SF's road to mortgage freedom!

slowlyfading

Thanks for your kind words everyone; it's been a bit of a tough ride over the last few days, but it definitely has made me question our priorities and what we actually want. I'll probably do a big post on that tomorrow, once I can put into words what I want a bit more.

Popped into town today and only bought the things I needed - DH told me to treat myself to something nice but I just didn't find anything I absolutely loved for a justifiable price, so didn't get anything. I bought some slippers as mine are falling apart plus some new flat shoes for work - both were from Primarni - and I treated myself to a co$ta for lunch, suppose that was a treat and then pottered for a bit then came back home.

Paid in £100's worth of £2 coins into savings account

In other news, can't believe it's Friday tomorrow; half term has gone incredibly quickly

ljaneyr

When you have your mind on saving for the future it can be very difficult to 'treat' yourself to things unless you really need it - which isn't much of a treat! We tend to treat ourselves with food, just little things here and there but it feels less like you can't buy anything at all! Should probably stop this now as the holiday approaches...need to buy holiday clothes soon :eek:

EDIT: Have put in a request to join your savings challenge

slowlyfading

Okay, so some rambling thoughts about my change in thoughts and priorities.

One of my main goals, for both myself and DH is to be able to retire at 50. DH is older than me, so either when he turns 50, or to finish when I turn 50, so we'd finish at the same time. Now, this is dependent on a lot of things, but this I think is my ultimate goal. I want me and DH to be able to do things together, explore the world and experience lots of things whilst we're still able to. I don't want to work until I'm so worn out that I die a year after retirement

So, there are lots of numbers floating around in my head trying to work out a plan for how we'd do this. We'd have to be mortgage free (obviously) and have quite a bit in savings to be able to manage. We can survive on relatively little once mortgage payments and over-payments are discounted, but we'd still like a good lifestyle to be able to do things. I'm pondering the ideas of various different income streams and how we'd set those in motion and when we'd have to reach certain goals in relation to those.

Also, the thought of if and when we start a family is beginning to become more important. I don't want to wait much longer really, as we're not getting any younger and all the stuff going on recently has cemented that I do want a family and I want to be able to spend more time with my closest. So, I'm exploring various self-employed options at the moment - I haven't done anything about it - so that when maternity leave ends, I might be able to go back part time and continue with the self employed things to work around childcare/DH/grandparents. This will obviously have an impact into the money side of our main aim (see above!) but hopefully with some careful planning and other income, potentially this could be alright.

So, our priorities are shifting slightly. OP'ing the mortgage, though we are continuing that, will take more of a back step. We're going to overpay the interest rounded up to the nearest £10 and that's it. I'm not sure I want to stay in this house long term, but DH would, so we need to consider that too.

Our savings, provided nothing too unexpected comes up, will be more of a priority. We do have various house projects we want to complete, and the first major one that is a priority is the bathroom, which is pretty dire now. We've already saved about £3,000 for this, so we're pretty much there with that; we just need to work out when would be the best time to do the bathroom, as it pretty much needs gutting and starting again.

We want to continue with being a one-car household for as long as we can, though if children eventually come into the mix that might have to change. We don't live particularly near any nurseries/primary schools, so that might be a sticking point, again if and when the time comes.

I've also totally overhauled our budget this afternoon. We should have a nice surplus every month, even after transferring things to savings etc., but I'm finding that we're becoming more lax about little spends, and they're adding up fast. Every month this year we've gone over budget in our general spends category not massively so, but it needs addressing. I'm determined for June to be a much more simple, no more frills and whims budget. We also need to get used to living on slightly less so that we can up our savings more quickly.

I'm loathe to post numbers just yet, as they're still not quite clear in my mind in terms of what to aim for. We do have some big one-off expenses coming up, like our big holiday and the bathroom redone, but on paper, we're doing well. In 6 months time, in time for the new year, I'm going to re-assess where we are, what we want from the next year and our more long term plans. Hopefully it'll all be heading in the right direction, but who knows? It may not be!

Right, that's quite a long post any thoughts or suggestions from anyone? Have I missed anything glaringly obvious? Can it actually be done?

I need a cuppa....

ljaneyr

I've sent you a PM

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi SlowlyFading, you're going to need to change your username to BurningBrightly :)

Significant life events really do change both how we think and behave and I wish you well with your plans. I don't think I have any suggestions really as you have a simple approach to the future, which I'm doing as well.

Good luck and best wishes

Tilly x

slowlyfading

ljaneyr wrote: »

I've sent you a PM

I've replied

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Hi SlowlyFading, you're going to need to change your username to BurningBrightly :)

Significant life events really do change both how we think and behave and I wish you well with your plans. I don't think I have any suggestions really as you have a simple approach to the future, which I'm doing as well.

I read your diary everyday, as an inspiration as you are currently further down the path that I hope I'm on! thanks for responding to my mammoth post x

Goldiegirl

I thought your post about your future plans was very interesting and found myself nodding in agreement.

It was always our plan to stop work at the same time. Mr Goldie is 8 years older than me, and I want to be able to enjoy time with him, and not have the tie of a job when he retires.

We have got to a point when we should realise our plan next year - I'll be 55.

I'll admit to not always being fully focused on our future plans, and some times we were a bit haphazard, but we have got to where we want to be.

In hindsight, I think that if we'd planned more seriously, and were more focused from an earlier age, we might have been able to stop working when I was 50. But I also think that I wasn't quite ready to stop work at that point, whereas I am now.

I think it's natural to evaluate your life at times of loss and change. You realise how important it is to have the best life you can, and to get the most out of it.

What I would say is, don't forget to have fun along the way. You don't know what's around the corner, so live for now as well as the future.

Habibiboo

:wave:

I found your thread SF!

So sorry to hear about your friend and well understand the line of thinking about life it has set off for you (belated hugs to you). There are many different types of light bulb moments and sometimes it's being faced with the darker side of life which shows things more clearly in perspective.

And so to the plotting and planning ...

slowlyfading wrote: »

Okay, so some rambling thoughts about my change in thoughts and priorities.

One of my main goals, for both myself and DH is to be able to retire at 50. DH is older than me, so either when he turns 50, or to finish when I turn 50, so we'd finish at the same time. Now, this is dependent on a lot of things, but this I think is my ultimate goal. I want me and DH to be able to do things together, explore the world and experience lots of things whilst we're still able to. I don't want to work until I'm so worn out that I die a year after retirement

Totally agree with this. Mr Hbbb and I met later on in life so our years are in advance of yours. I've already had to stop teaching (but still working) due to health and as he is 8 years older than me we don't want him teaching until the system spits him out at the other end, we do want some time together, so I really understand where you're coming from.


So, there are lots of numbers floating around in my head trying to work out a plan for how we'd do this. We'd have to be mortgage free (obviously) and have quite a bit in savings to be able to manage. We can survive on relatively little once mortgage payments and over-payments are discounted, but we'd still like a good lifestyle to be able to do things. I'm pondering the ideas of various different income streams and how we'd set those in motion and when we'd have to reach certain goals in relation to those.

Paying down the mortgage is certainly a priority for us too, as you rightly say it offers a logical way to free up income to use for other things. Other income streams can be harder to achieve, depending on the time you have available ... Do you mean for when you are 50 and retired or to set in motion now to help with the MOPs and so you have something up and running by the time you retire?

Also, the thought of if and when we start a family is beginning to become more important. I don't want to wait much longer really, as we're not getting any younger and all the stuff going on recently has cemented that I do want a family and I want to be able to spend more time with my closest. So, I'm exploring various self-employed options at the moment - I haven't done anything about it - so that when maternity leave ends, I might be able to go back part time and continue with the self employed things to work around childcare/DH/grandparents. This will obviously have an impact into the money side of our main aim (see above!) but hopefully with some careful planning and other income, potentially this could be alright.

Private tutoring and NVQ assessing spring to mind if you want to stay in education but work as self employed, or freelance writing within you specialist subject (or even outside of it, as suits your skills and desires)!

So, our priorities are shifting slightly. OP'ing the mortgage, though we are continuing that, will take more of a back step. We're going to overpay the interest rounded up to the nearest £10 and that's it. I'm not sure I want to stay in this house long term, but DH would, so we need to consider that too.

Lots of contexts and variables here aren't there, but in an exciting way. Maybe looking at your current home from the viewpoint of it being full of little ones will help to see the reality of staying where you are or moving on and what impact a move (or not) will make with long term goals of mortgage and savings?

Our savings, provided nothing too unexpected comes up, will be more of a priority. We do have various house projects we want to complete, and the first major one that is a priority is the bathroom, which is pretty dire now. We've already saved about £3,000 for this, so we're pretty much there with that; we just need to work out when would be the best time to do the bathroom, as it pretty much needs gutting and starting again.

Definitely before you start babies :rotfl: but also decide whether you are staying or moving first to see whether it would help with a sale and added value to the house or not make much difference. If you decide to sell and get a different home for your young family, it might not be worth it. Alternatively and as a compromise if you're still not sure whether to stay or go but you're sure the bathroom has to be done, set your budget within what you have already saved ... if you can be flexible about timings you might be able to access good deals, it just depends how much of the work you can / want to do yourself! Our bathroom is my bug bear with our house too

We want to continue with being a one-car household for as long as we can, though if children eventually come into the mix that might have to change. We don't live particularly near any nurseries/primary schools, so that might be a sticking point, again if and when the time comes.

So another reason why a move might be useful from a family perspective...? Sounds like a pros and cons list might be helpful?

I've also totally overhauled our budget this afternoon. We should have a nice surplus every month, even after transferring things to savings etc., but I'm finding that we're becoming more lax about little spends, and they're adding up fast. Every month this year we've gone over budget in our general spends category not massively so, but it needs addressing. I'm determined for June to be a much more simple, no more frills and whims budget. We also need to get used to living on slightly less so that we can up our savings more quickly.

Absolutely, setting a savings goal and putting some money into that before the spending pot eats into it might be the better way around to do it (to practice living on less too) ... once the spending pot's empty for the month, no more spending!

I'm loathe to post numbers just yet, as they're still not quite clear in my mind in terms of what to aim for. We do have some big one-off expenses coming up, like our big holiday and the bathroom redone, but on paper, we're doing well. In 6 months time, in time for the new year, I'm going to re-assess where we are, what we want from the next year and our more long term plans. Hopefully it'll all be heading in the right direction, but who knows? It may not be!

Don't blame you at this point, numbers would be too confusing. At the moment the plan's the thing, once that takes shape you can put numbers in around it (although you've rightly sorted the budgeting so you do know your ball park figures, which is good).

Right, that's quite a long post any thoughts or suggestions from anyone? Have I missed anything glaringly obvious? Can it actually be done?

I need a cuppa....

Sounds like you're really trying to consider everything SF, lots here! For the mo, I'd suggest just keep talking it through with OH, focus on the saving first, spending afterwards (you can always still save what's left if you have less spendy months too).

You might want to choose an amount relative to a savings goal, eg X needed so must save Y per month, or choose it in relation to possible frugal futures, eg: maternity pay will be X so manage on this amount now and save everything else you're earning (perhaps in a holding account so you have a buffer if needed)? Helps ease into the living on less too as you don't *have to* yet!

Just a few thoughts, meantime enjoy this weekend x

slowlyfading

Goldiegirl wrote: »

What I would say is, don't forget to have fun along the way. You don't know what's around the corner, so live for now as well as the future.

What an excellent point you make - I need to remember not to get too obsessed with the future and live in the present thanks for the reminder x

slowlyfading

Habibiboo wrote: »

Sounds like you're really trying to consider everything SF, lots here! For the mo, I'd suggest just keep talking it through with OH, focus on the saving first, spending afterwards (you can always still save what's left if you have less spendy months too).

You might want to choose an amount relative to a savings goal, eg X needed so must save Y per month, or choose it in relation to possible frugal futures, eg: maternity pay will be X so manage on this amount now and save everything else you're earning (perhaps in a holding account so you have a buffer if needed)? Helps ease into the living on less too as you don't *have to* yet!

Just a few thoughts, meantime enjoy this weekend x

Thanks for taking so much time in responding to my ramblings! I'll try and answer some of your questions; it'll help me clarify things in my own mind too

Re: the income streams - I think both in answer to your question! It would be helpful to have more than one straight away, to help in terms of savings and OP'ing, and then when we do retire, to have various chunks of money coming in at various times would also be helpful and ease the pressure financially too. I just need to figure out how I'd do it!

I think both private tutoring and assessing is a good idea and one in which I'm already beginning to explore in terms of timings and impact on my day job.

I don't know why it's such a sticking point re: staying in the house. I think that, deep down, we'll probably stay here quite a long time - there's lots of positives to the house (obviously, otherwise we wouldn't have bought it!) - it's just that it's a very different style of house to the one I thought we'd live in. Maybe that should be a much longer term goal in my mind. The type of house I would love to live in are way out of our price bracket at the moment, perhaps always, and so moving would add a lot more cost to our budget. Again, a con for ever moving really!

Re: the bathroom - don't really want to spend any more than £3,000 on the bathroom in total. I'm not sure how much we could do ourselves? We don't want anything fancy, we just need smaller things that are in there at the moment! It's a small bathroom and both the toilet and sink are big in comparison to the space. Research needs to be done here I think.

I do goals at the beginning of each month (in fact, my next post will be about those!) and aim to save a certain amount every month. Perhaps it should change to a % of earnings?

Definitely lots more to think about. Thanks again for posting and making me think about more options and more things to do!