Mortgage Free For A Happier Me

sarahevie1

I've just been catching up, I think 5 years with an emergency fund is a great achievement. You are paying really high mortgage repayments so are doing wonderfully to keep it up month after month. Well done

Happier_Me

Thanks for posting sarahevie1. It would be a great achievement to have the mortgage paid, all big ticket items paid for and a large amount in savings in 5 years. I don't actually budget for holidays at the moment nor have I budgeted for home improvements so this will eat into any savings.

We now know that the conservatory foundations aren't deep enough for a straight forward extension to be built on top of the dwarf wall. And I am not prepared to spend the money yet on a complete new extension nor is DH prepared to knock the conservatory down. So it may be a compromise of installing doors between the dining room and conservatory to stop heat loss and rethink a larger extension when we are a little further along with the five year plan. This could mean reconfiguring the downstairs so we have a larger extended kitchen with open plan dining area and family room.

Happier_Me

We have a small conservatory that was added by the original builders 15 years ago. It' s open to the original dining room and makes the room unusable for most of the year. After digging a hole it is clear we cannot replace with a genuine extension so we are looking for alternatives.

1. I vote to knock the d@mn thing down. We don't need the space and haven't used it since moving in. We have a small garden that would benefit and it's no doubt the cheapest option but this would require DH to get off his bum and do some DIY (the good kind involving hammers and I would help).

2. DH wants to retain the space, not sure why as we have never used it. But as a rule he tends to disregard logic and common sense when making decisions, prefering the more expensive and 'hands off' solution to a problem even if, ultimately, it's a waste of money! So he has me entertaining various salesmen this week whilst off with the kids with the intention of replacing the roof/conservatory with one that has a solid roof system.

3. Replace with an actual extension. We have pretty much ruled this out for the time being due to cost but if we go for option one this could happen in five years time when we wave goodbye to the mortgage.

So any thoughts/ideas/words of wisdom from anyone would be more than welcome please. I would be really interested in any info on the solid roof options and whether its worth it! Will I be throwing away £5k+ like I threw away £1.5k+ on roof blinds...

Happier_Me

It's been a while since I last posted and I've just updated my signature.

An update from the Happier Me household:

• Made a decision on the conservatory: it's staying but we now have a nice new set of french doors installed... and the difference in temperature is already very noticeable.
• We also have a new front and back door.
• The bad news this has all cost over £3k... but worth it for comfort and I'm sure our heating bills will reduce.
• Further bad news is I now have no excuse to NOT decorate the downstairs. Might start next week or next month or maybe next Summer!
• Kids are back doing their activities and it's costing us a small fortune because some idiot (that's DH, in case you're wondering) decided to pay £5 per man of the match/fair player, £1 per goal and £5 per hat trick). We're £11 down this week alone!
• Booked a weekend away for early next year with the kids, lots of swimming and entertainment included. I'm more excited than the kids, I think!
• I've just realised that you can exchange £50 of Topcashback cash for 5,000 Tesco points. That's more trips to our local for (almost) free meals!
• I've started stoozing to close the gap between our offset savings and mortgage balance. Hopefully we will be fully offset mid next year before interest rates increase. This is the reason we now have a large credit card balance.

Happier_Me

Hi Poorbutrich, a (very) late thank you for popping in. I am certainly not very good at updating my diary!

I love my solar panels, possibly more than I love my DH (and I am sure the feeling is mutual!). We have a large system on our house and garage that can not be viewed from the road. This earns us £2,700+ tax free income each year excluding electricity savings. The days where this sort of income is possible are long gone although solar installations are now much cheaper - we paid £17,600 for a 7.5kwh system in 2011.

So an update - the good:

• We had a great Christmas:)
• We are going to Center Parcs for a weekend in January:T
• We are going to Butlins for a weekend very soon too:T
• We have booked a weeks UK holiday for August.:T
• Our mortgage, 0% credit cards, 0% loans are reducing nicely:A
• We should be mortgage neutral by September - so won't be paying interest on ANYTHING;)
• I start a new job in March:beer:
• DH hasn't bought any new cars since I last posted:D

The bad:

• All these holidays have blown the budget:o
• We overspent on Christmas:o
• We have blown the budget on essential but unexpected things:mad:
• We have blown the budget on stuff we didn't need too:eek:
• Our savings have taken a hit as a result so we need to get back on track asap:cool:

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year.

Happier_Me

We have managed to get our spending under control in the last few weeks although this has been made a little more difficult with our recent Center Parc's weekend. We had a great time though and are now all looking forward to Butlins in a few weeks. This shouldn't be too expensive as we have paid for food already.

I officially start my new job in March but as my new company is the only shareholder of the company I currently work for, they have negotiated a 'sharing' arrangement. So I am now trying to handover my day job and deliver a large project whilst picking up key duties for my new role.

Personally I think this sharing arrangement has been put in place with the sole purpose of pushing me over the edge into insanity! I should be really stressed and I do occasionally have a bit of a wobble. But overall I am thoroughly enjoying myself. I have a purpose again, I have authority and I can tell my current manager exactly what I think because I am leaving and I won't allow his nonsense to stop me from delivering results before I go - it will be the rest of the team that suffer, after all!

From an MSE point of view we are on track, credit card and mortgage debt is reducing as planned with savings now on the up.

Happier_Me

Hi All

The good so far in 2016:

• Mortgage payment due tomorrow so that's another £1,410ish off the capital.
• Spending has been reigned in following a very frivolous Christmas, with hundred's spent on absolutely nothing:o. If I'm honest the overspend was well over £1,000, probably £2,000:o:o. I could work this figure out exactly, but I would much prefer to stick my head in this bucket of sand I have conveniently located in my kitchen instead! The good news is we are back in control (sort of!) and our overall debt continues to reduce month on month.
• I should be earning a tiny bit more each month when I move jobs from March. I'm talking enough for a takeaway but every little helps, as they say.
• Very excited to have a child going to secondary school in September. DD is very ready for this next step and I'm very ready to see my childcare bill halve too. That should save around £100 a month after some allowance for after school clubs. Just updated my cashflow to make myself feel better.
• Although we have overspent, some of it did go on nice things we have and can enjoy as a family, in the form of a weekend away and experiences planned for February and March. Although I can kick myself sometimes for overspending I don't regret this sort of spend. The kids are at an age where they still actually like us, so I think it's important we take these opportunities now rather than later.
• I may have a small lump sum coming from work to pay for holidays not taken. This will be put towards our August hols.

The Bad so far:

• We are getting desperate for a few things, nothing major but it all adds up. DH needs new shirts and trousers for work, DS is desperate for several pairs of new trousers and DD needs decent leggings and shoes. DD is the difficult one, she is a ladies size 7(C width fitting) at age 10:eek:. We managed to find some boots at the weekend that fit lovely but I'm at a loss when it comes to school shoes. Her current shoes are still okay for the time being (now DH has glued the sole back on:o).
• I overpaid the CC card by £55 in a panic thinking the DD hadn't come out, which hasn't helped me balance this months budget. I know this isn't really an overspend but it is annoying.
• I have a tendency to just throw in the towel when we are battling to recover from an overspend, so I need to make sure I stick at it. Trying to stick to a food budget of £75 a week at the moment which is helping.
• Friends want to go for a night away with us plus meal, which is lovely but not budgeted for. Looking for a really good deal at the moment but hoping to delay this to April if we can.

Happier_Me

It's been almost two months since I last posted and it has been a little manic in the Happier Me household recently:

The Good:

• I started my new job on the 1st March and I am really enjoying it. It is a more responsible job and I am really busy but I have missed the pace of my secondment's and the working environment is so much healthier than my old company.
• I received over £600 in overtime/unpaid leave from my old job which is gong into savings.
• My new place of work has been kind enough to pay me too. I am earning an extra £70 a month extra despite reducing my hours further and I even managed to set up my childcare vouchers this month, saving £75 in tax. I was expecting to have to wait until April.
• I have worked out that I don't need to increase the days my kids go to wraparound care, as long as I stick to a strict routine each working day.
• Had a fantastic time at Butlins in February. The kids loved it and we have booked again for next year.
• We also went to our first concert in March. DD had a great time. DS demanded his DS as soon as he realised it was 'just singing' though!
• All things money wise are going well, we are still on track for a MF date of May 2020. Mortgage is due to drop below £73k next week and we should be mortgage neutral by this Christmas.

The Bad:

• One of our solar panel systems is out of action. It won't cost anything to repair but we are waiting on parts so not earning anything in tariff at the moment. It could be worse - it could be the larger system or a gorgeous sunny week!
• The tumble dryers broken but DH has fixed this. Admittedly he has used cellotape and we will need to order a new part.
• I am still based in the same building, working for a different company yet my old boss is struggling with the whole concept of me leaving. He still thinks I am at his beck and call and although I will happily support my old team I feel no loyalty to him. He is a terrible manager, one of the worst I have worked for and I have worked with some shockers over the years. So I really need to address this and soon.

Not much else to report. We could really do with decorating the hallway and playroom this year but we don't want to spend the money. Need to think on it some more.

castlelough

Wow you are doing so well Happier Me and your motgage free date is drawing so near!!!

Happier_Me

Oh dear, it's been over a year since I last posted on this thread:o

I am still an avid an MSE'r but I am clearly better at lurking and occasionally posting than keeping my own diary.

The scores on the doors (roughly) are:

• Mortgage balance is now at £54,900, soon to be £52,300 in a couple of days
• 0% CC and loans stand at around £19k
• We are fully offset on our mortgage now
• We are on target to be able to pay off all debts and have a small emergency fund by December. We won't do this though, aim is to build up the savings
• Mortgage and debt free date is Nov 2019, with current savings in tact

We had a spendy year last year and have really tightened our belts over the last few months. We are now cutting back on normal spending to afford our wants, something we used to do when money was tighter and debt was higher. DH is still the weak link when it comes to expensive wants.

Will try update more often just so I can revisit this thread at a later stage in our journey.