Welsh Mam on a mortgage free mission

Cariad71

Good afternoon all!
I have been reading these boards for a while and decided to start my own diary in order to motivate myself.
I'm 41, married with two kids and a nutty cat.
This is my second time around. We paid off our mortgage a few years ago. So why am I here I hear you ask. Well, we decided to move to a bigger house and rent out the first house.
So now we have a ahem £172k mortgage. It's interest only but the aim is to overpay so that the first house is a pension pot.
First mortgage payment goes out 19th of this month. I'm hoping to make an overpayment at the end of the month. That's enough for now......I'll be back;)

ztan

Wow... mortgage free once already and starting again!!
Fair play! Wishing you the best of luck

happycamel_2

All the best. We have two houses too, sadly we have a mortgage on both of them but in principle a pension pot you keep control of is a great idea.

Cariad71

Thank you Ztan and Happycamel. It's good to know I'm not talking to myself as per usual!
I've been playing with my new 'my mortgage' app and worked out that we can clear this mortgage in approximately 13 years......it'll soon go!
Our first payment is going out in 7 days and I've managed to find £700 to overpay this month.
Asda gave me a fiver back in the 10% challenge. Not a week goes by when they don't pay me. Yippee. Also, I managed to keep the food bill down to £75. :j:j
Bye for now....I'll be back;)

Cariad71

Good Morning all!
Well, the first payment has gone out and I've written a cheque for £1000 to make an overpayment. We have managed to save £600 by just being more mindful of how we spend. We still go out for meals but use our Tesco vouchers and drink tap water.
I've been good at listing unwanted stuff on E bay and all 'new' clothes are from there too.
I added £400 to our monthly save from savings.
I've decided to use ALL savings to overpay (there's hardly any left).
I'm 41 and we've never needed 'emergency' money. I figure that if we do need this 'emergency' money, I'll take out an interest free credit card and stop overpaying that month (s). I'm nervous about having no emergency fund, but both me and hubbie have £1000 overdraft facilities. Any thoughts on this lack of emergency fund welcome!
I'm off to post the cheque, great feeling!:T

Cariad71

It's amazing how small changes make a mammoth difference. Yesterday we went to see Sky fall. We took our own snacks from Lidl and used Orange Wednesday tickets and only spent £13.75 all day (2 adults two teens).
Popped into supermarket last thing to get trick or treat sweets and they were reduced from £2 to...... 10p!!
Bargain!

Cariad71

Well time is going fast! I'm finding it hard not to give into spending temptations this time of year. With the dark evenings, I often don't feel like cooking (chippie seems so much more appealing), but I'm staying strong with not too many blips.
Our tenants are moving in Dec 1st so we should ba able to overpay in December.
My friend's daughter has got a job in Next and gets 25% discount off clothes so Christmas should be cheaper!!
I'm managing to keep the grocery bill right down. Porridge oats, frill free pasta, home made meals etc make it so much cheaper.
I need to find a way to feed the nutty cat cheaper (he's a Whiskas snob).
Mortgage started at 172 in Oct plus 995 fee. Overpaid 1000 in Oct so down to 172, but aiming to overpay 1000 this month (end of month). So far o good!

HelenDaveKids

We too went from morgage free to bigger house (sold other thou) and so desperate to return to MF.

Well done so far, sounds like you have lots of excellent ways already but definitely this is the place to be to find new ones.

Good luck

lilyp

I am hoping to be in your position in 10 years time. Need to op the first one first.

Good luck - sounds like you are doing well already.

I have been trying persuade my cat to eat whiskers for years. No such luck. Sheba is about as low as she will stoop.

Cariad71

Evening all, and what a cold one it is!
Lilyp, I now feel better about the Whiskas! We bought a puppy Sunday, so that's added a few years to the mortgage!!! But he's adorable.
I sent a cheque off for £1000 for November's overpayment. We now have zero savings, but we both have large overdraft facilities in place should we come unstuck. Mr H's job is very secure and I only do paid work one day a week so could increase that if the need arises.
Henry my lovely Hoover died today, so I'm off to google the cheapest one to replace him. RIP Henry x

Cariad71

Merry Christmas Everyone! I've managed to stay pretty much within budget. However, we did buy a puppy 3 weeks ago!! He's a golden retriever. adorable/naughty/mischievous! So our spending has increased somewhat.......but he's worth it. It's all about getting the balance right, having a life worth living now, but also striving for a better life in the future.
My children are 13 and 15 and have always wanted a dog. So has hubby. Life will certainly never be the same while pup is around.
Can anybody tell me how I find threads I've subscribed to? For the life of me I can't see it.
What are your aims for January? Mine is to only go to the sales if I buy bargain presents for birthdays throughout the year. And to live simply. To overpay £500. And to go to the gym twice a week/do extra long doggy walks.
Once again, Merry Christmas to all x