Forever Home Fund

katep23

So after that mammoth post I still have more to say

Mid term goal - LTV
Overall, the plan for the mortgage is to get our LTV to 75% by the time our fix is up (January 2020). To do this, we need to OP £250 per month.

With the stoozed money in the offset, this is currently OPing about £200 per month (in addition to any OPs we make) so this on track and if we need to take a break on OPs for a while it won't have too much of an impact and we can make the slack up fairly easily.

Hopefully the work we do on the house will also improve the value so our LTV will be better than 75% but we are working to worst case scenario so we are aiming to get the mortgage sub £300K by January 2020.

I am keeping an eye on mortgage deals in case something really stonking comes up but, given the ERP, it's unlike that it will be worth changing.

We would need to remortgage the ERP so it would take us out of the current LTV bracket and then any savings would be swallowed up by the increase in mortgage. Maybe next year when the ERP reduces again.

katep23

So, currently have £25 left after bills paid until payday (22nd Jan) but have to pay £24 to register microchips for spanish cats. So that'll be £1 left then! Oh to be fair I have about £20 in cash so it's not that dire.

Have expenses of over £150 due in pay this month so that's a bit extra towards the credit card bill.

£383 left on credit card until I reach my limit so budgeted £150 for food and £80 for pet food, plus £12 mobile and £100 for brake discs. This is to last us until 26th January when we will pay off credit card balance.

Really determined to stick to this budget and OH seems to be on board so hopefully we can manage it. It's certainly making me more conscious of my spending and making me plan my purchases better.

Off to make lunches and sort out dinner for tomorrow.

katep23

December 2014
Mortgage £346,545.00
Mortgage free date 2044
LTV 86.64%

5th January 2016
Mortgage £336,442.85
Total paid off capital in last month £613.86
Total paid off capital £10,152.15

OP 01/04/15 to date: £1,420.21 / £1,800
Total OP to date: £1,797.35
MOS: £11,953.00

LTV: 84.11%

Amount to Mortgage Neutral - £324,489.85

So MOS has increased and ATMN has decreased but OPs were very small this month and ampunt paid off was disappointing.

Good news is we have now paid off over £10k of capital.

OPs will be on hold this month and we may need to draw down from savings to cover credit card bill - boo.

Total monthly interest is £1,007.89 so going in the right direction and hope to be sub £1,000 soon.

katep23

katep23 wrote: »

£383 left on credit card until I reach my limit so budgeted £150 for food and £80 for pet food, plus £12 mobile and £100 for brake discs. This is to last us until 26th January when we will pay off credit card balance.

Oops, forgot we have two vet visits to pay for before credit card bill is paid so may have to reduce the grocery budget to, um, about £0 I think!

Ah well, I need to lose weight

katep23

Realised I won't stay within credit limit so drawn down some savings and paid £500 off but still aiming to stick to original grocery and pet food budget. Brake discs will be more expensive (£170).

Need to go to pets @ home as Oc@do substituted litter for non-wood based stuff so need to get some from there. There are a few other bits we need but going to take a list to try and stick to budget!

OH is doing 5:2 diet so hoping that will reduce spends. On his fast days I will have veggie meal / fish for dinner.

Doing dry January, that should save us a fair bit!

katep23

Mapped out a rough budget and it was eye opening how much we hadn't taken into consideration in the past. We should still be able to make savings each month but nowhere near the amount we had always assumed we should have spare each month.

Sat down with OH to discuss areas we could cut back on and I seemed to have agreed we can buy another car - not sure how that happened!

To be fair, we are talking about selling my girl racer car (expensive insurance, tax, rubbish MPG) and releasing some equity and then buying a classic convertible for less money which will be fun in the summer, classic car insurance, lower tax and err even worse MPG! But it would be the "spare" car so economy is less important. Plus it would be an asset which would hopefully retain its value or potentially even appreciate so more sensible than the car I have now.

Talked about getting rid of the van which we have spent a lot of money on repairing (cam belt, clutch, suspension). The plan was to convert it to a motor home but we're not sure we will get the time to get away. But then if we do convert it, would it make us take some time away?

Undecided on this one. Would save us £600 / year plus £1,500 (estimate) to convert which would pay for a lot of B&Bs but love the idea of the convenience of a motorhome.

OH will not consider changing broadband (£24/month) as he needs reliable service due to working from home regularly and the service we have is a business one so we get the fastest possible connection (we can't get fibre yet although it is at our local exchange as we are fed from the exchange and the fibre is only available from a cabinet - grr!)

Need to sort out landline but going to leave this for a month or so as all our expensive bills fall due in December / January.

Pets are one of our biggest expenses - we could look at self-insuring but having had 2 cats who needed treatment costing £000's I would be reluctant to put ourselves in the position of having to make a hard choice. Pet food costs are high, not sure what we can do about this. Vaccinations and treatments, going to see if we can set up a monthly plan with vets to reduce costs and spread them over the year.

Groceries and household spends should be possible to reduce with meal planning - currently trying to use up what is in the cupboards and freezers so spends are very low this month.

So having done the budget we are no better off yet but it has made me aware of all my spending and I consider every purchase now (had a craving for sushi at lunchtime but resisted!)

katep23

Grocery spends might be quite low but pet food spends are not! £120 ish spent until today on groceries and pet food, then £79 spent with Asd@ on pet food but as a new customer I get £15 cashback.

Already over the budget I set for the month so no more spending! Have stocked up on cat food but not so sure about us!

Work has agreed to reimburse me for my exam so that's £96 coming back but not until Feburary payday. They also want to fund my training but I need to look at the T&Cs of this closely and find out if the same rate will be payable.

They have a claw-back contract if I leave (was told 3 years but contract I have seen is 2 years) - if the amount payable is the same as if I had paid it myself it's a no-brainer but if they get charged more than I would if I was self-funding it could cost me more. Would save about £200 a month for the next 18 months if they do pay though!

Feeling frustrated I can't throw more at the mortgage right now - have OPd about £10 this month (despite my resolution not to OP until the credit card is paid). Just want to see some progress!

It's also frustrating that so much needs doing to the house so we need to save and do a bit, rather than get on with it or being able to put money aside / plan for retirement.

We could split any savings 3-ways to renovation / retirement / savings but then it would take even longer to get the house sorted and could impact on remortgaging in 4 years when our fix ends.

Feeling very under the weather so early night for me. Hopefully will feel more upbeat tomorrow.

katep23

Brr, so cold we've got just put the electric blanket on the bed - off to make lunches then I shall be making the most of it!

8 days to payday, can't come soon enough.

katep23

£50.50 finally payable on TCB, OPd it.

Projected that we should be in the 320s in September which is good.

Long walk with the dog yesterday, shall try and do the same today. Then studying for exam which is a week Tuesday. OH has an exam next weekend so he's studying too - he gets a nice payrise if he passes

katep23

4 new tyres, budget blown

Worked out what we need to put aside each month for annual costs so need to get linked offset accounts sorted to use this as for funds.

Savings raided to pay CC this month, will be able to put some back in at end of month.

Good news is should pay off over £850 of capital this month and will be halfway through 330s.