The Anticipated Glee of being Mortgage-Free....NoraBatty's Quest Begins!

Funkygibbon

Good luck! With those figures you should be MF when you hope to be!!

norabatty_2

Wow - lots of replies - I feel loved!! Just the start I needed!

dimbo61 wrote: »

All I can say is well done so far and keep up the good work
Not sure if the flat is a complete waste of money as long as the rent is covering the costs each month ( or close to it!!) as a long term investment for your retirement.

Hey Dimbo, just to show how much we are subsidising the other family member, their rent doesn't even cover the cost of the interest we pay each month, nevermind the equity. My OH owns half the property, so only gets half the rent - bit of a joke really. If they paid market value, it would cover approx 65% of our costs and cover all the interest, plus an extra £100 towards the equity in the place.

Its a shame your OH is not as ready for this as you are, but I'm sure over time you can work on him, lots of us start off in this position. My dh is still not interested really, but thats why this board is so helpful, a never ending stream of people who are interested in boring stuff like mortgages, good luck

Thanks Newgirly. I love numbers, could crunch em all day long so I'm a bit obsessed already and I haven't even got started

Good luck I am looking forward to your diary.

Thanks, how do I subscribe to diaries?

Re everybody talking about getting OH on board, I'm sure we'll get there. He knows we're OPing - when I mentioned it was taking 10 years off our mortgage, his response was "Oh, that's nice....":rotfl:
It's not that he's against it, he just wouldn't be bothered with it himself.

Family is a funny thing. It's only in the last couple of years that I've seen as much of my family on a regular basis and it's nice to do things to help them but a few are really funny with us. I've no airs or graces but I don't hide that we're comfortable either. It's like anything - the people that change because of what you've got probably aren't worth bothering too much about.

OH likes to be seen to be generous with his family, the amount he used to spend on them for birthdays/Christmas was ridiculous - I've taken over all purchases for the females in the family and I'm sure they are feeling the consequences but they aren't children so I don't see the need to spend excessive amounts on them. On the other hand, every member of my family earns more money than me and OH and the difference in attitude is outstanding. Nobody spends more than £10 on anybody because it's seen as an unnecessary expense when all you are trying to convey is that you were thinking of them, you don't need to spend £50-£100 to do that.

I get the distinct impression from the family member staying in the flat that they resent people with money - they made an offensive comment to my Dad one evening about how he didn't deserve his wealth (Dad is sensible with money and therefore comfortable - not rich!) that my OH knows nothing about. They have also made comments about how little money they make and how it's unfair that their boss earns more - hasn't occured to them that their boss has worked hard to get to where they are and they could get there too one day if they worked hard too :mad:

It's easy to see the marketing chops - there aren't enough rhyming headlines on the diary section. You may well have started a trend though. It's funny that newgirly posted as she has a really simple but massively powerful title. I've yet to see anything to rival it (you can have a close second!)

I'm more than happy to settle for close second Billy!

originalmiscellany

To subscribe to a diary, you make a post can click on "go advanced" - next to "post quick reply". On this screen you can subscribe to the thread in a variety of formats - instant email updates, or I have it on daily, which means every morning I get a pile of emails of what people have said the previous day. Try them and see what works for you. It's always encouraging to read other peoples mortgages shrinking every morning

wynnvegas

Hi Nora,

With reference to your OH, bribery is well worth a go. I bribed Moyra with an annual trip to Vegas. Beforehand, we went every second summer. That got her into it. We'll very soon be in a position where we could conceivably go to Vegas for a week in every month. Daft wee facts like that turned her to the side of the good guys.

On the family member, enabling someone to that extent is nuts in my book. I've just managed to convince the mother to kick my little brother out of the house as he's literally begged, borrowed and stolen from her over the last three years of his unemployment. I'm all for tough love!

Cheers,

Billy

katsu

Hi Nora,

Fantastic savings and OP plans, well done. I think generosity is something that feels right, but something where you reach your limits - especially on gifts. I spend around £200 on 23 people by using charity shops and other bargains - no need to go crazy.

newgirly

Wow, a popular diary already Nora Batty!

I think the advice about bribing your OH is a good idea if you can persuade him to stop spending in the mean time, mine does'nt live a lavish lifestyle but has an addiction to buying blu-rays which he will only watch once at most, I did try love film but that did not stop him, I've given up trying to get him to cut down now.

Glad you like my dairy title Billy

wynnvegas

newgirly wrote: »

Wow, a popular diary already Nora Batty!

I think the advice about bribing your OH is a good idea if you can persuade him to stop spending in the mean time, mine does'nt live a lavish lifestyle but has an addiction to buying blu-rays which he will only watch once at most, I did try love film but that did not stop him, I've given up trying to get him to cut down now.

Glad you like my dairy title Billy

Hi newgirly,

I've said before that people need to differentiate between the mortgage free and debt free boards. I wouldn't begrudge anyone their hobbies or treats at all. I was terrible for buying DVDs but I can honestly say I don't think I've bought a DVD for well over a year. The sky planner keeps us busy enough and then Moyra is forever embarking on a reprisal of older TV shows. We're currently on season 7 of the ER-a-thon (this from the start of 2011). I know we've got at least a dozen unwatched DVDs from last Christmas sitting as well.

Anyone I talk to about MSE and this board, I always refer to your title. I think it's absolutely inspired - I'd push for the whole board to be rallied under it as it epitomises everything we're trying to achieve as a collective.

Cheers,

Billy

newgirly

We still have sky and got the free hd box at xmas (was going to get a humax box and cancel sky), but over the 12 months the free sky one worked out cheaper and I love it, we do watch way too much tv so we get our money's worth.

As for the diary title, the initial idea was to pay the mortgage off, then help the kids with buying their own places ensuring they move out before we are old and grey, then party :beer:

Lois_E

Hi Nora :wave:

Welcome to MFW. I'm another one who thinks your diary looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and have just subscribed.

So sorry to hear about your miscarriage. It happens a lot - when I had mine I was stunned by how many of the women whom I told had also had them. It's devastating when it happens (I felt like I'd never be happy again although of course that didn't turn out to be true) but for most people, it's just a one off and not anything more permanent. Best wishes for trying again.

norabatty_2

wynnvegas wrote: »

With reference to your OH, bribery is well worth a go.

I will have to look into this, I get the impression it would work well with him - the issue is finding something that will be enticing enough for him that won't hinder my efforts to keep to my MFW targets - maybe I can use my womanly charms....

newgirly wrote: »

Wow, a popular diary already Nora Batty!

I think the advice about bribing your OH is a good idea if you can persuade him to stop spending in the mean time, mine does'nt live a lavish lifestyle but has an addiction to buying blu-rays which he will only watch once at most, I did try love film but that did not stop him, I've given up trying to get him to cut down now.

OH doesn't have a particularly lavish lifestyle either - but once he decides he wants something, he doesn't think twice, just buys it, doesn't shop around - the idea of saving for something is an alien concept when such a thing as a credit card exists! I'm trying to stop this by putting all our income into a joint account and then giving him a reasonable personal allowance - I've done this for the last 6 months - I've saved the vast majority of my allowance, he currently owes £700 on a credit card!! He's a great one for not bothering to make lunch and then pops out to M&S and buys himself a nice lunch for £5 - I'd do this once a month, he does it twice a week!

Lois_E wrote: »

Hi Nora :wave:

Welcome to MFW. I'm another one who thinks your diary looks like it's going to be a lot of fun and have just subscribed.

So sorry to hear about your miscarriage. It happens a lot - when I had mine I was stunned by how many of the women whom I told had also had them. It's devastating when it happens (I felt like I'd never be happy again although of course that didn't turn out to be true) but for most people, it's just a one off and not anything more permanent. Best wishes for trying again.

Thanks Lois, when I told my boss, he informed me that pretty much every female in his family had one. I told my Mom, she told me that 3 different aunts had one aswell, which I never knew about before. So yes, it's very common. Still doesn't make it any easier though! Not going to talk about it too much though because it tends to bring me down and it can take a few days to raise the spirits again.

To subscribe to a diary, you make a post can click on "go advanced" - next to "post quick reply". On this screen you can subscribe to the thread in a variety of formats - instant email updates, or I have it on daily, which means every morning I get a pile of emails of what people have said the previous day. Try them and see what works for you. It's always encouraging to read other peoples mortgages shrinking every morning

Many thanks for this, I'll get subscribing!:T