Looking forward - Debt Free in 4 years

mizmir

Finally have made it to the debt free roll of honour!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/66854390#Comment_66854390

grannyx2

Congratulations x

Karmacat

How lovely, miz, congratulations! That sounds a complex procedure for you, hope it all goes smoothly.

mizmir

Thank you! Feels slightly surreal but all the numbers have now appeared on my online banking so they are going through. I will believe it when I see all the £0 balances at the other end - but know that will take a few days. Just need to be patient. It is the first time in my adult life that I have owed nothing to anyone - over 30 years!

Have also finalised all accounts at the old house and am due a rebate plus some "gap insurance" back on car finance that has been paid off. So hopefully we will also get some money back in over the next few weeks.

So the plan now is to save. Becoming debt free is fabulous - but we have done it by using up most of the proceeds from our house sale (£10K left to invest). That is fine at the moment - we've found a rental house that we love, it is a long term let (managed by an estate) and it is great for the dogs. Added bonus is I can work from here and the landlord is fine with that so will save travelling time and room hire for the business. So no plans to move any time soon. But we are aware that this may not work forever. At the moment rent is fine and is actually cheaper than our old mortgage. But we'll be hitting retirement in the next 10-15 years and then we may struggle with paying rent. Hence the saving plan.

From what we were paying out for loan and card repayments, I reckon we can save £1k a month as a minimum at the moment plus any extra bits we can squirrel away. Later we can add my pension payments (I will get mine 5 years before my partner and will hopefully still be doing self employed work then so we could save it all). The aim - with good investments - will be to build a pot big enough to buy a house outright if we need to when OH retires in 15 years time - aiming for a minimum of £250K. Hope it is doable - I think it is. But it will require us to commit to saving - more consistently than our debt busting!

I suspect I should close this diary now and start another - can it be on here or should I move it on to the mortgage board? Not that I am paying off a mortgage but I am saving to avoid having one. Bit scary though to move to another board - do they bite over there?

Karmacat

I'm over there! And so is Tilly Like you, I'm saving - tho not for a mortgage, for my pension (in my sig, which is getting more and more detailed). They don't bite at all, and a lot of them are dfw-ers, tho quite a few have gone straight in on the mortgage :rotfl:

Now that you can do anything you want with pensions, you might find its better to put a lot of that saving money straight into a pension, in a cash fund. I'm very excited for you :j

mizmir

Thanks Karma - that's reassuring. Will head over there to start a new diary. OH's brother is a financial advisor so will see what he suggests for the best way to invest. We need to go through it all with him and get a plan - for my occupational pension when it comes through (can take it in just under 4 years time - eek!) and regular savings. At the moment we have nothing in place - no ISAs, no nothing. The remaining money is in 2 Santander 123 accounts so it is at least earning 3% while we get sorted. But definitely will look at all the possibilities.

Karmacat

Blimey, 3%??? Don't worry about hurrying up then :rotfl: the rates I'm transferring existing ISAs to are *well* under that!

Didn't mean to advise - as I mentioned, I get a bit excited when its all going well :j:o:j:o:j:o

mizmir

Happy to take all the advice I can get Karma! BIL is very good - but it doesn't hurt to challenge him to justify his recommendations!

Of course the 3% is taxed so may not be as good as your ISA in actual fact - but I think it is comparable to the better cash ISAs and you can get 3% on £3K-20K - we have a joint account plus one individual - could get a second individual so technically could have £60K in these but OH is a higher rate tax payer so may not be worth her while having one. This is why we need advice!!

Just started a new thread over in MFW - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5101300

Suziebabe

Congratulations mizmir!! So pleased for you, hope the saving goes well - and savour the moment of liberation!!

_party__party__party_

mizmir

Thanks Suzie. Still feels slightly unreal - I keep checking my mobile banking app just to see the positive numbers! But I checked the card accounts last night and the balances have all dropped to £0 (or to £1 in the case of MB^@! (Will take great pleasure in sending them their £1 this morning!). So it seems to be real. Just need to see confirmation that both loans have been cleared and I will breathe easy. With online banking it is quite stressful checking and double checking the numbers - one digit out and someone else might have their loan paid off instead!! :eek:

But onwards and upwards. Next task is to ensure we have a good cushion and focus on the house savings pot.