Mortgage free by 2021?!

lippy1923

Great start to renting. I know what you mean I would be swayed to the family with pets, but its what's best for you really.

hiddenshadow

Thanks lippy, we were rather torn. Besides the wall, the pet family also asked for a 3-year lease (but were willing to drop down to 2). We could have done 2 years, but ultimately would rather have the option to sell in a year if that seems the best option. This family has two children, at least one of whom already attend the primary school a block away, so that should work out well for them.

I almost forgot to mention that we almost spent our June OP this weekend. :eek: A company in my building at work is relocating and selling lots of things, including computers. We were all set to get a pair of computers for use for work in Ireland...for £1,650. The price was decent, but it occurred to me that I already have a computer for work (slightly better model, actually), and if DH needs a computer we can evaluate later this year/early next year. We'll probably be able to get a decent machine when we go to the US next year sometime. So..yay for not skipping our OP for stuff we don't really need.

hiddenshadow

Hardwood floors are 99% done. :j Just need to install a bit more trim, but they are looking fabulous.

Starting to plan our weekend in Ireland next month to house-hunt. Found a very strong contender for rental - it's in the area we visited/liked last time, allows pets (in fact has a dog boarding/grooming place next door, which would be handy if we go away), and is available in late July/early August (which would save us having to pay rent for all of July). Only possible downsides are 1) rent is a bit higher than we were initially looking for, but still definitely affordable (€1,200/mo) 2) they want a 2-year contract (which is only a downside if we decide we hate it there). So far it looks the best online to suit our needs, but we'll see if it's still available/attractive in 2 weeks...

Good/bad news from DH's work...good news is he's gotten a raise and hefty bonus for 2017. Less good news was when he reminded them (again) about the Ireland move plan...his boss would like him to be in the London office 2 days a week (!). That's about twice as often as he'd planned, and four time as often as I'd planned. DH will aim to talk to his boss this week and see if a phased approach would work, as commuting that often isn't sustainable or reasonable. (I find it extra annoying as DH gave work a good 9-10 months' notice about the move and they've only sprung this requirement now, but fingers crossed they'll realise it's a silly arrangement.)

Goals

Personal
Move to Ireland Boxes packed 4/5
Move to Ireland Items de-cluttered 2/5 - still need to put items on freecycle/etc (must try and do that this week!)
House Finish half the hardwood flooring on stairs Done-ish - just needs polishing touches
House Get at least 2 quotes for re-instating the bedroom wall 0/2 - no longer need to do this, but should still investigate a handyman for odd jobs

Health
Chase up appointment with consultant A - Still checking for early cancellations, nothing yet
Chase up appointment with consultant B - scheduled for July but will check for early cancellations (waiting on appointment date below)
Chase up re-test for nerves - chased up with consultant B, also chased up appointment

Financial
Mortgage OP £2,500 £2,400/£2,500

Career
Pass probation officially - All done and dusted

hiddenshadow

May was a pretty good month, with DH's bonus/holiday pay available for OPs. Also secured tenants for our house (pending checks), and made good progress on house DIY. All in all, quite pleased, really.

May OPs: £2,484.92
May Offset: £0.00

Current (offset) balance: £104,999.99
Month we’d be in to get to our current balance without OPs: July 2027 (+5 months)

2017 Overpayments: £9,981.92
2017 Offset Savings: -£853.96
2017 Interest Saved: £6,065.09

Total Overpayments/Offsets: £76,679.20
Total Interest Saved: £58,633.54

Daily Interest: £7.50 (down £0.19)
Monthly Interest: £223.75 (down £13.42)
May 2016 Interest: £293.59 (down £69.84)
May 2016 Daily Interest: £9.62 (down £2.12)

House Bricks: +4 :j

Mortgage reduction: £14,668/£20,000 (73%) (Average: £2,933.774/mo)

Managed to squeak through £105k.

Net worth increase: £41,615.10/£80,000 (52%)

Steady progress.

MFIT-4: £54,500.01/£90,000 (60%)

Just broke the 60% mark.

Goals

Personal
Move to Ireland Boxes packed 4/5 - didn’t quite get this done
Move to Ireland Items de-cluttered 2/5 - still haven’t put things online
House Finish half the hardwood flooring on stairs Done-ish - just needs polishing touches
House Get at least 2 quotes for re-instating the bedroom wall 0/2 - still need to investigate a handyman for odd jobs

Health
Chase up appointment with consultant A - No early cancellations, appoint in 2 weeks now anyway
Chase up appointment with consultant B - scheduled for July but will check for early cancellations (waiting on appointment date below)
Chase up re-test for nerves - chased up with consultant B, also chased up appointment, still have no appointment or hint of getting one :mad:

Financial
Mortgage OP £2,500 2,484.92/£2,500 - made it to £104k, holding off on more OPs until we know moving plans/date/costs

Career
Pass probation officially - All done and dusted

hiddenshadow

Personal
Move to Ireland Boxes packed 0/10 - need to kick this into high gear
Move to Ireland Items de-cluttered 0/10 - also need to get on this!
Move to Ireland Find a house to rent??
House Install cladding in hall
House Finish off kitchen (backsplash, windowsill, wood trim)
Car Arrange brake repair advised by mechanic at MOT

Health
Chase up re-test for nerves - figure out what is going on here and how to get a test?!
Investigate health records - see what would be required to get health records together for Ireland move

Financial
Moving Get quotes for moving costs (hoping this will be <= £750)

cazmanian_minx

Good luck with the moving quotes - it depends how much you're taking, but a 1-bed flat from London to the north of Scotland was £2,500 9 years ago...

hiddenshadow

Thanks Caz! Ouch on that moving quote price.

Soooo...we actually found a house in Ireland. The one mentioned above, actually - it seemed the best prospect on paper, and had a lot of interest, so we booked a day's flights yesterday to go see it. Really nice house, friendly people, very similar circumstances (moving abroad, renting out their house at home). Due to that, they're leaving almost everything behind, so we wouldn't need to worry about towels, linens, dishes, kitchen appliances, etc. which will mean we essentially just need to move our clothes, DH's large media collection, my (large?) craft collection , and the pet stuff. :j They're not moving until the week after we need to move out of here, but they can obviously take in the dogs quite easily and have offered to let the cats move in early into one of their bedrooms, so no worry about boarding them anywhere. We can just stay nearby in an airbnb place and be in the area to walk the dogs/learn what's around/etc.

The only two down sides are the internet is a bit slow (manageable for us, but pretty much the slowest we could go and still function work-wise), but it's meant to be upgraded...sometime. Internet company apparently quotes 6-8 weeks but I'm hoping for more like 6 months, given my experience with ISPs. The other down side is that they want the first year's rent up-front...which we can do (though it would use up my mortgage offset savings ), and arguably may not be a down side if the value of the pound keeps going down in the next year. I wouldn't normally be too happy about that, but we can afford it and it's not like our money is doing anything interest-wise elsewhere, so it's not a huge deal.

Before the whirlwind trip at the weekend, we also did a thorough inventory/clean of the bedrooms/closets upstairs, so packing/de-cluttering progress was made.

Personal
Move to Ireland Boxes packed 3/10 - packed 5 vacuum seal bags of non-essential clothes
Move to Ireland Items de-cluttered 4/10 - also Kon Marie'd a bunch of clothes/linens and have at least 4 bags for charity (lost count of what bags are charity vs rubbish)
Move to Ireland Find a house to rent Pending contracts
House Install cladding in hall
House Finish off kitchen (backsplash, windowsill, wood trim)
Car Arrange brake repair advised by mechanic at MOT

Health
Chase up re-test for nerves - figure out what is going on here and how to get a test?!
Investigate health records - see what would be required to get health records together for Ireland move

Financial
Moving Get quotes for moving costs (hoping this will be <= £750)

A_Frayed_Knot

Sounds you are totally on top of things, every way.

Love to hear to MK'd decluttering, and your rather large collection of craft items. I also do crafty thing when I get the time, although was going through my sewing fabric/items and thought I ought to get rid as just don't have the time anymore.


Things are really moving at fast pace for you both, now. Good Luck

hiddenshadow

Thanks AFK. It really does feel quite fast-paced, after several months of "well, at some point we'll do this move thing..."

I think I'm more hard-core on KM than DH - I'm quite happy to ask myself "will I be sad if, in 2 years, I don't have/unpack this item?". Whereas DH approaches it much more in the "I might want to watch this again" (re: media, he's pretty good about clothes at least).

I'm hoping to have the time/energy more in Ireland, as we won't be commuting at all, and if we have a dedicated office space I shouldn't get sucked in to working until 8pm (as I've done a few times in the last month).

EatingTheElephant

Exciting news that you have found somewhere. It must seem much more real now, good luck with decluttering.