Maybe we'll actually take off this time...

Dragonrider

Dear all,


I have had two diaries previously, as I am desperate to get rid of our mortgage, but our financial circumstances just haven't allowed it. However, my husband has just got a new job, and I am hoping that we can really make a dent in the mortgage from now on.


We are me, OH, 4 kids under 6yrs and a very large dog in a small terraced 3-bedroom house. The youngest is just 2 months old, so is still in our bedroom, but the other three share one bedroom as the box room is currently a study. Although cramped, it actually works quite well as they are all very similar in age!


However, we are aware that we can't stay here too much longer, and have been thinking carefully about what our short and long term plans should be, in the context of the increased income from OH's new job. He starts in the next couple of weeks, and after 2-3 months of settling down and some essential outgoings (he hasn't had a new suit or shirts in 8 years!) then I can put our plan into action. Although it is a plan agreed between us, I will be the one driving the implementation of it!


So, here are the finances as they currently stand:

• We currently owe £246k on a house worth about £520k (I think). Our 2.99% current deal runs out in spring 2015, and at that point we'd like to switch to an offset mortgage as I have read such inspiring diaries using them
• I have been overpaying £50.10 regularly through rounding up our mortgage payment to the next £100
• All money for bills goes into a separate account and is spread over 12 months so that we don't get caught out with one-off expenses
• I put a little bit aside every month for Christmas, birthday presents and holidays for the same reason
• We've got £14.5k in ISAs which I try never to touch, and then I try to keep ~£5k in an easy access savings account to cover any emergencies

Although I am on mat leave at the moment, I normally work 3 days per week. But depressingly, pretty much all of my salary goes on childcare - because they're all so young, only my eldest is at school full-time, which makes childcare very expensive. But I really want to work, because I enjoy it, and because it gives me something to build on as the kids grow up, and it means I'm contributing to a pension.


With the extra money, we are going to put £300 per month into a FD 6% regular saver towards a car - at the moment we have a very basic van (!) to cope with all the kids, the dog and the double buggy. But we will no longer need a double buggy in about 3 years time, so the idea is to save up until then, at which point we can decide what kind of car we need and hopefully pay in cash.


Then I am going to try to pay a minimum of £600 per month into the mortgage. This is going to be a push, but I am going to try my best. We feel that the more we can pay off now, the better deal we can get when we re-mortgage, and therefore have more to put towards a bigger house. We absolutely love where we live at the moment, but to get a bigger place means up-scaling by about £200-300k, which is certainly out of our reach at the moment. However, if we were able to pay off as much as possible, and if this job is a success, then maybe, just maybe, we could get there. So any pay-rises or extra savings will go towards the mortgage.


So tonight I have just got this year's home insurance through TCB - hopefully £73 cash back at some point. The next job is to pay our BT 12 month landline upfront to get the discount.


Wish me luck! I have been following many diaries for quite a while and love the inspiration and support that everybody has for each other.


Dragonrider

Pushkin

Hi Dragonrider - inspiring stuff - your life sounds very busy and puts me to shame! All the more impressive that you are also so focussed on MFW activities!

Look forward to reading the progress through your diary.

Gingerfell

Dragonrider wrote: »

We are me, OH, 4 kids under 6yrs and a very large dog in a small terraced 3-bedroom house. The youngest is just 2 months old, so is still in our bedroom, but the other three share one bedroom as the box room is currently a study. Although cramped, it actually works quite well as they are all very similar in age!

Just expecting our second, due march 2015, likewise in a 3 bed terrace. Finding it hard to imagine how this'll work - so no idea how 4 under 6 is possible!! We currently have the box room as a study/nursery, but very rarely WFH. Can you consider converting the 3rd bedroom back?

Good luck and keep plugging away, it all helps

Dragonrider

Hi Pushkin and Gingerfell :wave:

I had a really lovely day today - OH has 2 weeks off before he starts his new job, and after we'd done the school and preschool runs for 1 and 2 he took 3 and 4 for a dog walk while I went swimming - a whole hour by myself! It was heaven!

Then leftover veggie soup for lunch with bread and lashings of butter (anybody else remember that from the Famous Five?!), a family trip to ballet for 1 and 2 (which I normally do on my own with all 4 and is therefore reasonably stressful....) before we went home for lasagne with green veg inc courgettes from the garden. And now they're all in bed. Not asleep, but at least in bed and quiet!

On the financial front, we booked to go away to a holiday park tomorrow for the weekend as we haven't had a holiday in over 2 years and want to make the most of OH's time off. And OH managed to get a 10% discount - if you don't ask then you don't get! So that's £26.90 for the mortgage. And my cash back from our insurance yesterday has tracked, so hopefully that'll be another £63 soon.

Yaay, we can do this!

Dragonrider

Dragonrider

So we had a lovely weekend in a holiday park, and went swimming 5 times in 3 days! The kids loved the lodge we stayed in as it had bunk beds - it does make you realise how little they actually need to be happy - time with both mummy and daddy and a swimming pool and they think it has been the best day ever! Long may it continue...

MFW wise, we filled up the car at Tesco using our fuel save points so that was £9.34 saving which has gone straight to the mortgage. I'm also trying to be much more organised about meal planning as it absolutely works in terms of saving money and not wasting food. For lunch today OH cooked sausage korma - we made it regularly as students but haven't eaten it for years!

Off to write my thank you letters to people who gave us things for baby number 4. I hate doing them but my Mum's nagging me... I guess mums never give up, and I'll no doubt do the same to my kids in the future.:D

Dragonrider

Crumpets

Hi Dragonrider, you sound so busy but very organised and calm with 4 kids! :cool: I look forward to following your journey and will subscribe to your diary

Crumpets x

Dragonrider

Hi Crumpets, I remember reading your diary a couple of weeks ago and thinking that we've got quite a lot of the same things going on! People often say that I'm calm, but it's a surface thing - underneath it's chaos...;)

Dragonrider