Madalice takes the plunge

madalice

I’ve taken the plunge and decided to become a MFW. Bit of background info, soon to be 46 year old Mum of two teenagers, one about to start second year of college, one about to enter final year of high school. Probably a bit mad to start this journey now when the kids are getting more expensive by the day but I suppose there’s never a good time. Husband is 49 and as of yesterday we had a repayment mortgage with 15.5 years outstanding and a balance of £128.421.90. The repayments should be £943.00 per month at today’s rates but when we came off our tracker mortgage the year before last, we elected to carry on paying the £1100 which we knew would reduce the term slightly.

Although we have no debts, apart from the mortgage, I’ve always been a bit of a fritterer where money is concerned especially when it came to holidays and it wasn’t uncommon for us to have 4 holidays per year. As I’m getting older though I find I dislike waste and am becoming much more frugal which has probably got something to do with the credit crunch too. I was ashamed to read other posts on here where people can feed families of 4 for a month on £350-£400 whereas my spend is probably more like £500 -£600 minimum and that doesn’t include toiletries (which I generally go to somewhere like Home Bargains for). Both myself and husband work, he pays the mortgage, I pay the bills. Funny thing is, he couldn’t tell you how much is owing or how long is left on the mortgage if his life depended on it, I handle all that.

Although I didn’t realise it, I’ve been edging towards becoming a MFW for a while now. Back in December 2010 I read an article in a newspaper where someone had made a resolution the previous year not to buy any clothes and had managed to stick to it, they raved about how much money they saved and I thought I CAN DO THAT! At the time, my motivation wasn’t even to save money, it was just a realisation that I had so many clothes it was ridiculous. Oh and BTW, for the purposes of this particular challenge, underwear, shoes and bags don’t count. Anyhow, fast forward to June and I still haven’t bought any clothes so I consider that a result.

I’ve used MSE for a variety of things in the past, most recently looking for motor insurance for my 17 year old which has been something of an eye opener and also because I rather fancied a Samsung Galaxy 2 (see what I mean about fritterer?). Fortunately, I found the MFW board and realised that my BB Curve with a £5.00 Virgin monthly rolling contract is more than ample for my humble needs and oh yeah, the money I didn’t fritter could be used to pay down my mortgage.:cool:

And so, here I am. Today, I wrote a cheque for £1,000 to the Halifax which I will post in the morning. I probably need to lie down now in a dark room now until I get over the shock. Oh yes, and most importantly my OH doesn’t know anything about this. I’m not really good at keeping secrets but that’s part of my goal, to one day announce……. “Oh by the way, that mortgage you thought you’d be working until you were 65 for, it’s paid off” :beer:

norabatty_2

Hi Madalice,

Just wanted to say welcome! I only started my MFW thread last week and it's already very addictive! I don't know if you've started trying to cut down on your grocery spend, but if you haven't, I have two words for you - meal planning! I started this a few months ago and in the space of about 4 months, I managed to reduce our monthly grocery spend (including toiletries and alcohol) for me and OH from around £450 p/m down to £225 p/m.

I like the idea of keeping the OH in the dark! It means you don't have to explain all the OPs to him and will get to give him a really nice surprise one day.

Very best of luck!

madalice

Thanks Nora, I know I have to tackle the shopping bill but I'm a rubbish cook so that'll be my greatest challenge. On the plus side, I have ordered a free energy monitoring device from eon (my kids are going to love that..................not). On a personal level, I have started walking into rooms and after switching the light on, thinking do I really need that light on to which the answer is usually no.

stedwell

Hi Madalice and welcome. :hello:
I had to laugh when I read your post as our situation is so similar.
I am a year older than you with a 12 and 16 year old who seem to spend all my money.
My hubby is slowly coming round to MSE but like yours he isn't savvy financially.
I haven't spent much on holidays but like to shop. However we are tightening the purse strings considerably as we need a new car and DD1 goes to uni in 2 years and there is the increased fees which we have not budgeted for.
Hubbie loves to cook and eat and we have been extravagant in the past with food and groceries. I have it down to about £500 a month now and that does include groceries too. It is amazing what a meal plan can do!
My mortgage ends 2021 but we are working hard to bring it down to 2017. Not sure if it will happen though!
I look forward to reading your posts.

mummyofonechild

Hello and Welcome.

I am sure if you want this to happen it will, don't forget a little treat every now and again won't hurt and could possibly keep you on the straight and narrow.

Good Luck

MOOC xx

madalice

Hiya Stedwell, thanks for the welcome. One thing I really need to get a grip on is all these acronyms. What's a DD1? I can tell it's your eldest, but what does it stand for? My equivalent of a DD1 would be EDOF (Eldest Drain on Finances) and YDOFWPMT (Youngest Drain on Finances with PMT)

madalice

mummyofonechild wrote: »

Hello and Welcome.

I am sure if you want this to happen it will, don't forget a little treat every now and again won't hurt and could possibly keep you on the straight and narrow.

Good Luck

MOOC xx

Thanks MOOC,

Been following your journey with interest. I agree about the treats which is why shoes and bags are exempt.

MA

financialbliss

madalice wrote: »

Oh yes, and most importantly my OH doesn’t know anything about this. I’m not really good at keeping secrets but that’s part of my goal, to one day announce……. “Oh by the way, that mortgage you thought you’d be working until you were 65 for, it’s paid off” :beer:

Hi MadAlice,

Like your thinking.

I've been rambling here regarding my mortgage since 2007 and Mrs Bliss (aka the wife) knows nothing about it.

My original aim / objective was to publicly announce I'd like to be mortgage free by 12/12/12, which I'm aiming towards, but getting a little behind in that goal.

There are lots of friendly people on this little corner of the MSE forums - with lots of advice should you need any.

When I first started off here our mortgage was £73,217 and it's around £27,500 at present, so big inroads can be made.

Know your mortgage product, ie what you can and can't overpay and your rates and remember that becoming mortgage free is a long term goal.

Financial Bliss.

sutwam

Good Luck on your journey!

What an excellent plan to be able to surprise your OH

There are loads of extremely helpful people on here wanting you to succeed

goobergirl

Welcome Madalice. I have recently decided to be a MFW too and am loving all the ideas posted on this board.

I am going to start meal planning next week like Norabatty as we have huge grocery bills too (although we are a family of 5 I still think there are things we can cut back on and reduce waste)

I definitely agree with keeping things sensible and not getting too extreme as you work hard and deserve some treats too.

Good luck!:rotfl::cool:

kingster2069

Hi MadAlice,

Welcome to the fold. I wish my wife was planning such a lovely surprise. My wife and I keep our finances very similar to yours, I pay the mortgage, holidays and in charge of reducing our credit cards. OH pays all bills, groceries and her clothes shopping. It's amazing in a short time how quickly OP'ing starts to make a visible different. I think it's because all of the OP reduces the capital, compared to a small percentage of the normal payment.
I find setting small goals can really help, like milestones in daily interest etc. Also are you using cash back sites for those essential purchases?
Look forward you reading about your experiences. Good luck!!