Mortgage free by Dec 2019...we shall see.

Engeroosi

I am really jealous that you live in Oz, my wife and I live in Scotland but would love the chance to move over there.

Keep up the good work on overpaying the mortgage. Maybe you could get a job for me or my wife with an employer that sponsors Brits!!!

Thrugelmir

liuhut wrote: »

I was going to send some of it home but the interest rates here are good (6.5%) against 3.19 on the mortgage plus I'm keeping an eye on the exchange rate and will send a bit soon.

More or less at a 52 week low. As soon as BOE raises interest rates here that will impact Aus $ rate (or OZ reduces for that metter). So while the rate differential looks good easily wiped by exchange losses. 52 week high is 20% above to put matters in perspective, or 6 years net interest gain.

liuhut

Wow not had chance to post for ages. DD is sick today so have had to take a day of work...she is having a nap so while I have a second I thought I would update my diary...I love being able to read back as see how far we have come!
So this months mortgage payment will be made next week with the regular op, we will owe 54000 which I'm pleased with.
The savings here have taken a bit of a hit, well they havn't gone up since last time I posted! but I have paid my uni fees and OH had to have $2000 spent on his teeth. I've also just got myself a chest freezer and have been doing lots of batch cooking, we currently have 50 meals in there (I'm trying to keep track!). The food is very expensive here but through batch cooking and being more careful I want to cut the food bill down from $800 a month to around $500...and hopefully a bit less. Today will be a ns day as home and have done myself cereal for lunch...its very hot today so dont really feel like eating anyway.

I'm also having another go at ebay with 7 things ending tonight and currently am making $100 so that can all go into the pot. Just really having a renewed focus on it all. OH is fully on board now which is good and means that it will probably happen! He wants to get it paid of in two years! I think it will be more like 4 but as my original aim was by Dec 2019 this is still really good going.
So my renewed focus includes...
Enter loads of comps
Sell stuff on ebay
monitor spending and food shopping
Do fun FREE activities over the summer and if we do go out, take food with us.
NO eating out (this links into my weight loss goals, Ive already lost one stone in two months and have one more to go).

Going to try to read a few posts now before DD wakes up but if I dont get chance, hope everyone is doing OK in their quest to be mortgage free!

L x

Sepa74

Hi Liuhut, it's good to hear from you. It sounds like things are going really well, and well done on the weight loss.

Don't be too down about using up the savings, it sounds like they've gone on precisely the things they were there to pay for! Imagine if you hadn't had the savings, your DH would either have been suffering, or you would have had a struggle to pay for the dental work!

liuhut

Thanks for the comments Sepa, your right about the savings, I have to start to think about it like that.
I've sold a few comp wins on Ebay and made $130. I've also been busy batch cooking, we make a load of Jamie Oliver burgers the other night ready for BBQ season! Going to have some in a sec!
The old tenants in the house have moved out and the agent has got new ones already! I'm really pleased about this as we have managed to get the same amount each month and should only have one or two weeks with no rent money, I work a month behind with the mortgage so in effect will have no break in money for the mortgage but will only have two weeks leway rather than 4 if they are ever late paying.
Worked out the money for next month, its a five pay month for us so fingers crossed we will be able to save more than normal.
Off to read a few diaries...looking for motivation and inspiration!
L x

liuhutOz

Thought that it is time to update my diary. The figure will be 44532 at the end of the month- we have paid almost 10k off in 6 months! I would love to be able to keep this rate up but not sure if it will happen.
We have had an expensive few months with one thing and another and the money needs to be put back into savings.

I sold some gold this month, been selling a few bits on Ebay, reduced elec DD and we have been shopping at a new fruit and veg shop that we have found to reduce costs. However, negatives....we signed up for the gym as oh had a health scare and we realised we need to exercise more (i'm thinking we will cancel after a year although we do enjoy going), fuel costs have gone up here so need to allow more each month.
OH is going to try to get more over time, i'm busy with uni (should help with future earnings) and am still entering competitions (won $500 last month!).
Feels like we are trying lots of things and although we could cut down on spending, we are enjoying life at the moment while trying to pay the mortgage down as well. Hope everyone else is enjoying their MFW journey!
L x

liuhutOz

Thought that I would pop in and update my diary as its been a while. Ive also just updated my final figure for the MFin3 thread.
In July 2010 the mortgage was 63500 pounds and today its ...41272.

I had hoped for 48000!! overpaid by 6700. We have also managed to save $18,000 which OH wants to send back to pay towards the mortgage, if we do that it will stand at 27,772 approx depending on exchange rates.

This board hasreally changed the way we spend and save. It has meant that we are now in a position to really consider buying in the area that we rent, something that 3 years ago really was not an option.
Not only has my OH got a better paying job, i'm doing a degree to increase my future earning potential & we really do make sure that we get the best deal on everything that we buy. I still do competitions and win something on average once a fortnight. We live near home and schools to cut down on fuel.
Ive updated the spreadsheet with next years spends, I'm hoping that with ops in the UK and saving in AUS we can be mortgage neutral by next christmas... something to aim for!!

Things I still need to work on is reducing the food spends, a weekly shop here can be $200 a week, I have found a wholesale butchers that helps.

Just wanting to wish everyone continued success with their MF journeys. Hope you have a wonderful christmas & new year.
L x

liuhutOz

so much has changed since I last posted on the diary. In the last few months we have sold our house in the UK after getting the mortgage down to 36000. On Saturday we went to an auction in Melbourne for a place that we never thought we would have a shot at getting. The place is on the best street in the area, on a little court. It has been rented out for a while so needs a bit of work, but we just love the place. Anyway, after tense bidding, we won!! for less than we wanted to pay too.
The only think is that we now have a mortgage that is 15 times bigger than the one that we had in the uk, in AUD$ though so I suppose not as bad as that sounds.
Once we get into the place and get settled with the new bills, I will be back to being a MF wannabe! I think I will probably need to start a new diary as there is no way I will be mortgage free by Dec 2019, although I suppose its good to have a goal!

Cheers
L

liuhutOz

We got the keys to our new house today! The move day is tomorrow so trying to get an early night. Will post details of the mortgage and MFW plans once settled!

liuhutOz

Ive finally made it back to my diary! We have had a very busy 8 months since we moved into the house with one thing and another.
I have sat down today and worked out the figures. When we moved in we owed $520,107. We took the mortgage over 30 years to set the repayments at an affordable amount. Today we owe $515844.96 so its gone down by 4 grand..a drop in the ocean on an amount that size. I really want to get this gone but realistically its not going to happen overnight.
A few positive bits are that the amount that we pay each month in interest is what we were paying in rent, so at least we are now paying towards our own place and will have something at the end of it. Also, I'm going to go full time soon (hopefully) and should get a rise of approx. $30k a year, this can all go towards the over payments. We also put $250,000 deposit down and the work that we have done in the last few months have increased the value, so if we did have to sell we could pull money out.
I worked out tonight that if I overpay by 560 a month then it will cut 8 years off the mortgage and I think I could do this even before I increase my hours, something to strive towards for the new year!
Off to read a few diaries to get me motivated for the New year!

Cheers
L x