Mr and Mrs P's journey to freedom - destination 2020

ahem_47

MrParr wrote: »

I am definitely going to have a good read of Ed's diary. He mentions matched betting a lot at the outset and I am quite interested in understanding that more in addition to the other topics.

Mr P

You have a lot of disposable income. Please do not be lured into the fascination of MB without ensuring you are 100% disciplined. You will pick up how disciplined Ed has been as you read through.

Do focus on the "other topics" - and, whilst you are learning about them pop into your local Santander tomorrow and open their 123 account. There are better returns than this in other investments but getting 3% (taxed) on accessible income is a no brainier as a start.

My worry about MB is this: there is only one winner when it comes to gambling (unless totally disciplined) and they have retail outlets in every High St in the country.

Look forward to reading on ......

MrParr

So Gallygirl, Mrs P has read your post and she agrees that we should reduce our monthly spending allowance.

We are going to start straight away and reduce to £250 pm to begin with and see how we go. To be honest, we both normally have a surplus at the end of the month anyway, which we only put to one side to pay for birthday presents etc.

ahem I have looked at the MB before and couldn't quite get my head around it so I'll probably do a lot of reading and then decide whether or not I fancy giving it another go.

Investments and Pensions are higher up on the lists of topics to learn about - any recommendations for idiots guides on either anyone?

Mr P xXx

MrParr

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to provide an update a few weeks on from starting our diary.

What a few weeks it has been....... I have read and learned so much in the last few weeks that I think my brain is going to explode!!!

In the most part, this is down to finding Mr Money Mustache's blog, he is my new hero. I strongly recommend that you check it out.

Anyway, back to the update...

Mrs P and I have decided that a further round of cuts can easily be made to the SOA that I posted above as follows:

Mr P monthly spending budget reduced to £200 (+£100)
Mrs P monthly spending budget reduced to £200 (+£100)
Stop playing the Lotto (+£20)
Cancel Mr P's gym membership (+18.99)
Reduced Mrs P's fuel budget by £10 (+£10)
Cancel our Denplans and sign up to a local NHS dentist (+£28.99)

So in total, another £277.98 per month saved towards hitting the target as soon as possible and without losing out on anything!

The feeling that comes with making these changes is great!

Off to do some work on the garden, hope you all have a great weekend!

Mr P xXx

diamondsonly

Hi Mr P. It's great to see you have found an extra £277 without actually losing out! I will be following your journey with interest as we have similar timescales.

Diamonds x

MrParr

Hi diamonds,

Thanks for popping in.

I'm glad I started this diary as the other posters made me question things that looked just fine before.

Do you have a diary I can follow? I enjoy the following of stories part of this community the most! :-)

Mr P xXx

Orange_Ena

Hi MrParr

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but your house insurance seems quite a lot. I used to be lazy and just let Swint*ns sort it out but it was getting on for £27 per month. Then my dad told me he paid much less than I did and his house was twice the size. Eventually I did a comparison and I got it for just less that £100 for the year, about 3.5 payments to what Swint*ns had me paying. Maybe worth a look?

Anyway, I shall be following your journey. I'm still a DFW but I want to be a MFW! And congratulations on the baby, its exciting

MrParr

Hi Orange Ena,

Thanks for popping in.


Funnily enough, I am an Insurance Broker by day so I always check to get the best price and cover.


The cost is a little higher than standard as we have a few 'non standard' things covered like Mrs P's expensive engagement ring and my reasonably expensive mountain bike.


Congrats on being a DFW! How long have you got to be MF?


Mr P xXx

Maybe_its_because

Hi there,

Well done on tackling your mortgage head on.

We finished our debt free wannabe journey just as our first baby was born and we started our MFW journey not long after.

I'd recommend using topcashback for your baby purchases... Mothercare, toysrus etc. we'd go into store to choose the cot/furniture/clothing etc then go back home and buy online via TCB. Bit of a waff on with a baby in tow but we've genuinely had £100s back from TCB.

Also, there's some good kids savings out there... We got 6% with Halifax. Not necessarily for mortgage usage but there is something very cool about receiving mail for your baby (and obvs an amazing rate)

Some have recommended. Edinburghers diary but SuperSecretSquirrels's is also pretty inspirational too. They'll appeal to your nature if you're an insurance broker and if you like Mr Money Mustache.

Good luck

MIB x

Orange_Ena

MrParr wrote: »

Hi Orange Ena,

Thanks for popping in.


Funnily enough, I am an Insurance Broker by day so I always check to get the best price and cover.


The cost is a little higher than standard as we have a few 'non standard' things covered like Mrs P's expensive engagement ring and my reasonably expensive mountain bike.


Congrats on being a DFW! How long have you got to be MF?


Mr P xXx

Oh dear, that's a tad embarrassing. Hope you don't work for Swint*ns :rotfl: I think I forget that people do have nice things, and not just houses full of worthless tat

Thanks! I'm hoping to clear my debt within 2 years, but if I knuckle down, maybe 18 months. Then I'll be joining you all on the MFW board. I've got things I want to save for, like a conservatory, a tummy tuck, you know, the usual! I'm hoping to overpay a little on the mortgage too. It all helps!

x

ourcornercottage

Couple of things.

1. don't overspend on 1st baby in stuff you don't need. Expensive Nursary stuff is totally useless to you in a year. Most of it you don't need. I really recommend 2nd hand as generally it's hardly used as things last 5 minutes for babies.

2. Regarding baby savings we have put every payment received in child benefit into miniOCCs bank account topped up to £100 since the day he was born. Also we asked for money for his first 2 birthdays and Christmas and that went in too. He's 6 now and it's really added up. We just forgot that child benefit existed and didn't factor it into our income. Therefore we have never missed it. The Halifax account is perfect for the first year at least. He knows nothing about this money and won't until he really needs to.

3. Get that savings money into a higher rate account. Santander is a perfect holding account with a max of 3% but TSB, M and S and others have 4/5/6 % options available you just need to shuffle money around to meet the criteria which you can set up standing orders for. I'd get it in Santander straight away then move the max amounts out to these higher % accounts and save into the 6% regular savers ongoing.

You're in a great position to have it done and dusted in 5 years :-)