Mortgage Free by 01/01/11...so goes the plan

LilacPixie

hows you quest for land coming on Billy??

wynnvegas

Hi LP,

Had a wee look at a place in East Lothian (online only) as it's about the right size for what we're after and isn't nearly as much as land with all the requisite permissions in either Midlothian (preferred) or West Lothian (where we are atm) - it's at an early stage just now but we know the kind of space we're after and the list of wants is maybe a wee bit ott and needs to be scaled down - I need to block M from sky+ing cribs I think!!

Cheers,

Billy

LilacPixie

hehe. I did wonder if east central scotland was lothians or fife or what. Building my own home would be good but I really don't think I could handle the stress. I am too much of a control freak to trust project managing to someone else and I couldn't work do family stuff and PM.

wynnvegas

Hi LP,

Fife is an option as is up Falkirk way as it's not that much of a drive to home or work wherever we choose - just keen not to go any further West as they're all a wee bit crazy over that way! There's a nagging doubt telling me to stay where we are, buy a pad in Vegas and aim to kick off my consultancy for a 6 month Scotland / Nevada split. Not 100% sure how we'd manage it but the dream lives on...

Cheers,

Billy

ztan

I have to say, this is a big inspiration!

My partner and I are just about to embark on our mortgage journey, and have started it intending to be mortgage free as soon as possible. I'm 21, and he's 25. Reading your story, is very impressive, and gives me faith that we can pay off our mortgage sooner rather than later and enjoy the luxury that is a MF lifestyle.

You've also demonstrated that despite some hurdles, everything comes right in the end

Feel good writing at it's best.

wynnvegas

Morning All,

Apologies for the absence over the last few days. Got caught up in a major project at work that has meant nothing but work for the last week. Thankfully such occurences are relatively rare, albeit quite fulfilling after pulling the required job off.

We've not had a particularly good MSE week I have to admit. My (thankfully largely work related) expenses have shot up through the roof due to fuel and parking (and lunch for 25 on Friday) but I'll get a majority of that back - still upsets me to see the credit card bill so high though! - and M has had various lapses. Between, breaking a bit of her tooth biting earrings, having her car serviced and going a bit christmas shopping crazy, she has racked up a bill of nearly £500 in less than a week - not at all conducive to my mortgage freedom intentions. My little cousin also needed a bit of a loan to secure her new car but I should get that money back on the 28th.

Worse still, I'm off to join a) the local snooker club to try out my new fancy dan cue and b) the local gym who seem to have a good offer on at the moment. Both M and I quite like the gym so we'll pop round this week to see if it's worth doing. Naturally, I won't be goaded into any long-term commitment or any of that nonsense but we would definitely both use the gym, pool, badminton and such a fair bit so it may well be worth doing. I can just about allow the gym joining a month earlier than we had planned as we're not doing all that badly on the money front. The troubling issue at the moment is whether or not to buy our new bath. There's a sale on at the moment which runs until 03/10/10 and there is a properly decent 12 jet jacuzzi bath half price at £500. I'd kick myself if I had to buy it at full price in a couple of months time so it may be worth stretching just that wee bit at the moment to get it now. Where we'll keep the bloody thing is a whole other question but one probably worth considering. Thankfully we're down from payments of £3,000 a month to £2,500 a month for the last two hurdles so we should just about be able to sneak this in without bankruping ourselves.

43 days to go as at today and, minor setbacks aside, still well on course for mortgage freedom (and two baths) for 01/11/2010!

Cheers,

Billy

wynnvegas

Thanks ztan,

As I've said to a few people, having the intent to pay the mortgage off asap is half the battle. We always knew we wanted rid of the mortgage even before we got it but having the capacity to start overpaying was out of the question for the first couple of years. I'd encourage you not to get lazy with it as it's very easy to get frivolous and wasteful. When we had our HBOS mortgage, we seen the £9,200 as a target to hit and planned accordingly. Had we known that, at the end of the two year lock in, we were free to pay off as much as we fancied before moving the mortgage provider, we'd have been considerably tighter in our dealings. 13-16 months ago, whilst still overpaying a good bit, I found out we were still managing to fritter away around £800 per month away on discretionary gifts, treats, meals etc. Keep disciplined but maintain as healthy a balance as you can. Stretch yourselves but bear in mind that there's no necessity to limit your enjoyment whilst you strive for mortgage freedom. I can't say I'd recommend the way we've done it 100% to anyone but I hope that a few folk may be motivated to learn from both our successes and mistakes - that's how we've gotten to where we are after all!

Cheers,

Billy

gerbiljo

I'm subscribing! ur post-MF spending and building is as big an incentive to anyone to keep up with the repayments!!

abouttimetoo

Hi Billy

You're doing great! You're definately and inspiration and I really wished I'd latched onto this MFW lark at the age you did.

Love reading your diary Billy - including your MFiT T2, keep up the good work

Regards
ATT

wynnvegas

Thanks Gerbil,

I think I need to petition MSE to allow longer signatures. The current one is pushing the limits as it is and the next one has to incorporate savings for the new boiler / bathroom project, the new kitchen project, the new floors, doors and stairs project, Vegas 2011 and, most scarily, the grand design project.

Cheers,

Billy