Mortgage free by 40

gravitas

Hi everyone

Quick update I have managed to get a lodger for my spare double room @ £325 a month who has signed a contract and I have had some interest in my single room @ £180 a month so things are looking up! Im going to be putting money aside to get 4 months outgoings saved up in case the worst happens - although without going into much detail the industry I work in is a growth industry even in these times so I think id be quick to get another job if I lost mine.

Then as soon as this is done im going to start making my overpayments!

I'll get you know how I get on.

gallygirl

Wow, that's superb!

gravitas

Hi everyone just to let you know I just sealed the deal on renting out my single room @ £180 a month which means with the other room I have £505 a month coming in, im going to make a start on getting 4 months outgoings saved up, and once thats done I'll be making the overpayments!

Thanks for all the help and encouragement - hopefully this will be a 10/15 year old thread

Trying_to_be_good

Well done - that's impressive stuff!

Do you know if you have to pay tax on any of that lodger income? I think rent-a-room relief only applies to letting one room, but am not an expert (off to google to satisfy my curiosity now...).

EDIT - these people do a free guide recommended by lots of people: www.rentaroom.co.uk; and Martin's guidance from this site:

Take in a lodger or play guesthouse - tax free.

• The ‘rent a room’ scheme means you can take in a lodger to live in a furnished room in your home, and it has a special exemption meaning you won’t have to pay tax on the first £4,250 you make each year. This is a huge tax break for most people and really ups the gain. Better still, as a landlord you’ll be expected to ask for a deposit and a month in advance, which means ready cash comes in quickly.
  
  If you don't want to do it full time, there's a good halfway house too, you can also just play guesthouse. Website Crashpadder allows you to list your spare room online, and take in travellers looking for a cheap place to stay. You can set the nightly cost, undercutting the local hotels, and you might just get to work on your language skills to boot.
  How much? With a full-time lodger, you can take home £4, 250 without paying a penny of tax; if you've a desirable property and don't mind paying income tax on anything above this, you could easily add another £1,000.
  Find out more: Read the Govt info on rent a room and then read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Take in a lodger thread

Tesco_points_addict

Yehhhhh, my amition is to be MF by 40 too!

Good luck & well done with the lodgers

TPAx

StuartGMC

Gravitas
Well done on the extra income from the lodgers; have you also modified your insurance for contents cover (and buildings if necessary)?

rompom

Mortgage free at 40 would be an incredible achievement - well done! I have tried to calculate when I may be in the same position, but it seems I'll be long dead by then...!

gravitas

Hi all.

Made a promise not to contribute to this thread again until I had good news!

Since the original post I met a new lady, got married and had a beautiful daughter last year.

However more on topic we up sized and moved house and as of the end of May I am pleased to say I will be making a lump sum payment and will mortgage free!

Thanks for all your advice in the early days! Reading my posts back then I can remember how young and desperately skint I was!

Thanks again!
G

P.s this may well be short lived as the wife wants more children and a bigger house but at least we have a fantastic deposit to put down ����

LadyGnome

Wonderful news. I'm glad everything worked out so well.