From Debt Free Wannabe to Mortgage Free Wannabe

moneypenny2k

I feel a bit of a fraud, I've not had bailiffs knocking on the door, I've not missed a payment, I'm not living beneath the breadline, but I've been lurking on this site for quite some time.

A year or so ago, I totaled up that I had about 18k on credit cards, I've managed to get that down to under 10k and have sorted out a couple of grands worth of unpaid service charges on my flat that Id forgotten to pay. My finances are in good order now and I'm steadily paying off about a grand a month from my debts.

It struck me that I'd be debt free around October 2013. Also that my 5 year fixed rate mortgage would come to an end in June so time to sort out the becoming mortgage free too. I'm 53 and a huge chunk of my mortgage is interest only. So the money I'm currently using to service my debt, I'm hoping to use to pay off my mortgage so that when I retire in 12 years time, I'll be mortgage free.

Anyone got any good advice? Want to keep me company on the journey?

elantan

I'm a bit like yourself in that I have never had bailiffs at the door and manage my money , that's the great thing about Mse it's open for all not just the few

Have you done the practical things of snowballing, spending diaries etc ? Do you sell your old stuff in eBay? How about grocery challenges etc

moneypenny2k

elantan wrote: »

I'm a bit like yourself in that I have never had bailiffs at the door and manage my money , that's the great thing about Mse it's open for all not just the few

Have you done the practical things of snowballing, spending diaries etc ? Do you sell your old stuff in eBay? How about grocery challenges etc

Thanks for the reply Elantan, I'm eternally grateful to you for ensuring that I didn't sit there without a single reply, all on my jacksie

Yes I'm snowballing, luckily I have good enough credit to get 0% deals. I am currently throwing about £1000 a month at clearing my debts, though I've now got the following left (amounts as of start of Dec)

• Barclaycard platinum £0 balance, set up to repay the full amount each month. not 0%
• FD Gold card - down from 3k to just over 1k - this will be paid off in Feb - not 0% so first to go - will be shut down when it's paid off
• Clydesdale card - just out of its 0% - £900 on there I finally gave in and bought the telly of my dreams last month Waiting for the cashback(£95) and selling my old telly and the free blu ray player to help offset (should get about £200 for those on ebay) - will pay off by end of Feb and close down
• Creation Card just over £5k - this is 0% till June and is the biggest of my cards to be tackled. Once the other cards are paid off I'll start throwing money at this one. Though I'd like to get a short term 0% to stop me paying any interest
• Tesco Card just under £2k on this 22 months 0% so will do this as soon as my Creation Card is done - currently paying £50 per month off the debt

So yes, you can see I've been ebaying, am running out of no longer needed things to sell though. Mind you. where have all the jumble sales gone? I used to love a good jumble, I've been looking for ages to find some, they used to be advertised in the local paper, not any more. The world must be full of ebayers now.:rotfl:

Thinking ahead my mortgage fixed rate comes to an end in June, that will free up another £300, my intention is that when my credit cards are paid off in late summer, all the money from that will go towards my mortgage with the intention of paying it off ASAP so that I can retire in a bit more comfort. I'm a teacher and hate what the job has become, instead of educating a whole child, I'm ticking boxes and creating data, sorry don't let me moan too much

Currently, I'm suffering quite bad depression. the MSE boards are about my only contact with the real world. I'm dreading going back to work on Monday week, before Xmas I was bursting into tears at the drop of a hat, had a real freak out over Xmas and cancelled all the things I had planned, a trip to the theatre, visiting a friend, just can't face them. I've made an appointment to see my doctor, I know I need to be medicated again, probably should have been a couple of months back but I thought I was only low because I'd injured my knee and couldn't get out and about as much as I wanted. God I hate suffering from depression.

So please, if you find anything that chimes with you in this post, please say hi, I need all the support I can get.

kittiej

Hey moneypenny, just popped by to say heeelllooo

Sorry to hear about the depression but if you need some meds for a little bit then take the opportunity to help yourself feel a bit brighter.

Having constant knee pain can be a drag so make sure the doc knows all about this as well.

Wishing you all the very best xxx

kerri_gt

Hey MP, just nipping over from the NSD crew to say hello. Well done on clearing so much of your debt, and congrats on the DFD too - not long to go now.

You're deff not a fraud just because you've managed to keep up with payments (more or less), not had the bayliffs etc. We're all in diff positions with debt and there's not rule that says you have to be bankrupt or homeless before you're allowed on the boards.

Christmas can be an incredibly stressful time of year, it can become too much at times for many of us so taking a little time out instead of rushing in / out to do 101 things is sometimes what is needed. Hopefully seeing the doc can also help you on the road to feeling a bit more 'upwards' as well.

Speaking of fleabay, I've been busy listing a few bits and pieces from my car boot 'leftovers' that haven't shifted at car boots - can be swings and roundabouts and although it's a bit of a faff, it's got more chance of shifting out of my house if it's on fleabay whilst the car boot is shut until March than sitting in my loft gathering spiders :eek:

couldsavemore_2

moneypenny2k wrote: »

I feel a bit of a fraud, I've not had bailiffs knocking on the door, I've not missed a payment, I'm not living beneath the breadline, but I've been lurking on this site for quite some time.

A year or so ago, I totaled up that I had about 18k on credit cards, I've managed to get that down to under 10k and have sorted out a couple of grands worth of unpaid service charges on my flat that Id forgotten to pay. My finances are in good order now and I'm steadily paying off about a grand a month from my debts.

It struck me that I'd be debt free around October 2013. Also that my 5 year fixed rate mortgage would come to an end in June so time to sort out the becoming mortgage free too. I'm 53 and a huge chunk of my mortgage is interest only. So the money I'm currently using to service my debt, I'm hoping to use to pay off my mortgage so that when I retire in 12 years time, I'll be mortgage free.

Anyone got any good advice? t Want to keep me company on the journey?[/QUOTE


wow you have done really well i hope i can follow suit. my plan is to pay debts this year then start overpaying the mortgage. we like you have some of our mortgage on interest only, but have only 6 years left so im panicking about paying it back . so need to take drastic action now. i work hard at a job thats not the best but i earn a decent wage so i can reduce these debts etc. I'm just looking forward to the day its all paid and how good that feeling will be:):)

rising_from_the_ashes

*subscribed*

Popping in to keep you company on the way ... sorry you were feeling lonely - I try to pick up as many "new" diaries as I can but - like many - haven't been around as much the past few days.

Well done on getting the debt level down and here's to beating it finally in 2013!

moneypenny2k

kittiej wrote: »

Hey moneypenny, just popped by to say heeelllooo

Sorry to hear about the depression but if you need some meds for a little bit then take the opportunity to help yourself feel a bit brighter.

Having constant knee pain can be a drag so make sure the doc knows all about this as well.

Wishing you all the very best xxx

Thanks KittieJ much appreciated I know I have to take my meds, just wish I could manage a decent amount of time without them. Still doctors on Wed

kerri_gt wrote: »

Hey MP, just nipping over from the NSD crew to say hello. Well done on clearing so much of your debt, and congrats on the DFD too - not long to go now.

You're deff not a fraud just because you've managed to keep up with payments (more or less), not had the bayliffs etc. We're all in diff positions with debt and there's not rule that says you have to be bankrupt or homeless before you're allowed on the boards.

Christmas can be an incredibly stressful time of year, it can become too much at times for many of us so taking a little time out instead of rushing in / out to do 101 things is sometimes what is needed. Hopefully seeing the doc can also help you on the road to feeling a bit more 'upwards' as well.

Speaking of fleabay, I've been busy listing a few bits and pieces from my car boot 'leftovers' that haven't shifted at car boots - can be swings and roundabouts and although it's a bit of a faff, it's got more chance of shifting out of my house if it's on fleabay whilst the car boot is shut until March than sitting in my loft gathering spiders :eek:

Thanks Kerrie, I'm getting annoyed with Fleabay (like it, gonna use that from now on) Sold my 32 inch LCD HDready TV for £102 on Saturday before Xmas, buyer didn't contact me till Xmas day. Arranged to collect it on Thursday, didn't turn up. So I've done a non paying bidder report. Listed the TV again as £99 or best offer, two jokers offered me £40 & £50 respectively, another £70. I'd not have the nerve. Still 10 people are watching it.;)

couldsavemore wrote: »

[
wow you have done really well i hope i can follow suit. my plan is to pay debts this year then start overpaying the mortgage. we like you have some of our mortgage on interest only, but have only 6 years left so im panicking about paying it back . so need to take drastic action now. i work hard at a job thats not the best but i earn a decent wage so i can reduce these debts etc. I'm just looking forward to the day its all paid and how good that feeling will be:):)

Thanks couldsavemore, it's always good to find people in a similar position as yourself. I've got 12 years until I'm 65 but want to be semi retired at 60. I can't see myself teaching beyond 55 to be honest. It's one hell of a stressful job, but somehow I need to maintain my income and safeguard my pension. I'm single so nobody to help bolster my income

Support is appreciated all

moneypenny2k

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

*subscribed*

Popping in to keep you company on the way ... sorry you were feeling lonely - I try to pick up as many "new" diaries as I can but - like many - haven't been around as much the past few days.

Well done on getting the debt level down and here's to beating it finally in 2013!

Thanks rising, starting to feel less lonely now. Thanks all

couldsavemore_2

moneypenny2k wrote: »

Thanks couldsavemore, it's always good to find people in a similar position as yourself. I've got 12 years until I'm 65 but want to be semi retired at 60. I can't see myself teaching beyond 55 to be honest. It's one hell of a stressful job, but somehow I need to maintain my income and safeguard my pension. I'm single so nobody to help bolster my income

Support is appreciated all

i am a similar age to you but i do have an oh who has a good job and regular money coming, but mine is on a self employed basis and definitely not reliable and i have no pension so feel i need to take action now to boost the future. i think its to late to start a pension but need to find an alternative and definitely to be debt and mortgage free asap.

Shortie

Subscribing! I'm another one popping over from the NSD thread

I am in a similar-ish position to you MP2K but I'm early 30's. We have quite a sum of debt behind us at the mo, and I'm the only one working (Mr Shortie is a stay at home Dad at the mo). I've started focussing on the 2 debts we have at the mo - at best, with big overpayments we can be Debt Free by mid 2016. Realisitically we won't always make the maximum hoped overpayments so I know that date will move but if I hold onto 2016 it helps spur me on...

The plan was to overpay the mortgage after that but in truth I see another loan coming up - we moved house 2 months ago and an area I thought we could work around cheaply will need pulling down and rebuilding if it's going to ever be our lovely 'forever home'. I simply refuse to have a 3rd debt to my name though (if any bank would even let me that is - I'm not even going to check if I can) so Mr Shortie is onboard that we will get rid of our two loans first before taking on a new one

We've not had bailiffs, nor are we struggling (well, if we are it's only self imposed as I'm pushing so hard to make big overpayments on the loans) but that doesn't make our journeys any less important

Hope the docs can help with the depression when you go to see them. I understnad the feeling about not wanting to be on meds, but if they make you feel much better there has to be some value in that right? x