Is it time?

Maybe_its_because

Edited....this has become a bit of a multiple challenge thread. Started out as MFW and became a DFW. Covers a huge life change (new house, husband, baby and beyond)

Hi All,
I am a MASSIVE fan of MSE and am a graduate of the Debt free wannabe (albeit from afar/offline) having cleared huge credit card(s)/loan debts a couple of years ago.

I moved to London last year - bright lights big city - as my partner now works here. Subsequently;
- I still own a house in my home town up north
- I now have a fab london-paying (comparatively) job in which my take home pay is pretty good (for me)

What that actually means is that I have a mortgage on my northern house and me and OH pay rent together in our little flat-of-love.

I'm really lucky as my sister is living in my northern house and pays me towards the cost of the mortgage and bills, so I end up paying about £200 a month for having the house. I still have my room and furniture in and visit every few weeks. My parents live near the house and have very generously paid for any problems which have arisen since I moved (plumber for leaking shower, new fence in windy weather) It feels like the perfect set-up and means my salary mostly goes on living the London life.

This month, I took a pledge to become mortgage free. I've spent a couple of years ramping up my ISA savings (currently around £15K) so feel comfortable in having that as emergency funds. I'm now hell bent on OPing my mortgage and have used Financial Bliss' spreadsheet to predict how long it'll take to pay off.

The financial facts
House bought in 2003 for £66,000 increased that a few times in the early days to consolidate debt up to £75,000 (how I got a mortgage in the first place on such a low salary back then is beyond me )
Mortgage Feb 2012= £63,700
Interest rate = 2.5% (C&G SVR) :T
Current Mortgage end date July 2028
Target MFD December 2018

I've got around £500-£800 extra at the moment, depending on how our london living is going so aiming to pay off £750 average per month in 2012 and I signed up for MFW 2012 with a £8,000 OP target. This should provide some balance between not frittering away my salary and living a happy, healthy (fun) life. The OP started this very morning with £100 OP.

My OH is on board with all this - and is on the verge of becoming DF so is about to embark on his savings adventure.
Our future definitely includes buying a house together (in London???? with these prices :eek: hmm, we'll see) and our goal is for him to have £15K in savings and me to be as MF as possible before we can entertain the idea of becoming joint homeowners.

Like many of you, I decided a diary would be the best way to stay focussed and get the right advice from the right people in these forums.

Wishing you all a happy Monday afternoon

Take care
MIB

Maybe_its_because

Have managed to do quite a bit this afternoon to generate a bit of extra cash. All foundation laying - not actual money creation

Have signed my (mostly unused) car to whipcar. Seems there are a few drivers in my area who have good reviews so fingers crossed. Have been worried about the car's lack of usage since moving to London and had conversations with OH and mum about maybe selling it. Not yet though, I'm not ready for that step.
Also registered my nectar card (had it for ages - no idea why haven't registered it before now) And I signed up to topcashback. Not going to make any purchases on it just yet - want to keep this week full of NSDs - that'll be a miracle.

Off to the gym - using my groupon voucher which I purchased a while ago.

A promising start I reckon

jackomdj

You can sign your nectar card so you get points back for online searches. Limited number per month but it's money for nothing as I search every day!

Maybe_its_because

jackomdj wrote: »

You can sign your nectar card so you get points back for online searches. Limited number per month but it's money for nothing as I search every day!

Top tip! Thanks... Like the idea of money for nothing

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hiya, I really find having a diary a huge help to focus the brain. You seem to have a good plan and there are so many tips on this site, so good luck on the journey.

Best wishes Tilly

Maybe_its_because

OK - so just a few days in to my diary I've really focussed on doing things the MSE way.

I've had almost a week of NSDs, (who knew that was a phrase I would ever be able to utter) although there have been spends from the joint account on a weekly food shop. In my world once it's gone to the JA it's no longer "my" money which is why i get to claim the NSDs.... tenuous?

Usually, I spend £3-£5 on lunch most days but this week I bought all I needed lunch-wise in the weekly shop at the weekend. Normally I wouldn't do that as OH gets lunch provided at work - if the JA isn't paying for his lunch then it shouldn't pay for mine (right?) Apparently I hadn't shared that thought with him [previously and once I did he thought I was short changing myself. So - have been granted permission from both JA signatories (me and OH - :rotfl:) to purchase my lunch.

I digress, so I've still got £260 left in my account for the rest of the month with not much in the pipeline to spend it on. (a night out with the girls in a couple of weeks - £40 tops - but that's it). That means I should be able to make some sort of extra OP this month, before payday. Only time, and NSDs, will decide how much.

One other thing I've done is downloaded a spending diary app on my iphone. Searched everywhere for a free one but any well-reviewed ones weren't supported on my phone version. So I paid 69p for an app, subsequently bringing my NSD record to an end. The irony

Maybe_its_because

So - looked in my bank account this morning and found a returned £100 from my mortgage provider. Grr :eek: - don't they want my money (oh yeh, they don't :rotfl:)

I've just called them and the reference was a "0" out so I've corrected that and repaid the same £100 OP which I'd already paid on Monday. So all sorted.

I also asked them to up my regular £400 monthly payment to £500. Not sure why I picked this number as I can probably afford more. I guess I just want to calculate my capacity to OP on a monthly basis. That's the "fun" bit.

I also found out that my original 17 year mortgage is only 16 years and 6 months. So have reduced my mortgage just by getting the months slightly mixed up.

They also offered me a great home insurance deal, a bit less than my renewal quote - plus £50 cashback.

Happy days

Maybe_its_because

Thought I'd better post after a very MSE active weekend.

Finally managed to get access to my clubcard account online after a phonecall with a nice lady and "found" £7.50 of vouchers which needed spending by the end of the month. So managed to do a budget weekly shop with those. wowee!

Sold 2 books on ebay and sent those of this morning. V chuffed with my first ever sales. Sent them both 1st class in order to nudge the buyers towards a positive rating by (hopefully) exceeding their expectations...

The returned mortgage OP re-returned in my account :mad: so have paid it over the phone and this time is has definitely gone.

Also, a cheeky one this morning, I booked train tickets for a work journey using tcb so qualified for a 6% cashback and will count towards clubcard vouchers as I used my T credit card to pay for it. Making my purchases work for me.

Trying to be all positive as we inch closer to payday. have been reading and subscribing to a lot of diaries which have really spurred me on. Note to self - I need to "thank" and comment more instead of reading and running......

Maybe_its_because

oooh - and also came across a pair of Jeggings i'd bought ages ago (can't even remember when) for £35.... What was I thinking!! Still had the label on but didn't have a receipt so just popped into the shop on my lunch hour to exchange for a lovely, sparkly £35 gift card.
That'll be saved for my sisters birthday or for one of those emergency "I need to spend :eek:" urges. (will do my best to be the former not the latter)

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Nice to read that someone else also tries to get cashback on work travel/accommodation bookings!

elantan

can i ask how you get the nectar points for searches?