We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The impossible dream
Comments
-
Hi Tahlullah,
I've just finished reading your diary...took quite a while but I'm enjoying it! I think you're doing really well and seem quite hard on yourself when you've achieved a lot but to be fair, I do the same so can't say much! Looking forward to reading the rest of your journey 😊3 -
Hello gemmm, welcome to my diary. I am really shocked you read it all, thank you. I wish I could join you and say it has been an enjoyable ride. Memorable bits, but not particularly enjoyable. There is always the big plan, the aim, the main goal. Mortgage freedom. I look forward to you coming along the road with me. Let me know if you have a diary and I will reciprocate! Cheer you on to where you want to be...What I do not give, you must never take by force.
Mortgage outstanding - 30/12/22 - £25,900. 31/01/23 - £22,300. 28/02/23 - £20,500. 31/03/23 - £17,500. 30/04/23 - £15,800. 30/05/23 - £13,800. 31/06/23 - £11,300. 31/07/23 - £9,800. 31/08/23 - £8,300. 30/09/23 - £6,000. 31/10/23 - £3,000. 30/11/23 - £1,200. 06/12/23 - £00.00
God save us everyone, As we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, For the sins of our hands, The sins of our tongues, The sins of our fathers, The sins of our young. Linkin Park4 -
A very spendy day today as I went to the shops for some cat litter and spent £90. It did include alcohol as well, so I shouldn't get upset about it. I think I now have enough food to last until March 2021 and I am still within my spend limit for the Grocery Challenge. I will have a look to see if there is a challenge for how long you can live out of your freezer - I should do that next year. Too close to Christmas to start concerning myself with not spending on food.
Anyway, all bills up to date, nothing pending to exit my bank accounts and no debts that I have forgotten to pay due - I think. Hopefully, as I said, I should start the New Year sub £41k.What I do not give, you must never take by force.
Mortgage outstanding - 30/12/22 - £25,900. 31/01/23 - £22,300. 28/02/23 - £20,500. 31/03/23 - £17,500. 30/04/23 - £15,800. 30/05/23 - £13,800. 31/06/23 - £11,300. 31/07/23 - £9,800. 31/08/23 - £8,300. 30/09/23 - £6,000. 31/10/23 - £3,000. 30/11/23 - £1,200. 06/12/23 - £00.00
God save us everyone, As we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, For the sins of our hands, The sins of our tongues, The sins of our fathers, The sins of our young. Linkin Park3 -
Like others, having a bit of an issue with the concept of frugality at the moment. Well within the food budget and my NSD's seem to be ok when I don't leave the house, but no cigar!
Had a moment of clarity yesterday when reading about pensions. I openly admit to not paying in when I was younger for 2 reasons. 1. I didn't earn enough to live and do so at the same time. 2. Couldn't see myself living long enough to make use of it, so I made hay whilst the sun shone. Now, I am old enough to hope I live a long life and my pension pot is woefully inadequate. I can only stand back and gaze in amazement at others who have pension pots bigger than the value of my house. Anyway, I realised that I have to help myself a bit more than I am doing at present, and have decided to move some money from my Premium Bonds into my pension. The likelihood of winning the PB is pretty remote, but the guarantee of the government top up of 20% is real and more than I will earn on the PB's. So, I am in the process of transferring some money out and then across. I will continue to do this as I save £1k amounts in PB as I feel it is a better use of the money at the moment. If I manage to win in the interim, all the better. I did question if I should be moving it into the mortgage, rather than leaving it there as my emergency fund, but just feel that the pension is the better place for it to be, especially as I plan to retire at 60. I am not decimating my emergency fund, just reducing it periodically.
Anyway, onwards and upwards with my money revolution. The mortgage isn't coming down at any great speed, but it is coming down. The car loan is doing ok, with little bits being added after I pay the visa card off each month. Small bits still coming in from surveys, reward cards etc. Bills all up to date. Still not focussed on the paperwork for the accountant, but at some point, I will get this done. I need to see if I can get some tax back for working from home.What I do not give, you must never take by force.
Mortgage outstanding - 30/12/22 - £25,900. 31/01/23 - £22,300. 28/02/23 - £20,500. 31/03/23 - £17,500. 30/04/23 - £15,800. 30/05/23 - £13,800. 31/06/23 - £11,300. 31/07/23 - £9,800. 31/08/23 - £8,300. 30/09/23 - £6,000. 31/10/23 - £3,000. 30/11/23 - £1,200. 06/12/23 - £00.00
God save us everyone, As we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, For the sins of our hands, The sins of our tongues, The sins of our fathers, The sins of our young. Linkin Park4 -
Sounds like a good plan to me. I claimed the tax back for WFH and I'm hoping to pay about £40 less in tax this month...won't say no to that on the run up to Christmas! Very quick and easy to do.3
-
I didn't realise it could be that much. Thanks gemmm. I will make an effort to get this done. I have been saying the same thing for the last few months...What I do not give, you must never take by force.
Mortgage outstanding - 30/12/22 - £25,900. 31/01/23 - £22,300. 28/02/23 - £20,500. 31/03/23 - £17,500. 30/04/23 - £15,800. 30/05/23 - £13,800. 31/06/23 - £11,300. 31/07/23 - £9,800. 31/08/23 - £8,300. 30/09/23 - £6,000. 31/10/23 - £3,000. 30/11/23 - £1,200. 06/12/23 - £00.00
God save us everyone, As we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, For the sins of our hands, The sins of our tongues, The sins of our fathers, The sins of our young. Linkin Park2 -
Finally got the paperwork ready for the Accountant. Email sent warning him of impending delivery to his office and dropping it off on Friday. Great news indeed.
Payment made to the Pension. Car loan payment made with added extra for good luck. Starting to consider Christmas presents and this will be my next barrier. Hate wrapping presents. The best news is I am getting a weekend break in the campervan. Should be good to get a change of scenery. As I said before, home is no longer the retreat it used to be, so need to get away to truly relax.
Sorting through old paperwork - major chore! I do this regularly, but it never seems to diminish. Right, back to burning stuff. Have to check every sheet to make sure you don't destroy something important.
Cleaner due this weekend whilst I am away, so need to get some cash out for her. Shame she doesn't accept bank transfers.What I do not give, you must never take by force.
Mortgage outstanding - 30/12/22 - £25,900. 31/01/23 - £22,300. 28/02/23 - £20,500. 31/03/23 - £17,500. 30/04/23 - £15,800. 30/05/23 - £13,800. 31/06/23 - £11,300. 31/07/23 - £9,800. 31/08/23 - £8,300. 30/09/23 - £6,000. 31/10/23 - £3,000. 30/11/23 - £1,200. 06/12/23 - £00.00
God save us everyone, As we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, For the sins of our hands, The sins of our tongues, The sins of our fathers, The sins of our young. Linkin Park4 -
Well done for all the mse steps you are taking. I think moving £ into your pension sounds a great return on investmentAchieve FIRE/Mortgage Neutrality in 2030
1) MFW Nov 21 £202K now £174.8K Equity 32.77%
2) £1.6K Net savings after CCs 14/8/25
3) Mortgage neutral by 06/30 (AVC £25.3K + Lump Sums DB £4.6K + (25% of SIPP 1.2K) = 31.1/£127.5K target 24.4% 15/8/25
4) FI Age 60 income target £16.5/30K 55.1%
5) SIPP £4.8K updated 29/7/250 -
NSD today, so frugal even whilst on holiday! Paperwork delivered to the Accountant on Friday as arranged. Haven't noticed the cleaner arrive - Nest camera should let me know if someone comes into the drive. Oh well. Certain it will happen - or not. Just seems like hard work.
Made another payment of £50 into the mortgage, in the hope the slow drip creates the valley. Other than that, spent £17 on food for the weekend, so not too extravagant.
Just a bit concerned about work - can't quite put my finger on it. Oh well, always said the role was temporary and I will need to look for something new eventually. Should make it through Christmas, I am certain I will be given a minimum of 1 months notice. Al least I am in the best position possible. Finding a job will be the next hard thing, but I am still not convinced that doing what I do is the thing to go for. Maybe a complete change of career is required, but to be honest, I need to continue earning my level of salary to clear the mortgage. Then I can take a significant pay cut, or change in job role. 3 years...What I do not give, you must never take by force.
Mortgage outstanding - 30/12/22 - £25,900. 31/01/23 - £22,300. 28/02/23 - £20,500. 31/03/23 - £17,500. 30/04/23 - £15,800. 30/05/23 - £13,800. 31/06/23 - £11,300. 31/07/23 - £9,800. 31/08/23 - £8,300. 30/09/23 - £6,000. 31/10/23 - £3,000. 30/11/23 - £1,200. 06/12/23 - £00.00
God save us everyone, As we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, For the sins of our hands, The sins of our tongues, The sins of our fathers, The sins of our young. Linkin Park4 -
So, I am doing it again. I realise I have pattern of this behaviour. I get close to paying off the mortgage, and then make a decision to buy something of high value, like another property or expensive car etc.
I was thinking before about Airbnb from my house. All good, the income would help pay off the mortgage. But I feel that I need a USP of some sort, which involves some property building work.
I am thinking of building an upstairs balcony onto the en-suite bedroom, which means a major rework, lintels etc, and downstairs, patio doors into the back garden directly below. Currently, I only have the one entrance into the house (odd I know) but if I opened up the window into the back garden, build a small patio/deck below the balcony, It would be an interesting feature to the house and a great USP for the room rental. I have visions of the tenants sitting in their room on an evening, on the balcony with a glass of wine, watching the sun setting on the horizon.
I want to tie the downstairs patio/deck into the upstairs balcony, so the majority of the support comes from being ground mounted outside, rather than from the bedroom floor. Anyway, I need a builder to come and tell me if what I want is possible. Anything is possible, you just have to pay for it. Whatever, the costs will be a lintel between the upstairs and the downstairs - currently one huge window - floor to ceiling in the bedroom - building a balcony, patio doors onto the balcony, removing wall in living room to create patio doors into garden, building small patio/deck with steps down into the garden, moving central heating radiator in living room - currently under window. Lots to do.
Anyway, will need planning permission and building regs for windows, lintel work etc. But a good builder should help.
All of this so I can get a premium on the rental market for Airbnb. I want the house to pay it's way and if that means working for a bit longer than planned, then so be it. I am currently expected to pay off the mortgage in under 3 years at £15k per year, but I could still realistically stretch it for a bit longer as long as I clear it before 60, so I really can retire and get a good income from the room for as long as it takes to pay off the debt. And if the income is right then my repayment timeframe may not stretch that much longer.
Decisions, decisions. It does mean using my very limited emergency fund. Plus, I don't have a guaranteed permanent job. But, no pain, no gain. You have to be in it to win it. And any other innovative phrases that are supposed to inspire change and derring-do. Fear should never be a reason not to take a step out of your comfort zone. Right, phase 10 of world domination. I think this will depend on the quotes for the work.
Another positive, the cleaner arrived on Monday. Not sure what to give her for Christmas. I thought money would be best because she might not like chocolates and she may be a recovering alcoholic! Can't make assumptions that people would like what you like.
Missed my NSD as I had to buy Tipex. My diary is looking really messy. Surveys are slowing up, or I am missing them as I am focused on work through the day? Never mind, Christmas is nearly here and I still need to make decisions about presents, buying them etc. And more importantly, do I want to risk my health by putting myself in a family bubble with kids who are at school and the classes keep shrinking because of other kids getting Covid? I just feel that staying safe at home is the sensible thing to do until the vaccine is freely available. Decisions, decisions and more decisions.What I do not give, you must never take by force.
Mortgage outstanding - 30/12/22 - £25,900. 31/01/23 - £22,300. 28/02/23 - £20,500. 31/03/23 - £17,500. 30/04/23 - £15,800. 30/05/23 - £13,800. 31/06/23 - £11,300. 31/07/23 - £9,800. 31/08/23 - £8,300. 30/09/23 - £6,000. 31/10/23 - £3,000. 30/11/23 - £1,200. 06/12/23 - £00.00
God save us everyone, As we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns, For the sins of our hands, The sins of our tongues, The sins of our fathers, The sins of our young. Linkin Park5
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.7K Spending & Discounts
- 244.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.1K Life & Family
- 257.7K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards