The impossible dream

shangaijimmy

Enjoy the journey and see you when you come up for air!

Tahlullah

Dear Drooper, this is Round 3 of my journey to what I class as financial freedom, which comes with being mortgage free. I can only hope that this is the last time I have to go through a major upheaval.

A lot has happened this year, but it has been mostly good on reflection.

I have moved down south and have managed to find work in my field. I am used to travelling around the country for work - less so in my latter years but nonetheless I am used to commuting a distance for work. The job is new and shiny - I have never worked for this organisation before - and I am in my probation period, so hope it works out.

I got a pay rise as a result, but until I get a clear months salary, I am not sure what my disposable income will be on a monthly basis. Should know mid month exactly what I will be getting going forward.

I have purchased a flat to live in. This has of course pushed my mortgage back up to the hilt. It needs work - only way I could afford to buy - so this will be an added burden.

Buying a 'new to me' car. Have had the current one for 4ish years so it needs to be changed. Probably not the best time to do this, but my mileage is going to go through the roof once I start having to commute backwards and forwards, so best trade it in before I have to start spending to keep it road worthy. Of course, this means my car payments are going up - but not excessively - which adds to my uncertainty regarding my available income.

The grand debt which has been hanging over me for years now is nearly dealt with. This is good news because it means I can look at my finances without having to worry about having to find a large lump sum unexpectedly. By 1 November, I will be free of this and so look towards focusing on paying my mortgage down.

Had a great late summer holiday where I spent very little but ate and drank a lot. I recommend fully inclusive holidays. Once it is paid for, you can relax in the comfort of knowing you don't have to think about spending money. But I do now have to think about paying for my winter holiday which is booked for March 2019.

Still have regular no spend days. These are now a norm for me, I almost don't notice them as an activity to save.

Top cashback is working well. Whatever happens, I will have a minimum of £150 for Christmas to claim.

Shop and Scan is working well also. I will have a minimum of £100 to claim in vouchers for Christmas presents.

I am still saving my coins, but this is not very successful as I don't spend cash that often to get the coins to save. Perhaps will look towards cashing these in for Christmas 2019.

Right. I think that is it for all my major expenditures for the year to date. That's it until next month, when I will have clarity on my debts and be able to set new repayment targets for the remainder of the year. Right now, it is looking as if I will owe £85k to the mortgage and I will have 13 years to repay.

All good things comes to he who waits.

Tahlullah

Mid month and received my first clear pay packet. A bit more than I used to earn, but my expenses have gone up considerably. Everything is so much more expensive, so I am not seeing the benefit of the increase. In fact, if it were not for my learned money saving behaviour, I would be struggling more than I am.

My biggest expense has to be fuel. New car, bigger engine and the cost of diesel down here, so a tank of fuel doesn't serve me a week and a tank is £70.00. Oh well, I will just have to look at other ways of saving money, but this is not the season for it. Perhaps next spring, I can consider getting a motorbike?

Christmas is fast approaching and it doesn't matter how much you budget, it always sneaks up on you; something you have to buy that you didn't know you needed - and I use the word loosely.

The grand debt is now nearly a memory. Just my final solicitor bill to settle and it will be over. I can afford to pay it so not a concern.

So, as I said in my last post, I have the Shop and Scan vouchers to claim, the Top Cashback money and I forgot about my Tesco's vouchers. This should be around £60.00. So, I do have some money available to help me through the difficult months ahead.

I always thought I was quite a positive person, but realise I am a natural worrier - perhaps because I have been through so much over the last few years. My current concern is not meeting probation. There is so much to do in such a short period of time. I am expected to prove I can make change, but this can be difficult when some members of the team are being awkward and coming up with reasons why they can't rather than thinking about what they can do. People really do dislike change and a change in working practice coupled with a change in manager is too much for some of them. Worst case scenario? I fail probation, lose may job and become unemployed.

Positives to this scenario - I get to retire earlier than I thought (no, I don't have the pension to go with the theory!) I think as I get older, I am wanting stability more than I needed it when I was younger. Oh well, if I concentrate on doing what I do on a weekly basis, spending less, saving as much as possible and paying down the mortgage, even if it is only reducing a small amount each month, then if the worst comes, I will always be able to step back and see what my options are; and that won't automatically be to put myself further into debt than I already am.

Struggling to balance YNAB at the moment, but this too will pass.

The cat has changed his behaviour now and has stopped using his litter tray (must realise how much litter costs and is doing his bit) and has started eating the presents he brings home - found a 'head' yesterday. I guess it saves on cat food! Mustn't grumble I suppose.

Hate using Ebay, but may have to think about it. I lost £80 earlier this year and neither Ebay or Paypal were any good. Evidently if something is sent by courier, it doesn't matter if it never arrives. As long as the courier says it did. In this instance, the parcel was supposedly left at my work reception early in the morning before the building opened. But they said it was left there, so that was it! Now I loathe giving them any money but may have to consider it. Still got a few things to sell from the move.

Right, I will do a summary of where I am at the end of the month and will have a plan going forward.

Onward and upwards.

Tahlullah

And, oh, when I'm old and wise
Bitter words mean little to me
Autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they asked me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine
And the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh, when I'm old and wise

Alan Parsons Project

Tahlullah

Settled the Grand debt and the solicitor bill. Now I can look to settling down financially and see if I can make any inroads into the mortgage.

I pre-booked my fixed rate to start 1 March 2019. No difficulty as I do this every 2 years. The shock was being told I have 11 years left to repay the mortgage. I was saddened as well because it occurred to me that I have longer to work before the government will let me off the hook so I can claim my state pension. Luckily, by my calculation, assuming I do not make any extra payments, I should have paid it down in 7 years. I plan to try to do this in 5 years, but as I said, Christmas is nearly upon us so I intend to enjoy it, pay off my winter holiday and then focus.

As it is nearly November, I feel I can begin to plan and start the New Year afresh.

Good things come to he who waits.

Tahlullah

So, down here a full month and realised my income does not match my expenditure. A bit of a problem really.

Well, I could panic, bury my head under the duvet and pretend it isn't happening and just run up my visa bill, or I can try to see what I can change.

This is a new situation for me as I am usually petty good at paying for everything, but I did not anticipate the jump in fuel costs due to long commuting distances and the cost of travelling home every other weekend. Add this to the need for the replacement car, I guess this is my downfall. Hindsight would say I should have bought a cheaper car and therefore cheaper monthly payments and cheaper fuel consumption, but considering the distances to be travelled, I felt it safer to be in a substantially built car rather than a city run around. Nevertheless, here I am.

What can I do to avoid going into debt? I guess that years of living somewhat frugally (compared to others, I was scratching at the surface), I can continue in this vein. I have already reduced my food bill significantly and regularly have no spend days so reducing this further will be hard, but I will try.

To stop saving some of the small bits and pieces I am saving will help but perhaps not in the long term.

Not to book any other holidays for a year at least to see how it goes without having to budget for paying for the next one coming up. That will save me a clear £100 per month from March 2019 onwards.

The elephant in the room is where the majority of my money goes and probably what I have to change to make this work. Currently, I still pay £1000 per month into the mortgage. I have done this for years, which has always allowed me a level of freedom as I pay it down and then borrow from it. I think I need to reduce the payments to an amount that will allow me to live. Of course, this means I will have to extend the length of time it will take me to repay, from 7 years at my current time frame, to something like 10 years.

This is not ideal as the purpose of the diary is to be mortgage free as quickly as possible, but I have to be realistic and accept that living in the South is more expensive than anticipated and so I have to adjust accordingly.

I don't see a pay rise on the horizon in my future, so I have to accept that I have to live within my means and this is the only way to do so.

So, after Christmas, I will reduce my mortgage payments to £700 per month, which will give me back the shortfall I am experiencing at present, and then I can re-examine where I am in a years time. I may as well enjoy Christmas, but will try not to over-spend on presents etc.

New Year and new challenge. Repay my mortgage in less than 10 years! Bring it on.

gallygirl

All the years of overpaying have put you in the position where you can reduce the payment to a more manageable one do well done you :j. Hope you are enjoying living down south and enjoying work, I remember you hated your old one!

Best get ebaying though......

Tahlullah

Thanks for the words of support Gallygirl. I appreciate it a lot. Sometimes, you need others to tell you that you have done something right, when everything seems to be going wrong. Who would have thought that a move to a financially better paid job would leave you worse off!

Oh well, as you say, the fact I can even contemplate reducing my mortgage payments without the bank batting an eyelid is good news indeed. I am certain that a short period of frugality will get me back to where I need to be. It could be so much worse.

I agree that I do need to start ebaying again. I have so many items that I could sell to help with something. And if it helps with something, it's something I don't need to find money for.

I have a big 'do' to attend in January. I am wondering if one of my old frocks will do. I so hate shopping for clothes as nothing seems to be right to the point where I would feel comfortable in it, because I don't really like the look of it, or the cut of it, or the length of it. So I may as well just try to pour myself into an old outfit that I was happy to wear once upon a time. I go out to this type of event so infrequently, I would be surprised if anyone even remembers that I have worn it before. Anyway, the plan is good. Just need to see if I can still get into it. Otherwise its another dress to ebay.

Payday tomorrow. Lets see what miracles I can work this month. Can't, but worth the effort of trying.

Tahlullah

2 months since my last post.

Just settling in to the new job. A bit stressful as I am still learning the ropes. And getting used to Southerners!

Income is becoming settled. Covering the mortgage in full so slowly starting to reduce the capital again. If I pay at the rate of £1k per month, it will take 6 years to be mortgage free. I need to rethink this as it is getting a bit close to my retirement age.

Not really in a position to overpay as my income is not large enough to allow overpayment and because of the cost of living down here, I don't have much spare cash. But I hope I will settle in soon and get more control of my much reduced budget.

I haven't been ebaying at all because I dislike it so intensely, but I really will have to revisit it.

Right. I am off again. Will call in later with something to say on the matter when I can. This is a really boring diary.

Tahlullah

So, nearly at the 6 month probation at work. Made it this far so clearly happy to see it through.

Looking towards early retirement, so have managed to begin the process of putting all my pensions into one pot except the LA final salary, which seems to be doing ok on it's own.

Getting to a point where I can see that I am spending 'frivolously'. If I can see this, then it means I have excess income, which could be put to better use.

Hopefully, I have one more big expenditure to accommodate and then the accessories to go with the spend. This will hopefully give me the opportunity to reduce my monthly expenditure in another area. I am looking to buy a motorbike to reduce travel costs.

The best made plans have a habit of unravelling. But one should never be afraid to try. It is better to try and fail than to never try at all. If I can reduce my fuel costs over the summer period, then I should be able to identify money to pay off the mortgage.

However, I am still trying to finish paying off my Via bill. It remains stubbornly at £2,500 ish per month. This is because I cover my spend but don't reduce the capital.

Plans going forward are to -

Buy a motorbike and accessories to stay alive
Take firm action to pay back the visa card
Identify monies to pay down the mortgage - every little helps.
Get my mojo back regarding ebay

1. This month, the mortgage will remain the same as I buy the bike because I will redirect the mortgage payment.

2. Next month, March, I will get back to making monthly payments of £1000 on the mortgage. I still hope to be at £69k by December 2019.

3. April, I will look to reduce the visa bill by £100 per month. I have to take determined and precise steps to tackle this debt. I could of course use my savings which are tied into the mortgage, but I am loathe do increase the mortgage on this basis.

4. Find stuff to ebay. Reduce my monthly expenditure on pocket money etc within YNAB.

Will revisit this in March and see if I have made any progress.