Officially beginning our Mortgage Free journey!

SkintGypsy

Soooo, as this is the first month being debt free, and having commenced our MFW journey, I have continued with my moneysaving and have squirrelled away £500 for this months overpayment. This will be our first repayment of capital in a year and a half, so it feels great. We have a lot of catching up to do! However, I can't bring myself to transfer the funds. It's like, what if I need it? Mental.

We are on hols a week on Friday. We have plenty of spending money and have bought more or less everything we need, but I think I am going to hang onto the money until the end of the month just to be on the safe side. I am so cautious it's untrue!

Please tell me it gets easier?

Gypsy x

*Jellie*

Well done on getting that money saved for overpayment. I'm just starting here having been a Dfw so I don't know if it gets easier! I look forward to following your progress!

greent

lol! It gets easier to the point that you can almost go the other way if not careful - you can go 'I want to pay £x this month' and do it at the beginning and force yourself to live on minimum - but that's not something I'd recommend at all. Given your fairly recent job loss history in your household, I'd do a bit of both OPing/ building up emergency funds (my DH was made redundant twice last year)

Welocme and good luck! I look forward to reading your progress

SkintGypsy

Thanks jellie and greent. I think I will err? on the side of caution in the beginning just until I see where we are. Am planning on returning to work part time in may, but looks like I will barely be bringing home more than SMP for the next couple of years, or more if the funded childcare places end under this gov. Here's hoping for some whopping payrises instead!

mintedmatty

I agree with greent above, for the immeadiate future a mixture wouldnt harm at all, It is good advice building up an 'Emergency Fund' incase the unlikely happens. If I could offer one small piece of advice (as you can see from my signature our mortgages and salarys are hardly huge so feel free to ignore) the advice would be no matter how small or insignificant amount you pay off it makes a small dent in that outstanding amount! All those tiny payments can save a fortune over the term of a mortgage and make a big difference. all the best!

*Jellie*

I think you're right to be cautious but you do need to balance emergency savings with the OPs

SkintGypsy

Well I kind of lost my bottle, and I held onto my first £1k overpayment for longer than I should have. It was just so hard to commit it to the mortgage rather than having it sitting in my emergency savings waiting for the inevitable rainy day. But since the day didn't come, yet, I bit the bullet and paid it in. It felt goooood! So I paid in £500 and then, on a roll, I paid in another £500. So in total we have already paid down the mortgage by £2k. Really pleased.

We are due a bonus in the next couple of months, and then another sometime after Xmas. Since Xmas spending is already saved for, I am just in a quandary as to whether to overpay, or stick it in my emergency fund for now. I think I need to have a word with myself, as to get the most out of the money I should really be overpaying, but the cautious me really feels better with more money set aside. Ultimately, how much is enough? Will think on.

In other news, we finally treated ourselves to new flooring for the downstairs of our house. The pram being wheeled through the hall into the kitchen had predictably ruined the carpet, so we were always intending to put laminate down. It looks great, and all paid for in cash.

Anywho, baby crying. Sigh.

adwat

Hi

I like to have 12 months worth of mortgage payments set aside, as I figure if after that length of time it's my fault if I hadn't found another source of income! Bear in mind also that there is an upper limit in terms of savings for benefits (not sure what it is, as I've never had to claim, but it's worth bearing in mind). When I'd got my rainy day money together, I just pay as much towards the mortgage as possible, whilst sticking to a strict budget. Boring, but effective, and not long to go now before I can start blowing my monthly salary on whatever I fancy.

SkintGypsy

Adwat, that is some impressive mortgage overpaying! I think I may have seen somewhere that £6k savings is the limit, so I guess I will aim for that for now.

Seeing others on here with there similar sized mortgages and already massive reductions is sooooo frustrating for me. When paying off the debt we were able to commit £1k per month to it, so seeing it reduce was so gratifying. With the mortgage it feels like climbing a mountain, in flip flops! Working part time and paying for childcare on top will reduce my salary to about a third of what it should be, so the next four years, until baby is in school, are going to drive me mental. Still, my babies are my world, and since I'm doing it all for them, I guess I'll let them off!

Have been feeling quite frivolous these last few months, since paying off the debt, but I think we have that out of our systems now, so now to knuckle down and get back to the moneysaving.

After a few austere years, and my 30th coming up in Feb, I am kind of hoping to treat ourselves with a trip away without the kids. Always battling those inner spending demons. Grrrr!!!!!

adwat

Just pay what you can afford and pay regularly, you'll be surprised at how quickly it starts making a difference - not only that but you'll find extra savings once you start the process. You're only 30 so you'll be MF younger than me :mad:.

I think striking a balance is important especially if you have kids - I've sometimes felt a bit guilty about paying large sums off the mortgage rather than treating the family to a slap up holiday or whatever, but having said that they don't go without much and I kind of justify it by knowing they're not spoilt lol. Next year though and we'll be able to indulge them (and us!)

Good luck!
:j