Mortgage Free For A Happier Me

Happier_Me

Just submitted my May solar meter readings. A cheque is on the way for our two systems of £729.68 for this last quarter. This will be saved into our BTL pot.

DH is also due a bonus from work next month of around £800 after tax. This will boost our BTL deposit money further.

If we go for the one BTL this will eat up a good portion of our offset savings at Christmas and delay our own mortgage freedom date by around 6 months, assuming there isn't a BTL related catastrophe. If we invest in a further BTL that would mean releasing the majority of our mortgage overpayments (£37K) for the deposit and will see our mortgage balance increase accordingly.

Decisions, decisions...:think:

Beckyy

It sounds like your plan is going well! I decided against using an agent, we had the house valued and all the paperwork but the cost for tenant find only was a lot, way more than I could justify for something I was happy to learn about myself. I did some research and used Gumtree to advertise. Vetted replies and did viewings for the ones which were suitable then used tenant verify to reference them. I trusted myself more than an agent in the end. The tenancy agreements are okay if you research into them and get your head around the ins and outs. Some agents give you the option to meet the tenant beforehand, whilst still doing the viewings - worth getting the most out of your fees if you do use one.

Do you know what kind of LTV you're aiming for?

Happier_Me

Hi Beckyy

Interesting, I will definitely look into doing this myself as an alternative. I will be working fewer hours from September and will have more time to do my homework. I have heard some horror stories first hand from people that have been burnt when relying on letting agents (poor financial and reference checks) so I know I am not prepared to hand over responsibility entirely.

Happier_Me

Hope everyone is enjoying the not so sunny bank holiday weekend.

Not much progress made on the BTL front. Plan is to continue to boost savings and make a decision later this year but this means the mortgage overpayments are on hold for the time being.

We have spent a great week at Centre Parcs recently and have since booked the children's first proper holiday to Turkey for next year. Neither holiday was in the budget and it is fair to say that we feel torn between 'frugal living' and 'living a little', at the moment.

DH wants a new camera too at £400+.

We are still being quite MSE despite our spending on holidays though. Did a shop at Tesco this week - that's got to stop. I have spent the best part of the weekend (so far and I'm still going strong) grumbling over the prices compared to Aldi. I genuinely didn't know I had memorised so many Aldi prices.

DH may want a camera but he has been tasked with helping to eBay all our unwanted stuff to help raise the funds. He has accepted this although not necessarily gracefully.

The holiday next year is with friends who have similar spending habits to us so the budget has been set at a sensible amount. Also booked through quidco so £90 on its way to us soon.

Some interesting developments at work recently too. My old work that is, not the company I currently work for on secondment. A complete management review is underway that could result in redundancies. I have a reasonably healthy fear of the unknown but redundancy intrigues me, for these reasons:

1. I don't particularly want to go to back to work for my old company. I know I won't enjoy it and I need to be happy at work for my general wellbeing.
2. I could get a very healthy payout - approx one years pay before tax - as I currently earn £20k per annum more than normal.
3. They are looking to reduce the redundancy package at some point so any future payouts would be significantly less due to this and a return to my old role at reduced pay.
4. I need to look into this but this could also boost my accrued pension.
5. I am much more confident in my abilities having exposed myself to various secondment roles during the last three years. I have a very good reputation with both companies I have worked for recently and there is a good chance of getting work post redundancy even if its on a temporary basis.
6. The intention was to always calm down. I constantly struggle to balance home and work life. DH is happy is his job and although this is happening a little earlier than I would have liked I really think it is time to move on.

I am probably overthinking this as there are no guarantees redundancy will be on the table but I suppose it doesn't hurt to do my homework.

gallygirl

Happier_Me wrote: »

1. I don't particularly want to go to back to work for my old company. I know I won't enjoy it and I need to be happy at work for my general wellbeing.
2. I could get a very healthy payout - approx one years pay before tax - as I currently earn £20k per annum more than normal.
3. They are looking to reduce the redundancy package at some point so any future payouts would be significantly less due to this and a return to my old role at reduced pay.
4. I need to look into this but this could also boost my accrued pension.
5. I am much more confident in my abilities having exposed myself to various secondment roles during the last three years. I have a very good reputation with both companies I have worked for recently and there is a good chance of getting work post redundancy even if its on a temporary basis.
6. The intention was to always calm down. I constantly struggle to balance home and work life. DH is happy is his job and although this is happening a little earlier than I would have liked I really think it is time to move on.

Sounds an absolute no-brainer to me :T. Easy to say from the outside I know, buts sounds like it's meant to be .

Happier_Me

It does sound like a no brainer doesn't it? If I can make it happen....

No more news on the job front so far. It looks like I'm going to have to be patient. It's possible my current secondment will be extended a little which is a good thing in terms of the review as it buys me time. Any redundancy needs to be calculated on my current pay to make going worthwhile. But I can't say I am enjoying the job. Some aspects of it, yes, but others...not so much!

I have, however, cancelled my redundancy policy (£33 per month) now it's dawned on me I would snap their hand off for voluntary. Duh!

We have an expensive month ahead with car tax, insurance, farm house and ferry to pay for. Not that I'm counting but I break up for my holiday six weeks on Friday.

We also have another £500 to pay out for our holiday next year.

I finally arranged a Will too. Yay!

So an expensive month and DH is also after a new camera at a cost of around £500,000. Okay, so the cost is closer to £700 but why does it have to be so expensive? We're talking about someone who only takes photos of the moon and that's when he's drunk so the quality will be rubbish no matter how good the camera is. He has been instructed to eBay lots of stuff to raise some of the money BEFORE he buys it. We'll see what happens. DH has been known to spend £20k+ on a car without informing his dear wife so I expect the camera will just turn up at some point. It's a good job he has other redeeming qualities.

Hope everyone is doing well. I regularly read lots of diaries and threads on the different MSE forums but have failed miserably posting recently...need to try harder.

Happier_Me

Another £1,000 off the mortgage and £1,270 into savings. Need to update my signature.

It's been very busy at work and home this week.I think my stress levels have hit a new high but its the weekend now so I can relax a little.

It looks like my secondment will end around December. Having spoken to a number of managers at work I've come to the conclusion that I have more chance of winning the lottery than getting redundancy so I will no doubt be returning to my old company in the new year. The main reason for leaving (other than the opportunity to pay off the mortgage) was to allow me to address my work life balance issues. I think I can do this though when I return to my substantive company - I just need to use the word no more, especially to difficult secondments that no other manager wants do. That in itself should ring some serious alarm bells, shouldn't it? I must have been born with a faulty bell!

DH is doing a good job of spending all the extra money I'm earning. We have our lovely new outdoor sofa set (okay, so I can't hold him entirely responsible for this) and he has ordered his new camera. It only cost £700:eek: At that price I think he should have bought two, one for each hand:D

He's promised not to buy anything else until July 2016 so that's something at least. Unless he meant July 16th, then I could have a problem.

Also paid £500 off our Turkey holiday this month. Only 314 days to go. Yes, I actually used an online days difference calculator for this. In my defence I've had a difficult week and I can't numb the pain with wine as its triggering migraines again.

Going to France three weeks on Monday, we're all really looking forward to this. I've never been one for holidays but I am really getting into the swing of things now the children are older.

castlelough

Hi HappierMe!

I'm enjoying your diary! I think you seem to have a good balance of treats and debt clearing! Enjoy your holiday to France, and how nice to have next year's holiday also booked and payment underway! I can only aspire to that level of organisation!

Keep it up! Castle

Happier_Me

Hi Castle

Thanks for popping by!

I think I have caught the holiday bug this year but we will need to tighten our belts when I finish this secondment. We aren't being as sensible with the extra money as we could be.

This will be our second trip to France in two years and it is a holiday on a budget given that it is in August. Cost is £506 for 10 nights (£296 ferry and £210 our share of a 4 bed farmhouse). Add on a bit for fuel and food (we shop at a lidl - I think we spent £220 last year including alcohol). I can't recommend this highly enough for a cheap school holiday break that is a real adventure for the little ones. I think this is almost as MSE as not going on holiday at all:D

Looking at Euro Disney at the moment for October half term... I am so naughty:o

MissOptimistic

Hi Happierme, just read your diary & well done on all your achievements so far. I bet you are really looking forward to your holiday. We like France, but we usually book a caravan on a site somewhere, so Im intrigued by the farmhouse idea as it sounds lovely. Did you do this through a website? What region are you visiting?
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