Finally saw the light and now scrabbling towards it, one OP at a time!

jimmybrid

fothers365 wrote: »

The thing that is bothering me at the moment is the fund the 10k is in (stocks/shares thing) is doing really well at the moment and has gained a lot of money over the last few weeks so part of me thinks that maybe we should leave the £5k while it is doing well but then if things crash we would lose out

Hi Fothers,

The FTSE is now at its highest level since 2000 and not far short of its highest level ever, and lots of people are trying to predict when the market will top out. But the fundamental reason for the FTSE growth remains - whilever interest rates are so low and unattractive to investors the dividend returns of many of the top companies is a much more attractive proposition. From a personal standpoint I guess you need to figure out which would hurt the most, missing out on some extra return or losing some of what you have earnt already?
If I knew what the FTSE was going to do I would tell you. And i'd be very rich.

fothers365

jimmybrid wrote: »

Hi Fothers,

The FTSE is now at its highest level since 2000 and not far short of its highest level ever, and lots of people are trying to predict when the market will top out. But the fundamental reason for the FTSE growth remains - whilever interest rates are so low and unattractive to investors the dividend returns of many of the top companies is a much more attractive proposition. From a personal standpoint I guess you need to figure out which would hurt the most, missing out on some extra return or losing some of what you have earnt already?
If I knew what the FTSE was going to do I would tell you. And i'd be very rich.

I am thinking that we will OP the 5K into the mortgage over the next week or so and that I will start up a (very) small monthly investing scheme. I am trying to work up the courage to post on the investing board where I have been doing a bit of lurking!

I would kick myself if the £5k halved in value but would be happy with a small savings scheme ticking along over the long term and hopefully building itself up over the years.

fothers365

I have been a bit AWOL for a bit as we were away for a very wet few days in a caravan over half term which was pretty grim but at least we weren't camping!

I cashed in the policy in the end and did so at the right time (for me!) as the value has slipped by a couple of hundred pounds since then.

It was worth 10.3k so I have paid off the car loan:T and overpaid 4k into the mortgage from it:T I have 1k left in the bank savings to make sure we are ok through this month as we have a few big annual spends- raod tax, house insurance etc. I will OP what I can at the end of the month from the remainder.

So we are now COMPLETELY debt free except the mortgage which is great:j

I have also set up a small s&s ISA which starts towards the end of the month with a small monthly payment.

Our daily interest rate has decreased from £9.62 to £9.07 over the last 2 months and with various big and small OPs the balance has reduced by £8133.79

We are hoping to be able to pay £1500 a month on top of the mortgage (interest and now a small amount of capital) payment of £298.


I am really enjoying watching the numbers decrease on my spreadsheets:)

ShelleyC_2

Congrats on clearing debts and big inroads into mortgage too :j

skint_spice

Well done on getting debt free:j:j and the big lump off the mortgage.

snappybadger

Well done fothers on clearing your two loans - now you can fully concentrate on the mortgage! Do you have an approximate date in mind for when you are hoping to be mortgage free?

fothers365

snappybadger wrote: »

Well done fothers on clearing your two loans - now you can fully concentrate on the mortgage! Do you have an approximate date in mind for when you are hoping to be mortgage free?

It is ambitious but 7 years would be great. We are just going to really go for it as much as possible.


I am off to a work meeting for the next 2 days- ridiculously excited about the prospect of a night on my own in a hotel:j:j:j I can count on one hand the decent nights sleep I have had in the last 6 years:)

We got a solar panel payment today of £180 so that is OP'd:T

fothers365

Not updated for a while but a few things going on.

I have been promoted at work. The new role starts in October and will be more hours but also works out more money so more available to overpay.:)

I ended up viewing property !!!!!! on rightmove the other night when I couldn't sleep. It is bad as it has made me want to move whereas normally DP looks at it and I get very irritated with him and talk him out of it.

We have saw a bungalow in a very nice part of town that we wouldn't normally be able to afford. We have arranged to go and view tomorrow. It is a corner plot and while the inside would benefit from some work it looks perfectly liveable in for the time being. I think the reason it is probably cheaper than would be expected is that it is on a corner plot where 2 streets meet and faces the corner. It has quite a bit of garden to the front which is basically all paved and so on at the moment and probably just a very small amount out the back. It is vacant possession so I think it may have been an old person that died/went to nursing care etc.


We have been in this house 10 years and the market has changed so much since then I feel a bit out of my depth. Also the thought of selling a house with 3 kids under the age of 6 fills me with terror.

If we do decide to sell our house it will need a bit of TLC due to the kids- not drastic things but bathroom repapered, painted hall/lounge/stairs, new stair carpet, declutter, deep cleaned etc.

I have no idea how much cash we would need for the move and if we could take some of it from the equity. Our house might sell for £180k-190 (diff to tell as the houses in the area are all old and different- not many to compare to) and the new one is on at £230k but I think they would take less. It went on in June from what I can tell from zoopla at 250 and was reduced to 230 then offers around 230.

WE in theory should be allowed a mortgage of up to 240ish.

We have £128k left on the mortgage at present so maybe around £60k equity.

I feel very much at sea at the moment and out of my depth!

Does anyone have any words of wisdom?:(

skint_spice

fothers365 wrote: »

Does anyone have any words of wisdom?:(

Ayrshire wisdom - you've got to cut a stick when you see it:D certain amount of nerves is normal and to be encouraged as it's a big step etc but sounds good.

Also congratulations on the promotion:j:beer::j

fothers365

Thank you:)

The other thing to throw into the mix is that there are some new build houses being built near us by barratt. They are lovely layout etc and would be so easy to live in and maintain though they are bound to be relatively squashed together. They do part exchange.

I can't decide whether they are worth considering or not for the part exchange thing and not having the hassle of trying to sell with small children. It would not be a forever home though -which the other one could be- but would be an easy to live in stop gap for 5-7 years or so.

From what I can tell Barratt seem to do a reasonable valuation for part exchange and then you wouldn't have the estate agent fees.

I don't know whether it is stupid to consider an interim move for a few years knowing the chances are we may well want to move again, although it might be easier short term, or whether to go with the slog of trying to sell and making hopefully a last longer term move.

confuddled, confuddled, confuddled:(