Mortgage Free in Three Yrs

dawnylou

Not going well at all for us Decided not to pay any extra off mortgage until after our wedding next year....but this months bank charges were a whopping £95 so clearly we are in a bit of a mess
How did it come to this?

ailuro2

Dawnylou -

Sit down together and write down every last direct debit and when it comes off, how much you think you spend on food shopping, lunches at work etc, then see where you can cut back to avoid going into the red. If everything looks like it adds up on paper but you're still overdrawn, then you need to keep a spending diary to work out where your money is disappearing to. It's the starbucks and a paper every day that can add up to a hidden fifty pounds a week between you!

Perhaps realigning all the DDs to come off all together when your wages go in will prevent bank charges eating up money you need for your wedding. Then you know what you have left to spend for the rest of the month and can budget better for it.

Then you won't be asking why it has come to this, you will know where the money went.

Good Luck - the people on the Debt Free wannabe are the people to ask if things aren't working out - they really know their stuff!

TallGirl

Totally agree with Ailuro2 you need to work out where the money is going and try to cut back if the books don't balance so to speak. £95 a month is very expensive fo what is in effect an overdraft. If you really need to borrow money I suggest you look at MSE and get the best deal.

I know it is tempting to spend lots of money on little bits and pieces for the wedding but really at the end of the day it is all about you and your new husband so don't worry if you serve Cava instead of Champagne no one will notice or if there are no little gift on the tables. When we got married 3 years ago I found lots of bargins on the internet and we did not go overboard on the frills. Good luck though when is the big day?

dawnylou

Morning Ailuro2 and TallGirl.
We have had a look at our outgoings and can't see a single place where we can cutback.
We don't buy things like newspapers and a Starbucks is a treat to us which happens whenever we earn luncheon vouchers!

We can't get our DDs to come out together - Northern Rock and Council Tax do not allow you to change the dates.

We are going to do our budget again, but it has gotten to the point where if I am doing the shopping I feel guilty spending money! But this is just stupid of course we have to eat but that is how bad I am feeling about the whole situation.

The problem really (I think) stems from the fact that we went slightly overdrawn and A&L took bank charges so the next month we had even less so were a little more overdrawn and because they kept banging charges on it has now got to the point where we constantly just do not have enough for the bills.

We won't be spending much on our wedding, it will be very MSE and we haven't bought anything at all for it yet. Again whenever I look at anything I like for the wedding I feel guilty!

It's not til next April so hopefully we will have sorted ourselves out a bit by then.

Thank you bothfor your advice though x

TallGirl

Just a tip about the Council Tax although you pay it over 10 month usually most Council will allow you to pay it over 12 month bringing the bill down. It is the same for water and sewerage bills but you have to ask for it. Also try to ask if they will accept Standing Orders that way you should be able to pay when you want to.

Next April is still quite a long way away I would not buy anything now as you might change your mind about what you like or find something better later on. We started organising ours in January for a late May wedding and I found that was ok. Apart from the dresses some shops needs ages as they come in from China. I went to a local dressmaker and got mine for £250 and it was lovely.

Trying_to_be_good

Like others have said, don't worry about the wedding stuff yet - and you can get most of what you want/need in the sales. I get married in six weeks (well, six weeks yesterday), started planning in the January sales (which is a really top tip!). Do set a budget, though (and if you can get a 0% on purchases credit card, you can save for a bit longer past the date of the wedding - mine needs to be paid off next Feb). You need to be able to enjoy your wedding planning.

And don't even think about mortgage overpayments until you can get a clear picture of the 'day-to-day' banking stuff - you know you can do it, even if it means a few weeks of living on really basic food (think of the wedding diet starting early!).

Thinking of you, don't beat yourself up about it.

ailuro2

Dawnylou - how we do it, fwiw.:money:

Shopping in our house mounted up because I used to always buy branded food. I have gradually weaned myself off of Heinz etc. through trying one thing at a time.
I still wont eat any other than Kellog's cornflakes, but most supermarket version Rice Krispies taste the same. Tesco tomato soup is really nice, as good as Heinz. Slightly different but still nice.
DH refuses to eat cheap white bread, he hates it, but he doesn't mind cheaper brown loaves because they're only for toast.Little changes do add up!
Lidl are really good for cheap vegetables and fruit, and also their fruit juices are good but still cheap. My DH likes their lamb kebabs from the freezer section, and he is addicted to their 59p a jar relish.

DH didn't believe me I had more vouchers for Tesco delivery when he saw me ordering food online - Again! he said - yes, says I , I have a £13 voucher from the discounts and vouchers thread, so once the £5.75 delivery charge is taken off I am still up by £7.25 on my shopping for the week.:D That's not counting the petrol to go to Tesco. Then when the clubcard deals come in we use them to pay 1/4 for something, last time it was a stay in a MArriott hotel, but we've had Haven holidays before too.

Check your utility bills regularly, can you swop provider and save money. Use Quidco to get £70 or £80 cashback on your car and home insurance.
Even use Quidco when booking train tickets to get 30p from National express. Use price comparison websites for your shopping to find the cheapest place to buy the goods you want (www.mysupermarket.co.uk)

There's even a thread around here on an MSE wedding plan...:D

If all that fails to help, then maybe visit the 'make extra money' board. to earn a bit more from home. Good Luck!

molit

Just thought I'd pop in and say hello, and give an update - still waiting for redundancy money to come through, but that is due at the end of this month :-) so I've started to include it in my signiture (not quite sitting in bank account but .....) And started my new, better paying job - which is ok, but the commute is longer than I'd like (about an hour, and hour 15). This is where I have quite a nice dilema. I have to still get through a probationary period, but after that stage I have a few choices

Do I
a) stay as I am and pay the lump sum off the mortgage, and keep on overpaying my mortgage, hopefully paying it off over the next 5 years, and put up with commute (although I am sometimes off site with work).
b) Sell this current place, and buy something closer to work - prices are more up there, but this would be more than covered by the lump sum, and give me about 8 hours extra free time a week, plus a slightly bigger house (i have no kids/wife at moment so no real need)
or
c) Buy something smaller than b up there using the lump sum, and rent out my current place - the rent would more than cover the mortgage.

Currently I am torn between a and c more than b, due to the stress involved in buying and selling at the same time, and only having moved in here 18 months ago. I appreciate c is a much riskier option than a, but if I could get it to work I would have two houses in the long run. I also really like the location where I currently live - what would you all do?

ailuro2

Rent somewhere closer until your probationary period is over, and also house prices will likely be lower by then. Rent out your own house on a similar term of let, so if it all goes belly up you can move 'home' and start again.
stash the money in whatever higher interest vehicle you have until you need it, or have decided to stay where you are.

setmefree2

ailuro2 wrote: »

Rent somewhere closer until your probationary period is over, and also house prices will likely be lower by then. Rent out your own house on a similar term of let, so if it all goes belly up you can move 'home' and start again.
stash the money in whatever higher interest vehicle you have until you need it, or have decided to stay where you are.

Ditto - good advice