New MFW......dipping my toe in the water.......

brummiebabe

Hi all. Have read some of the threads on here recently and have been inspired to think about joining you. We are just about to have some additional borrowing on our mortgage to get some much needed work done on the house. The borrowing has been agreed in principle.....and it should take our mortgage to £133,000 with 19 years remaining :eek:

I am excited about having the work done.....but my mind has also been working overtime, and I want to start over paying as soon as possible, in order to get it paid off early!

So I'm starting this diary......not much will happen just yet as we've yet to have the funds released......but I shall be doing more reading & getting some tips in the meantime.:D

Dot_Common

Hi brummiebabe! :wave:

I've only just started my diary too, so am still on a big learning curve as I try to put all the tips I've picked up from lurking into practice.

What work are you getting done?

brummiebabe

Hi Dot Common:)

We're having a new boiler, bathroom & kitchen....still at the first stages of getting quotes for the work & hoping we have enough to do what we want to do. It would be lovely if we had some left over to enable us to finish the rest of the house too.... Those rooms just need skimming, redecorating & carpeting. I'd also like a new front door.....as you can see i don't want much :rotfl:

We've borrowed £19000 to do the work:eek: I'm hoping to start overpaying the month after completion of the new borrowing...it'll only be small amounts for now, but every little helps I suppose.

I'll check out your diary :cool:

brummiebabe

Have been thinking about trying to make us more financially secure. We've never been particularly good at saving, and have nothing put aside for a rainy day. So I'm setting myself some goals...

To work my budget around our current, basic salaries. That way, any extra that we get (mileage, small pay rises due shortly) will be split between an emergency fund & saving for christmas (to avoid getting into debt later in the year). Any overpayments to the mortgage will have to come from our existing budget - am sure we can find between £20-50 per month currently.

It would be so nice to actually have some savings behind us and I think that's a priority at this point. I have around £50 saved so far:rotfl: What do people think is a good amount to have in an emergency fund? I'm going to aim for £1000 currently.

My goals:
To save £1000 in an emergency fund
To save £1000 for Christmas (3 kids & big family - this a amount may need reconsidering though.
To overpay the mortgage by between £20-£50 per month
To lose 10lbs in weight......thought I'd sneak that one in;)

Anyone got any thoughts about the figures I'm aiming for?

newgirly

Hi welcome :hello: I think savings wise most people opt for a minimum of 3 months wages as a safety net. I should add that we don 't have that as I am useless at saving , and emergencies go on the 0 %cc and then get paid off best of luck with your new diary.

TallGirl

Welcome Brummiebabe renovations sounds good but are you sure £19k will cover it. I guess it will if you dont go mad on fixtures and fittings I know from renovating our bathrooms its the labour thats really expensive but tiles OH MY you can spend a lot. Make sure you get what you want but do shop around you can find so many things on the internet and even Ebay. For bathroom stuff I found the bathstore good.

When we paid our mortgage off I never had savings but ours was an offset so it didnt really matter. We do now have ISA's etc but I have been slack was much better at paying off the mortgage than saving thats why I am still on this board eventhough I am MF.

Good luck anyway.

Lois_E

brummiebabe wrote: »

Have been thinking about trying to make us more financially secure. We've never been particularly good at saving, and have nothing put aside for a rainy day. So I'm setting myself some goals...

It would be so nice to actually have some savings behind us and I think that's a priority at this point. I have around £50 saved so far:rotfl: What do people think is a good amount to have in an emergency fund? I'm going to aim for £1000 currently.

Anyone got any thoughts about the figures I'm aiming for?

Hi brummiebabe and welcome to MFW :wave:

£1000 is a great target to set yourself to start with. It's a lovely round number, and will give you a huge feeling of achievement when you get there. It's big enough to be a big deal to someone who's never saved before, but not so huge as to feel totally impossible.

However, when you get to £1000, don't stop there. Other people have mentioned the "3 months' income" suggestion. I decided I'd like to have an emergency fund that was big enough to cover the biggest emergency that I thought I was likely to have - which would be needing to replace the car. So I'm aiming for an emergency fund that would pay for a second hand car, the right size for my family, without having to borrow for it. I haven't got there yet, and won't for ages because I'm about to start spending money on repairs and improvements to my house, but that's what I'm aiming for.

Good luck for the journey.

brummiebabe

TallGirl wrote: »

Welcome Brummiebabe renovations sounds good but are you sure £19k will cover it. I guess it will if you dont go mad on fixtures and fittings I know from renovating our bathrooms its the labour thats really expensive but tiles OH MY you can spend a lot. Make sure you get what you want but do shop around you can find so many things on the internet and even Ebay. For bathroom stuff I found the bathstore good.

When we paid our mortgage off I never had savings but ours was an offset so it didnt really matter. We do now have ISA's etc but I have been slack was much better at paying off the mortgage than saving thats why I am still on this board eventhough I am MF.

Good luck anyway.

I'm really hoping £19000 will cover it. At our previous house we went overboard on the kitchen & bathroom, spending way too much! We have learnt from these mistakes. We are not having expensive units, will shop around for any appliances, vinyl rather than tiled flooring, no tiles in kitchen but having an upstand (I think it's called) instead. Bathroom will be plain white tiles with a small border, suite is £350 from B&Q - so we are trying to be careful. Only time will tell I suppose - there's no more money in the pot anyway:(

brummiebabe

Just doing a bit of preparation....have found out how to make overpayments and how they are allocated....have the sort code etc so will set them up as a Payee tomorrow .....too tired to do it now!;)

Have really enjoyed reading the diaires on here.....and am amazed at how much some people are able to overpay.....there's no chance of me paying anywhere near these amounts, but have to remind myself that every payment I make is going straight off the balance and will reduce the interest....even if it seems insignificant, it should make a difference over time!!:money:

Dot_Common

Hi brummiebabe, when you start shopping around for the work you're doing, have a look on topcashback before you buy, as quite a few DIY type places are on there - at the moment, it's 7% cash back on bathstore and 6% off Topps tiles for example.

We've just finished the bulk of our renovations - rewire, new heating, new bathrooms, new kitchen and a bit of moving walls. It's all worth it in the end!

HelenDaveKids

I too have just discovered how to do this for nationwide, was sending cheques in till last month. was a bit nervous but checked today and payments went in so feeling relieved. so i can now send money instantly... quite excited.

Moved house then major renovation so know how you feel, 18 months on and finally feel in control of our finances though still need bigger emergency fund.

Good luck on your journey.