Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Still plodding on with the bathroom switch over, all tiles, toilet and shower etc. fitted etc. Just decorating and lots of bits and bobs to fit and finish. They are now back at their proper booked in work so it will be done weekends One has unexpectedly turned up today to get ds1's room finished so he MAY be able to move on tonight fingers crossed

Just been writing a list of expenses for the rest of this year. It's not very mse :rotfl:

We have a 4 night cruise booked for November (booked well over a year ago and already paid for) but petrol to Southampton, cruise parking and spending money are not.

One night in a very posh hotel in bury st Edmonds the same week with best friend and her dh. - it will be eating out and cocktails for two days!

Spending money for the girls holiday in Tuscany

Xmas day out with best friend in December - breakfast , lunch , dinner, cocktails , show

Xmas presents

Proms in he park day out , coach, food , booze

Dhs birthday, not budgetted for - present and meal out and drinks with friends from work ive organised as a surprise



We have £1000 in premium bonds for this lot which will not touch the sides

I think realistically ive set my budget too tight and unless I cut out some of these expenses (whuch I don't really want to!) we will end up dipping into the mortgage ops. That is really not motivating.

I have been messing about with my budget for months now and am still not happy with it, I can't seem to find the right balance between oping to get rid of it asap and spending.

I think it may be we are near to the end now and I more secure to spend a bit more and do more. Having a mortgage of under £50k seemed a million miles away when I joined in 2010 we have got it down from close to £180k and have had a loft conversion of over £30k too, although we have have a lump sum from my parents of £60 k which made a massive difference, it's still been hard though.

Today is the day to properly set a budget so I stop stressing over it am done swapping whatever I decide to do!

As the term is under 2years now (hopefully!) it's reasonable to set a long term budget for that length of time too, including all the dearer things we may end up doing and I don't want to budget for monthly to keep the term shorter- driving lessons, summer holiday etc.

Wish me luck

Firegirl

Your July update looks great! Look at the amount you have reduced your mortgage. Well done!

newgirly

Very kind firegirl thank you

Plans underway, being the Luddite I am its scribbles on an A4 pad hopefully back soon with a fabulous -not to be changed again- plan

newgirly

Mortgage term plan not finished yet -too many things to budget for :eek: but as it's the 1st today, it seems a good time to set a grocery budget challenge :

£400 for August , its a tight one but Dd and her bf have beeen staying at his most of the time lately due to the building work, plus I'm now shopping almost fully at Lidl and Aldi, plus of course I'm eating less on WW

Moneyfordreams

How long have you officially got left on your mortgage term? is it a few years? can you relax a bit? And plan to enjoy your trips and not worry about them? Easier said than done I guess.

CathT

Could you set a plan a, b and c with a bit more wiggle room in plans b and c. Then at least you have the original target to try and hit but the fallback of achieving the other plans. Yes it will feel amazing and you'll be in a great financial position to be mortgage free in two years but your children are at the age of expensive milestones. Yes you were gifted a wonderful sum of money to help you on your way but you now have the choice to slow down a bit due to the mammoth overpayments and sacrifices you have made up to this point.

newgirly

Hi moneyfordreams, the official end date is April 2022 ( 4 years 9 months) is still not bad going I know as when we started in 2010 the term was at about 33 years I believe.

Hi Cath, it's just become such a habit trying to get it cleared asap. Last year when we got the extra money I really thought I'd go and splurge on something but it didn't happen. I think I'm making up for it this year instead Dh is so easy going (or uninterested....) in the finances so it's up to me, I'm not good at sticking at things usually so it's a miracle I'm still here seven years later :rotfl:

Your idea of different plans is a great one!

I feel like one of the plans should be a "worse case scenario" which has to be the mortgage going to term -4 years 9 months I've brought my laptop , iPad, notebooks to bed with me tonight to get a bit of peace and quiet and go through some scenarios.

CathT

How are the plans going?

newgirly

About to start now cath, although have to go to WW for weigh in soon, last night was a wash out (literally!) as the boys had friends round for a poker night which was noisy , messy and the rain meant it was held downstairs instead of the garden.

newgirly

Not feeling great today so I've been a hermit and stayed in plotting and planning the finances and watching game of thrones

It's long winded and scribbled on paper with various things to pay for and different timescales for each one, I wanted to make it so the same amount is allocated for everything monthly, but each pot has enough for when I need it.

PLAN C: Official term left is 4 years 9 months - min. Payment £904.13

Lovely round figure could be July 2019 - 2 years exactly from now, and if I made the last payment on the 23rd July 2019 instead of the 24th when it's usually paid - it would be cleared when the boys are 18 as originally hoped for (364 days later but still they will be 18 :rotfl:)

PLAN B: 24 month term £2,084.13

This is still a longer term than I'm currently hoping for, but I want a realistic budget for lots of other stuff. The various savings pots need filling until Nov 2018, the pots will cost £670 pm to fill, from Dec 2018, the extra £670 can be overpaid as I won't need to fill pots for later in 2019 as fingers crossed we will be mf

PLAN C:

Oping the extra £670 then knocks off a whole month and is only £141.65 from knocking off a whole 2nd month from the term :T




So what I've not budgetted for :

Driving lessons, they all don't seem ultra keen right now, I don't want to fill a pot with a lot of money pm that can go to the mortgage. If any or all of them do want lessons, I have allowed more in my monthly spending budget for the family (£800) which I could squeeze it from, or I will happily slow down the ops.

House renovations that cost more than about £50pm, It can all wait unless it's cheap.




What I have budgetted for :

Beer festival :beer: Germany next August for dh and the boys, they will have just turned 18 and would like to go :T normally they are trip adverse but a boys holiday with dh, my brother and some of the guys from work is ok!

Xmas 2018

18/21 birthday celebrations and presents

Overnight trip to bury Xmas market this year

Mini cruise spending money for this November

Family holiday or city break 2018 (they will need persuading, if they won't go then we will go alone )

Xmas break for dh and I 2018 , could be another mini cruise and Xmas market

Tuscany girls holiday, hotel cost and spending money



This lot looks so excessive

Will post below for my information in more boring detail.