£161,044.25 reasons to be mortgage free

mummyofonechild

Yes its not nice being made redundant. I was a Woolworths Employee. I hope everything works out for both of them.

Baby_steps_2

wantabetterlife wrote: »

Halifax have updated the mortgage balance online and next month it should start with.....157k...Yipee....i actually feel like we are making progress now. I am trying so hard to keep the momentum going and i have got so much inspiration from reading everyones diaries.

Just wanted to let you know that I have recently become a MFW Your diary gave me loads of inspiration:beer:, especially as our mortgage is a very similar size to yours (when you started!!). Seeing how well your doing really helps.

wantabetterlife wrote: »

I have really noticed a change in OH's attitude about the MFW thing...at the start i could almost see his eyes glazing over at the mere mention of becoming mortgage free and he never got involved with it at all.
Recently OH's dad was made redundant and would have been the main earner as his mum only works a few hours a week. They are in their mid 50's and still have a fairly big mortgage left, as you can imagine the financial stress and worry that they are under is enormous.
OH has said several times over the last few weeks that he doesnt want to be in that situation at that age.......so i took this as the perfect opportunity for a bit of an education on spreadsheets... .
It was literally like someone switching on a lightbulb in his head...so hopefully with him on board we can step it up a gear.

WABL xo

Sorry to hear about your FIL. My dad got made redundant at a similar age about 3 yrs ago, from a job he has been doing since 16. He managed to find another job though was a massive pay cut, but at least its work and keeps him occupied. Better that than being stuck at home driving my poor mum mad!!

Glad you managed to get the OH on board. Mine is still very much not interested, however I'm hoping one day he may be interested in a spreadsheet!!

God luck with everything and defiantly put your extra money into the mortgage. It will be worth it.

wantabetterlife

SMF2, MummyOfOneChild and Baby Steps thanks for your posts. FIL has had a few days casual work since redundancy, so he is not as bad as some, hopefully it will develop into something more permenant for him. Fingers crossed.
MOOC (hope you dont mind the shortened version...lol) i still cant believe woolies is closed, its one of those shops you remember from childhood as i just loved the pic n mix . Did you get another job ok?
Baby steps i have been reading your diary aswell , i was a bit embarassed to start a diary because our mortgage is soo high in comparison to most other here....so welcome to the 100k plus club..:rotfl::rotfl:. Dont worry too much about OH as i think it takes them a bit longer to see the light...it took mine over a year.

Have eventually got around to listing 9 items on ebay...only have about another 20 to go !!!. The downside is i have become completely obsessed with checking if i have any bids on...i even get majorly excited if i have watchers...i really need to get a life :rotfl::rotfl:

WABL xo

mummyofonechild

Hi WABL, I have no objection to you abreviating my name. Couldnt think of anything else at the time. Yes within 6 weeks I got another job, in the same woolies building but for a different company and working fulltime as opposed to part time. Over half of the new staff were ex Woolies old staff so after the emotional rollercoaster there was a happy ending. That life experience was my lightbulb moment and has encouraged me to join the MFW 2010. Hope you and yours are well xx

philgee

Just found this thread. I'm very interested in getting our mortgage reduced, but am trying to get everything else straight first, but am inspired by the OP! :money:

We've had a couple of failed attempts to get our finances in order, but I have now taken charge of all our accounts & cards - I now have a budgeting spreadsheet set up, stretching into 2011 with absolutely everything recorded, including annual events like Christmas, Birthdays, car servicing etc. I also check our current account once a day to check which payments have cleared, and the spreadsheet is then updated to show me the actual account balance, and the "real" balance (i.e. what we really have left, after all our payments will have cleared).
We have only been doing this for 6 weeks now, and so far, with a bit of juggling, we have freed up over £500 of wasted money each month! I have also managed to clear the overdraft, pay off a store card that my wife had (have also cut it up!), cleared our Next account & also sorted out her credit card, which was only ever meant to buy the groceries and be cleared every month (my wife no longer carries her debit & credit card, as she will readily admit to having no control over her spending). We now have £50 a week pocketmoney between us to cover extras, kids bus fares & treats, and things like lottery, of which we normally have at least £10 left over, so I withdraw less the following week.
We do have just over £3k on credit cards, which is my next priority - this is split over 2 cards, both on 0%, and I am paying £75 a month on these currently. I am saving the saved wasted money as we are going on holiday this year and this will mean I don't have to put it on my credit card (will possibly use the card for the extra protection, and then clear it as soon as the bill arrives).
Also, our fixed rate with the Nationwide ends in July, so will be going on to their BMR of 2.5% :j. This should free up around £150 a month to get the credit cards cleared down faster, and I also have some shares in my employer which I am considering selling, although not too sure as most analysts as saying buy or hold atm :think:.
But feeling good about the future!

wantabetterlife

Hi Philgee, thanks for posting and goodluck on your journey. It has taken a few attempts for us to get on track aswell. Like you my OH does not carry any cards :rotfl::rotfl:....as he looses all self control with the spending and previous purchases have included a treadmill, trampoline and 2 flatscreen tvs :eek:....all of which were impulse buys. Nowadays it is "considered purchases" only .

This month and next are really not that good finance wise due to rates bill, car insurance and bedroom furniture all being paid...so think the overpayments will be at a minimum.....oh and there is also a short break abroad for best friends birthday.
Spent most of today doing batch cooking in the slow cooker in an effort to get organised as next week i am back to work full time :(
On a positive note 4 items i listed on ebay have sold for £22 before postage .
WABL

pammyj74

I absolutely hate it when I cant OP, its like an obsession and this month I am tempted to dip into my emergency fund to pay that £100 to get me below £80k. I have to have strong willpower not to do it lol, and I tell myself if I do I promise to replace it next month haha

wantabetterlife

Hi Pammy, I see in your signature you have got below the 80K mark, WELLDONE:j:j.
The only overpayment this month was the standard one of £45 and the mortgage is now starting with 157...yeah....still massive but at least we are going in the right direction.
For anyone who has read this diary from the start you may remember that in an earlier post i mentioned how me and OH lost almost £25k in a property development :eek::eek:, however there has been an ongoing case were we had sued the solicitor involved for professional negligence... i never mentioned it before because i didnt want to tempt fate and honestly didnt think anything would come of it because this all happened a couple of years ago.......BUT we have just been informed that they have offered a settlement of almost 11.5k!!!!
I know we have still lost a lot of money but i am just so relieved to be getting anything back because we had both resigned ourselves to the fact that it was gone forever...
So the next question is what to do with the money....and yes you guessed it there will be a big fat overpayment to the halifax once it is in the bank...if i have done my figures right it will shave another 2.5 years off the mortgage :j:D:j.
Have a good bank holiday weekend everyone
WABL

pammyj74

That is brilliant news. bet you are relieved hun. :T
Make sure you dont get any ERCs OPing a lump sum like that.

yes its great to be in the 70's now haha. next month OPs will only come from extra earnings as I have literally about £50 spare. May and June I want to get a few things for our hols in July (sandles, kids shoes mostly)

setmefree2

Good News :T:T:T