Mortgage free by 2021?!

Moneyfordreams

welcome back

brizzlegirl

Nice to read your updates..followed MfD over well done on being MF

hiddenshadow

ChasingSunshine wrote: »

Welcome back. Congratulations on being mortgage free. The news about your landlord coming back is frustrating especially as it puts you under time pressure to move. Fingers crossed that the owner of the one you like accepts the offer or as you say that something even nicer comes up.

Saving and investing in Ireland is really hard. Hearing anything about it makes me really appreciate the options available in the UK.

I (naively) assumed that the Irish savings options would be similar to the UK ones, but they're so much more limited. You're restricted on pension contributions based on age band, which seems very silly (especially if you can get into saving in your 20s, you shouldn't be prevented from saving as much as you'd like). Outside of pensions, there really aren't many savings vehicles here, and certainly no attractive tax-free ones.


We went back to the house that we like this morning, and confirmed that we do quite like it. I'd rather not pay over the asking price, if I had a choice, but there was only one other family there this morning so hopefully no more competition for it. Estate agent is going to do another open house next weekend, but also check with the vendor next week about our offer, so we'll see what happens. Just for fun I looked last night online nationwide and/or outside our price range, and there's nothing else that really catches our eye/meets our needs (we could pay quite a bit more for very fancy places, but that would just be more house to maintain/clean that we wouldn't really need/use).


I'm off work for a couple of weeks now, so I'm hoping for a nice relaxing break. Plus adulting stuff like going to the GP, dentist, bank, etc. ;-)

hiddenshadow

Moneyfordreams wrote: »

welcome back

Thanks!

brizzlegirl wrote: »

Nice to read your updates..followed MfD over well done on being MF

Thanks - I wonder if I'll get the MF badge, even if we do end up with a new mortgage in a few months.

hiddenshadow

Well, more expensive house didn't work out...bidding went up to at least €280k when we dropped out, and it wasn't that nice that we were willing to stretch ourselves so far.

Then we were driving on an errand and saw a place just down the road from our current house (it is on the online listings, but I don't remember seeing it there). It's essentially the €225k place but condensed re: house and extended re: plot (has a carport & stables & approx. 1/4 acre more land). It's been on the market for almost 2 years (probably due to the busy road, but it's only a hassle to us in that our future cats would need to be indoor-only). We put in an offer of €182k which was accepted this morning. We could make some tweaks to the place (would love underfloor heating!), but it doesn't need anything doing to it to live in it for quite a few months before deciding. And €40k+ is plenty of room to play with budget-wise.

I think we'll opt for €100k mortgage (should be able to get rid of that within 4 years, definitely within 5). We could borrow more or less, but I like starting with a round number.

ChasingSunshine

Congratulations!

Am I wrong in thinking that the mix of more outdoors and less house might work better for you anyway? Either way wonderful news, am really glad it all seems to have worked out for you and you have some money left over to play with to make the changes you want in your new place.

hiddenshadow

ChasingSunshine wrote: »

Congratulations!

Am I wrong in thinking that the mix of more outdoors and less house might work better for you anyway? Either way wonderful news, am really glad it all seems to have worked out for you and you have some money left over to play with to make the changes you want in your new place.

No, you're right, we're pretty minimal in our actual house requirements - at least 2 bedrooms (has 4), at least 1 bathroom (also has 4 ), utility room (separate structure, but plenty roomy)...that's about it really. More outdoor space means more room for a granny flat if/when the MIL were to move over, and we could use the stables as office/storage space. And unlike our current place, the front garden is also decent for the dogs to wander about in.

shangaijimmy

Exciting times ahead. And at least you get the chance for a new spreadsheet to play around with. I bet your 4 years target ends up more like 3...

hiddenshadow

shangaijimmy wrote: »

Exciting times ahead. And at least you get the chance for a new spreadsheet to play around with. I bet your 4 years target ends up more like 3...

Would you be surprised to know that I've already had a play with the new spreadsheet setup? I've also played with the budget for a variety of scenarios, all looking healthy thanks to our [strike]old fuddy duddy[/strike] quiet lifestyle.

hiddenshadow

Feeling very spendthrift this weekend...


- paid small deposit on the house to take it off the market (refundable until contracts are signed)
- paid for a 2018 car! this is actually a bit frugal as we were preparing to buy a 2019 (as so few 2018s are around) but managed to save ~€5k buying the used one and it only has 12k miles on it. Got an electric vehicle, so that will be much more fun to drive around than our old diesel beast (which we're keeping as it only has 80k miles on it and fits the animals for vet visits, etc)
- had a riding lesson and have the opportunity to do a half lease (shared with another person) on the mare I rode. Only €170/mo and I'm counting it partly as physical therapy as well, since it's something I can do (in some form) even when I'm too tired to do regular exercises/running.


We also went out for sunday lunch to celebrate all of the above, but that only cost €5 for tip as we used a voucher DH got for his birthday (still have some of its value left too, thanks to my not wanting a roast and dessert like DH )


Quiet day tomorrow, then back to work on Tuesday. We've been off since Easter weekend so it will be both nice and horrid to be back in the work schedule again.