Mortgage Free By 30

laurasavon

Hi Everyone

I'm new to the forum and have thought in my head for a while (since watching the pay off your mortgage in 2 years programme) that I want to pay off our mortgage by the time i'm 30 - 13th January 2015 so that gives me just over 5 years to do it. I'm not sure how realistic this is but i'm going to give it my best shot and hopefully with some advice from some of the experts on here and writing things down to keep track I may just achieve it.

Where I (we) currently stand - January 2010

Mortgage - £128,000
Loan - £9,500
Credit Cards - £5,000
Overdraft - £7,500
OH's Car Loan - £2,000

Unfortunately due to moving house (and getting married) in 2008 we have a big overdraft and some credit card / loan debt which needs to be paid off first. So this years target is to get all non-mortgage debt paid off then the next 4 years I intend to give my all in paying the mortgage off.

Unfortunately I was made redundant last week but i did have an internal interview on Christmas eve so depending on whether I get that I may be able to pay off the overdraft with my redundancy money (assuming i get another job quickly).

I'm also an Avon Rep and have 'plodded along' for the past few years just getting a little commission but covering my own toiletry / make up spending - this year i aim to do more leg work and earn some decent money from this (fingers crossed!).

I've registered for the mystery shopping as per a suggestion on another thread, which should be interesting as well as earning a little bit.

Tomorrow I plan to put a few things on ebay - had a sort out of old clothes last week and although the majority will go to the charity shop a couple might earn us a few pence.

I'm also going to empty the change jar - i've had it a while but never get round to counting it up |(there must be over £50 in there), do most people bag it up and take it to the bank or use the coinstar machines?

The food shopping, i couldn't tell you exactly what i spend a month but my friend was horrified with me when i said i'd bought a couple of magazines to make my online delivery over £100 so i could get free delivery - apparently they spend £30-£40 a week for 2 adults and a baby (theres only me and hubby in our house), so i've set myself a £250 a month target - we'll see how realistic this is!

Clothes, I have a wardrobe (well 2 wardrobes) full of clothes most of which don't see daylight (the clothes mentioned above which were sorted out were ones that didn't fit into the wardrobes!), so I aim to spend under £100 this year as part of the challenge thread.

If anyone has any suggestion on how to make extra money then please help me

I'll try and update this as often as I can and fingers crossed mortgage free for 30!

davenkelly

Hi,

Welcome :-)

i'm a newbie too, and have suscribed....so you now have a reason for updating :rotfl:

i'm sure the wiser ones will be long soon to offer more advice, but i would consider a SOA especially on the DFW board.... as their BRILL for offering more saving/cutting back advice!!!

anyhoo..just wanted to say good luck...and i look forward to following your journey

laurasavon

thanks DavenKelly, quick question though - what's SOA:question:

wantabetterlife

Hi Laura, an SOA is a statement of affairs which basically lists your income and all your expenditure including secured and unsecured debts and lets you see areas that can be trimmed back etc. There is a link but i dont know how to post it but im sure somebody else will be able to do this for you. You seem very determind and i also found that whenever i watched that programme about paying off your mortgage in two years, something just clicked. Even though i am only starting to do something about it know, that programme kind of planted the seed. I have also just started a diary and will be following yours with interest. Welcome and goodluck:D

laurasavon

Thanks wantabetter life, i'll look to do my SoA once I find out whether I get the job I had an interview for Christmas Eve (I should find out towards the end of this week).

laurasavon

Ok all, day 2 of my quest to pay off my mortgage by age 30!

I'd like some advice / suggestions on what to do....

The company I worked for until last week (but could potentially be going back if I get the job as per the above post) had a sharesave scheme, the scheme starting Jan 2009 I paid in £250 per month - therefore i've paid in £3000 during 2009.

Now the option price at which we can buy shares (in Jan 2012) was around £2.20 so I assuming I stayed in the scheme for 3 years I would have 4090 shares. However, the current share price is around 50p so for £2045 I could buy the same 4090 shares - the only downside is with the sharesave I could have my money back at any time whereas with shares the price can do down as well as up as we all know!

So what do I do, leave my £3000 where it is in the sharesave account (I won't be able to contribute any more as i no longer work there) or cash them in buy £2045 of shares and put the other £1000 towards paying off some debts?

I've added a poll but feel free to add your comments also

laurasavon

Thanks to those whove voted so far, 50/50 stll a few days left on the poll though so hopefully a few more of you will help me decide

Rob71

Without being too nosey (OK I am!:o) who are the shares with, or what business is your old company in? Just wondering: it might give us a better idea of whether to stick or fold...

Hope the new year sees you getting the new job! All the best for 2010 and the start of your MFW journey!

laurasavon

Thanks Rob unfortunately I worked for a bank (please don't hate me), so I guess as the government are keen to bale out banks I can be fairly sure money money won't go to nothing but it could go down.

Am I allowed to name the company?

laurasavon

Thanks for all the comments so far.

I've made a good start today by listing a few things on ebay, going to see if I get any bids and if i do will list a few more bits later in the week.

I've also signed up to dooyoo and written some reviews as part of the Neutral Christmas challenge, also bought a few gifts in the sale from M&S online so they can be kept for birthdays throughout the year or until next Christmas.

And i've done my food plan for the week so should hopefully be saving a bit there.

Button21

Hi Laura,

I too save £250 per month - and have accumulated £3k! I have worked for the company for 15+ years and am at present looking into whether it is worth cashing in my share options. I certainly won't be buying shares at the option price of £2 odd when they mature, but am planning on buying some at todays price.

I have a couple of options which are waiting to mature, they smaller fully paid ones which are in the 5-7 year period. I am looking into cashing these in early, but aparently they recieve quite a good interest rate on top of the bonus payment.

I am intending looking into this during the coming week, as I have a small one coming out (£20 per month for 7 years) so will know better once I see what the final figure is, and will let you know my findings if you are interested? I am assuming that if you stay with the company, you will be entitled to keep your SAYE running? How many years did you take it over?

Button