Taking a deep breath...another mfw diary

MessyMare

I never really thought I would be diving in here! I've spent a long time in what is really a low level of debt - under 10k, most of that being a car loan which I took out when I was younger and stupider over five years. There were other life circumstances too and an awful lot of 'well the debt is there, what the hell, let's spend' attitude.

Anyway. After months of messing about, paying some off, putting some on, my DH got made redundant. And I panicked. And threw everything I had into paying it off. So out of a rubbish circumstance came me becoming debt free - hurrah.

My plan now is to alternate between saving for an emergency fund and a mortgage overpayment until I have an amount that makes me feel secure, then hit the mortgage. I'm not far away from making my first overpayment, which has to be a minimum of £500, and I have a month's worth of bills saved up. This should become easier in a month or two, as when DH starts his job and has built his cushion back up he will be comtributing to the overpayment, which we want to be a minimum of £250 a month.

Oh and I like round numbers

Ok, so here come the figures:

The Mortgage £73281, with 31 years left on the term, eep. Currently on a fixed rate for another four years I think, though will check this. Also, this is the figure from Noddle which is always a month out of date. Currently we pay just over £100 off the capital a month, just from the regular payment.

My SOA - just mine. DH is on and will be on a lower wage than me and as such is currently only responsible for the mortgage, though this may change in time. When I was on a lower wage he paid more, so we even it out depending on who's earning what.

In: £1241.75 plus overtime which is neither predictable nor guaranteed, so if I get it, it's a bonus and goes straight to savings.

Out:

Groceries : £250 (I always budget for a five week month and anything left over goes to savings)

Petrol: £75 (as above, I use less than this but budget a little extra in case of unexpected trips or DH borrowing my car)

Annual bills: £25 (saving for TV license and home+contents insurance both due in August, have been saving this since the last time they were due)

Car Bills: £40 (covers insurance, service, tax and MOT, pretty much as above)

Mobile: £29 (two year contract ending in the next few days. Once upon a time this was a good deal for me due to my texting habit but now I've cut back, I'm switching on to a sim only deal and hoping that by haggling I can get the deal I want down to £10 a month - watch this space)

Landline: £25.95 (includes line rental, unlimited broadband, and 'free' evening and weekend calls. Got this down from £35 a couple of months ago so now in a 12 month contract)

Electric: £85 (currently in debt as DH is in all day, every day, seemingly with every electrical appliance in the house turned on. It's a small debt and I've immediately upped the payment to sort it out, and hoping to bring this down nicely, then switch supplier)

Water: £51 (will be less as just gone on a meter, so another watch this space)

Council tax: £100 (over the standard ten months. The extra money in the two free months will go towards the mortgage)

Pet: £50 (one dog is ours, she currently only costs a few pounds a month in food and the rest of this money is saved for her and any unexpected circumstances. Insurance for her is prohibitively high. Our other dog is a long term foster, so although I pay for things for him, I get the money back)

Presents: £50 (this covers birthdays, cards, and Christmas. I should have some left over this year according to my plans so again, will go to overpayment)

I assess my money every month, currently I've got a holiday to finish saving for (£150 to go), anything left over is split between spending money and savings.

Right, I think that's everything! I tried to do a proper SOA but a lot of the fields come out of my own spends, like haircuts etc. and so it was a bit fussy for me.

Right, time to make tea (my parents tell me off for calling it dinner, like it's an affront to the way I was raised or something)

I'm really hoping the wonderful, up front people on their board will be able to help me stay motivated and see things there that I can't!

Thank you

Alchemilla

Hello Messy and welcome.
£500 is a pretty breathtaking overpayment!

MessyMare

Alchemilla wrote: »

Hello Messy and welcome.
£500 is a pretty breathtaking overpayment!

Thank you! It's the one thing DH and I actually agree on doing with money. He's a bit older than me and our current term goes well past his retirement so I figure the faster we can get it chunked down, the better. I really want to be at least sub £70k by my 29th birthday, next July. That seems achievable, so the challenge will be seeing how far beyond that target I can get!

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Very good luck with it all, sounds like you are determined. If you stick at it, you will make real inroads and be on the way to a much more secure future.

Squirrel x

MessyMare

Secret_Saving_Squirrel wrote: »

Very good luck with it all, sounds like you are determined. If you stick at it, you will make real inroads and be on the way to a much more secure future.

Squirrel x

Thank you SSS just admiring your MF status in your sig! It's the secure future bit that is really appealing to me. I can cut my coat with everything else but keeping a roof over our heads... Well that's paramount.

So, my 'extra' earnings for the four days this week that I've been keeping track are £5.75 from surveys. When I get to cashing out I'll use these earnings for Christmas presents.

Also, three ebay listings. Considering I despise ebay as for months and months I couldn't list anything as it kept timing out on me, this isn't bad

I'm aiming for NSDs until my last direct debit for the month has gone out of my account around the first or second of July, then I can assess what I've got left in there and figure out how much I can afford on spending money this month, and how much more I can tuck away.

Cel

Hi MessyMare, just popping in to say Hi :wave:


Just starting our MF journey too, so i'll be subscribing for some extra tips


Could I ask which survery sites you use? I'm only on Onepoll feels like it's taken me forever to get to £26 (pays out at £40)


Lovely you have a foster pup!


Cel x

MessyMare

Hello Cel! We just posted on each other's diaries at the same time I'm in OneP0ll, Y0ugov, V@lued Opinions and I'm trying out Pr0lific Academic but don't really have high hopes for that one. I've also been doing Sh0p and Scan for a little bit again too, I had to give it up when my laptop died but I use DH pc now alongside my tablet. I have had a payout from OP once before so keep going, you'll get there!

ourcornercottage

Just wanted to say hi. Good luck. What date would you like to be MF?

MessyMare

ourcornercottage wrote: »

Just wanted to say hi. Good luck. What date would you like to be MF?

Hello well, by overpaying £250 a month we can cut our term by 12 years, making me 47 by the time we pay it off, with the overpayments considered.

Ideally I'd like to be younger than that and mortgage free as DH has always wanted to retire early, and I would like to make us secure enough for that to happen. So, I'll shoot for becoming mortgage free in 15 years rather than 31, and see if I can make it even less!

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning MessyMare, I certainly wish I'd been as sensible at your age. I'd recommend reading Edinburgher's diary as well. He's got a great approach to saving.

Good luck with your plans.

Best wishes Tilly x x

Runders

Hi MessyMare,

Thanks for posting the message to Cel about the survey sites, I'm going to go and sign up to a few of those as well.

Wishing you lots of luck and I look forward to seeing how you get on, you seem to have great goals.

Runders