MF before I'm 30

YoungBaker

Wow, such a warm welcome! ha Very much appreciated.

Like I have said I know I am very young to be switched on to this and trying to pay the mortgage off, but to be honest it has just been the result of both me and my wonderful OH working hard and managing to land on our feet in good jobs with well paid jobs at such a young age.

I totally agree with what was said earlier in the thread about not just having every bit of cash fly by us to go to the mortgage - we are still young and deserve to enjoy ourselves a bit too, so we have quite a generous "going out / entertainment" budget each month that is set aside to enjoy and also are saving to go on a nice holiday next year.

I think we just want to do what we can to get the savings up and then be in a position in that we only need to worry about focussing on getting our mortgage down to get us in the best place for our next move and starting a family. I think the dream is for us to be able to keep this place and get it mortgage free even if and when we do move to always give us somethnig to fall back on and a second place (or a nest egg to sell on if we wanted!).

Who knows how it will all pan out really, but for now our focus is on bumping the savings up. Pay day on Friday for me too so will hopefully round it up to the £1k mark. We are quite fortunate in that OH gets paid 2 weeks after me, so it's never too long until pay day either (my favourite day of the month ha).

Didn't get a chance to sit down and have as much of a chat about the finances and savings pots and things last night as we would have liked, OH had a load of marking to get through (Shes a teacher) and I was sent out to make the most of the decent night to weed/cut the grass/tidy the garden before the winter really settles in.

On another note - when do you guys start putting your heating on? This is our first winter in our own home together. OH is very thin blooded and has been begging for the heating to be on all week as it's getting a bit nippier up here haha, ideally had hoped to hold off until October though but not sure if she'll let me! :rotfl:

Muser1

Welcome welcome! :j

I have a feeling this is going to be a very popular diary. I'm subscribed and will be popping in to say hello.

I am bumbling along at the moment as we have been renovating our house so I sometimes feel a bit of a fraud on here. I need to build up my depleted savings (check out my sig:rotfl:) and then really get on with the buisness of overpaying.

Lots of us come at it from different angles and you will find the path that suits you.

So welcome and good luck. :beer:

YoungBaker

Thanks Muser1 - I hope it is well followed as it will make sure I keep on track ha ha, a bit of accountability :P

Yeh I know what you mean about the different angles to it - already seen theres a few different ways... some people suggesting building up savings first, some half between savings and overpayments etc.

We definitely need to get the savings built up as a priority though as if OH doesn't get a job next year then we will need a bit of a buffer. She should get supply work if nothing else, and we have managed this year on my salary alone so we would get by but would just need to tighten our belts a bit. (cut that genreous entertainment budget :P ). Haha.

Quite motivated now though to push ahead and get the savings up and trying to think of additional ways to get some money. Needing to work a bit late tonight then visit my parents, but once I get home I'm going to go through our spare room where we still have a bunch of stuff to sort and figure out if we have anything else worthy of ebay!

Thanks again

Nicky101

seems to have everything in hand

YoungBaker

Also just a note in regards to the comment about keeping an eye and a start on the pension funds also, this is something we are doing and is covered. I get quite a good pension package from my employer and they make a great contribution so thats covered.

EchoDelta

Congratulations on what sounds like an awesome year!

Wrt to heating we're definitely holding out until at least October and going to get as close to November as we can...... We have a winter duvet, lots of cosy blankets for the sofa and a small child who is a fantastic hot water bottle on chilly nights!

Good luck with everything.

sweetdaisy

YoungBaker wrote: »

On another note - when do you guys start putting your heating on? This is our first winter in our own home together. OH is very thin blooded and has been begging for the heating to be on all week as it's getting a bit nippier up here haha, ideally had hoped to hold off until October though but not sure if she'll let me! :rotfl:

I try to hold off until 1st October. Although with two little ones I don't want the house to be too cold for them at bath time. We are out of the house during the day as we are both in work and the children are in School/Nursery/Family etc so when my heating does goes on I have it set on a timer. It comes on for 2 hours in the morning and 2.5 hours in the evening. It turns off at 7:30pm as the children are in bed and I can wrap up warm in my dressing gown . However during the weekends when it is cold it is on for longer.

Also, the thermostat never goes above 21 degrees, as the heat makes our children's Eczema worse.

YoungBaker

Thanks EchoDelta - it has been a crazy year ha ha. Who would be so mad to start 2 new jobs, move house and get married in the year :P 2013 will definitely not be forgotten anyway!

To be honest because it has been so busy since pretty much September last year when I started my job, we are actually just enjoying having a bit of time to ourselves now and not havin 10 million things needing to be done. Although saying that, OH is bogged down with work!

Haha ended up the heating was on for an hour last night! Been getting chillier at nights and OH was out the shower and was chittering so put it on to keep her happy haha. Only for an hour I may add and hoping that's her lot until October at least! To be fair she's always freezing, so it's what I signed up for haha.

Another mental night last night in terms of having so much to do. Had to work late then visit my parents and didn't get home til after 10 then wasn't long before bed. Tonight and tomorrow have two seperate works nights out so will be late home again (shouldn't cost too much money as meal is paid for by work, just a few drinks to buy). But the downside is not time to sit and properly sort the finances haha.

Ah well, pay day tomorrow and we haven't much plans for the weekend so can sit and sort it all out once and for all!

Cinny91

We're having the heating debate too! We're holding out until October 1st, hopefully. Any chance you could get a halogen heater? They're cheap to run, so your OH could just pop one on to heat a room up when she's feeling nippy. Alternatively (and a personal favourite!) would be to go too somewhere cheap like Primark and get lots of thick socks, jumpers or fleece blankets so she can wrap up a little (I sound like a Grandma now, but Primark have really cute prints and don't break the bank - I lived in their wellie socks last Winter to keep the heating off when I was home alone ) We also have our old duvet that we moved downstairs which we lovingly refer too as our double D (downstairs duvet) its just nice for snuggling up in when you have TV nights.

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

My heating is definitely still off - but I live in London so it's a lot warmer here than in other parts of the country. In fact I've lived in this place for two winters and I've yet to add curtains! I'm hoping to sort that out for this year though.

I agree with the 'half to OP's, half to savings' suggestion until your savings are build up. You might also find (depending on your interest rate) that some savings will be overpay what you would save in interest on the mortgage. My FD 6% saver certainly does - I always max my £300 each month. There are other saving accounts out there as well.