Viola's MFW Adventure

viola_brandywine

Hi everyone,

Firstly, thanks to you all for inspiring me for the past year to be MFW - particularly cha97michelle, earthgirl and courgette. I have been reading this forum daily and could not have achieved what I have so far without being encouraged by everyone on here.

About me:
I am 29 and I live in a house with my husband which we originally had a 140,000 mortgage on but now owe 19,800, partly due to an inheritance and partly due to our overpayments. At the moment we both work full time but I am hoping to go part time when we start our family, hopefully in the next year or so.

At the moment, we try to overpay every month, but this will change if I go part time.

We are very frugal now after a few years of being clueless and wasting money. I love gardening and cooking and am trying to spend less on food.

Ok, here I go!

Froggy-G

Welcome to the MFW world!! :j:j:j:j:j

IHateDida

Viola - we started on about the same size mortgage but you have done alot better than me - well done - lovely amount to be down to! I am still at a 6 figure number but with help from the inspiration that is this forum....hopefully will be able to whittle this down!

Good luck on your continued MFW journey - will look out for your updates :j (and maybe one day will write a diary of my own!)

viola_brandywine

Thank you Froggy and Dida :beer: We are trying to pay as much as we can each month (last month it was 200 because of no council tax but car insurance prevents that this month). We have a small mortgage now but it will become more difficult. We have a house big enough to start our family but my parents live quite far away so we need an extra room for visits. Hopefully we wont have to move unless we have more than one child

dimbo61

You now have a small mortgage and unless you are paying a very high interest rate I would build up savings in cash ISA,s to help you over the next few years if things go to plan!
Having a child/children is difficult enough but having a good savings pot in the bank takes some of the worries away.
6/9 months of income upto £16K would be a great start

[Deleted User]

Hi Viola and welcome!
This MFW gets very addictive btw! :rotfl:
Started with a similar size mortgage to you so be eager to hear how you managed and are managing to stay frugal!
Loads of tips/inspiring stories on here to keep ya going!

viola_brandywine

Thanks dimbo and tyo.

Savings are something we need to build up. We do have some (approx 5k) in an account with ok interest but I made a bit of a mess of setting up ISAs this tax year - I paid into one and then took it all out again then closed it. Looks like I need to wait until the new tax year to try again. Fortunately our mortgage rate is 2.5%.

Being MFW is definitely addictive! I used to think nothing of buying lunch for work everyday and a stack of books on payday. I try to take my own food to work now and spend the weekend making soups and bread. I do still buy books but I think I have cut down on them

yukkibear

Welcome to the boards and good luck with your journey

Caroline73_2

I think you should have started your diary a long time ago! You've nearly finished! Well done.

viola_brandywine

Hi everyone, thanks for all the replies - it is so nice that you have read my diary :j

Quite a good day moneywise, took leftovers to work so saved on food.

Been trying to think of more ways to make a bit of extra money. We use quidco now which is great and always try to use nectar/boots points but I haven't tried selling on ebay/amazon yet. I am also quite interested in writing some reviews.

The problem is that I'm a bit of a hoarder and find it difficult to get rid of anything

babyb06

A shiny new diary - always nice to read a new story! I can't believe how well you've done - always amazes me that there are people on here who are in their late 20's and have tiny mortgages through hard work and being determined from the start. I am 27 and eager to have a 5 figure mortgage!

On the savings vs overpayment decision I'd say it depends what your current interest rate is and whether you have the facility to borrow back from your mortgage if you have made O/Ps.

Good luck!

BabyB