MF before I'm 57!

Mfw2016 · 25 September 2016 at 12:47AM

Hi all.

Today I signed up for a mortgage!! If all goes to plan, I will soon be the proud owner of my dream home and a 26 year mortgage!

I currently can't sleep and I'm not sure why... Is it because of what I did today, or someother reason? Who knows! I will however make the most of not being able to sleep and I'll put a plan in to place to pay this mortgage off as fast as possible.

I went in to the meeting, being told that the bank was willing to lend me the £80K possible over 33 years and walked out having it reduced to a term of 26 years, so in one day I've already reduced the term down by 7 years!!! :j

However, 26 years still means that I will be 57 when its all paid off :eek:

I made sure that the mortgage that I went for was one where I can make overpayments, and it was agreed that I can pay £7k per year extra without incurring any costs.

A little bit about me. I am 31, female and buying on my own. I work in accounts earning £20k pa and unless anything changes soon, I don't see myself having children in the future. I don't have the patience nor the inclination. I am a career girl and I am exhausted running around after my baby niece for the afternoon!

I can comfortably pay my mortgage and the property should cost me in bills, the same I have been used to paying when I was renting. This means that providing everything works out as I have estimated, I should have approximately £600 per month to put aside for an emergency fund, treat myself to a holiday (been 7 years since my last one :eek:) and overpay my mortgage!

I do not want to be still paying for a mortgage when I'm 50 let alone 57, so this diary will be my log of how I will work to budget, create an emergency fund and reduce the term on this massive loan I have essentially taken out!!!

Please wish me luck! I think I'm going to need it!! Xx

Kittenkirst · 25 September 2016 at 6:39AM

Good luck MFW2016!

When is your completion date for your house- mine is next week and I'm so excited :starmod:

juststuff123 · 25 September 2016 at 8:20AM

Good Luck to you. I was in a very similar position to you 7yrs ago. Now I have enough in savings to pay off my mortgage if I want to. So it can be done!

Mfw2016 · 25 September 2016 at 8:56AM

Hi Kitten, I don't have a completion date yet because the offer was only accepted last Saturday. I'm estimating that I'll be in for Christmas latest. It's only my side that needs to do anything as the sellers once got all the way to exchanging once and it fell through the from the buyers side. I don't have any intention of pulling out.

The property is a restricted purchase in that although I'll own 100% of the property, I can only buy and sell it at 85% of the market value and it's not allowed to be rented. The people who dropped out wanted to rent it to their mother. I'm buying it to live in.

I am more excited about getting rid of the property I was living in. It belongs to my parents and that is a week or so away from completion. I am being given the equity from the sale as my deposit as a gift from my parents.

Last night I barely slept, still keeping thinking "what have I done!". It's exciting but scary at the same time.

Xx

bexster1975 · 25 September 2016 at 9:22AM

Hi and welcome Mfw2016

Like juststuff says, I was in your position ten years ago ( also single female - no kids) and I now have savings enough to pay off my mortgage and six months essential bills as EF. It can be done. It becomes addictive very quickly.

Look forward to following your thread

Bexster

A_Frayed_Knot · 25 September 2016 at 10:52AM

:hello: Mfw2016

Your 1st post struck a chord with me !!! it reminded me when I had just bought my house at auction. I would wake up during the night, nearly every night (repeating to myself, What have I done, what have I done :eek:) then read your 2nd post and you are thinking exactly the same, however I can tell you that the thoughts pass and you will eventually get a good nights sleep

I'm not quite at the stage where I am mortgage neutral, however I'm only 4 and a half years into my mortgage, (earn a lot less than you) and have just taken on the challenge (from Bexster

) to reduce my target MF date to December 2019. 1st Orginial MF date was 2030 :eek: so as everyone says "It can be done" ! ! !
Stick around, your in good company and you will be MF in no time at all

lippy1923 · 25 September 2016 at 5:09PM

Good luck

I will be reading with interest.

Plenty of MFW diaries to spy on for tips and tricks. Keeping yours up to date will really help you stay motivated.

Mfw2016 · 25 September 2016 at 8:23PM

I will try to update as often as I can. I get paid monthly so even if I can only update new information once per month, this will be better than nothing.

I am feeling better today about it, just been focusing on decluttering and getting rid of items I have with me that I don't want to take. In my old place, I had 2 large cupboards for storage and a rather large built in wardrobe and a large kitchen. The flat is gorgeous, it's just the location that I hate. The new house is over 2 floors but is much smaller overall, only has 1 storage cupboard and less cabinets in the kitchen, so I need to downsize!

This will be good for me in the long run as I do have a lot of rubbish that I don't use nor like. A lot of my decorations were hand-me-downs from my sister and not my style at all, so I'm going to get rid of a lot of junk. Most of my stuff is in storage so I can't get rid of those items just yet. I have however cut my clothes and shoes down by over half as I've gained quite a bit of weigh over the past few years and I still had clothes from 5 years ago in my wardrobe.

I study AAT as well which is what has helped me progress in my career and has helped me to afford to buy a property alone, so I have been condensing my study materials down and putting course material away that I don't need for the time being. I am living with my parents at the moment and I'm packed in to my dads bedroom with a lot of his stuff as well.

Hope all the paperwork goes through quickly and I can get set up on my own again!

X

Mfw2016 · 25 September 2016 at 8:30PM

Been doing some sums with mum this morning and hopefully without me saving anything I should have over 2k to help me to get the new place how I like it. I need to replace my TV and buy a new bed as mine is actually rusting!!

If I can save as well I should be able to put away over £400 per month I'm at mums into a new savings account that I set up last week.

I sorted all my finances out over the last few weeks, paying of loans, closing credit cards that I don't use and I opened a savings account for my emergency fund and holiday fund. I have £65 already in the savings account with a potential £15 to join before Friday, providing I don't need diesel. I will get £750 cash back with 1 month of my mortgage starting as an incentive so my savings are growing already &#55357;&#56833;.

Just need to work out how much emergency fund I need! Is it 6 months salary as a starting point??

Xx

NorthernMonkey1 · 26 September 2016 at 8:34AM

3-6 months essential expenses. Your essential expenses will be less than your salary, as it would assume no overpayment, no payments into savings accounts, and cutting back very hard on incidental expenses

Mfw2016 · 26 September 2016 at 10:22AM

I think then based on calculations I would need approx £2K per 3 months, so if I want to have 3 months saving I need £2K and £4K if i'm covering 6 months.

I have included payments for foods/fuel and bills but not savings. This should be quite simple to save up. I will find as much of this as I can over the next year, as i'm contracted to work until 2018, providing I don't do anything to cause gross misconduct! I would be entitled to a sum if I was made redundant however, but the chances of that are quite remote

MF before I'm 57!

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