the bedding is in mint green, warm creams in rich and soft textures I love the colours that you cannot find so often in the Winter. This kind of bedding seems to carry over the comforting quality of the thick winter duvet into the fresh new season. If your walls are painted neutral tones, then the sky is the limit, in fact graphics are just begging to be used in this setting. Otherwise, rely upon flirty shades like popsicle, or candy floss, whose names even conjure up suntans and summer dresses.

However, my partner was not quite sold on it, so it was left in my hands. As such, I never moved forward because the change would be all my doing, and as we grow older any change becomes more difficult to get accustomed to in our world.

Then, we recently found ourselves in need of a new bed, and we agreed that is was the most opportune time to give the pressure relieving visco elastic memory foam a whirl. There were lots of new questions once we both were on the case, and lots to compare. I must admit that I found the reviews of the mattresses to be truly helpful.

Of the ones we looked at, the prices ranged from £139 to £449, and all had a great amount of info supporting the differences in pricing. As is my normal policy, I went with a midrange one, and am exceptionally eager for it to arrive. Once it has, I will be quick to follow up with my findings, and I will certainly do the same with my opinion on the king sized faux leather sleigh bed we bought too.

If the kids are old enough to stand on their own, and no longer teeter totter and fall then a good option might to simply paint the concrete that lies beneath the carpet. Sure, people have been doing this for quite some time, but actual concrete paint is a relatively new product. Plus, it comes in tons of colours, is really a snap to apply, and can look darn good.

The space can actually be made more attractive with the addition of the concrete paint, if you do a diligent job, and are creative. Colour selection will be important, but laying out patterns and designs are what will make it stand out as something very special for your kids, so take a look into it and see if it is right for your space.

Alas, as the parents of young children we did not recognise that as the kids aged they would bring more and more friends over to the house. While we are still a family of four, there are often at least two children that belong to other people constantly in our home. We have spent time trying to come up with clever ways to fit more furniture into our living room, but just about anything we have thought of would create a cluttered environment.

So what we have done is add a bunch of floor cushions that we can slide underneath the sofa. This way we have extra seating for the teens that grace us with their presence, but did not have to reconfigure the furniture arrangement. I must admit, I would have definitely preferred a set of reclining sofas, but looks like those will come once the kiddies have struck out on their own.

There are plenty of kits available that range from humble gingerbread dwellings to magnificent gingerbread mansions. You will not have to wrack your brain to choose which candies to use for what, or search high and low for special items because they are all included. Thus, you will not have to dedicate any more time to building your centrepiece than you wish to.

The act of putting any of these dreamy confectionary mini buildings together is almost as fun as being given the green light to nosh on the icing covered roof, chocolate bar door, and gumdrop piping. So, you can expect everyone involved in the assembly to be grinning ear to ear.