Teacher in need of motivation and inspiration 26 July 2011 at 7:57PM in Mortgage-free wannabe 11 replies 1.3K views

dizzyblnd

Hi Everyone,

I have 276 monthly mortgage payments left until I can be mortgage free. I need some motivation and inspiration please...

crazyguy

yep dont count them,

patience is a virtue

cha97michelle

crazyguy wrote: »

yep dont count them,

patience is a virtue

Crazy guy thinks he is a funny guy?

hello - this board is starting to get a bit overpopulated by teachers. :rotfl:Welcome.

Depends what you want to achieve. Are you wanting to work hard to pay it all off early, or are you wanting to pay some off so you can work part time?

Try reading some of the diaries here and on the debt free wannabee board to get you thinking. We have the All the small things thread as well to help motivate on a day by day basis. Then there are the challenges.

I think, first, think about what you would like to achieve and why, and then you can start thinking about how, and then there will be more motivation than you can shake a stick at.

Hurdler

Find out as much as you can about what your terms and conditions are and then plan around those - if you can only pay over a certain percentage, then perhaps focus on that as your target. I have in theory 258 payments when I start proper at the next recalculation so you're not alone
:beer:

poppyoscar_3

cha97michelle wrote: »

hello - this board is starting to get a bit overpopulated by teachers. :rotfl:Welcome.

I'm a teacher too!

My biggest motivator was playing with mortgage calculators.
Just by adding on £5 a month to what I was already overpaying made such a difference!

School holidays are good - I tried to have at least every other day as a petrol free day when I was at home and often achieved more than that.

Another thing I am currently doing is any money I svae on BOGOFs/special offrs etc, I actually physically put away, otherwise I've saved it but it's in the general slush fund.

Good luck!
PO xx

MFW_10YRS_4

Don't look at the full MFW challenge but instead break it down into 'bite sized' pieces and perhaps join one of the MFW challenges. I like to set a 3 year challenge for myself, but others like to set an annual challenge. Its all personal and it's all about keeping yourself motivated.

My current 3 year challenge is to own half the house, with the bank owning the other half. One year in and I have gone from owning 33% to owning 43%, but the last few percentage points are going to be difficult to reduce!!

fluffysox

Also a teacher... I think the motivation for me is the freedom to possibly work less hours in the future or move to a less stressful job if I want to, or retire early.
Also I hated the idea that for each pound you borrow you pay another in interest.
And in these times of conservative cuts to public services even successful oversubscribed schools are having to make teachers redundant- the less debt hanging over my head the less worried I'll feel. (My school's budget being cut by £750,000 a year- even though we'll have the same number of students to teach)

Lois_E

Another teacher here. There are loads of us.

Anyway, dizzyblnd, the best way to get motivated and stay motivated is to hand around on this forum. Join the challenges, start a diary, read other people's diaries and comment on them. Oh, and I find making graphs on my spreadsheets helps too.

BaconandEggs

Loads of teachers.

originalmiscellany

Ahem, another teacher here! Great advice above;
Set smaller targets that are achievable and where you can use APP to give a NC level at the end of every phase, and hopefully be in the FFT top 25 of value added.
Seriously, smaller targets -you could aim for August to sell £310 of "stuff" on ebay in your house, and all profits to go to the mortgage fund.

Or your other challenge could be to get all your paperwork in order - what you pay and when, ring up all the companies and ask for all your bills to be lowered, esp. on mobile/landline/internet.

Or do a spending diary for August to see what you spend and how you can save?

Or try online shopping (if not done before) with a welcome £10 off the first shop and see if you can lower your food bills?

One quote I like is talking about how an athlete won his gold medal and he said "I didn't do one thing 100% better, I did 100 things 1% better". If you can start doing lots of small things, it will make a difference. And over time your mindset changes to do these things as a normal habit. Anyway I suggest you read diaries and do an SOA to see what the financial lay of the land is.

Have a great day!

CathT

For me simply starting to overpay was the motivation I needed. Spreadsheets and overpayment calculators are a fab was of realising the difference your OP's make. I am hoping to be mortgage free by the time i'm 40. It may just be possible. I'm not a teacher, I'm a nurse. I think there are just 3 of us on this forum!!