How much of our income can you devote to MFW?

michaels

Of our net (before cash back, interest income etc) we aim to put 50% into being mortgage free.

What proportions are other people managing?

LisaLou1982

I dont ever think of it that way - i just put in what i can afford each month as an OP.

I think its much better to have a decent quality of life and make sure there is enough money to do the fun things, and then put any spares into extra OPs.

sweetdaisy

I agree with LisaLou1982. I usually have a 50/50 approach, where 50% of extra/spare money goes into Savings and 50% towards mortgage overpayments. At the moment I am building-up my Emergency Fund (as we have had to dip into it a few times) and when I am happy with what I have in there, I will increase my mortgage overpayments.

However, balance is the key. We have two young children and make sure that we still have fun as a family, so my MFW plans work around our family spends.

glitterjunkie

I am in agreement with sweetdaisy and Lisa wholeheartedly - I only want to do MFW if I can still have a life too!

At the moment we have around £1100 'disposable income' a month (meaning money left after bills and food are paid for) of which £400 goes to emergency fund savings, £385 goes to the mortgage OP and £300 is for spending on whatever we like (usually takeaways/meals out, family day out, the odd night out with friends and new clothes/toys for DS!) That gives us enough to enjoy life as well. I wouldn't want to put it all into the mortgage or savings, that wouldn't be fair on us or DS!

sleepygirl126

yes I'm in agreement.....you still need to have a life too!

I have a household income of £2050 per month....bills and debts come to £1157....I save about another £100 or so...the rest goes on food, petrol, childcare and general living and I make OPs out of that...sometimes its only £70 but I normally aim for a bit more...DS needs to live and so do I!:D

Stressfree_WB

For me, I worked out how much I needed for bills, food , necessities and spends a month. I try and stick with that. I'm left with 1k of free money. So I just use that for extra mortgage payments.

michaels

Thanks for the comments, I'm interested in the 'we live now and put any spare into the mortgage' . Isn't part of MFW about delayed satisfaction - making do with less now in order to have a much better qualityof life once the mortgage has been cleared?

Calfuray

I don't think so, no. If you plan to get rid of the mortgage in a short time frame, say 2-3 years, then it may be possible to deny yourself any fun work to get rid of it.

For most of us, it's about awareness that this is a debt, it should be reduced, but in the end it's long term. There's no point living life to a point where you are miserable, have no luxuries or enjoyment, especially when even with overpayments, a 25 year term can still end up being a 16 year term etc.