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XSpender - MFW in Training
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XSpender
Posts: 3,811 Forumite


Hello MFWs:hello:
I have been lurking and reading many of your diaries since becoming debt free in May this year and I am inspired to have a go at clearing my second mortgage and reducing my first mortgage to enable us to move up the property ladder with as small a mortgage as possible in 5 years’ time.
I have wanted to start a diary for a while but not sure if I will have anything very interesting to say:o but it will be a record of what I have achieved and hopefully will keep me focused.
My first goal is to clear the second mortgage by 31.12.13 and knock £821.90 off the mortgage balance (will make more sense when you see the balance below;)).
This year we have both turned 40 and become parents for the first time. I have been made redundant and DH has earned a big promotion. My redundancy enabled us to become debt free and have a decent amount of savings for the first time in our adult lives. :T
Our mortgage is with the N/Wide at 2.5% and the balance now stands at £121,821.90 and we can make unlimited overpayments.
The 2nd mortgage is with Barclays (F1rst Plus or whatever they call themselves these days) at 8.5% and the balance stands at £25,718.86 excluding October’s payment so about £25,500 roughly, and overpayments must be a minimum of 10% of the balance and there is a fee of £60 for each one. There are 71 payments of £430.60 left on this mill stone. Huge mistake taking this out which I batter myself over the head for every time I see the HUGE balance that never seems to go down much.:mad:
This the most expensive mortgage and will have the greatest positive impact on our disposable income once it is cleared but I am not convinced that we won’t touch the savings I am putting aside for the overpayments
so I want to pay something off the mortgage as I know I won’t be able to touch that. I currently have £115.04 saved for the first secured overpayment (well, you have to start somewhere;)) and I am waiting on £43 ish from TCB. Tomorrow I will ring the BS to increase my DD by £41.06 which rounds the mortgage up to £300/month starting from November.
My other goals for 2011 are to save £1500 for a holiday to see my Dad who lives in France so doesn’t get to see DS very often and £1000 towards Christmas and stuff that needs doing in the house. We are getting a new kitchen fitted next week and I would like to replace the fridge freezer and get it built in later in the year and the living room, bedroom and bathroom will need a lick of paint.
I am still an XSpender in training. We have loosened our belts a little over the last few months as our financial circumstances have improved and we need to get back to our MSE ways and keep our sticky mitts off the savings account. This internet banking makes transferring money far too easy:o.
My first task is to get to grips with the GC again and start a store cupboard challenge to use my stocks up and stick to a spending budget.
Oh my! I have written a right load of old waffle there, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading.:)
I have been lurking and reading many of your diaries since becoming debt free in May this year and I am inspired to have a go at clearing my second mortgage and reducing my first mortgage to enable us to move up the property ladder with as small a mortgage as possible in 5 years’ time.
I have wanted to start a diary for a while but not sure if I will have anything very interesting to say:o but it will be a record of what I have achieved and hopefully will keep me focused.
My first goal is to clear the second mortgage by 31.12.13 and knock £821.90 off the mortgage balance (will make more sense when you see the balance below;)).
This year we have both turned 40 and become parents for the first time. I have been made redundant and DH has earned a big promotion. My redundancy enabled us to become debt free and have a decent amount of savings for the first time in our adult lives. :T
Our mortgage is with the N/Wide at 2.5% and the balance now stands at £121,821.90 and we can make unlimited overpayments.
The 2nd mortgage is with Barclays (F1rst Plus or whatever they call themselves these days) at 8.5% and the balance stands at £25,718.86 excluding October’s payment so about £25,500 roughly, and overpayments must be a minimum of 10% of the balance and there is a fee of £60 for each one. There are 71 payments of £430.60 left on this mill stone. Huge mistake taking this out which I batter myself over the head for every time I see the HUGE balance that never seems to go down much.:mad:
This the most expensive mortgage and will have the greatest positive impact on our disposable income once it is cleared but I am not convinced that we won’t touch the savings I am putting aside for the overpayments

My other goals for 2011 are to save £1500 for a holiday to see my Dad who lives in France so doesn’t get to see DS very often and £1000 towards Christmas and stuff that needs doing in the house. We are getting a new kitchen fitted next week and I would like to replace the fridge freezer and get it built in later in the year and the living room, bedroom and bathroom will need a lick of paint.
I am still an XSpender in training. We have loosened our belts a little over the last few months as our financial circumstances have improved and we need to get back to our MSE ways and keep our sticky mitts off the savings account. This internet banking makes transferring money far too easy:o.
My first task is to get to grips with the GC again and start a store cupboard challenge to use my stocks up and stick to a spending budget.
Oh my! I have written a right load of old waffle there, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading.:)
Save £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.75
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.75
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Comments
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pinching this post for updatesSave £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.750 -
Hiya XSpender!
Good luck on saving up those mortgage OPs! I'm sure the thread will help you stay focussed and on track :beer:
Re: Storecupboard - we've been doing our own little mini storecupboard challenge this month - we have been to the shops twice spending overall about £60, but have mostly been eating from the freezer (lots of whoopsied meat stashed in there) and cupboards. I've been so surprised how much we've saved (our normal grocery spend is about £80 a week!!! for 2 people! eek!) and to be honest we haven't even made a dent in the cupboards :j
Anyway, I will be watching with interest!
KolaKubeMFW Sept 2013 Starting balance: £101160.59 25 years :eek:
OPs 2013-2014: £64.33MFW #78
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Hi KolaKube
Wow! That's a great saving you've made. I think half my trouble is I like to cook and bake and make new things so I have every baking ingredient and herb/spice known to man!
I also have 6 tins of black eyed beans and I only know one recipe using them and we haven't had it this year:o
Thanks for the words of encouragement:T
XSSave £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.750 -
Hi XS
Welcome to the MFW boards and congratulations on becoming a mum !
I'll look forward to seeing your progress.:)
IrisI can't be bothered updating this anymore0 -
The heating is on the blink again:mad: It goes off and then wont come back on again even on constant and with me fiddling about with the thermostat. DS room themometer was blue last night so I had to put blankets on him. He usually sleeps in one of those sleeping bags as he is such a wriggler but luckily he kept them on all night.
I will have to call BG out again as I am on a service plan. I just worry that they will get sick of been called out and condem it as it is at least 15 years old and my neighbours was last year:eek:
Only spent 90p on parking yesterday as I went to the 1st of 3 weaning classes at my health centre. This was the first time I have been to anything with other Mums. It was quite interesting and you get loads of freebies such as a hand blender:D
Hoping for a NSD today and will ring the BS later to increase the DD. Tried to speak to DH about the new proposed new budget yesterday but he was not taking much notice TBH. (inserts rolly eyed smiley)
98p added to the overpayment savings from 'save the change' on my current account.
Chose the tiles and worktops for my new kitchen yesterday and it is getting fitted next Thursday and Friday. I am so excited:D:D:D:jSave £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.750 -
Welcome Xspender.
I hope your heating is just an iffy thermostat.
Have you done an SOA?? I think you should. What i am doing is thinking of mortgage as you do debt on the DFW board and fling everything at it. What i also think you should do is if your SOA allows open a regular saver somewhere so you are getting a little interest on your savings. lloyds one is 5% gross. I appreciate thats alot lower than your 2nd mortgage but when you also consider the minimum overpayment amounts and charge for doing so you are wanting to get a balance between paying off a chunk and the penalties involved.MF aim 10th December 2020 :j:eek:MFW 2012 no86 OP 0/20000 -
Hi LilacPixie
My SOA is a bit up in the air at the moment as DH new job is part basic salary and part bonus and we don't yet have a good enough idea of what he will be getting each month as he has only been in the job since mid August and the 2 big bonus months are Dec and Jan. Plus my mat pay runs out in Dec and I will be claiming JSA from then.
Once I have a handle on what DH will be getting I will post my SOA, earlier if I can see a pattern in his pay. I agree that it will be a good idea to get other MFW input as I never know if I am paying over the odds on insurance etc and any tips on saving money would be great. I also need to keep a better record of what wen are spending on what during this time.
I have a savings account with Santand3r on an interest bonus until June (I think:o) and an ISA with them also, although there is not much left in there and I can't top it up. I also have 2 internet savings accounts with Lloyds but these only pay a pittance.
I have been looking at regular savers so thanks for the info on Lloyds. Ideally I would like something that I have to put in a set amount a month and then can't touch for a year or so. That way it will feel more like a bill that needs to be paid and I won't be able to touch it.
I have rung the BS and the DD has been increased from November so that will be a £41.06 overpayment each month on Mortgage#1.:)Save £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.750 -
Welcome to MFW XS
Tis nice to meet you
I had a search for black eyed bean recipes for you to help get through those six tinsI found lots of curry ones but also a pie and a stew for you to try http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/aromaticblackeyebean_73019
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/gorecs6.html
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/solo5.htmlCurrently studying for a Diploma - wish me luck
Phase 1 - Emergency Fund - Complete :j
Phase 2 - £20,000 Mortgage Fund - Underway0 -
Nice to meet you too SmlSave. Thanks for those recipes, I especially like the look of the pie and have everything in to make it so will add that to the meal plan for next week as I have a couple of gaps to fill.
DH has been on a racing day today with work where he gets to drive really expensive sports cars around a race track and has rang to ask if we can have a chinese as he will be really late back so that will be a tenner spent when I was expecting a NSD:o
Called the BG man out and he was here a couple of hours and replaced a couple of parts. That's the third time I have had them out since March so I am getting my monies worth;)Save £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.750 -
Not a great deal done today towards my MFW goals. I have £26 in change from my sealed pot to go in the Mortgage savings account but I will take that along when the kitchen fitters are here next week to get DS away from the dust and mess.
I have joined the store cupboard challenge with some like minded folk from the GC so we will see how I get on with that. Did my shopping today and apart from some beans on offer and I stuck to my list. I was tempted by a couple of other offers but they were not on the list so I didn't buy them.:A
Transfered £1.71 to the pot as this was the balance over the nearest £10. An idea I pinched from another MFW.:D
Going to C)stco tomorrow for the nappy offer, will try my best to keep DH spending under control in there. Also need to get 2m square underlay to replace a damaged bit in the living room.
DH is going to sort out the garage tomorrow so I can pack up the kitchen and move the boxes in to there for the new kitchen next week.:j
We are having friends over tomorrow for an American themed food night while watching X Factor and then to DB & SIL fo lunch tomorrow to play with their new puppy:DSave £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
Make £2021 extra income - £99.750
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