Can I join the MFW Club....Please??

keza

Hey Mrs Limpy-Jim, Just read your diary - i am just starting out on the MFW ride! you are doing so fantastic! those numbers look great and must really help the motivation!! xx

:j

limpy-jim

Thanks Keza - Good Luck with your journey!! Ours starting was a real ' lightbulb moment' that and credit cards etc - 16 months on and we are still paying off in full each month and have vowed never to get into debt again. It feels good saving and making these extra payments, especially when you see what a huge difference it makes to the interest.

limpy-jim

Been a while since I posted - just had a wee read at some other diarys so thought i better bring mine up to date!

We are still managing to make the maximum £444 overpayment every month - hubby got another job with more hours, so meeting the full o/p from his wages and trying to save the rest ( although it is mostly going on monthly spends - birthdays, holidays etc)

I have started my Gumtree Quest and sold 3 things with hours of putting them on - so that is £65 so far in my Santa fund. I still have a few things listed and had a couple of emails today so fingers crossed i get some more sales. I have a few items for Ebay, so will maybe try and get organised to put them on this weekend. Going to put all proceeds into Santa fund to save a bit when the time comes ( although do have a lot of 'boots sale buys' in my loft so that cuts down on mindings for folk)

I am also trying to reduce my weekly spends, by lifting a specific amount of money out of the bank on a Friday and making it last till the following Friday. So far every week I have had approx £20 left over so putting that away for Visa Bill as fuel goes on that ( get Nectar points on it) This was the only week there was nothing left, but kids are on their summer holiday and took a day out to the City yesterday so had train fairs, lunch and open top bus tour. Went to the Castle too but have family membership for that so free and 20% off in shop and cafe too. Over the next few weeks I may have to increase what I take out as it is the holidays, but it certainly makes me think twice about popping to the shops.

I still spend hours fiddling with my spreadsheet and it is amazing the difference every wee payment makes. We have now knocked 49 months off our mortgage and when we make our July o/p next week it will be 51 months!

Although DH and I are fully on board, our thoughts are usually met with ' why would you want to do that' - and 'you have to live your life' I fully agree with living my life , but we are happy with the life we have and so are our kids. We have a lovely house and have family days out and time together. That is important to us.

Well I will now update my signature - but good luck to every one with their journeys!!

Ayeshalush

You are doing so well!:T:T It is so motivating seeing the end date of the mortgage creep closer isn't? I'm always playing about with my spreadsheets too:D.

If you are happy with the life you are leading at the moment, then just let all the negative comments go over your head. Just think how well you are going to be able to live when you are MF:D, and you've not had to do without too much to get there.

I do exactly the same as you - I lift £30 each week to have in my purse for 'spends' - lunches out, pint of milk from the corner shop, etc and anything left at the end of the weeks goes into the mortgage pig. It soon mounts up.

:eek:You mentioned the S word! Santa!:D Suppose I can't keep ignoring it for ever - will need to get some plans in place for doing it as cheaply as possible, while still being able to give my friends and family nice gifts and have an enjoyable festive season.

Keep up the good work.:D

A
xx

limpy-jim

Thanks A !!!

You are right about the negative comments - Hubby and I were talking about it today, saying how easy it would have been this summer to book a nice holiday abroad for the kids - but we had a good holiday earlier in the year ( due to a small windfall) so that will do us - got a camping trip planned for this week for a few days so nice and cheap and the kids will love it! I think in 4 or 5 years time it will be so satisfying to have a fab holiday when we have no mortgage to pay!

Sorry about the S word - but I cant believe how quick this year has gone so far - and C will be here before we know it!!! :P

limpy-jim

Well hubby's pay day today - so managed another £444 o/p - I love it every few months instead of just knocking the 1 month off it does 2!! We are now looking at 51 months early - that has been in the year since we started our MFW challenge! I still wish we had started it years ago, but making a good inroad into it now - soon ( October) we will be at the under 50k figure which is brilliant considering we started at 65k!

For all those out there that are thinking about being a MFW - go for it!! You will be so pleased with yourself!!

Hurdler

limpy-jim wrote: »

our thoughts are usually met with ' why would you want to do that' - and 'you have to live your life'

Of all the people I have told about my MFW aspirations - only ONE person has been like that - and she's lately been a bit snidey about pretty much anything I do... so I paid her no mind!!!
As addictive as this is - you're right - you also will find that you will occasionally have treats - let's face it, after this week in the news - life is too short - but then it's too short to have a millstone of a mortgage.
You keep it up, limpy-jim and I look forward to reading your diary :T

limpy-jim

Thanks Hurdler - There's nowt as queer as folk as they say!!

Folk like that are best left to stew in their own juice I think. One of my friends was at party recently with cake all shaped like a house - It was a 'My House is Finally Mine Party' lol - I think that would be great - all the snidey folk could go in one corner!!

We still do well with treats and days out, but maybe just dont waste money on 'stuff' like we would have done in the past. We loved our camping trip last week as did the kids so hope to go again in September - give them a campfire , a pokey stick and they are delighted!

Thanks for reading

limpy-jim

Wow came across my old thread and thought I would get back into it again.

Been reading through the dfw board to get ideas and inspiration to declutter and ebay. Need to check my figures, but 2 years on we are still paying the maximum amount extra we can each month. We now owe under £40,000 and have knocked 72 months off our term. I have worked out if we keep going this way , we should be mortgage free in 3 years time !!! I will check the figures on my spreadsheet ( it is on laptop and tend to use ipad for net) and update my signature.

My hubby was lucky enough to go from a part time temp minimum wage job, to a full time permanent one and a better rate of pay, so we just count the overpayments as one of our outgoings now. We still pay £444 as an overpayment on top of our £412 mortgage payment.

We didn't make any more 10% overpayments in January of 2012 or 2012 that our deal allows as when we did this, the amount we could overpay each month would drop each year, so I worked out we were better sticking to the £444, only makes a difference in a few months in terms of being paid off quicker too.

Fixed deal comes to an end July 2014 and by then we should be under £30000 with about 80% equity so hope to get a good short term deal till we can lay it off completely. Still on track for eldest son finishing school and maybe going to uni which was our plan.

Thanks for reading.