Just getting started with a long way to go!

Brit_in_Denmark

Hello Money Savers.

I am really struggling at the moment with my finances. I brought my first house 2 years ago in Denmark. I moved there for work and decided to stay. I am 33 years old, a teacher, married with a little boy, and my wife wants one more (I am not so sure!):)

Denmark is an expensive place to live, but my quality of life is high. My wages are "ok" and my wife works a minimum wage job 3 hours a day.

My finances are:

Mortgage Remaining:
£140,000 - 28 years left to go fixed at 3%

Loan remaining:
£20,000 - 23 years left to go fixed at 8%


No credit cards, students loans or other debts.
I have about £3,000 in savings, in case of emergency (and this probably isn't much of an emergency fund but its better than nothing)

My aim is to get rid of my 8% loan as fast as possible, and then work on the mortgage. The good news is that in denmark these rates are fixed for the life of the loan, so I don't have to go changing every few years.

On the bad side, there ALWAYS seems to be some emergency that eats away at the finances. My wife always wants to spend more money on everything too. I am pretty good with budgets, bills and all that stuff (I used to run my own business). When I graduated I used the MSE forums to help me save like crazy and pay off my £16,000 of student debt very very quickly.:money:

My problem is I feel so alone when it comes to money. I have no "outside help" from family, and I had to work my heart out to make ends meet, and also to keep my wife happy (an impossible task! :rotfl: )

She comes from a background of not having much money, so of course she loves to spend it as soon as she has it. I tried to get her in to money saving but she has no interest in it at all. So I am fighting a losing battle there.

I would really love any support from you amazing Money Savers out there to just keep me on the right track and moving forward with my goals because it feels like a lonely road right now.

Thanks
Brit.

icontinuetodream

Welcome aboard BID :wave:

My dh was also completely disinterested when I started my MFW journey - it was really hard to do it on my own while he was squandering cash left right and centre!! however, I kept at it and eventually (when he started to see that becoming mf was actually possible) he finally got on board and life became a lot easier!!

Just keep at it - it may feel like an uphill battle but at least you know that every penny will make a difference in the long run and you will reap the benefits eventually!!

davenport151

Hi Brit In Denmark. Welcome.
Although I am not a poster or have a diary on the MFWB boards I do often pop in. I hope to start a similar plan.

Its difficult when partners aren't on on board isn't it?
What I do find interesting is your wifes attitude to money. I grew up with a no money background too and although I did fritter money away at first, when younger)! I also saved enough to buy my first car (a second hand mini). Though later as I frittered away more I began to realise I needed to get some money behind me. To me it was having a child that made me realise that.

Good luck with your journey.!

BudgetQueen14

Hi BID
I'm new to all this too! I used to deal with all the money by myself and it was a hard slog but I started listening and watching the Dave Ramsey show on the internet (it's american) and I realised I was going to struggle unless my husband was with me on this. Thankfully he now is and we had our first budget meeting before the start of this month, so now it's OUR project to pay off the mortgage not just mine.
Also on that show people do a debt free scream which is really inspiring where people pay off loads of debt and mortgages in quite a short period of time, have a listen and it will make you realise that your situation is not as bad as you think, but the most important thing is that YOU WANT TO CHANGE. Good luck and I look forward to hearing how you get on!

black_taxi_2

love your quality of life quote

making the decision to be MF is a huge step,to achieving it

g/l

Brit_in_Denmark

Thank you all so much
Budgetqueen, I will check out that TV show you mentioned. Thanks for that.

It is SO GREAT to find the support of others on here. It really is wonderful.

I have been trying to set aside 500 pounds per month as a sort of emergency fund. I dont always manage it. But now I will try to up it to 700 pounds per month if I can.

I think I might have to take on a little extra work to do that. But I sometimes give guest lectures. So if I can do a few more of them that would help.

My problem is my wife sees any saved money as "extra" money to spend. Its so hard to get her on side!

Might have to be a sneaky secret saver! wish me luck!

BudgetQueen14

Hi BID
With the Dave Ramsey thing he does things in Baby Steps
Baby Step 1/ £1000 Baby Emergency fund (this is used if the washer breaks, or you need a new tyre etc)
Baby Step 2/ Pay off all your debt apart from your home, you have only got that £20,000 loan, but if you can save £500 a month you could get rid of that in 3 years not 23 Years. Maybe sooner?
Baby Step 3/ Save the money that you were spending paying off your debt and start saving for a proper emergency fund 3-6 months of expenses, so that if you lost your job etc you would be ok for 6 months and not have to make any silly choices. It's like a insurance policy on you.
The baby steps go up to 7, we are on baby step 3 at the moment, with 2 months of expenses so far, but it's already made me feel so much better knowing that I have that money there - JUST IN CASE.

Maybe when your wife sees that you are making progress she will get on board.

Do a spread sheet so that you can look back on it - it will really encourage you. Also you need a "zero dollar budget', basically write down every dollar/pound/Euro/Krone that you have coming into the home, then give it a job. You work hard for your money so make sure it works for you! Start with the most important things, mortgage, bills, food, debt payments. Then if you haven't got enough for something then you either take money from another budget or you do without ! Tough.

With the dave ramsey thing he is religious which might put some off but he's got good old fashioned advice, and it does get quite addictive listening to peoples stories.
Look forward to hearing how you get on

Budget Queen14

edinburgher

Welcome, it can be tough being the saver in a relationship when your OH isn't with you for that aspect of life. It has taken me an 8 year relationship to get to the point where my wife now wants to save some of her salary without pestering from me :rotfl:

You really want to get shot of that loan a.s.a.p., 8% is a pretty high rate, even if it's not payday loan territory.

Do you teach in English? Just curious.

Brit_in_Denmark

Hi everyone! I'M BACK and WOW has my situation changed! I forgot I even had this account! But I hope I can use this place for inspiration and motivation.

So, last year I got DIVORCED:mad:! A very expensive situation, but it turns out my finances strangely improved!

I also changed my job to a less stressful job, but it was paid a little less too.

However, despite all of this my situation is:

Today I pay off the final part of my loan, so I have no outstanding debts, credit cards, student loans etc.

I have my £126000 remaining on my mortgage that is at 1.5% fixed for the life of the mortgage, and I have 18 years of payments left.

The thing is, life in Denmark is expensive, and divorce is even more so. My job situation is also a little unstable, however I am trying to balance that out with a danish "unemployment insurance" that basically pays out if you lose your job.

I have been living on a shoestring, and I rented out the upstairs of my house to a student studying at a nearby school, and that works out surprisingly great.

I also worked my backside off doing little side-jobs outside of work. I'm a teacher, so often I would give guest lectures at other universities, and put the money to one side.

On the down-side, my cost of living is quite high, I can't afford the car, so take the bus, and my house is quite old, and is very slowly having lots of things nearly break down, you know what its like with an old creaky house.

My big dream is to get my mortgage paid off in 10 years. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it though.

Right now I have maybe 1 month of wages in savings as my "safety net" - its not much, but I just got my work contract extended by 6 months, so I will try to save up again.

I have a very very large garden and I am half-considering constructing a Scandinavian style pre-fab house there, and renting that out to students. But I'm not so sure how all the planning permissions work, or even if its a good idea.

I wanted to keep you updated.

Big love to all the money savers and I will try to keep this post as a sort of diary to see how I do!

Kittenkirst

Wow things have changed massively for you - sorry to hear about your divorce but it sounds as thought you are doing well now

User1489

Hi Brit,

When I read your original post and were feeling slightly more desperate with the wife scenario, I was going to heavily recommend you watch, on youtube, Dave Ramsey's Six Baby Steps. There are several hundred videos from his radio show on there to watch, and they have given me peace of mind.

I started here adamant to pay off my mortgage. Still am! But I was always stressed. Saves baby steps state you should hold £1k (£10k dkk) in an Emergency Fund, then pay off all your debts, then save 3-6 months of expenses in savings, then move on to equally save for retirement and pay off the mortgage.

Would you take a look at one of his videos explaining these? I think it will help your mind calm - remember, the first three baby steps can be done fairly quickly - within a year? - but the mortgage and retirement savings are marathons, not sprints.

Plus, personally, if there is one thing I have learned - it is not fun sitting at home in the cold with the lights off to save cash - BUDGET - make a 10 year budget in excel - and give yourself time to LIVE. It finally clicked with me that when I hit 40 (my goal is to pay off mortgage on my 40th) I was going to have a breakdown because, great as it is to not have a mortgage, I was going to look back and have nothing fun to remember. I'm not saying spend all your cash - but make sure you LIVE as well Most of my favourite memories from the last two years have been free. A trip to a friends cabin in the lake district cost £50, and was as much fun as a trip to India with cost me a couple of thousand...

Good luck whatever path you choose, we are your cheerleaders

Man vs Mortgage