Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

:eek: I have just got an illustration from the building society to go interest only.

We have decided to start saving for the loft to be converted, if we can save £1K a month it should take about 2 1/2 years. It does seem like a very long time, but I think it is the safest option if we are ever to make the house bigger.
I spent a while looking on rightmove as well and the cheapest 4 bed house where we are at the moment is £340K, ours is worth £211 according to the bank yesterday. So although I would love to move the difference in price is so massive I think we would be paying for it for the rest of our lives!

So the loft is the best option.
Once we sign the papers, the mortage payment will go from £1372 a month to about £440 , so there will be a surplus of £932. I will try and get that up to £1K. The new payments will start in January so I need to find a good savings acct before then , the nationwide online one looks ok so may try that.

I do feel a little worried about adding another couple of years on in reality to the length of the mortgage, but also a bit relived that we finally have a plan and we are going to stay.:)

SmlSave

Hi newgirly

The loft conversion is a tough one! It sounds like you love your house if your first thought is to convert it rather than move

No matter what you choose to do you can still be a MFW - we don't want you to leave us - as you still want to be MF, don't you? Perhaps an OP of 10p now and then :rotfl:To me the loft conversion will still require you to set yourself goals and targets to reach and will doubt add value to your property.

I think that switching to interest only and savings the £30k is a good idea, I doubt that you'd be able to get a loan with a decent enough interest rate.

Let us know what you decide.

SmlSave

just saw you've decided on your action plan!

newgirly

Thanks smlsave!

It is really scary to switch to interest only, and we have never been savers in the past, but there is no way I want my mortgage balance to go up. I will have to set a figure that I need to acheive which will have to be £12K per year, and I will be starting in january which is perfect timing.
If I save my target in the 30 months , it will be june 2013 which is one month before my twins' 13th birthday, so it would be great if they had their own rooms before they hit the nightmare teenage years then it will be let the fight begin - who gets the big room , who gets the box room!

newgirly

Have just been on museumworkers thread and there seems to be quite a few people wanting to set themselves new challenges for next year, so I thought i might do the same. I'm usually terrible to sticking at things but i'm going to give it a go next year.


TARGET 1


save £12,000 towards loft conversion
pay £ 3,000 off the 0% CC

Total yearly target of £15,000
(£1,250 per month :eek:)

TARGET 2

stick to £4000 challenge for groceries/clothes and presents.


TARGET 3

Lose 1 and 1/2 stones


Other things that I would like to try to do are, exercise, start doing some crafts and sell or throw away everything in the loft.

Nothing starts until January though as I intend to chill out drink baileys and enjoy christmas :xmastree:

museumworker

Just seen your plans for the new year, sound excellent! Good luck with the saving, I will still consider you an MFW as I consider myself one and have not actually paid an extra penny off the mortgage yet :rotfl:! Saving for your loft and paying for it in cash is the cheapest and most cost effective way of doing it. Plus you can earn interest on your savings in the meantime too . As you know, we are nearing the end of our loft conversion, it has been an absolute rollercoaster but is without doubt worth every penny, and I'm more than confident we have added more than value than we have spent to our house so will see it back if and when we sell . From the sounds of your figures earlier, so will you too!

Have a fab xmas - I'm not planning to become "me, but in a good year" until January either!

cha97michelle

Sounds like you are doing the best you can in your situation, and not a chance are you to wander off. Think of it as saving £80k on not getting a much bigger mortgage by moving, so actually very money saving.

pammyj74

I agree with Michelle, you are definitely adding value to your house in the long run and then if you do sell it in years to come you will have a lot more equity against whatever mortgage you have left (if any)
Sounds exciting that you have decided on a plan of action even if it does sound scary.
You can still use this diary on the MFW board as you are still saving towards your house/mortgage and you'll need a lot of support

newgirly

Thanks everyone,

I had'nt really been thinking about the fact it will add some equity to the house, it is hard to say how much though as we are a 3 bed terrace (at the moment), on a main road, with a small garden, so I think there is a cap for this type of house that people are willing to pay, plus the cost is going to be close to 30k.
Its not where we want to stay for the rest of our lives, but its the only option for while the kids are still with us unless we move to another town and commute them to school every day, but we live 10 mins walk from one of the best schools in the area, and walking distance to the station , with direct trains to london, so its probably more practical for them for schools/college/work etc.

I would love more outdoor space though, before we lived in this house we had a cottage in a village with a huge garden backing onto fields which was great, but too far away from everything and way too small for three small ones and all their stuff!
I'd love to go back one day, but prices will probably prevent that, theres a 1960's 3 bed house up at the moment for £650K, crazy.

Anyway, I'm going to do the online banking now, its far too early to be up but DH went to work at 4 am and the dog barked for half an hour after, so I gave up trying to sleep and made a cup of tea.
I have loads to sort out today, my friend and her two for tea after school, then I'm round a friends for a girls curryoke night :beer: so its probably good I'm up early.

newgirly

What a night, DS1 not well and slept in our bed with a high temperature. DH has gone to work, and is going to the O2 tonight so won't be back until 12 or later, then hes back to work at 4am.

I'm very fed up , am really feeling that I'm bringing these kids up on my own sometimes. DH is a great dad but just never here.

Ok , moan over!

Today we will all be staying in again as DS1 is ill, so I shall hang out on the MFW forums reading diaries and eating chocolate. I might attempt some surveys and look at how I'm going to manage the live on 4K challenge.
I'm so glad I have got sky movies over xmas, I'm keeping it for nov/dec then cancelling in advance for jan. Its been so worth it as I am recording so many films and we have been indoors so much this year due to a combination of snow/illness/only having one car now. So we will have another day of watching movies I think.