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New MFW Journey/Hello
wabbits
Posts: 31 Forumite
Hello all.
May I first of all say thankyou to all who post on these threads. Collectively you have all fired me up to quit bimbling around with my mortage/finances and get a firm grip.
I have been a guest on these forums for several weeks now absorbing the great ideas like a sponge, to the point that (to the shock of my wife) I have registered and am now writing this thread.
A little about us:-
-32/34 yrs old.
-Married-both work.
-Enjoy travelling/camping.
-Mortgage @ [STRIKE]Dec 07-£89107[/STRIKE], Nov 08 £84736 on a lifetime tracker 0.18% above BoE Base.
-Max OP allowed £500/mth. Currently OP £190/mth.
Goals
-To stick to the MSE budget spreadsheet we recently completed.
-OP by £500/mth by reviewing holiday/xmas funds and needless spending............a general OVERHAUL. (I am the main culprit).
-Decide an end date and head for it.
Looking forward to the MF Journey.....maybe the best journey yet!!!!
All advice gratefully received.
Regards.
May I first of all say thankyou to all who post on these threads. Collectively you have all fired me up to quit bimbling around with my mortage/finances and get a firm grip.
I have been a guest on these forums for several weeks now absorbing the great ideas like a sponge, to the point that (to the shock of my wife) I have registered and am now writing this thread.
A little about us:-
-32/34 yrs old.
-Married-both work.
-Enjoy travelling/camping.
-Mortgage @ [STRIKE]Dec 07-£89107[/STRIKE], Nov 08 £84736 on a lifetime tracker 0.18% above BoE Base.
-Max OP allowed £500/mth. Currently OP £190/mth.
Goals
-To stick to the MSE budget spreadsheet we recently completed.
-OP by £500/mth by reviewing holiday/xmas funds and needless spending............a general OVERHAUL. (I am the main culprit).
-Decide an end date and head for it.
Looking forward to the MF Journey.....maybe the best journey yet!!!!
All advice gratefully received.
Regards.
Mortgage at start Oct 2000- £112000
Current mortgage @ March 2010- £62229.
End date, Aiming for Dec 2010
2009 MFW Overpayment challenge #176. 2010 MFW Overpayment challenge #79
OP Mar-£1000/1000:j
Mortgage = Lifetime Tracker +0.18% above BOE
Current mortgage @ March 2010- £62229.
End date, Aiming for Dec 2010
2009 MFW Overpayment challenge #176. 2010 MFW Overpayment challenge #79
OP Mar-£1000/1000:j
Mortgage = Lifetime Tracker +0.18% above BOE
0
Comments
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Hello and welcome!! Always nice to hear that people have been inspired by reading this board.
It sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on your situation and also that you've got some good plans - if you can manage a £500 p.m OP then that's superb - remember to make sure that you don't put your lives on hold completely to do it though! As you say, cutting down on needless spending is definitely the way to go.
Looking forward to reading about your progress!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Welcome wabbits,
Looking forward to following your posts on this site.
You've certainly got a decent rate for your tracker.
hughMortgage :- Jan 2008 £56000, August 2012 £ 0
Target :- 1 Apr 2010 £20000... ACHIEVED
Whiskey bottle £279 banked. Mortgage Pikachu £2 + 50p £1920 banked
Mortgage Free In Three No. 113
Mortgage free date, 30 July 2012 :j:beer:0 -
Thankyou for the warm welcome.
Hugh, all credit for the tracker goes to my wife. The only downside is the limited OP of £500/mth until 2011. This doesn't matter too much as we will need to work hard to achieve this OP anyway.
Essexhebridean, it was one of your threads that I read from beginning to end that was one of my motivators. Cheers.
Just reading the threads then applying them to our own circumstances totally opened our eyes.
The best thing is that my wife and I are both on 'the same hymn sheet'....
......as you say "don't put our lives on hold to do it though"....Top Tip.
Cheers.Mortgage at start Oct 2000- £112000
Current mortgage @ March 2010- £62229.
End date, Aiming for Dec 2010
2009 MFW Overpayment challenge #176. 2010 MFW Overpayment challenge #79
OP Mar-£1000/1000:j
Mortgage = Lifetime Tracker +0.18% above BOE0 -
Wabbits,
Welcome and good luck with the challenge. As you've noted you've read a number of threads here then I think you'll have got the key elements from the spread of our individual plans. Whilst we're well into our mortgage and have overpaid from the outset, maintaining a thread here has further focused my mind on things and tightening of the data on what is actually spent, saved OPed etc, not the aspirational levels for outgoings. Modified my spreadsheet to use such data and thus to get "real" data.
Maintaining a thread with the input and support from all the great people here has helped improve our plans even since May 2008. As EH noted (and I see you've responded as I type this) balance the plans with living life now too.
Looking forward to more details from you over the coming months.0 -
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SwitchyChick wrote: »Ditto and also FinancialBliss. Good luck!
Hey, thanks for that. Another new thread to follow and take ideas from.
I'll try and track your efforts wabbits. Best of luck in your progress.
Financial Bliss.Mortgage and debt free. Building up savings...0 -
Just wanted to add my welcome - I have just started my own thread this morning - It is so exciting to see new threads and ideas.
Looking forward to reading your posts and enjoying your sucesses
Topaz0 -
i have joined last week also...so welcome...is reallt great reading on here how well other people are doing also...helps to keep you focussed
total morg o/p's 2007/08 = £795;)
mortgage o/p's Nov = £90- target :£100 pmonth :j
double glazing = £300 -target :£3500 ????:rotfl:0 -
Welcome - we started our MF journey last May and have been very pleasantly suprised by how quickly our balance is coming down. We must have wasted loads of money on needless things though as not finding the journey such a bumpy ride.MFW 1/5/08 £45,789 Cleared mortgage 1/02/13
Weight loss challenge. At target weight.0 -
Hi wabbits,
We've been overpaying for a while now (I didn't tell DH at first but now he's all for it). I must look and see when we started. I recently read Financial Bliss's diary and was motivated to do the OP spreadsheet he set up, it really focuses your mind when you see it in black and white.
Good luck.Mortgage [strike]£70,000[/strike] £1:j
MF date [strike]31/08/2021[/strike] 6th February 2012:A0
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