I have a dream...to be a MFW

ajmoney

Money shuffle done for June.

I have managed to max out my regular saver account payment for at least 4 of the months so far this year and it look set to continue so I am very happy with that.

My hectic work schedule should come to an end once this weekend is finished and as of Monday I intend to readdress my approach to work so I can get some more time for myself. I have been running on empty for a while which impacts on my time at home. It will be quite a challenge but I am looking forward to having a bit of control back.

ajmoney

I've got 4 days off in a row and boy do I need it. I am going to use the time to double check all my finances and hopefully encourage Mr AJM to do the same and busget a bit better. The reason...we are due to re-mortgage in 2 months time. I want to make sure he is budgetting for the yearly costs as I know these hit him hard and I have big plans but want to make sure he will have enough money first. Officially our mortgage ends in February 2030, our smaller mortgage is still on course for this but the larger one due to my OP schedule is now going to be gone in July 2025. I know from an initial look that we will save a lot of money when we re-mortgage on this one so I am going to ask them to quote for the actual term we have left and also to tell us how much we would have to pay if we shortened the term to 6 years. I have promised Mr AJM he has the option to retire or work as he likes at 60 (March 2023) but my contract with work ends in September 2022 and I would like the option to work in whatever way I want without having to make sure I can cover the mortgage costs. This way we would be mortgage free on the larger mortgage when I leave which would give Mr AJM 6 months to save before making his decision.

My ideal goal would be to clear it in 5 years ready for our 10 year anniversary but that might be pushing it too much.

ajmoney

I have decided to remortgage for the time we have left and then just OP to our current payment which should mean OPing about £500 a month. The calculations I did yesterday would mean much higher payments where we wouldn't be able to OP and would have less disposable money. While I am sure we could do all of this in the time frame, it would be tough selling the plan to Mr AJM. The product I am hoping we can take advantage of when the time comes doesn't have any early repayment charges :j

I spend over £200 on new glasses this morning :eek: luckily I have money available for it.
Tonight we are going to watch Dancing in the Streets in Edinburgh for the amazing price of £3.50 in total :money: we are planning to eat out but I am struggling to find a good bargain at the mo. On the way over on the train I am going to suggest to Mr AJM that we go over our budgets at the weekend (he doesn't have to know mine is already done) so I can lessen the blow of his annual costs.

I was going to nip into a local office this morning to check my emails but decided my well being is more important so they are being left until Monday. I can't believe how shattered I am now I finally have some down time. I am planning to leave the office at lunchtime next Thursday but I secretly wanting to get away at tea time on Wednesday. Mr AJM has his school show on Weds and Thurs and I would like to surprise him by being at home when he gets home on Wednesday night and take the pressure off him. If I can get to then without spoiling the surprise it will be amazing.

ajmoney

I am unbelievably sad about the decision last night for so many reasons. However I have just seen Martin's post of FB and hve decided he should be the next Chancellor

I guess we just need to weather the storm and see how things pan out. The one thing I wish...I had already bought my euros for my holiday in 4 weeks time :eek:

edinburgher

I have never felt so disconnected from political reality in my life. Scotland unanimously decided (with record numbers) that we liked the EU, but we're leaving it.

ajmoney

I had never realised before today that my political views meant so much to me. I want to stay in the EU and the UK and voted that way in both referendums, looks like our future will be up in the air for a long time to come.

Watty1

Me too. I thought I was a reluctant remain and voted to stay after carefully thinking it through. Now I get that I was also an emotional remain too.

ajmoney

A week on and I still have no idea what the future holds however I am back in the game mentally, I have always believed that Mr AJM and I's future will depend on our own morals and planning and I believe this more than ever.

Our mortgage rate ends 7 weeks today so we will be starting on our new payment journey by then. I am deliberately staying away from too many calculations until I know what rate we will have. However as soon as it is secured I will be looking to see what we need to do to clear the large mortgage within 6 years. Mr AJM is slowly getting more on board with this so I am going to do some reading in advance but I am going to try and have this as something we do together. I am sure I will have the reigns but it may grip his interest, especially as it means he has control of his working hours as soon as the larger mortgage has gone.

2 and a half weeks until I have 3 weeks off and 3 weeks until we go away and I can't wait. I am slowly feeling more in control at work and am having the confidence to leave things if they are not urgent. I am starting each week with a list of what has to be done and only doing other things when that initial list has been completed. I am getting more done, am able to relax mentally knowing that the important things are done and am leaving the office earlier which is great.

Still not got my mojo back for exercise but am just about managing to keep my running going. I want to find a personal trainer to keep me going to my half marathon but I am struggling to find someone.

I have 6 years left in my contract (hence the time frame for the mortgage) and am now trying to make serious plans for what I want to do after. I am now about 70% certain that I would like to go into teaching so plan to do a week's work experience later in the year to see if I am still happy with this plan. It means I need to get back into playing/learning the piano to facilitate this and not struggle the way Mr AJM has. I need to plan in advance as I will have a year without earning money so need to work out how much money I need to get by and then work out a strategy for having that ready so I don't need to touch my lump sum I will get from work.

Many things to plan, exciting times ahead. I think a new diary will be in order when we get the new mortgage product in August.

ajmoney

Our bank have a great tracker mortgage deal at the moment I hope it is still available when we come to sorting out our deal.

ajmoney

It isn't even 8.30 and things are looking good. I have completed the money shuffle this morning and done my first of the month calculations on my main savings accounts and the mortgages. There are many bits of good news.

1. I hadn't dared to look at my S & S ISA before today as I was scared to see what had happened in the last week. It is still sitting higher than it was a month ago so at the moment it is weathering the storm. One of the funds my money goes into is one with companies that aren't doing so well so from this point of view things should be OK. However it has made me wonder whether the funds I am currently paying into are still suitable as it has been far too long since I went in for a review. I will make an appointment for during my holidays to make sure I address this.

2. The total of my mortgages minus the total of my ISAs and RS account has dipped below £100k today (my own version of an offset mortgage). If I include a guesstimate of Mr AJMs accounts I believe we now have more in than half of our mortgage in savings. I am not sure how much he has though so I generally just go from my totals as anything else is a bonus.

I am going to call my bank today to discuss when we can go in to start discussing our new mortgage products. It looks like we can get up to £500 cashback when we remortgage plus a free house evaluation so I am obviously keen to take advantage of these deals if I can.

It is amazing what a difference a week makes. I was unbelievably low last week with the referendum decision but I am so positive at the moment with regard to my own finances. I feel like I could take on the world today