Countdown to Freedom

sweetdaisy

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

One last thought we currently have mortgage protection insurance which costs us £85 each, per month, once the mortgage has gone thats money back in the kitty.

Billy's BTL plan is pretty tempting......

Hi Tilly

This may seem like a silly question . Just wondering why your mortgage protection insurance is costing you £85 a month. We pay £18 a month and we have a mortgage of £84,000 (ish).

Is it becuase you have a higher mortgage?

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Due to the high mortgage. We have around £300k protection but that can be reviewed in March next year. I have to check whether we can reduce it every 3 months or 6 as we should be clearing some chunks off the capital.

Just to make life difficult, we both have the cover in case we were made redundant so doubly expensive.

Have been shopping and minimal spend for next week. Menu plans in place from between now to just before Christmas, so that will allow the same minimal approach to shopping.

Good luck to all.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

I was very nervous about posting on here. As I mentioned I have received very critical comments when broaching the subject so was being extra cautious. However, I want all my cards on the table.

We have a second property in mainland Europe which is gorgeous. We remortgaged our UK house to buy it outright and it is well cared for by friends living nearby. In the 7 years that we have owned it, we have been fortunate with very few problems and tend to go over there every 6 weeks. As both my DH and I can work from home it means we can work there just as well as in the UK.

We have been fortunate that we bought at the right time. We love the area and will live there semi permanently one day. Our family house in the UK can then be sold and we can downsize over here.

This is one of the reasons I am so attracted to Billy's B2L plans as I am sorely tempted, but equally I work 40-45 hours a week, two kids etc and I do wonder whether yet another challenge on the horizon is too much. Perhaps when we have cleared £200k off this mortgage then maybe.....

I am sitting with spreadsheets tomorrow to figure out what will be paid off by when, and it may help consider further options. I appreciate that we are in a fortunate position but wish we had had our LB moments earlier.

Better late than never.......:cool:

sweetdaisy

I now understand why your mortgage protection is so high. Hopefully you'll be able to reduce it as you overpay.

I plan menu's in advance too . I am trying to use up a lot in my freezer as it will need defrosting soon, so this is a good reason. I also now only buy what I need when I do my weekly shop, so that I am not spending too much on items that I already have.

wynnvegas

Hi Tilly,

I hope by now you realise you'll get nothing but support and good wishes. Europe doesn't much appeal to us but having a holiday home abroad is a possibility in our longer term plan. I have a few friends who have homes in Cyprus, Bulgaria and Spain but none of them, aside from a few quid when friends and family go over, rent their places out.

We were talking last night about getting a batch of ten properties together in a relatively short timeframe (2 years or so). If we were then to clear the mortgages (c.£70k each) within 8-10 years, we'd be able to realise at least £5,000 a month from those properties and, if we were to sell them, it would generate a cash pile of £1m or so before tax. There are obviously risks attached but those are all manageable. I've always been too cautious to branch out on my own or ever put our house at any sort of risk so that's why it's only now I feel comfortable going for it but if you give it a crack, I wish you every luck. If it was me, I'd certainly be knocking a couple of hundred thousand off the current mortgage but there are a lot of folk I know who have speculated and done well out of it.

Cheers,

Billy

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Billy, I really like the way your mind works. We don't let our home out, although do have close family and friends staying. It is definitely a home not a rental property so we are probably overly cautious

Now that we have focussed our minds this way I can see that we can really get some traction going with the mortgage and pretty quickly this will free us up for other opportunities. I have a good pension but my DHs could do with improving. Property would be a good way to go.

I have very recently experienced a bereavement of a close relative and this again focussed your mind on the priorities in live. I want us to have fun, which we do with much laughter, but out a real plan in place for our future. Living in Buckinghamshire the property prices are quite high but the rental market is buoyant. I don't know anything about homes for multiple occupancy vs letting out a two bed home for example, so maybe that's some research for the winter.

Onwards and upwards all.

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

Hi Tilly,
Enjoying your diary, have subscribed!
Long way from addressing our mortgage (£215k) but enjoy the motivation of these boards.
Keep writing!

PWDxx

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

PWD, thanks for your support. Starting a diary has been marvellous for my brain. Regardless of the size of our mortgages, it is all relative and knowing we are all working to clear them and reduce the banks humongous profit is great.

I couldn't see if you have a diary so let me know if you do and we can follow each other.

Good luck

dimbo61

BTL is a huge decision and knowing your market and what you want ! 2 bed house/flat to rent to couple or family is different to HMO for 6 students.
It would take some serious night time reading and research.
Being a landlord and making it work can take years of investment and TIME

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Lots of patience required this afternoon as I plugged figures into spreadsheets. We should be mortgage free by March 2017 according to the latest calcualations. Using an offset, that will enable other projects to be undertaken if we feel it is the right direction to take.

Right, enough with the spreadsheets, enough thinking complete over the last few days, so it's down to pure determination and focus. March 2017, just in time for our daughters 21st 3 months later.......

Please feel free to stop me if I start trying to reduce the timeline further - we are both insistent on having a life in the meantime, requiring holidays, occasional meals out etc, so you are all forwarned - I am fully prepared to engage 100% but I require laughter along the way.

Good luck to all.