Freedom is never free; MFW in 2 years?

Gen_Y_Saver

"You just can't be a risk averse hermit and shy from debt if you want to be successful in business". I would say the same is true for personal debt"

Again, you continue to make baseless and incorrect assumptions. Just because I choose not to spend my money on restaurant meals etc does not automatically make me a hermit. It is, however, a very common response by many people when they find out that one chooses to live like me. But its BS. All my passions and interests cost me nothing / next to nothing. Playing guitar. Playing football/tennis/cycling. Working out. Walking with the dogs. Cooking meals at home. Reading. Does this make my life any more or less meaningful than if I was down the local Zizzi's every weekend with my missus?

"I'd rather go all out and get a great big house that I'd want to spend the rest of my life".

Again, another statement which is riddled with un-nuanced and block-headed sentiment. Firstly, you assume that everyone needs a big house as they have multiple kids (me and my partner plan on having one). Why would I therefore choose to max-out on a massive house when I don't need the space and generates me no income?

My gf's parents have 4-5 properties which provide them with £3,000 per month net of taxes. Its the same as owning a million pounds worth of property. The only difference is people don't know they have this amount of assets (like you would if you drove up to a person's million pound mansion). The other difference is, even if you do own a million pound house, you still need to generate an income to sustain your lifestyle (and also cover the cost of an unnecessarily expensive house). My gf's parents don't need to work as the income from their 4-5 properties covers their basic living expenses.

I'd take not needing to work over having a big house any day of the week...

Anyway, each to their own.

Peace x

Tropically

I think that seatbeltnoob is just trying to justify their own spendy ways by projecting on to you!

Why would I want a big house to fill with junk... so much cleaning...

seatbeltnoob

Tropically wrote: »

I think that seatbeltnoob is just trying to justify their own spendy ways by projecting on to you!

Why would I want a big house to fill with junk... so much cleaning...

No the point is if you count every penny and live so frugally you will lack ambition.

Also nothing wrong with spending a friday or saturday night in zizzi. My missues is a great cook she spends 2hrs+ preparing meals. I can't cook cheese on toast! I like to give her a break and go to a nice restaurant once a week.

Money is not the most precious commodity in life, time is. When you reach age 30 you realise how little time you have left. it's important to have as much fun in life as you can and not slave away servicing a mortgage and not enjoying it.

JWPopps

Hello Gen_Y_Saver!

I suppose at 26 I'm a Millennial too, although mentally/emotionally I feel far too old for that label (what even *is* Snapchat?!)

I would LOVE to be MF, but my mortgage is only in my name, currently sits at about £88k and is on a 34 year term so with my single income I'll struggle to make too much headway on it in the foreseeable on my perfectly-reasonable-but-not-earth-shattering salary.

However, I agree wholeheartedly with your determination to pay as little interest as possible! My mortgage payment is about £400 a month (just under), and every month for the past year I've managed to at least pay £25 as an OP. It's not massive, but it makes me feel more in control!

And frankly, in the current financial climate I'm just beyond relieved to even own my own home, and not have to move house every year with my fifteen boxes of books!!

lippy1923

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

No the point is if you count every penny and live so frugally you will lack ambition.

Also nothing wrong with spending a friday or saturday night in zizzi. My missues is a great cook she spends 2hrs+ preparing meals. I can't cook cheese on toast! I like to give her a break and go to a nice restaurant once a week.

Money is not the most precious commodity in life, time is. When you reach age 30 you realise how little time you have left. it's important to have as much fun in life as you can and not slave away servicing a mortgage and not enjoying it.

:eek: Am I in for a big shock when I reach 30, in 3 years time? I would like to think I have a good 60-70 years left.

From actually reading the OP's diary, I would say hes not slaving away and missing out on life. He goes on holidays and enjoys his time. Luckily many of his hobbies do not require money. Nothing wrong with going out once a week, but equally nothing wrong with staying in. Doesn't make him a hermit.

Besides hes only been doing the OPing/saving for less than 2 years, so not exactly missing a huge chunk of life. And hes almost there, with money all ready to pay off the debt if he chooses.

Well done OP.

gallygirl

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

No the point is if you count every penny and live so frugally you will lack ambition.

Also nothing wrong with spending a friday or saturday night in zizzi. My missues is a great cook she spends 2hrs+ preparing meals. I can't cook cheese on toast! I like to give her a break and go to a nice restaurant once a week.

Money is not the most precious commodity in life, time is. When you reach age 30 you realise how little time you have left. it's important to have as much fun in life as you can and not slave away servicing a mortgage and not enjoying it.

Ambition to do what? Buy a bigger house and work harder to pay it off/be able to afford to live there?

You are right - time is the greatest commodity. I retired at 53 (and could have done earlier if I'd seen the light earlier). I did it by being frugal but still enjoying life - yes, a meal at the equivalent of Zizzi's - but with a voucher code etc. A Fiat I bought from new (was cheaper than 2 year old equivalents!) and kept till someone wrote if off rather than drive a BMW or Merc I could easily have afforded. Lived in a small 4 bed house in a nice but cheap area rather than a McMansion. Picked up 2p if I found it in the street. Paid off BTL mortgages rather than stay in 5 star hotels - 3 star were fine by me.

Now I have time. Time to wave to the sea from my bathroom window every morning, and walk down to it every day. Have breakfast/lunch/dinner by it. Go on holiday and not have to go back to work the next day like my friends with their fancy cars and houses have to. Time is the most precious gift (after health) and that is exactly what GYS is going to get :T.

Gen_Y_Saver

Dear All,

I started this blog in August 15 with the aim of paying off my mortgage in 2 years.

It is now c.18 months later.

I have reduced the mortgage from £65K to £42.5K (£22.5 or 35%). Not too shabby.

However, after around I year, I decided to change tactics as my mortgage was only costing me £200 per month (£80 of interest). I therefore decided to plough all of my savings into high-interest accounts paying more than my mortgage rate 1.99%. I have accumulated 42K of savings. I guess, therefore, I am almost mortgage neutral as I could access these savings at any point to clear the gidge.

It has taken some sacrifices. But after a few months, you acclimatize to them (packing lunches for work, no coffees, cycling to work etc). It’s amazing how much it saves you.

Example.

If you spend £5 per day on lunch and a coffee that will cost you £1,300 per year (5 x 260 working days per year). That’s almost equivalent to one month’s wages for an UK average earner. Is it just me, or is it absolute madness that some people actually work one month of the year just to have a bad lunch and coffee?!

Escape the trap my friends

Peace x

lippy1923

Well done. It's all about balance and you have certainly done that.
I would love to be mortgage neutral like you. That dream is quite far off for me tho. For this year my goals are to OP £20k, reduce my mortgage rate on a new deal and go on a nice family holiday.

I want to be mortgage neutral by 30!

Gen_Y_Saver

Hi Lippy1923

It sounds like you are well on your way. If you OP by 20K per year, you’ll be done in 5 years. Not bad! It also sounds like you have a family, which makes your OPs even more impressive.

I think being mortgage free is the first stage to freedom. Since learning a lot more about personal finance, I am more interested in becoming FI (income from assets pay all living expenses).

Learning about FI has helped me escape falling into the trap of buying a bigger house, just to service another loan.

Even if I had a £1m house mortgage free, I would still need to earn money to run the house and fund all of my living expenses. Compare that to someone who has a 200K house with 4 rental properties paying him 750 per month (or a large portfolio of shares etc).

The difference is that scenario 2 provides someone with an income so they don’t need to work as hard (or at all) just to live in a big house…

Externally you look richer in a big house (people can see it), but who cares about what people think?

Peace

juststuff123

Hi GYS


I'm another mortgage / debt neutral aimer and like you should hit target in the next couple of weeks. Well done! It's taken me 7yrs to get there on my own. I'm so impressed (and a little bit jealous) you did it in 2!