Onwards to freedom!

SuperSecretSquirrel

I've finally opened my first ever Stocks and Shares ISA It's something I've been meaning to get round to for a while (about five years!) but for some reason or another it never ended up happening. Well, this evening it did! I've gone for a very cautious £50 per month investment plan to start with, so I guess that's £50 a month less that's available to overpay (or stick in a savings account) - but who knows, it might just be the start of a future life in investing that makes me my millions!

There's also the added bonus that the £50pm is taken by direct debit from my halifax reward account... That, and the fact that I also have a shiny new savings account also funded via direct debit, means I should continue to receive my free fivers from halifax for the forseeable

The not so good news is that my cash ISA is due to drop from a reasonable 3% to an awful 0.25% in under two months. My easy access savings are going to take a pretty similar hit too. Done a little shopping around, and it seems that pretty much all rates are rubbish at the moment. Best I can find is 2.25% instant access cash isa (I'm not even entertaining the thought of applying for a 2.5% account that is operated by post - seriously, in this day and age?!), and 2% instant access savings. I'm not sure if I fancy fixing as I really don't know what's going to happen to interest rates in the next year or two (though I bet if I fix they'll improve, and if I don't they'll stay low!), but even if I did decide to fix, those rates are pretty bad too... I think I'll leave it another month or two and cross my fingers that there'll be a raft of great easy access cash ISAs launched ready for next years money and accepting transfers in. We'll see. If things get worse, I guess I might go for the best cash ISA available and chance my non-ISA savings in premium bonds for a while.

I really miss the good old days of earning 12.5% on my savings, that's what switched me on to money saving in the first place - an after tax profit of 10% for doing nothing other than lending the bank my money. If I was just starting out now I don't think my attitude to money would be quite the same, the rewards are nowhere near as obvious. Oh well, another £800 comes off the mortgage tomorrow. Owning a few more bricks is it's own reward

Happy Friday everyone!

SuperSecretSquirrel

Mortgage balance as of today is £73,964.

I've calculated that if we stick to the direct debit OPs alone it should be below 70k by the end of the year. If we manage the maximum 10% annual OP it'll be closer to 65k. If we didn't OP at all, end of year balance would be just under 73k. I think that's pretty shocking!

Paying off the mortgage will take quite some time, so smaller short term targets will help. I think this years target will be to OP as much as possible and try to get the balance as close to 65k as we can Would be nice to get the daily interest down to single figures!

SuperSecretSquirrel

It's funny how this mfw business gets under your skin... I've decided to OP what's left in my current account on payday this month. Don't know if I'll be doing this every month, but I will this month at least. I currently have £28.16 cash on me, and am desperately trying to make it last til the 1st so the OP amount will be the whole balance of my current account as it stands! I'm pretty sure I won't manage it, I'll need to take out a bit extra as we need a weekly shop between now and payday, and we might go to the cinema or have a takeaway at the weekend too, but the less I spend the more I OP, and that's motivating me not to fritter too much

I have a sneaky suspicion that OH has been infected too. Earlier today I was told that some of OH's unwanted stuff is about to be listed on ebay, and whatever they fetch will be OP'd. Fantastic!

SuperSecretSquirrel

I'm feeling good today Done the last weekly shop of the month yesterday, still have £25 cash on me (didn't even spend that £3.16, I just put it in my sealed spare change bottle ), and I get paid in five days. That £25 should be more than enough to last me until Friday, which means what's in my current account can be OP'd today.

£160.33, never expected to have that much 'spare' knocking around at the end of the month, must have been a very low spend month!

I've been rejigging my spreadsheet too, and surprised to see that IF we were to manage the full 10% OP's the next three years, our balance could be under 50k by the end of the MFiT-3 challenge. Not bad considering the current aim is to get down to 60k! Of course a lot can change between now and then, so no guarantees it'll keep going as smoothly as it has so far, but who knows what could happen? With a good tailwind and a fair bit of good luck we're in with a shot! I'm not going to change my challenge target yet, but maybe midway through the challenge I'll revise it.

What's REALLY amazing is the thought that by the end of the MFiT-3 challenge we could potentially be very close to being mortgage neutral (that is have a savings balance pretty much equal to the mortgage balance, with the option of paying off in full if we felt like it). I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't done all the calculations myself (and triple checked them all!), but it does seem almost possible! Due to the ERC's we'd face for redeeming during the 10 year fixed term, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to pay it all off too soon, but when we start to approach that position I'll do the math for various scenarios properly.

Mortgage neutral at the age of 32, what a dream come true that would be... I try not to get too carried away when looking further than a few months into the future as you never know what's around the corner, but one can dream! :cool:

tinkerbel

Just found your thread and subscribed!
I may not have much to add as I dont even have a house (I'm still in the deposit saving stage which is turning out super hard while renting!) but I like the way you write and you seem so enthusiastic I want to follow your journey! Not knowing too much about mortgages some of your calculations sound a bit tricky to me but its heading in the right direction and i think it was a good idea to pay off a lump sum, (esp as you got OH to lump up £1k too!) as you still have some savings and can rebuild them now but you're already saving the interest. I never knew it could be £10 per day in interest.. that's really shocked me and made me more determined to get the largest deposit I possibly can together before I buy!
Can I ask what % you put down when you bought the place?

SuperSecretSquirrel

Hi tinkerbel, thanks for popping by and thanks especially for subscribing

We put down quite a big deposit when we bought our house, just over 25%, which meant we got the best rates at the time on a 75% ltv deal. We're lucky to have bought in a nice but relatively cheap area though, which made this more easily achievable than it would have been in pricier areas.

Our daily interest at the moment is £10.72, but it doesn't help that we're on a 5.29% 10 year fixed rate. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I do like the certainty of knowing what we have to pay for what should really be the whole life of our mortgage, but I do feel slightly envious sometimes when I read other peoples diaries and see the lower rates they are on!

I agree that saving a deposit when renting can be tough. We managed it by being very clear that the rented house should be the cheapest decent place we could find. It was small (living room, kitchen, bathroom, one bedroom, no more), but in good condition, and pretty cheap (on more than just rent rent, council tax and bills too). We were good tenants, and the landlord was happy for us to live there for over two years without any rent increases. The money we saved in that time allowed us to buy the bigger house later on. I have friends living in very grand rented houses, but it leaves very little left over to save a deposit... Making do with a humble rented place makes so much more sense to me!

When you've found 'the house' that's when it gets interesting with the calculators and spreadsheets etc There's lots of knowledgeable helpful people on here, and if I can help you get your head round any calculations I'll do what I can.

It will be nice following your progress from saving a deposit to buying to mfw to actually being mortgage free, let me know if you have a diary on here too.

tinkerbel

oooh 25% deposit sounds pretty sweet well done! I'm just aiming for as large a pot as I can right now as I wont be buying for ages so wont know prices/location/what might be realistic... but in a way I wish I had a target amount so that I could get all geeky with percentages and spreadsheets! I might make mini targets but then on the flip side I could see myself getting obsessive of you know what I mean and I want to live my life now too! I think for me its about saving smart, i.e. buying extra drinks before happy hour runs out to last for a bit longer, rather than missing out and not going out (if that makes sense?) also savings rates are pants!!

Anyhow I'll continue to read with interest and post when I can!

elantan

Hey SSS just wondering if you've done anymore about matched betting? I did it a few years ago and at the time it paid out REALLY well ... I worked it out that I was making between £75-£100 an hour ( depending on the bet etc)

I enjoyed the process as well it became a bit of a game for me

Not sure if its still the same though but it might be worth your while finding out .. Good luck on your journey

puregeordie

This all sounds like a really thought out plan.

Wish I could of been able to afford/position to do this at a young age of early twenties.

That's divorce & kidz for ya!!

Good luck.

Barbeduk

Good luck, I'm very inspired by your thread and so pleased that you're also going to enjoy life by continuing to have holidays etc.

Keep up the good work!