The End May Actually Be in Sight...

RoaringTwenties

Hello all,

I’ve been lurking on these boards for a while, and have now decided to take the plunge and join in! I’ve been hesitant about posting, because the reason my mortgage may be gone sooner rather than later is that my OH and I recently received a sizeable inheritance which has annihilated a huge chunk of the debt. It doesn’t seem right in a way to be talking gleefully about how little we have left to pay when we haven’t exactly worked for the money that’s set us free. Having said that the relationship with those we inherited from was extremely special, they were very determined that we should have it. Plus we’ve had our own share of tough times, and still have a way to go to get shot of our mortgage completely, so I thought why not start a diary and see how it goes...

Bit of background – there’s me and my OH (Civil Partner, both women, both 38), our DS who’s 6 and DD who’s 1.5. I’m a SAHM, OH working full time, one decent salary but four mouths to feed, two of which are permanently open Mortgage at its height in 2005 was £150,000 over 23 years, we’d got it down to £120,000 with 16 years remaining before DD arrived but then had to re-mortgage back up to £140,000 over 20 years as some things were desperately needed ie. a kitchen as ours was 32 years old and didn’t have a working drawer, light or oven...:p

Then 4 weeks ago we received £116,300 in inheritance. We’ve added £2000 to our savings and paid the rest off the mortgage. So that leaves us with around £22,000 left to pay off. I’ve just secured a retention rate of 2.89% fixed for 4 years from my building society, payments are £486 PCM. We can easily pay (at least) another £209 PCM in OP which reduces the term to 2 years 9 months. I can OP 10% of my original loan per year without penalty which works out at £6000, so I’m well within that. Hoping to be MF by Sept 2016, which is a far cry from June 2032 which is what it was until a month ago :T

No credit card balances, cards only used for internet shopping and paid off every month, no other debts other than some old-style student loans which will probably be written off in the not-too-distant. We’re the kind of people who put money aside every month to cover the TV licence, BT annual line rental, Xmas/birthdays, new spectacles, next car etc.

There’s not much room for savings that we don’t want to make as we’re pretty canny with money as it is - shop at Ald1, I price up across various shops for household stuff (I have the opportunity to do it whilst out with baby), utilities all MSE-ed, every penny accounted for in my hilarious hand written old-style accounting books etc. Plus we’re hoping to have a bit of fun going forward as things have been increasingly tight over the last few years as they have for many. The lovely people we inherited from were always telling us we should have more of a life, and they were in their nineties, so I think we should probably take them up on it now as we really have no excuse!

Thanks for reading - I’ll post updates for anyone who’s interested – and good luck all on your MFW journeys xx

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

Hey there, just stopped by to say welcome and good luck. Going from 2032 to 2016 is a fantastic achievement. Also that you ate just like me with every penny allocated, putting money asside each month for the yearly bills etc. Nothing to be ashamed of

skint_spice

September 2016 is so close - well done. You can still have a life and be frugal, in my experience apart from childcare kids get much more expensive as they get older so you are doing the right thing getting rid off the mortgage now:D sounds like you and OH are on the same wavelength too which will help a lot. Good luck and keep us posted.

RoaringTwenties

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa wrote: »

Hey there, just stopped by to say welcome and good luck. Going from 2032 to 2016 is a fantastic achievement. Also that you ate just like me with every penny allocated, putting money asside each month for the yearly bills etc. Nothing to be ashamed of

skint_spice wrote: »

September 2016 is so close - well done. You can still have a life and be frugal, in my experience apart from childcare kids get much more expensive as they get older so you are doing the right thing getting rid off the mortgage now:D sounds like you and OH are on the same wavelength too which will help a lot. Good luck and keep us posted.

Hello, thank you both for posting, really lovely to have some company The way we see it we have been afforded a major break and we intend to try and maximise it! Mrs RT I like it that when an annual bill comes round the money is put aside so it doesn't touch our finances IYKWIM. I see it as already spent money even if the next bill is 11 months away!

ss I am starting to know just what you mean about kids becoming more expensive as they age, I've been amazed by how much my child-related outgoings have increased since DD arrived and DS hit school age - everything from food to shoes to activities, even when it's shopped around and budgeted for. And I haven't even got to school trips or tuition fees yet :eek: OH is definitely on the same page, I was just going to mention that in my update post...:rotfl:

RoaringTwenties

Made my first OP today - £209 as planned. Might well be more by the end of the month but we'll see how it goes. My mortgage is with a building society so any OPs I make via Faster Payments take a couple of days to get from their bank account to my specific mortgage account. I worked out tonight that the delay in that may increase my interest by just over £1 across the lifetime of the loan. Not happy about that OH is fully on board with MFW but says my irritation over this £1 may be taking things too far :rotfl: . Her attitude is that her job is to earn it and my job is to get the most out of it, it's a yin-yang that works for us! She is a natural worrier and I know will be happy when the house is finally ours.

Just wanted to say thanks to all who have MFW diaries here, I've been lurking and gaining inspiration even before our recent windfall. It's nice to be among the like-minded, I know not everybody shares the dream of being MF or the efforts in making the pennies earn their keep! So many thanks to you all

RoaringTwenties

Hello all, well I checked and the Faster Payment did reach my mortgage account, phew! I can only tell this by deducting it from the figure I noted on my online account the other day though, my building society are quite traditional I think, they've only just got into all this online business, I think they prefer quill and ink I like being with a mutual but I do envy those with major modern banks, I imagine if you make an OP from your current account you literally see it whizz across on the screen? Mine literally has a single figure, no kind of statement or record of transactions.

Mine is also complicated by the fact that they add a years worth of unemployment/sickness/accident and buildings/contents insurance onto the balance on 1st Jan, I don't pay interest on it as it ticks off through the year, but it makes my balance look bigger than it is, so I have to work out what remains of that on the account to glean the actual amount owed. Well done if anyone's still here after that over-complicated whinge :rotfl:

Yesterday was a good MS day, in between school run and baby group I did my usual rounds of Home Bargains/Wilko/Iceland etc to see who has the best prices currently on big brands . I desperately needed new [ahem] undergarments but timed the purchases right as M&S had £5 off a £30 spend on lingerie. While I was in the queue a lovely elderly lady behind me asked if I wanted one of her friends and family 20% discount vouchers, so that saved me another fiver. We had a nice chat and she got a smile from the baby. As she said, "every little helps"

Off to do the Aldi thing shortly, meals planned as usual and meat in the freezer so hoping for quite a tight shop this week :T

RoaringTwenties

Can I just make a plea for help?! I've seen people posting here saying that they'll subscribe to others diaries, but I can't see how to do that, can anyone advise me? MTIA :beer:

Welshlassie

When I reply to a thread it automatically subscribes me to them.

Or at the top of each thread in "Thread Tools" there is the option to subscribe

HTH

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

It's so reassuring when you get confirmation of the overpayment. I always get slightly worried that ny op has disappeared in the big wide internets between accounts. Nice bargain on the 'clothing' I always pass on vouchers and discounts to people as I believe in karma

Beckyy

Hello! Welcome, just wanted to drop by and wish you well on your MF journey.

I'm sure whoever left you the inheritance would take great comfort in knowing that they've made a tremendous difference to your lives and futures.

FWIW the £1 would annoy me too

RoaringTwenties

Welshlassie wrote: »

When I reply to a thread it automatically subscribes me to them.

Or at the top of each thread in "Thread Tools" there is the option to subscribe

HTH

Thank you very much! That really helps, have got it now I think

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa wrote: »

It's so reassuring when you get confirmation of the overpayment. I always get slightly worried that ny op has disappeared in the big wide internets between accounts. Nice bargain on the 'clothing' I always pass on vouchers and discounts to people as I believe in karma

I totally agree Mrs RT - I gave away a load of these vouchers when I got them a while ago so it did feel like karma :T. It is worrying when money vanishes - my SIL in Sydney got the same amount as us and when it was transferred internationally it disappeared for three days whilst it went through money laundering checks :eek:. We were all stressed out till it reappeared!

Beckyy wrote: »

Hello! Welcome, just wanted to drop by and wish you well on your MF journey.

I'm sure whoever left you the inheritance would take great comfort in knowing that they've made a tremendous difference to your lives and futures.

FWIW the £1 would annoy me too

Hi Beckyy, glad it's not just me with the £1 then :rotfl:. I think in future I might make OPs at my local BS branch, then I get a nice little receipt to look at!

Thank you for your kind words about our inheritance, it came from my OHs grandparents, I loved them like my own, we lost them both within 6 weeks last summer. They had wanted the money passed down through the family and been clear on that with us for years. They were brilliant with money - responsible and sensible, always bought quality, used their own inheritance wisely, but also knew how to have fun! We won't go far wrong if we follow their example