Hints and Tips to become a member

originalmiscellany

You're in a good position for sure
I have set a target of what to achieve by the end of the year, and then set up monthly goals, .e.g to save 1/12 of the target - and these "short term" targets keep me on track.

Also expect some months to be bumper and some to be thin, but overall, the key is that you focus on saving consistently and get to the overall target rather than hammering yourself if you fail on a short term target.

Tabatha_Kitten

The key thing for me - as Michelle also recommends (and I think I may have pinched it off her in the first place !) - is the "annual bills" account.
We have one account which the wages go into and the monthly standing orders go out of and then I allocate whats left.
£x for spends, £x for saving, £x to mortgage op and £x to the annual bills account.
The annual bills standing order each month covers all those things which used to completely throw me in my DFW days. Car tax, MOT, tyres, vet bills, bunker full of coal each winter, dentist etc etc. I add them all up, then divide by 12.
I have also added an extra amount for things such as car and vet emergencies which keeps on accumulating until such time as it is needed.
I then realised that if I also included the equivalent of each months car insurance in this I could pay in full each year therefore not incurring charges for credit.
I know it may sound complicated but it works for me, and makes it easier to see the true figure I can use as an overpayment.

someday_soon

Get a spreadsheet going- locoblades is the one I use, but there are others and try and get the OH involved as much as you can. You have got yourselves into a great position, a real push now while the baby is small will have a great impact in future years on the choices you have.

Oh, and £70 for sky- are you kidding me- this is MSE:rotfl:

norabatty_2

someday_soon wrote: »

Oh, and £70 for sky- are you kidding me- this is MSE:rotfl:

I've just read all of this thread and that's what stood out for me from your first SOA - my monthly Sky bill is £40.50 which includes line rental, free landline calls at evenings/weekends, unlimited broadband and the 2 package TV deal (all the usual channels plus one other selection of channels like Sport, Music, Discovery, etc) so get working on it!

Otherwise, congrats! You're in a great position to overpay. I suggest you first calculate how much interest you will pay over the next 10 years if interest rates stay the same. Add this to your £100,000. Divide by 10. This is how much you need to pay into your mortgage every year. Divide by 12, take away £444. This is the amount you need to overpay every month to be MF in 10 years.

eddiemacthedog

Cheers so far everyone, ive been busy bean counting the last couple of days, ive worked out we can overpay by £1000 so £1444 per month if we are not silly with other things and pay it off within 5-6 years WOOHOO!!!!

eddiemacthedog

another thing i was going to ask was, that the new mortgage i will have is set over a 25 year term, should i reduce the term due to the fact i can overpay a large amount extra a month? cheers in advance

CathT

I think it depends what you are most comfortable with. i.e. you still need to be able to afford the repayments over the shorter term if interest rates were to rise. You have plenty of disposable income though and psychologically it might be nice to have a shorter term. I'm not sure if there is any difference in interest paid/money saved but someone else may answer that one.

FWIW, when I come to renew our mortgage next April we will have just over 17 years left on the original term but I would be tempted to reduce the term then especially if we went onto a fixed rate.

I have rambled but hope I have possibly helped :rotfl:

katsu

Thanks for sharing your SOA, I enjoy getting my teeth into these

eddiemacthedog wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 2
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2800
Partners monthly income after tax....... 500
Benefits................................ 0 no child benefit due to your income?
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3300
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 444
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 175 12 month or 10 month figure?
Electricity............................. 50 these 2 are high. Review your bills, use a comparison site, fit energy saving bulbs, line curtains, look at how long you use the heating timer for, don't heat water using the immersion, borrow or consider buying a meter like an OWL to show elec consumption, turn things off standby, don't charge your phone overnight etc etc.
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 0
Telephone (land line)................... 12
Mobile phone............................ 10
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 70 Personally I'd cancel this (but we don't have a TV so I'm biased . Considered a freeview box?) Can you review your package? Is it worth £840 a year to you?
Internet Services....................... 5
Groceries etc. ......................... 400 old style forum would help you get this down
Clothing................................ 0 never?
Petrol/diesel........................... 200
Road tax................................ 40
Car Insurance........................... 50
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 10
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 80 Savings?
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 15
Contents insurance...................... 5
Life assurance ......................... 35
Other insurance......................... 15
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30 You could drop this a bit, but you can afford it so it is a personal choice
Haircuts................................ 0 never?
Entertainment........................... 40 using vouchers, MR T coupons, other deals etc?
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1758

Assets
Cash.................................... 10000 do you need the cash, shares and bonds or could you put some money into reducing the mortgage?
House value (Gross)..................... 235000
Shares and bonds........................ 20000
Car(s).................................. 14000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 279000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 100000...(444)......2.35
Total secured & HP debts...... 100000....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,300
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,758
Available for debt repayments........... 1,542
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,542
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 279,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -100,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 179,000
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Some thoughts above for you. See if anything is of interest, but I'd definitely review your utilties as they seem very high to me.

getmore4less

£10k cash is a fairly good cash flow buffer especialy with another £20k saved

One option is so overpay with everything over £10k just before you get the next pay.

If some expences come in you just go below £10k for a bit.

£14k worth of cars when will they need replacing?