Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

themadvix

Excellent news about DD’s job. But if she’s an intelligent and hard worker, which by all accounts she is, I’m not surprised they’ve given her more shifts!

newgirly

Thanks Vix that’s very kind,  I think it’s holiday cover next week but fingers crossed for more! 

I’m meeting best friend at the shops today, really looking forward to that as it’s been a low mood at home the last few days, not just me either. Not knowing what’s happening with wages and work is really hard. I’ve been wondering whether to extend the mortgage term in the near future, it will up the minimum payments from £133 (IO) to about £311 if I take a 25 year term if allowed. It slows down the paying off of the other mortgage which is the most urgent and we will really struggle to pay the extra as I’ll have to cut back even more. But means we secure a long term low mortgage payments while earning still. (We can get on Dh’s wages currently still) is it a daft idea? 

I’m not concerned about having a long mortgage as I’ll be going for it and oping when we can, but committing to a higher monthly spend is scary at the moment, but then so is having a 2 year term left while on IO now 😱

Anyway, both food spending and monthly / personal budgets are doing well. I’ve not spent anything of my personal spends this month, and we have £150 left in the grocery budget for July. Will need to pay for a takeaway for the boys birthday but should still be breaking even I think which is unheard of even with a much higher budget usually in July with all threes birthdays 🙂 

themadvix

I'm afraid I don't know what the answer is on the question of extending the term - I think only you could answer that, in terms of both how much you'd cope with the increased repayments and likelihood of getting jobs, even stop-gap ones, at the moment. But as you say, not having a plan for the end of the two years is pretty scary too. Sorry, not much help!

On the budgeting front though, well done! Just keep it up and don't be tempted 'because you've been doing so well'. Is the friend you're meeting one who is understanding? I hope so - I'm sure spending some time with her will help lift your mood a bit. 

Moneyfordreams

The safety feeling of not losing your home is massive. The term is just a number change. You can still keep OPing as much as able or change and reduce time scales when things are more stable or aim for mortgage neutral. £311 in the south is a small amount to find.   

newgirly

Hi vix, yes it was best friend who is great and even bought me a bunch of flowers after listening to me moan 😆 

Mfd’s I’m leaning toward extending the term I think for peace of mind longer term. I’ve just rung them and as we are two weeks away from the new deal kicking in they won’t do it as it might cancel the new tie in rate. So I looked it up and it’s dropped from 2.07% to 2.02% 😡 so I said I’m happy risk losing my tie in rate and start again, after speaking with a a manager they won’t let me! So I need to ring back in August 1st to go through affordability. I did ask and max term is 27 years for us which would mean a jump from £133.03 IO currently to £294.56 by my spreadsheet, a difference of £161.23 pm. That feels like it could be a good idea. 

Job hunting is not cheering me up, I can’t drive a lorry and am not a registered nurse which seems to be all that’s in the area here at the moment. Was thinking of some current account shuffling again as it was last done in January, but obviously due to corona they are not giving away free money 🤦🏼‍♀️ Better ideas needed 😂

Bargainhunter30

Have you considered matched betting? You could earn a few thousand within a couple of months with all the sign up offers. Team profit website is a great place to start x

themadvix

I’d second what bargain hunter said - you know I’ve been raving about it lately!

I thought it might have been your lovely friend - how lovely to buy you flowers!

 Pity about the jobs front - saw a full time hospitality position advertised here yesterday and thought of you, just a bit far to travel! Keep looking, I’m sure something will come up. X

newgirly

Hi bargainhunter30 thank you, now I’ve seen Themadvix doing well I might be brave enough to try it! 

Dh has taken the big car to be looked at as there is a problem, one of the reasons I didn’t want the thing! It’s a problem it’s had before so hopefully easily fixable. Then dh and dd are visiting the in-laws later although I’m debating whether to go still! 

I have been reading the mortgage free in three blog which I used to read years ago, after a break she has started posting again about a change in circumstances and the need to be proactive to achieve your goals. It’s just the pep talk I need at the moment as I’ve defiantly been wallowing a lot 🙄

As I don’t know if I’ll have a last three months work from August or not yet, I’m going to put some time into a bit of research into what positive things I could achieve either instead of or as well as that last bit of work if they do let me back.  First thoughts along those lines are:

• Check all direct debits AGAIN to make sure they are as low as they can be 
• Keep Spending (mostly groceries) low and use the extra time to cook a lot more snacks as well as meals as I feel like we don’t have much nice stuff anymore 
• Keep a spending diary and or confess here daily 😬
• Try and get a long term residential remortgage in two weeks time 
• Investigate free money options -matched betting/ surveys/bank accounts
• Regularly read mse diaries and frugal blogs for ideas and possibly start a little blog 
• Start selling on eBay 
• Think about what small business I could start with minimal start up costs 
• Keep moving with home improvements even if it’s tiny cheap or free things, I need to appreciate my home again as moving is not a viable option for us now unless it’s further away and that would make life hard for ds1. I’m thinking a few more plants inside the home, we have a very sparse conservatory that would look great with more, plus perhaps some creative DIY home makeovers and upcycles. 
• Start eating healthily and moving more, lack of both lately has not helped my situation.

Thanks all I can think of so far 😊

newgirly

Oh dear, great start to today and rubbish ending ☹️ Car went to the garage and still has the same problem afterwards, it could be a few hundred to fix. Went to the in-laws and fil’s newly diagnosed dementia seems worse than the last visit. Not a great atmosphere at home or at my parents when I visited them this afternoon. Then got a text from best friend (whom I saw for coffee and shops yesterday)  and her step daughter who lives with them felt ill  tonight and so got tested and immediately got the results that she has Covid 😱 Strange after all this time as she’s a London paramedic! Rest of the family going for tests tomorrow but she was at her mums since the end of last week, fingers crossed for everyone (Including us!) I’m going to struggle as dd is disgusted that I’m out a few about in the last few weeks a bit anyway, she gave dh an earful for getting his first haircut today 🤦🏼‍♀️

themadvix

Oh dear NG. Not a good day!

 With the dementia, know that there are always good days and bad days and they vary wildly - even towards the end my Nan would have days when she was very much like herself. So don’t worry too much - it might be he hadn’t slept well or was busy processing something else. The important thing is that he must take his medicine - that makes a huge difference in slowing the disease.

 On the Covid, does this mean you’ll be hearing from track and trace? Although I understood that they only contacted you if you’d been within less than social distance, which I didn’t understand. Will you all self isolate now? I guess that depends on your friend’s test results.

 What’s wrong with the car? is it something that can be ignored or not? Could you shop around for prices? Could you sell it even with problem and replace with something smaller and cheaper? Dare I say, is it something DH/the boys could have a go at fixing? YouTube is very educational.

I hope your friend’s test comes back negative and today is a better day!