MissusF MF Diary!

MissusF_3

Hi All!!!
After pouring over all the MF stories / hints / tips / support threads, i have decided to make the leap! Yay!!!

My mortgage currently stands at £96K, which still has 22 yrs to run. I have a loan of £3,800 which doesnt kick in til March (buy now, pay later). I've started a budgeting/income/outgoing spreadsheet, and to my surprise we have £840 disposable each month!!! Gobsmacked!!! (i've been in the dark ages re money!!!!)

So, i've been on the one account site, and if we put in our savings (1,600), we can pay our mortgage in 6 years......am i missing something???!!! The figures dont take into account my payrise next month.

I wouldn't be able to switch to this account til my fixed term expires in Feb 09, but it's an incentive to add more to savings, and kill off my £1661 ccard (oops) by then (on target if i've done my sums right)

So, my plan is to contact one account when i get back from doc's, and take it from there!

I have a quick question: would it be worth us OP on our mortgage until Feb 09, say £200 per month??

i'm so excited! MF by 38, I could live with that!!!!

Thank you though to this forum for giving me the drive to do this!!!! x xx x

getmore4less

Great you are taking control.

Sort out the other high rate debts first

READ the one account threads, the one account is expensive, there are better options for offset arrangments.

First direct and Barclays both undercut the oneaccount with their offset products.

COnsider longer term and ISA's for tax free savings for life

MissusF_3

Thanks getmore! I do feel quite empowered and in control !(glee-pat-on-back!!!)

i churned through the one account threads yesterday which gave me the idea. I also tried to research the 'offset-thing' but my numerically-and-jargon-challenged brain couldn't compute - can i be cheeky and ask if you (or anyone!!) can explain it in laymen's please??!!!

I am incredibly organised in every other aspect of my life (it's the teacher in me, lol) but the mortgage element is something i've always just accepted as 'being there for ever'. Now i realise i can take control, i'm overwhelmed by all the info!
I know if i can see the balance coming down more and more each month / year, i will be spurred on to stick to it,scrimp / save, etc - hence the appeal of the one account type thing.

any help / advice / thoughts very gratefully received - i'm gonna trawl through more threads now, i think the lightbulb in my brain must be an energy-saving one....maybe it'll come on soon!!!! lol

x x x x x x

getmore4less

Basicaly you have a debt(mortgage) and "offset" savings against them.

The one account and other CAM syle offsets keep it in one pot like a big overdraft

Traditional offsets use a mortgage account and savings pots, some also offset cuurent accounts, some also ISA's.

With them all you just pay interest on the net borrowings.

For most the savings would earn less than the interest on a mortgage so it is worth doing as an option if you have spare cash and do not want to invset elsewhere say equities,gold,

Others that can find an offset usefull are those with cash flow issues the offset is a great place to keep buffer funds.

One great thing about an offset arrangment over just paying more on the mortgage is that it is easy to get the money back so great way to save up for things, but you have to be disiplined not to just spend, also you are not commiting to the extra payments have a bad month want to go out more just save less.

Good budget/planning and tracking is recommended as part of an offset plan.

As a teacher you have good pension cover allready so your alternative savings are regular savings, ISA's, definately consider using your cash ISA allowances in full as part of this MFW plan.

I think currently the First direct offering is about the best, but the Barclays allow ISA's to be offset so you can build up these at the same time, allthough just saving in the best available ISA is OK since the rates are about the same as a mortgage anyway

Beware of any of the calculators or offerings that make out they are doing something magic, you are doing all the work by overpaying and that is what is making the morgage get paid off earlier.

MissusF_3

ok, decided to change the thread name to 'diary' as i'm now on a mission!!! Thanks again getmore for your help! Never done a web-diary before, so bear with me!!!

Ok, what have i done this weekend to help me on my journey....

1) capped gas and electric only to discover we are due a refund from current suppliers for OP
2) requested water meter (and read MSE use less water thread)
3) reduced sky bill for next three months (£45 savings in total)
4) budgeted for xmas (£160) and started gathering bits for my hampers
5) made xmas jam
6) mashed and frozen tonnes of pots from allotment
7) cancelled gym membership
8) farted around trying to create a semi-legible and professional looking spreadsheet to monitor income / outgoings (ps how the hell do you get your columns to add up automatically? got extremely frustrated using my calc on phone and coming up with diff totals....)

total savings per month: £97

i've spoken to one account and they're sending a load of bumpf, researched ISA's, offsets and savings (thanks getmore!)

still to do: get ccard to 0 by December 08, get savings up by £400 by Jan to £1530, and see how 'healthy' (or not) this month's salary will be before deciding to OP for last 4 months on current fixed term mortgage.

Dream Target: MF by close of play 2015, and celebrate my 39th birthday (2nd Jan) by blowing my normal mortgage payment on beer...:D

ooo, i'm so excited! and DH is fully supportive and not-quite-so-raring-to-go as me! lol!!

As always, any suggestions, tips, advice gratefully received!!!

I name me an official MFW! W-hooo!!! :beer: :j

MissusF_3

have also registered with quidco (grrr, spent £67 on internet shopping, and have seen that i could have made £ from ALL the flippin places i bought from....) note to self - don't do it again

Also registered on Freecycle on friday in the hope to pick up some 'stuff': picked up a much needed walker for MIL, and a dining room table and chairs for my friend!

To do by the end of Sept: ebay stuff and sell books on amazon, attend MSE anonymous for addiction, and get well soon and return to work (hopefully by next mon)

x

MissusF_3

busy afternoon! Make hay while the sun shines, or whatever the saying is...

not got round to sorting ebay stuff, due to a minor op unable to move around too easily! But have done the following:

1) made a sig to keep my motivated
2) registered with pigbacks (still not too sure what it's all about, but gives me another site to play with!)
3) moved around some cash and knocked off £158.69 on ccard - i forgot i had used it over the weekend to purchase hamper making stuff, so have a new balance of £1728.69. Total ccard now: £1570.

I'm aware that at the beginning of this quest, there'll be big changes, that'll probably plateau off after a while, i just hope i dont lose momentum and motivation.

TTFN x

StuartGMC

MissusF wrote: »

ok, decided to change the thread name to 'diary' as i'm now on a mission!!! Thanks again getmore for your help! Never done a web-diary before, so bear with me!!!

Ok, what have i done this weekend to help me on my journey....
8) farted around trying to create a semi-legible and professional looking spreadsheet to monitor income / outgoings (ps how the hell do you get your columns to add up automatically? got extremely frustrated using my calc on phone and coming up with diff totals....)

Welcome to the "family" and good luck with the goals.

I started a thread a little while ago and have actually found it helps to keep me focused and of course is very good for feedback, tips and support from other likeminded individuals here.

As to spreadsheets, as I've offered to others, I can send you a household budgeting spreadsheet (OpenOffice or Excel) which may help you if you want (it is actually used for offsetting as we have a offset with Natwest, although others are available as getmore4less notes which may be better). Just drop me your e-mail address via PM (Personal Message), don't post it here for all to see!

Good luck and keep posting.

MissusF_3

thanks stuart, just pm'd you!
x

StuartGMC

Spreadsheets in the post :beer:

MissusF_3

thanks hun! Wowsers!!! may have to sit down tomorrow with it!!lol!!! see what you mean though, a three month run sounds like a good plan, but luckily, we don't come out of FT till feb 09. Enjoy your beer, have one for me!!! (on strong anti-biotics and painkillers!!!)
:beer: