Brand spanking new to money saving and to my MFW diary

Penny_pauper

Hi
I'm one of the lurkers and have been reading the forum for quite a while now. Decided to take up the MFiT take 2 challenge and from some of the reading I've been doing on the forum, lots of you seem to find a diary one of the best ways to stay motivated. Anyhoo, thought I'd give it ago and see if it could help me to get things up and running. So a bit of background info me, my OH and the mortgage!

We are just starting out, this is our first home together (unfortunately decorated in late sixties and hasn't seen a lick of paint since, e.g. brown bathroom suite with matching tiles, lovely:j) and it was bought with additional spending on my original mortgage for my flat. This has resulted in the funny situation of having effectively two mortgages: £43,000 on one and £112,000 on the other. The 43K is only fixed until the end of september 2009 at 6.49 and then it drops to the Nationwide's base rate and the £112k is fixed at 6.79 until October 2033. I know that it would be best to pay off the big morgage first but, and it is a big but, psychologically I'll feel better knowing I've managed to clear one bit of the beast and with the fixed rate ending in September I'll be able to overpay more than the £500 maximum stipulated by Nationwide (provided I have £500 or more to pay in each month, which might be quite unlikely!:rotfl:)

Also we are facing some financial challenges coming up as OH is going to be made redundant at the end of the year. Not moaning about this as in a way it's done us a favour, we don't have any particular debts other than my car and the mortgage, but somehow we always seem to get the cash flow wrong and have needed to use our credit cards at the end of ever month. The balances were always cleared at the start of the new month but some how the same couple of hundred pound always manage to creep back on. So we are using the time we have with two wages to:

1) get used to living on just mine.
2) pay off my car
3) build some savings

I don't know if I fell foul of creditors in a past life, but I'm terrified of debt and can't wait to get rid of my mortgage. Not telling a soul about trying to do this except my OH who does tend to look at me as if I'm mad but at the same time is supportive.
I'm sure people will tell me that this is the wrong time to start doing this but in a funny way the confirmation of the redundancy has been the very thing I need to motivate me. I've been really skint before but managed to avoid getting into debt but having had the luxury of two wages I got a bit lazy and took my eye off the ball a bit.
Enough rambling, will try to keep this diary up-dated as, and when I can manage it.
PP

prowla

What the heck does "spanking" mean in the context of "brand spanking new"?

JoKay_2

Look forward to hearing more PP!

Penny_pauper

prowla wrote: »

What the heck does "spanking" mean in the context of "brand spanking new"?

Ha ha it means shiny, new, fresh out of the packet! Must be a scottish saying, in the cold light of a friday morning I now see that it might sound a bit odd!

Okay, task for today is to find out exactly how much I owe on the car. Am thinking of getting a zero percent credit card to pay the outstanding balance off and then attack the credit card balance in chunks as I know I the finance company won't let me over pay in installments. Am now slightly shame faced that I used car finance instead of looking for a cheaper deal. But hey, I'm learning!
PP

setmefree2

Penny_pauper wrote: »

brown bathroom suite

who thought that up :eek:


Anyhoo, to the MFW board and with your MF journey. Look forward to reading about your progress.

Kind Regards

SMF2

wantabetterlife

Hi PP looking forward to reading your new diary. Goodluck

Louba

Hi - I normally lurk and read other posts too but just wanted to say good luck! Like you I also have two mortgages - a big one which is just mine for £160k on a flat which I now rent out and a much smaller one for £85k with my partner. For the purpose of my overpayments I am concentrating on the big one because it is just my debt and so it gets to a level where the rent covers the mortgage - at the moment it doesn't but on the other hand it does pay the mortgage on the new flat!

Good luck with your house - I've just ripped out a beige and brwon suite from my flat adn the kitchen units were covered in brown sticky back plastci - must have been a Scottish fad!

financialbliss

Penny_pauper wrote: »

Decided to take up the MFiT take 2 challenge

Massive first post. Great to see you're jumping into a diary. On the MFiT-T2 thread, I've linked to this diary.

Financial Bliss.

StuartGMC

Penny_pauper wrote: »

Originally Posted by prowla
What the heck does "spanking" mean in the context of "brand spanking new"?

Ha ha it means shiny, new, fresh out of the packet! Must be a scottish saying, in the cold light of a friday morning I now see that it might sound a bit odd!

It was clear to me and I was born and bred near Bristol & Bath, so I don't think it's a localised as it may seem

Turning to the detail of your thread; you state you have to date often resorted to the credit card. Does this mean you don't have your emergency savings in place nor indeed other savings for things planned to be replaced (would that include the bathroom?), items which wear out (fridge, freezer, car) all of which should be on your household budgeting plan alongside the mortgage.

Similarly, do you have your pension in place and make sufficient contributions each month?

That said, it's great that you've been catalyzed into action now with chance to prepare as you state. I hope you can also get a new job soon despite your redundancy coinciding with the predicted peak in unemployment (although that should mean there is the expectation of recruitment picking up thereafter?)

If you and your OH can review your complete finances I think it will help to ensure your plans are realistic. The positive aspect is, if you can budget to live off one salary then once you are working again, allowing for some increased costs of commuting etc, I hope you will then be able to save, invest and OP even more.

Looking forward to reading more of your progress.

RosieTiger

prowla wrote: »

What the heck does "spanking" mean in the context of "brand spanking new"?

I'm certainly familiar with the phrase meaning very new, but it's probably more appropriate on a new mortgage considering thats what we receive for having it over the full term !

Penny_pauper

Cheers for all the support:j!
Can I just say StuartGMC, you sound very smart and sorted!
We both have pensions although, obviously OH's will stop when the job comes to an end. The credit card thing was a mix of pure laziness and a sort of 'oh well, we'll pay that off next month' attitude and we always did. Anything big, like putting in new electrics, was saved up for and paid in cash. We have got a little savings at the moment but mentally I've got that ear marked for paying off the car as I really want it to be the case that my wage can cover all bills, living expenses and some fun times too as well as over paying by a bit once we are down to the one wage.
The ahem, retro, if you want to be kind, decor I can live with at the moment until OH gets another job as it ain't broke, it's just bloody ugly! However on your advice StuartMCG, I will be keeping an emergency stash for when the freezer decides it's had enough of being one of electrolux's first models and maroon in colour (I kid you not, the last residents of our house must have taken some strong drugs in the 70's, I mean just what exactly did they have against the colour white?)

However, i did do my home work and talked to the car finance company who have very kindly informed me that I owe £4,500 :eek:but it will be £600 less (all figures rounded up) if I pay it now. At least there are no early redemption charges.
So next month, will be channelling most of OH's wage into savings/car payment fund. Once it's clear, let the battle on the mortgage commence!