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My situation, target too ambitious??
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Thanks Dr.Lou!
I'm totally obsessed with mortgage calculators and my spreadsheets!! Mr Pincher glances at my spreadsheets curiously every now and then and occassionally reminds me to update it but never says anything else! I was just thinking now that rather than spending hours playing with them I should instead spend the time actually earning a bit on the side to help pay it off :rotfl:
Like you my plan is to pay it off asap so we can have children but I don't think it would be realistic to pay it off earlier than 2013 and am worried about leaving it that late to try to conceive. Have done some calculations and think we may be able to have children and still pay mortgage off in same time span but I would have to go back to work full time as soon as maternity leave ended and money would be even tighter.
A guilty secret - exactly the way I feel! I think my parents may understand as when I was a teen I always told them my plan was to save enough to buy my own small terraced house without a mortgage but then house prices shot up before I'd saved enough! :eek: I did mention that I was thinking of making overpayments to one friend and she thought I was mad and she said what's the point in paying it off early as by the time paid off will be too old to enjoy yourself!?!
I think your reasons are the same as my reasons especially the borrowing cash :rotfl:
It's great to find I'm not the only person paying it off for security and also to help raise a family0 -
Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote:I did mention that I'm making overpayments to one friend and she thought I was mad and she said what's the point in paying it off early as by the time paid off will be too old to enjoy yourself!?!
MFWs must be a rare breed-LOL!
No, I think some of my friends think the same way, high earners - but high spenders too! They just would not see the point. I think since setting this goal I have been a lot more happier within myself as I could see a better purpose than spending any spare money on nonsense, and working toward a common goal has brought me and my OH closer somewhat I guess.
I am sure most of our friends must think we are short of cash as we drive fairly oldish cars, house and garden could do with a makeover, buy clothes in sales only (have to be mega cheap), do not play golf (although that is not to do with saving money - just don't fancy it- lol!) cook from scratch etc, and cannot see any obvious displays of wealth so we must be struggling! But to be honest I do not feel I miss out on anything, especially those mentioned above. I really love just simple things now, and will probably not change my habits much in the future.
Oh and one small tip - I don't know if anyone else does it too. At the end of the month when the pay comes in, I work out the expenses that are likely to occur for the next month. e.g CC bill, Car Tax, Insurance etc. and leave enough money to cover those as well as a small amount of general spending. We have a separate account for household bills and food and that is taken out by standing order. Any money left over I shove into the online saver with my bank (can move it in and out instantly if needed).
Therefore when we look at the current account and see only a little bit in there, I am reluctant to spend as it sort of tricks the mind that I have no money to spend, and I hate to move the money back from the savings account. I have been doing this for about 2 years, and save about three times more using this method than we did when our income was approx 30% more and just puttting aside any left overs from the end of the month:j .0 -
when we are ashamed to tell people how sensible we are being. I think it's actually really sad. I try to tell people at work, but as with you others they look at me as if I am mad, which is why I am sitting at my desk eating home made lunch rather than in the pub then buying expensive sandwiches.Three tips Miss pp - have you signed up for quidco, pigsback, mystery shopping etc? See the debt free wannabee board for details - every little helps! Also look at old style board for cooking & shopping tips & 'grabbit' & Boots boards for savings.Finally, re your plan to remortgage & reduce term - if at the time offset rates are competitive & I'd recommend you opt for one of these instead. The effect is teh same - you pay less interest and will be paid off sooner - but it means you can access the money if necessary in an emergency, e.g. if boiler blows up - you can lend money to yourself at a lower interest rate!!!! Could also be useful if pennypincher junior arrives sooner than expected!!!A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
Mortgage Balance = £0
"Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"0 -
this is a great thread.
I am about to turn 30 in 2 months and have a 20 year mortgage I am overpaying on that will release me in 15 years.
I can afford to up my over payments to £1000 per month resulting in a 6 year term but afraid to reduce the quality of life we lead.
Presently saving for 3 months off next year so putting by a grand a month feels great, excepting for an expensive car month just gone (£900)
My other reason for not going for it is that I am trying to increase my savings pots, got a couple of full isa's and a tessa which are fine but still keen to get over the £20k mark.
however with hindsight I maybe should have gone for an offset mortgage rather than the fix I am on, albeit on a nice low % but with a 10% cap on overpayments...
so.. to sum up I think I would echo and I shall be heeding some of the advice offered so far, if you can do it and live comfortably then go for it ! I am coming round to this idea once I have met my time off next year savings target.0 -
There's nothing wrong with setting goals no matter how lofty provided it doesn't cost you your focus if it appears you are going to overshoot a little.
Just think of that extra 1 yr 11 months as gloat time. It'll probably take you that long to get round everyone you know saying 'i am going to be MF in 1yr 11 months...i'm going to be MF in 1yr 10 months.....' :j0 -
Oi, you're hijacking my thread, lets talk about me!
Only joking. Glad people seem to have got some similar things to me to cope with! The whole telling people thing is funny. Even my very sensible parents would tell me to enjoy it while I'm young but I just hate paying £100s in interest each month!
I do have a few very non MSE habits which I enjoy and have spent considerable sums of money following.... It's the things that you're just "supposed" to spend money on because others expect it, but don't provide any real pleasure that really get on my nerves!0 -
I forgot to say well done everyone BTW!
And I share the graph addition, I have a double ended mortgage grid which I'm forever trying to reduce in size!0 -
My husband and I are trying to play catch up as we both got divorced in our early thirties, which had made us have to start again on the mortgage front.
But since taking out a £110k 25 year mortgage 3 years ago, we've managed to pay off just over £30k with overpayments and savings, and have set ourselves a target of paying the whole lot off in 10 years time from now. So we got ourselves a 10 year fixed mortgage (i.e. hopefully for the rest of our mortgage, so we know how much it will be), worked what overpayments we can make and it works out we can pay it off in the 10 years. So we're working towards that, whilst still allowing ourselves enough money to live comfortably and have a holiday, save for a new car etc. If we can do it sooner then we will, but it's *so* nice to think that we will have basically caught up to where we would have been, had we met when we were twenty-something, and that we should be MF before our mid-forties!
It also means that when all our other (undivorced, been together since they were twenty) friends pay off their mortgages, we'll be done too!0
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