The "Mortgage-free in 2025-30" club!

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  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,038
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    edited 27 May 2015 at 3:48PM
    I suspect we've got the full range of lifestyles represented here, turtle. :) Nosing at your diary, I think you have a littlun and another on the way? Here's our secret - one of the reasons we have the big house and the nice things is because having kids hasn't worked out for us yet (there's still hope but it's been four years - which does mean four years of unexpectedly high two incomes and low outgoings). We'd give up not just the cleaner, but everything, in a heartbeat if it could change that. :o So you're completely blessed with your kids - there are some things money can't buy.

    Oh my word, that turned into a bit of a serious post!! Please don't let it be a thread-killer. :rotfl: And it's all good here in Teapot Towers - I have a pretty lovely backup plan for what to do with our lives if the little one-cup teapots don't come along. Admittedly DH isn't fully sold on the plan yet, but I'm working on it. :D
  • turtlemoose
    turtlemoose Posts: 1,640
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    OH has one (10 yo), we've got one between us (3 in a week) and will be trying for a third from August. So just as one set of childcare finishes, I'm signing myself up for another! Although I'm wondering (hoping) if OH will be earning a little more by then, add in us being debt free (except mortgage) and then maybe I'll be able to not work or work part time for a bit until the newly-announced 30 free hours kick in?!

    Whilst you're right, and the sproglets cost money, I've only been a parent for 3 years and I've never had a cleaner :D I did buy my first house (shared ownership 50%) a week after i turned 22 though. And the parents left the country shorty after I turned 18 so I've never had the luxury of cheap digs/savings opportunity.

    It's the childcare costs that are getting us right now though. By the time DS goes to school (reception) in Sept next year, we will have spent over £28000 on nursery fees alone. :eek::eek::eek: That's over a quarter of my residential mortgage!
  • Hello Everyone

    Would I be able to join?

    This is perfect for me :j

    OH took out a mortgage in February for £118,200. It is over 21 years so our MFD will be 2036.

    Once my debts are paid off, I will be overpaying the mortgage to match what OH initially put into the house.

    I would ideally like to have it paid off within 15 years, which would be 2030 so I'm aiming to knock off 6 years in total.

    May as well put up with me, I'm here for the long haul :rotfl:

    MrCF
    Saving for that dream holiday
  • choccielover
    choccielover Posts: 412
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    Reading this is quite an eye opener for me. I clearly have a different lifestyle to many on here.

    My most non-mse thing is the OH, who has £350 a month play money and moans he cannot afford new clothes/going out/insert item of your choice here.

    I don't have a cleaner I could cancel, a coffee habit I could cut back on, or an overly large house. And I've never had any of the above!

    In my adult life (12 years) I've been on holidays abroad twice (plus visits to stay with the parents in France), and a holiday in the UK twice (both Sun deal type things).

    Is there anyone else on here in a similar situation?

    We were the same TM, I do sometimes wonder why we moved to Choc Manor (:rotfl:) when our last little (cheap!!!) house was perfectly fine for our needs.
    However we are fortunate to have one moderately good income and one excellent income so we learnt to spend it before we had a lightbulb moment. Habits are difficult to unwind, but we are learning slowly.
    The house is a luxury definitely but I wouldn't change it, the cleaner and holidays are actually a necessity in my eyes. I wouldn't swap my life but it's not as rosy as it may seem.
    I work long hours, I mean really long hours. I don't see my daughter mon-fri. So weekends are our only time, I don't want to/refuse to spend that time cleaning.
    The holidays are the only time I get off with my family for a sustained period of time, and the only time I can relax. So I splash out.

    I don't give OH any spending money though (he is exceptionally cheap to run, unlike the child :rotfl:) so make savings there :o

    Choc
  • choccielover
    choccielover Posts: 412
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    Welcome MRCrimeFiction, sounds like you have a plan

    Have you played with the calculator yet. It's blummin addictive to see what little overpayments make to the end date!!

    Choc
  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,038
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    edited 27 May 2015 at 7:55PM
    Welcome, MrCrimeFiction! I'll add you to the list tomorrow (easier to do on the big screen than my phone!).

    turtle/choc - I joined MSE in 2004 when I'd moved out of home after uni and run up some credit card debts. Only a few k but fortunately had my LBM at that point. Was living alone on a low-ish salary so the budget was very tight and I got good at managing. I then had good pay-rises and met OH who earns a good wage too, but in retrospect I'm glad I was already mindful of not spending too much. I spend more now than then but equally we put a good amount away each month. And I still do really anal transaction by transaction accounting at home - I had to when I was a DFW and I can't give it up or I'll probably over-spend again. :o

    turtle - young kids is the hardest point of life budget-wise so frankly if you're OPing anything in these years you're doing a lot better than many people! :money:
  • pinkteapot wrote: »
    I'm so excited (and I just can't hide it). We've been paying £250/month each into regular savers that run for a year and then pay 6% interest. They finish in early May, so we'll have a lump of £6k plus interest to pay off the mortgage. :D

    Thanks for sharing ! I have been looking at all the various options this week;One large annual overpayment; setting up regular overpayments; putting our extra money away into a regular saving account.
  • amycool
    amycool Posts: 866
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    Reading this is quite an eye opener for me. I clearly have a different lifestyle to many on here.

    My most non-mse thing is the OH, who has £350 a month play money and moans he cannot afford new clothes/going out/insert item of your choice here.

    I don't have a cleaner I could cancel, a coffee habit I could cut back on, or an overly large house. And I've never had any of the above!

    In my adult life (12 years) I've been on holidays abroad twice (plus visits to stay with the parents in France), and a holiday in the UK twice (both Sun deal type things).

    Is there anyone else on here in a similar situation?

    We get £70 a month play money!!! It was all we could afford when we first bought a house and we've just stuck with it. My OH must feel a bit hard done to...:D

    We're not really into holidays abroad and so have had 2 (3 if you count Guernsey as abroad...which I do). I grew up fairly poor so had about 9 years without a holiday or a day trip when I was younger, so I don't really miss it.

    I'd hate to have a cleaner! I think I'd end up cleaning before they came.

    Childcare costs are insane!
    Mortgage (Start Sep 2014)- £70,295/£0 - 100%
    Overpayments - £48829.37 :j:j:j
    Mortgage paid off Jan 2020
  • amycool
    amycool Posts: 866
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    Talking of children, our overpaying will probably have to stop once we have a child. We're applying to adopt at the moment and I'm intending to stop working and become a full-time mum, so we'll have more outgoings and a lot less coming in!

    Luckily all of our hobbies tend to be free or very cheap. :)
    Mortgage (Start Sep 2014)- £70,295/£0 - 100%
    Overpayments - £48829.37 :j:j:j
    Mortgage paid off Jan 2020
  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,038
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    amycool wrote: »
    Talking of children, our overpaying will probably have to stop once we have a child. We're applying to adopt at the moment and I'm intending to stop working and become a full-time mum, so we'll have more outgoings and a lot less coming in!

    Luckily all of our hobbies tend to be free or very cheap. :)

    Oooh good luck! And you're doing an AMAZING thing. A colleague adopted early last year - three siblings (all under 6). :eek: They'd been in a foster home since the youngest was born.

    Oh, and we never have overseas holidays. But that's because I'm scared of flying. :D
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