Crunchy pays it down....£20k...the final chapter

crunch_time

Thank you!

I felt awful yesterday - I headache that just wouldn't go away. Must be coming down with a cold or something.

Anyway, I still managed to get some bits done in my new project 'Getting myself organised so I can effortlessly work and be organised at home.'

- husband has got information for child card vouchers so hopefully this will make a bit of a saving.
- DD booked into nursery from 31st October for 3 days a week.
- DD settling in sessions booked.
- forms got from school for DS to go into before and after school club
- Name labels ordered for DD
- Grandparents contacted to see if they can do a day or half a day of childcare if they want to.
- excel spreadsheet done for the next 14 months until DD gets her free hours to show worst case scenario of childcare taken away from monthly earnings to prove to oneself that this is all worth it. It is - after childcare costs for the whole year I will earn over £7k before childcare vouchers and potentially grandparents helping out.

Still to do

- contact school re DBS check and days I can come in.
- begin to tackle massive to do list of things I need to do to get ready for the big start date so I feel in control and unstressed.
- organise DD's birthday which is coming up at the end of the month.
- contact nursery to confirm everything.

I had better get a wriggle on then!!

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

Morning diary!

I have come down with a cold overnight and feeling very under the weather. Will pop a lemsip in a bit and see if it makes a difference.

Husbands childcare vouchers will save us about £50 a month in childcare so very pleased with that.

I'm definitely starting on the 31st of October now as my dbs can be carried on from my last place. Now I know that for sure I can contact hr about childcare vouchers from me.

i had a big realisation yesterday that I need to seriously cut my to do list down. I had big plans for lots of projects to do in the run up to Christmas and there will be no time for all of it now.

Top project is getting the office organised so I'm ready to work again and hit the ground running.

Dds birthday is all planned now. Phew!

And lastly new mortgage paperwork has come through so it's all go!!

Latest mortgage payment has come out. Will update the figures in a bit.

Crunch xx

crunch_time

So mortgage is now £154,527 with £45,473 equity and £24,527 left to go before August 2019.

I cant remember whether I have mentioned this before but this deal is for 2 years at 2.13% costing us £613 minimum payment.

With no overpayments we will get to £146,278 by the end of the 2 years giving us £53,722 equity leaving us £16,278 to pay off before our target.

If we round up the monthly payment to £700 so an overpayment of £87 we will get to £144,147 by the end of the two years giving us £55,853 of equity leaving us £14,147 to pay off before our target.

If we round up the monthly payment to £800 so an overpayment of £187 we will get to £141,697 by the end of the two years giving us £58,303 of equity leaving us £11,697 to pay off before our target.

Lots of food for thought and as usual I am taking a while to decide what our strategy is!!

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

Evening diary,

Just sat down with the husband for a very productive money chat and (long story short) we have decided that we are going to get rid of the loan by the end of 2017!! Feels so great to have him on board. He was the one for a while that wanted to overpay the mortgage which made me doubt all my budget stuff.

Very pleased that I now have a debt free date in mind now!! Once its gone that's it! I've been in debt for so long I cant remember not being in it!

Plan will come soon once I sort all of our childcare etc out.

I do hope you lovely readers will all stick around with me to help me see it through.

Lets do this!!!!!

Crunchy xx

louby40

Congratulations on the job! Are you job sharing? What age will you be teaching?

I've just moved up with my class into Year 1. Finding it all a bit overwhelming really, it's 5 years since I taught in KS1 so it's all changed.

I'm enjoying it though but doing a lot of work at home and not leaving school till 5pm most nights!

crunch_time

Thanks louby40! Yes its a job share and its Year 1 too. I love that year group so very happy. Shame about bringing lots of work home. I'm not looking forward to that.

So I have been hard at work formulating a plan.

- I have upped the minimum payment from £275 to £300.
- I have adjusted the amount husband pays into the joint account to reflect the lower level of mortgage and rounded it up to £200.

So £500 over the next 14 months would bring the loan down to £4600.

I have worked out childcare for the next 14 months at a crude level without discounts for childcare vouchers and also budgeted for a UK cottage holiday next summer. After all this is taken into consideration I should have £8430 left. So more than enough to cover the £4600 left of the loan.

Now to fess up to how much is on the credit cards....

Mine = £450
Husbands = £169

I'm not too bothered about these at the moment. I really just want to get a move on with the loan. They probably cost us about £30 a month on min payments so I think I shall just let them be for the moment (of course try not to use them) and then once Christmas is over with and I have got to grips with paying for childcare I can start to tackle those as well.

So the nursery wants payment up front and the after school club wants payment in arrears so I think it will be a few months before I am paying on time for both.

After Christmas I shall make some more concrete plans like targets for each quarter or something.

Fore now its a case of getting to grips with the new job, meal planning and remaining in budget for Christmas... which is always hard to do.

Here are the loan payments for the next few months...

Currently £11,600
Nov 2nd £11,100
Dec 2nd £10,600
Jan 2nd £10,100

So I wont be under £10k by Christmas but I shall be pretty close!

So I need to clear it all by 19th December 2017

£10,100 divided by 11 pay days = £918 a month. Take off the £500 minimum payment and I will have to find £418 a month to make sure we stay on track.

Looking at the figures this is totally doable so long as we stay on track.

Watch this space

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

I had a thought last night before I went to bed that we have the £600 sitting in our isa for our dog. I spoke to the breeder recently and it's not going to happen until closer to April next year so it's pointless that money sitting there doing nothing.

I'm going to take it and use it towards my first nursery bill due on 1st November for circa £800 then I won't get in arrears.

Thinking about it I could also use the £200 allocated towards the loan towards the nursery bill then I wouldn't get into arrears at all!

That sounds sensible. Shall put it on my list of things to do today.

Crunch xx

crunch_time

Didn't manage to get it done today but will do tomorrow.

So a recap on the predicted loan values over the next few months after last nights realisation...

Currently £11,600
2nd November - £11,300
2nd December - £10,800
2nd January - £10,300

it would be nice to start the new year at £10,000 exactly.....

Crunchy x

crunch_time

Exciting news!!

My Pre-pregnancy jeans fit me again thanks to SlimmingWorld and running!! Dd is 2 soon so it's been a long time coming. It means I don't have to buy any more now at least until after Christmas!

We also had a meter reading and revised bill from our energy supplier and our bill has gone down £10 a month!! Husband and I both reckon we could get it down a bit more by using washing machine and dishwasher only in the depths of night so shall work on this.

I have also devised a new menu planning template that should work for us and stop us going over on our budget every month. This is the big one to tackle.

Hope everyone is having a good day xx

crunch_time

Afternoon all,

I have switched DD to afternoon naps because that's what they do at nursery so I should be free until the school run! Time for a little update.

New menu plan put into place today. I have roasted a chicken for meat and stock and also made potato and leek soup for the next few days. Will make another soup with the new stock. Currently baking some sausages for sausage pasta for dinner.

Mortgage consultant company has already billed us for the fees for the new mortgage. Its £200 so that's £200 I cant put towards my first nursery bill but at least it isn't going on the mortgage!!

I cant believe its the last day of school tomorrow before half term! Where has the time gone!

Crunchy xx