The time is right

Heffi1

Hello,

Well a little about me before we get going, I am renowned for not keeping diaires up to date, but I am going to try and post here as often as I can.

I live in a lovely house and would like to be mortgage free before I hit 60! I am 47 now so that does not give me much time does it?

The mortgage is in my mum's name and we enquired today about adding my name to it as she is 70 and my fear is that when she goes I am going to be stuck, she has no life insurance policy in place and no will (this is being urgently looked into) as I am on a DMP my credit is completely shot through, so was advised I probably would not be allowed to be added. :mad:

I moved in to my mum and dad's house in 2007 when I was married, with both of our children. They are now adults (27 & 23)but still live at home. I am divorced and for the sake of this I won't go into the gory details, suffice to say I am better off alone!

My dad died 2 years ago, leaving no will and no insurance policy :mad::mad: We have a £105,000 mortgage and only my mum on the paperwork. Because finances are tight and we get no outside help we decided it would be better off to go to interest only. I thought this would only be for a short time, but it looks like it may have to continue unless someone wins the lottery, and as I don't buy a ticket it can't be me :rotfl:

I have today set up a standing order of £50 per month initially until I see how my budget works out and then I plan to make as many over payments as humanly possible. I have eba?ed with little success, I have recently sold a load of DVDs to mu$ic magpie and still have more to sell. It is all a drop in the ocean really, but it is a start.

I am looking for ways to generate more income, at the moment I work full time for the NHS and there is the awful chance I may be made redundant in March 2013, so that is playing on my mind, but I cannot do a thing about it, so I am telling myself not to worry about it, what will be will be and all that sort of nonsense.

If anyone has any tips or advice then I am all ears as I feel I am on this journey alone, my mum cannot increase the amount she pays, my daughter has asked for a reduction in her rent as she spends nearly all week at her boyfriends house and feels she should contribute her share there, I agree with this and have seen it coming for a while, my son works for A$da and to be fair to him he pays what he can, he has offered an extra £20 per month and I have said thank you that would be very helpful.

Grrrr I am so frustrated that I find myself in this position, but pity will not pay my mortgage, so I am going to try to stay as positive as I can, if you see me feeling sorry for myself then a swift kick up the rear is in order and I expect you to do so :rotfl:

So my journey starts properly now this is down in black and white, I shall update my signature to show where I am at and it will be the reminder I need to get myself sorted.

Sorry for the long ramble, I either say far too much or not much at all, so if you are still here then thank you.

Vala-Mal-Doran

Hi there Heffi1, Well done for making a start - I wish you the best of luck on your journey! You will find a lot of support on here!

Heffi1

Thanks Vala-Mal-Doran,

It is going to be a very long journey so I thought I had better get started on it now or before I know it I won't have any time left.

I set up a standing order last night from my bank to the mortgage so I know that a set amount is going to be over paid, and I will look for extra cash each month to add to it.

I used the calculator to work out how much I would pay sticking with the £50 and it is only going to shave off about £12,000 in all that time. It looks like I am going to have to do a boot sale soon, I hate doing them, people haggling over 50p, but any extra will get chucked at it and we will see how it goes.

Tonight I am going to list a lot more DVDs again, every pound in my pocket is better than sitting on the shelf looking at me, so I am happy with whatever I can get. I think there are at least another 100-150 DVDs on there :T thanks to an ex who bought every new one that came out.

I am going to update here each extra payment over and above the £50 I am sending, I have a couple of quid in quidco which will track soon.

downsizer3

I don't see your not being on the mortgage a problem providing your mum makes a will and its left to you. The only other thing is death duty but her estate would have to be over a certain threshold ( not sure what it is but its over £250K I think)
Do you have any siblings that have an interest in her estate - that could pose an issue if she leaves all to you?

Until you are debt free its maybe best to carry on paying what you can towards the mortgage. Is it on a fixed rate? Maybe worth looking for a long term rate as low as you can and make the biggest payment that you can afford?
My concern is that if you are struggling on intrest only with rates as low as they are - you'll struggle more when they go up?

[Deleted User]

If your daughter is/has moved out, can you rent out the room that she was in to a lodger?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_4017804

Heffi1

downsizer3 wrote: »

I don't see your not being on the mortgage a problem providing your mum makes a will and its left to you. The only other thing is death duty but her estate would have to be over a certain threshold ( not sure what it is but its over £250K I think)
Do you have any siblings that have an interest in her estate - that could pose an issue if she leaves all to you?

Until you are debt free its maybe best to carry on paying what you can towards the mortgage. Is it on a fixed rate? Maybe worth looking for a long term rate as low as you can and make the biggest payment that you can afford?
My concern is that if you are struggling on intrest only with rates as low as they are - you'll struggle more when they go up?

Thanks for your comments, We will not have to worry about inheritance tax as it is not worth that much. I hear what you are saying about the fixed rate, we spoke to the bank and their lowest fixed rate as of yesterday was 4.99% we are on 3.99%, so until that changes I am going to leave well alone, but keep an eye out for any movement.

Heffi1

Domino9 wrote: »

If your daughter is/has moved out, can you rent out the room that she was in to a lodger?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_4017804

Hi Domino, I have given this some thought and we also have another spare room, so that could be 2 rooms to rent, the problem I foresee is my mum. I would expect the conversation to go along the lines of "What a stranger living here with us, oh I'm not sure about that" so I have been talking about the subject recently to sound her out, hoping that if I demystify it, then she might come round to the idea. Consider it a work in progress :rotfl:

lvm

Hey Heffi!

Good luck with our quest!

Why don't you post an SOA (statement of affairs) here or on the debt free board and we might spot something you can change/ cut down on.

Another idea which is a good stepping stone to taking in a lodger...why don't you list your spare room on airbandb.com? I already have a lodger but if I had another spare room I'd definitely give this a go. As far as I know, the fees are all paid by the guest.

Getting a lodger was definitely the best thing I did and kicking myself for not doing it earlier.

Heffi1

Hi lvm,

Thank you I will do a new SOA it has been a while since I did one, but I have been keeping a detailed spread sheet for all incomings and outgoings so I have more of an idea where the money is going to. I shall have a go tonight as I am at work right now.

The lodger idea has been kicking about my head for a while and it might be the answer to take the pressure off me for a while. I shall have a look at that website, I am really pleased you posted it as I was not too sure where to start looking. Thank you.

Cariad71

Hi Heffi1,
just wanted to say I am reading your diary and following your progress. Well done for making a start :T

Heffi1

Thanks Cariad71,

I am just about to begin my new SOA, i got my statement from CCCS today so the figures should be accurate.

It won't make for easy reading, but maybe someone can see areas I can save that I am overlooking, it is better with new eyes looking I think.