MF by age 40! Then I am buying a Mercedes SLK

fred246

It sounds strange to me. Paying for an appreciating asset until you are 40 then blowing a load of cash on a massively depreciating asset.

diamondsonly

Gaffes I have been reading your diary and our timelines and mortgage amounts are very similar. I will be looking to you for inspiration :rotfl:

I have had a great NSD week as I've been taking packed lunches to work. Today was food shop which came in £3.45 over budget. Must try harder there.

Having had a look at the budget I haven't factored in birthdays, Christmas or other gifts. Luckily I've bought all gifts (birthdays and christmas) for our nieces and nephew for the year already in the sales so not too bad but must try and put some aside each month from spends or money we don't use.

PrincessLou hoping DH does start getting money savvy. He's suggested we book a hotel break in the uk for Christmas Eve to Boxing Day this year due to terrible family politics during festive period the last few years. Literally the most expensive days of the year

ourcornercottage

Hi have you considered a caravan site, will they be open Christmas. We went to a wedding last year and were about to book an expensive hotel and the groom suggested a local caravan site. I was shocked at the luxury you got for the price and we will be going to a caravan site again definitely.

Or put the hotel money to a cheap tourer and park up in someone's drive!

diamondsonly

Hi Cottage that's a great tip...especially when you mentioned luxury. I will have a look and see if we can find any open over christmas as I don't want another drama. I got very ill last year due to the stress so I would rather spend some monety and be away from home, but definitely don't want to pay the prices most are charging for a 3 day break.
Time for some studying. I am not doing the usual which is camping out in starbucks and instead I am hiding in our bedroom with the coursework whilst DH distracts the kids. That will save about £10.

Still need to decide when to apply for the FD mortgage. It is valid for 6 months but if I do it too early then I risk still being in probabtionary period at work but if I leave it any later the deal may not be available. May just call them later to see what they say.

But now off to write at least 500 words of rubbish lol

aznlayer

Hi Dimondsonly.

Iv enjoyed reading your posts, I admire that you are committed to becoming MF, but also have balanced your family life. I think that when we are retired and look back on our life's, it's things like family holidays etc that will fill us with delight, and perhaps the fact that you paid your mortgage a few years later than you could have done will be irrelevant and unmemerable.

It's also nice to have something to look forward to when we reach our major goal to become MF. For me it's a trip on the orient express. I'm going to pretend that I'm utterly middle class for 5 nights!

Good luck to all x

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Hello,

Or maybe you could stay at home but pretend to have gone away? Take the children out for some lovely days out to things like Winter Wonderland. Then they won't give the game away!

Squirrel x

streethack

Love the idea of a car as a treat that is certainly somthing you deserve when you complete your goal. Good luck.

diamondsonly

aznlayer- I forget that people actually read my posts and are interested in my random thoughts that I use the posts to jot down. The orient express sounds fabulous. I was googling ways to spend your 40th birthday for motivation on being MF the other day and the orient express was a recurring theme.wishing alot of luck to achieve it.
Streethack we have similar timelines so I will be following your journey and supporting you.

I don't think staying at home is an option as sadly some of the family have a tendency to drop by or gate crash even on christmas day without prior notice or even a phone call. They are the ones we are trying escape.

Called First Direct and I can't get mortgage in principal until I have 3 months wage slips. Surely they only need it at time of application? I am worried rates and mortgage deals arew going to go up before we get a new deal? So switching mortgages is on hold for another 2 months and then waiting until December to make the application.

On the plus side it was a NSD and I got some coursework done.
Also applied for a new cash ISA for this year as the fixed rate for last year was ending. Now applying for a stocks and shares ISA for DH.

Credit card bill is massive this month and due next week. From payday we will be using debit cards and cash everywhere possible to keep tabs on spending.
How do people manage to budget with CCs when payment date maybe 2 weeks into the following months budget? Doesn't it mess up the budget? Might sound like a stupid question but we just haven't budgeted as we relied on salary to clear the CC.

Its sad but I can't wait for payday so I can put my budgeting and saving ideas to the test. Also looking forward to OP too.

Turtle

Fab to aim for the SLK and think how you'll appreciate it when you've strived so hard!

Re the credit card payments being due in the next months budget, I transfer the money needed from the current month and put it into a savings account. Transfer it back the day before the DD claims the bill. Then you've taken it from the correct months money, but it's not just sat in the account making you think you've got more than you actually have.

streethack

I to am worried about not cashing in on the fixed term deals with FD last month there was a 5 years fixed for 2.19% but this is has now gone up to 2.24% not much but going in the wrong direction for when my fixed term ends.

Good thing about the FD mortgage is that it allows unlimited overpayments within the fixed term with no penaltys. Plus I have to say FD is a pretty awesome bank.