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DFSD's five year plan... and all it brings along the way
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debtfreesomeday
Posts: 1,824 Forumite
After (finally) clearing over £9K of credit card debt and reducing our total debt by nearly 20K over the last 18 months, now seems to be a good time to start a new diary. 
For those who don't know our story, here's a link to the many pages of trials, tribulations and ramblings from the past 18 months:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1253365&highlight=dfsd
Now that the cards have gone, we have two outstanding loans which we are concentrating on overpaying to reduce the terms by 5 years. :eek: Together they currently total around £15K worth of debt, along with another £731 we currently owe on HP for our sofas, which we're paying off at 0%. The last sofa payment will come out in Septembe,r after which we'll have a further £103 a month 'spare' to throw at our debts. :T
This may seem like a scary amount of debt (which it is), but after facing more than £30K's worth of debt it feels completely manageable to us, and there is an end in sight! According to our snowball calculator, we could be debt free within 18 months if we keep up the overpayments to max. I'm not sure we will be able to do this every month, as who knows what the future holds, but we will try our utmost to do so.
So, what's with the five year plan I hear you ask... well quite recently, hubby and I had the opportunity to buy, pretty much, the house of our dreams. It would've involved us taking on a mortgage of £40K and consolidating our loan debts within this. Now, I know £40K is a very low mortgage in today's terms, but it meant we would be repaying and 'owing' money for the next 15 years.
For once in our lives, we decided that this was not the best option. We went through the finances and worked out that, within 5 years, if we carry on the way we're going, we should be able to clear our debts and save a lump sum of nearly £40K by throwing all the money we currently pay monthly off our debts into a savings account. SO, in 5 years time, we hope to be well on the way to being able to buy our own 'dream house' completely mortgage free.
So, that's the plan... now we just need to stick to it! Bring on the moneysaving/making!
DFSD
X
For those who don't know our story, here's a link to the many pages of trials, tribulations and ramblings from the past 18 months:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1253365&highlight=dfsd
Now that the cards have gone, we have two outstanding loans which we are concentrating on overpaying to reduce the terms by 5 years. :eek: Together they currently total around £15K worth of debt, along with another £731 we currently owe on HP for our sofas, which we're paying off at 0%. The last sofa payment will come out in Septembe,r after which we'll have a further £103 a month 'spare' to throw at our debts. :T
This may seem like a scary amount of debt (which it is), but after facing more than £30K's worth of debt it feels completely manageable to us, and there is an end in sight! According to our snowball calculator, we could be debt free within 18 months if we keep up the overpayments to max. I'm not sure we will be able to do this every month, as who knows what the future holds, but we will try our utmost to do so.
So, what's with the five year plan I hear you ask... well quite recently, hubby and I had the opportunity to buy, pretty much, the house of our dreams. It would've involved us taking on a mortgage of £40K and consolidating our loan debts within this. Now, I know £40K is a very low mortgage in today's terms, but it meant we would be repaying and 'owing' money for the next 15 years.
For once in our lives, we decided that this was not the best option. We went through the finances and worked out that, within 5 years, if we carry on the way we're going, we should be able to clear our debts and save a lump sum of nearly £40K by throwing all the money we currently pay monthly off our debts into a savings account. SO, in 5 years time, we hope to be well on the way to being able to buy our own 'dream house' completely mortgage free.
So, that's the plan... now we just need to stick to it! Bring on the moneysaving/making!
DFSD
X
0
Comments
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Wow, great plan. And nice new diary - have subscribed, of course.
Best of luck meeting the target!Mortgage, draw down Sept 2014: £222,000
Now: £173,2290 -
great plan good luck on meeting your target. like chocforever have also subscribed:oDH CC £969.00, bank loans *2 £27634.00,Overdraft=£696.00 Total Debts to Tackle = £29299:o sealed pot member 923=£26.99, £2 club member 75 = £0.00 2011 challenge member 360
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Well done on first spot Chocs! :T Looks like we both may have the house of our dreams within a few years eh?
Hi Ruby :wave:, nice to 'meet' you. Thanks for stopping by x 0 -
I won a prize (yay!:)), I can't take it (Boo!:(). Just had an email to say I've won a dining experience for two in London; unfortunately we live nowhere near, so have passed it on to a good friend of ours who has been down on her luck lately and could do with a boost.
I need to win something we can actually use next! This must've been from a competition I'd entered ages ago as I haven't been doing any for months. Suppose I should get back into them really...0 -
Yes, it seems great minds think alike. Although I can't move until later in the year, I have had an eye on what I can afford in my local area and nothing has inspired me at all. After working out it would cost £20k just to move, let alone the hideous mortgage, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that it would be best to stay put for a while and save some money so I can afford the next "step up the ladder" which should be a longer term solution.
So, like you, my first mission is to clear the current debt (£25k ish). And on that note, need to go and do some MSs!Mortgage, draw down Sept 2014: £222,000
Now: £173,2290 -
Yes, probably better to wait and find somewhere where you'll be happy, than to settle for second best on the house. Plus you'll be in a better position financially when you do find the house of your dreams if it's in a year or two. The house we saw is still being built, but was at a very good price. The size of it would mean we wouldn't need to move again either - it would be 'the family house' if you know what I mean. But, we just decided we'd rather not spend the next 15 years or so repaying money every month like we have been for most of our adult lives. Although I love the house, I feel we have done the right thing.
Good luck with the mystery shops this afternoon.
X0 -
Hubby has posted Monday's ebay sale for me today, at a cost of £3.25. I charged the lady £3.50 for postage, so it was just about right.
Tonight I need to package up two books, one sold on Amazon, one on ebay, which will bring us about £10 in profit once all postage is paid. Hopefully the £5 survey reward will have hit the paypal account by tomorrow so that I can transfer the lot across into the bank account.
I also need to return an item to a shop this week, for a refund of £16. It was a planned, practical, storage-related item (no impulse buying here!:)) but when I got it home, decided it really wasn't as good as it seemed, and certainly not worth the £16 it cost. No time to do that tonight, but might get chance tomorrow after work.
We're cooking for one extra person tonight as we have a friend staying with us for the night. I took some meat out of the freezer this morning and am going to make a casserole when I get home, using some fresh veg I cut up and froze in portions a little while ago, so no need to go and buy fresh veggies.
DFSD0 -
Yay nice new diary. Good luck on the next part of your journey.0
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Hi DFSD,
Have subscribed again if you don't mind - it is very motivating reading your thread. Really good to hear of your goal - and yours too Chocs - funnily enough it is something I have been thinking about myself - the whole future thing of where I want to be living and how to get there
I was also sorry to hear of your sad news earlier this week DFSD (((hugs)))CC1:T £[STRIKE]2531[/STRIKE] £1460MORTGAGE OVERPAYMENTS: £10575.20 Target £12,100MF Date: [STRIKE]August 2042[/STRIKE] May 2035Declutter 1000 things by Xmas 2015! 53/10000 -
Found the new diary..its good. nice to see your new plans.. a non mortgaged house in just 5 years..as you say worth working for!!
Best of luckMFiT-T4 Member No. 96 - 2022 is my MF goal
Winter 17/18 Savings Rate Goal: 25% [October 30%] :T
Declutter 60 items before 31.03.18 9/60 ** LSDs Target 10 for March 03/10 **AFDs 10/15 ** Sales/TCB Target 2018 £25/£500 NSDs Target 10 for March 02/10 Trying to be a Frugalista:rotfl::T0
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