£161,044.25 reasons to be mortgage free

clearmydebts

Hi,

I just want to wish you the very best of luck on your MFW journey. I will be subscribing as I hope to make an overpayment this year and then be able to start properly in 2011.

wantabetterlife

Thanks clear my debts, you have done brilliantly with clearing the your debt so far... hence the name i guess . Last year i was on maternity leave so couldnt focus properly on the mortgage due to SMP:eek:. I see you have a baby fund set up, as soon as i knew i was pregnant i started putting money away every month to try and bridge the gap. Its amazing what you can do when you have to!! We also managed to clear about 3.5k of debt last year and set up an emergency fund so anything is possible. I am determind to to turn things around this year as we are so sick of our pay been eaten up by mortgage interest and living from pay day to pay day. Heres to 2010 :T

clearmydebts

wantabetterlife wrote: »

Thanks clear my debts, you have done brilliantly with clearing the your debt so far... hence the name i guess . Last year i was on maternity leave so couldnt focus properly on the mortgage due to SMP:eek:. I see you have a baby fund set up, as soon as i knew i was pregnant i started putting money away every month to try and bridge the gap. Its amazing what you can do when you have to!! We also managed to clear about 3.5k of debt last year and set up an emergency fund so anything is possible. I am determind to to turn things around this year as we are so sick of our pay been eaten up by mortgage interest and living from pay day to pay day. Heres to 2010 :T

I am not looking forward to going on to SMP but we hope to have 5K saved by the time the baby arrives so that should cushion us until I get back to work. Out of that money I will be able to pay off some of the debt every month. Just want to get rid of it now and move on to overpaying the mortgage!

I'd say it will be so motivating for you to see the mortgage interest decreasing. I am afraid to look at mine yet, as need to get rid of the debt first!

Button21

Hi there.

You have £250 for social, £50 for alcohol and £50 for takeaways.

That comes to £350, which is more than 10% of your budget! Is this an area that you could cut down on??

I know a social life is important, and we have to have a life, but my treat is a take away once a week and one meal out a month!! Ok, am I sad???!!! Yip, probably!! I shop in M&S though and buy their meal deals for a tenner, so that is an extra wee treat as well.

Also, I went to M&S tonight around 4pm and got lots of half price food! Could you perhaps start eating in more, with say, a M&S meal deal for a tenner??

I know it seems daunting, but I am honestly a budget Queen, and if you put your mind to it, so could you! I shop for Christmas all year round when I see a bargain!! My only problem is forgetting where I put things, but I now have a designated "present cupboard" and Christmas this year cost me I would say £250 max! That included 2 kiddies Santa presents!

I also recyclye alot, ie unwanted presents..........I just put them in my cupboard and give them away for school raffle prizes etc because I always like to contribute to my kiddies school.

Honestly, once you get on the bandwagon, you'll catch the bug! I have been careful for years but I think it's just my job that makes me that way.

Good luck and I'll look forward to following your thread and helping you along the way!

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Button21

Can I ask you......what was your property deal that went wrong?? Is there no way you could salvage anything from it by selling it on at loss at all??

wantabetterlife

Thanks Button21 for your posts. About the property investment, that wasnt actually an investment....... Me and oh, in our niavety decided that it would be a good idea to purchase not one, but two, off plan apartments and paid a 10% deposit (25k). To cut a long story short our deposits were given to the developer who later went bankrupt and the apartments were never built. The site was sold to pay back the money the developer owed to the bank but the unsecured creditors, ie us!!!! and every other poor unfortunate that handed over there money got diddley squat :mad:. Honestly, I actually feel sick even writing about it and stupid for taking such a risk in the first place and not researching it properly :mad:. Regarding the SOA, i know the social side of the budget is a bit extreme! The thing is im not exactly sure how much we spend but have estimated on the genorous side and will see how we fair out when we examine the spending diary at the end of the month :eek::eek:. I have just started the present box idea this year and am looking forward to seeing if it actually works for me. Am determind to come in under budget on the grocery spends, this is easier for me to control because i do all the shopping. The one good thing about the snow is that oh has had no golf and so far this month have spent no money from the social budget . Anyhoo, we are continuing to feed the mortgage pig, just got another £10 tesco voucher from surveys and £2.50 from quidco. :j:j

Button21

Hi wantabetterlife! Was your off plan in this country?? I presume you bought two with the intention of flipping one before completion??

I have a friend who is a senior risk analysist (think that's how you spell it?!) for a HUGE UK company.....he earns mega bucks as he is at the top of his profession, and he did exactly the same thing as you!! So, if a top risk thingiemabob can make a bad decision.....and trust me.... he thought he did his homework, then so can anyone! Prob not much of a consilation to you, but you aren't alone.

Try and not let past mistakes hold you back.

Button21

Hi,

Just a short post to say I'm sorry if I made you re-visit an unhappy place when I asked about your investment. Here is my bad decision story.....

I have worked for my employer for 15+ years, and have dilligently took out share plans each year, which was deducted from my salary at source. In 2008 I had built up a portfolio of £50k - this is what my shares were worth in 2008!! Yipee...I thought....this is my kids university fund, or their first home fund, or my retirement fund!! Yes!!! The only way is up!! I am safe and secure, and protecting my families future.

Today, they are worth just over £2k!! Hindsight is a fantastic thing, but unfortunately we aren't blessed with it.

Button x

wantabetterlife

Oh button, so sorry to hear about your shares, im sure you are totally gutted! Yes, hindsight would be wonderful . I think loads of people have similar stories due to the recession and we have all been affected one way or another. Lets hope 2010 is a good year for both of us BTW are you a MFW?

MSE news
Car service cost £80 which was fine but found out i need THREE new tyres before MOT next week :mad: The joys of having a car!

Grocery challenge seems to be going well so far. Went to tescos today for a big shop and only cost £48:j. I think i am a tesco value expert by now as i must have tried every product in the range.... lol. As we speak OH is sitting beside me drinking a cup of "value" tea. Of course he doesnt know this, bless him he thinks he is drinking tetleys finest.......:rotfl::rotfl:.

Button21

Hi wantabetter life! Am I a MFW?? Well, I'm guilty of saying I hadn't really thought about that until finding this thread!! My mortgage is just under £130,000 - I have posted on another thread about it - the cutting tax one under "Tax on Beneficial Loan".

I currently have 4 x my salary (£44k) on staff rates of 0.5% (base rate) and the remainder on a public rate of 1.19% above base. I am on interest only just now as I am on such a good deal, but am saving the rest into a 3% savings account (think this is the best thing to do at the present time???...........any comments/thoughts much appreciated anyone!!!)

I have the problem however that my tax code has now reduced to 205 - this is because of my beneficial loan as aparently HMRC take into account the whole of your borrowings, not just the staff proportion. I am considering paying off the staff part (recent inheritance which would just about cover it), and therefore won't have a beneficial loan any more to be taxed on. The whole situation is very confusing for me, but I have received some excellent advice on this forum from other members.

Again, any thoughts/comments/anything basically!! would be greatfully appreciated!!

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