Wishing your life away?

FrankRizzo

Hi Folks,

I have been lurking for a while and been watching countless threads about mortgage free journeys. After I get married next year I am also going to start my mortgage free journey.

I currently do not have any debts and ive never been a frivolous character. It seems the norm for people on the board to OP their mortgage but offline it does not seem the norm.

My dilemma is that one part of me feels as if theres a danger that I am wishing my life away at a relatively young age (29) however another part of me seeks a hassle free life. Theres a lot of sacrifices to fast traking your mortgage payments and I know you have to get the balance right. However I still have this nagging feeling that maybe this is not the right thing to do as I could die in 8 years time and during that time I could have afforded a bigger house, a new car every 3 years and still be able to comfortably pay the bills.

I have no doubt that once I commit ill stay commited and enjoying seeing the debt drop however I just wanted to get some advice from you guys as to how to ease my "live for today and not for tomorrow feeling".

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread!

mummalove

Hello and welcome! Yes there is a definite balance of enjoying the now and also planning for the future. I think the older we grow, the more financial security plays a bigger part in our lives. Just down to you to decide what percentage goes towards the now and what percentage towards the OPs. Good luck with your MF journey and your wedding :T

cha97michelle

You just have to make sure you enjoy doing cheap things to get your fix both ways. :rotfl:

Seriously, while young and with no kids, best to try and live a bit, but the overpaying gets harder once kids appear and they get bigger.

I see overpaying as my way of making sure we are secure and can take the kids some really nice places when they get older, then try to support them as they start their lives - uni, cars, getting a house.

babyb06

Not knowing your income/mortgage payments and total balance it is hard to understand your situation but given your age and assuming your mortgage is relatively new it will be a long slog for you (as it is for me) and thus easy to get disheartened. I bought my flat at 24 and started to overpay in small ways straight away, but joining this site and then starting my diary on this site made all the difference - I have made huge inroads into an (original) £171,000 mortgage and still enjoy holidays (10 days in NYC in December) weekends away (just got back from edinburgh), upgraded my car (picked it up today). Yes, I know my income is higher than many on here, but I was previously enjoying a not much better lifestyle, simply flittering my money away, overpaying on your mortgage does not have to mean living as a pauper - yet the benefit in the future is huge!

And i can already see the benefit - take a look at my signature - my daily interest payment has literally plummeted since I joined this site - the extra amounts I repaid allowed me to remortgage and save more on interest, thus overpay more. Yes, I am being more sensible and thinking before I buy, but my life is not sufferring and my future is flourishing.

If you haven't already realised, I am a massive advocate of the MFW board - join - you won't regret it!

wantabetterlife

Have to agree with everything babyb06 said, sometimes the difficulty is just finding a comfortable balance with it all. I remember Martin Lewis on TV saying that its not about depriving yourself of the things you enjoy its simply about making your money work harder for you. I think this is really true and i always look for the best deals, discount codes, cashback, clubcard points etc.
Goodluck

someday_soon

Hi Frank

We are really focused on finishing the mortgage and I feel that this has lead us into being much more savvy and switched on consumers. The next time you are in your supermarket, take time to look at the dead eyes dropping their usual choices into the trolley. You can just tell that they will be the same people who auto renew their insurances, extend their phone contracts add on the seldom used sky package simply because it was easier, or the telemarketing call said it was a great deal. That was us, and with every hard earned pay rise, it was easier to make those poor choices.
I am so glad that the money previously spent with little care is working so much harder for us these days, but to go back and start off that way would be the real dream.

Someday Soon

Lottebear

I think it depends on your circunstances, We have a high diposable income however my OH is in the Army therefore in 10 years he is likely not to be earning as much as now therefore we make hay while the sun shines, also as we only put down a 11% deposit by OP we can get to a better mortgage deal in the future.

We have bought a fully renovated house, therefore no major work, got a new car and had 4 holidays last year therefore OP seem the next logical step, also with savings rates so low, is there much point having the money in the bank earing little interest.

adwat

Go for it - you obviously want to or else wouldn't be here already!

What everyone else is saying - you need to strike a balance between overpaying and living your "normal" life. What I've found is that as you start making overpayments and focussing on reducing your mortgage/debt, you find yourself redefining what "normal" is over time. Nowadays, I think twice before buying something and generally only buy things I need rather than want - that's not to say I don't treat myself once in a while, just not all the time. As a result I think we're better off not only financially but healthier physically and mentally as well - there's no more worrying about work or being made redundant any more for one thing. Only you can decide what direction you want to go in, but my advice would be start paying as much as you can towards your debt. Good luck.

CathT

What a great start to your thread, so much great advice already. We don't earn that much and have a fairly large mortgage but this forum has taught me to make my money work hard (as WABL said), it's about not wasting money and thinking before making purchases or nipping out for lunch etc. I'm 28 and DH 34,we have a 2yo DD and one on the way so think we'd be in a great position to be MF before the children hit their teens. I was 20 when i bought my first house so always had the intention of being MF in my 40's.
Good luck with the wedding plans and the big day. Feel free to start your MF diary as soon as you like, not everyone makes huge OP's,my first was for £57.
Wishing you all the best.

sarahevie

We are aiming for more of a life balance this year:D

We are particularly frugal though as we owe 7X our salary for mortgage - so have probably the worst mortgage to income ratio on the board. :eek:

We have decided that we will have a holiday, we will take the kids out for lunch, I will stop avoiding expensive play dates and have a bit more fun, I might even let something not value hit the shopping basket:rotfl:

We won't waste money though - I couldn't bear to - but I don't want to only spend £15 per child at christmas this year and a year of not going out just isn't that fun.

SmlSave

Hi FrankR

I'm 26 and I wish my life away until every weekend, every holiday and finally retirement! :rotfl:

I'd say go for OPing, saving and enjoying yourself It's a challegne to cut down on things that don't hurt i.e. grocery shopping etc and to make the odd penny by surveys but you get a real sense of achievement

I don't get the appeal of cars but I love holidays and while a bigger house would be nice it means more cleaning! :rotfl:

I think what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to fast track paying off your mortgage but if your savings look good, your holiday is booked and your car works fine why not OP a spare £10-£50 towards your mortgage? It doesn't hurt and it helps a great deal in the long run.