The Beginning of the End and the End of the Beginning... I think!

DuranGirl

I've had a quite a surreal four years. Today I've had a mortgage application accepted so that I can buy my ex out - yippee! And whilst I'm on a good wage at the moment, there's always a chance that that might change. So, although I would love to get this new mortgage down as quickly as possible, I also want to have a bit of a cushion too. There won't be many more solicitor's bills to pay (I hope), and I have no debt other than the new mortgage, so I would like to get a few savings in the pot. I'm posting my SOA below, and the endowment I'm currently paying into will mature next year, so I can make two sizeable overpayments against the mortgage within the next eighteen months. The new repayment mortgage (fixed for two years) will start in about six weeks, so that's the figure I've gone with. I'm sure I could cut back on some bills by looking for better deals on utilities etc, which I haven't done for a while, and I'm pretty good at living frugally. The two kids are technically adults but currently students (one at home and one away, who I help a little bit). Would you mind having a look at my SOA and let me know what you think re mortgage overpayments/savings cushion/bills etc? Thank you!

DuranGirl

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 2
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2506.12
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2506.12
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 463.2
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 106
Electricity............................. 45
Gas..................................... 48
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 45.67
Telephone (land line)................... 63
Mobile phone............................ 31.32
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 20
Petrol/diesel........................... 150
Road tax................................ 16
Car Insurance........................... 25
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 25
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 30
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 30
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 40
Haircuts................................ 15
Entertainment........................... 50
Holiday................................. 30
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Endowment............................... 47.82
Beauty Treatments....................... 20
Total monthly expenses.................. 1763.13

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 141000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 142000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 85000....(463.2)....2.39
Total secured & HP debts...... 85000.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,506.12
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,763.13
Available for debt repayments........... 742.99
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 742.99
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 142,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -85,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 57,000

Luckyinlife

Great you can pay a overpayment in 18months time
I would then Save as big an Emergency fund pot as you can in that 18months then you can think right i only really need this much then use the rest to overpay or keep it in the EF if you feel its better there

For example if it was me with 1.8k out goings id look at getting this down as much as you can like paying car insurance one off home insurance one off will save you a lot over the years

Im self employed so for me a EF of 10k is needed which is roughly 2 years of bills for me this is overkill but its how it makes you feel

If however my bills where around the 1.5k mark each month like yours id want at least 6-8 months EF so around 10-12k Cushion which i know is hard to save up so cutting the bills down should be your first call

Im no expert at this just do it how i feel is right The EF can be then used to overpay i think you should defiantly save for 18months and try your best :]

Good luck and well done on a new chapter owning the house on your own

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Good luck on the journey. Only thing I notice is £20 per month for clothes, so only £240 a year. I don't buy many clothes but that sounds very low to me! Unless you are a charity shop fan?

DuranGirl

Secret_Saving_Squirrel wrote: »

Good luck on the journey. Only thing I notice is £20 per month for clothes, so only £240 a year. I don't buy many clothes but that sounds very low to me! Unless you are a charity shop fan?

I have had to be in the past! But over the past year I've updated my wardrobe quite a bit in terms of frocks and shoes, so really I will only need new "smalls" (if only) over the next twelve months. I'm going to test myself on this one!

DuranGirl

Well my first stab at saving money on my broadband/TV/landline was a success - not! The best Virgin Media could do was £5.00 a month less than it is now, locking me in for 18 months - if I took a TIVO box (which I don't want!) for £20.00. Not really impressed with that, as their packages for new customers are £20.00 less a month on line. I suspect I'll be moving to freeview and ditching the landline at some point soon!

turtlemoose

I'd try ringing VM again and getting a different advisor. I've rung them before with the "but you're giving your new customers xyz" line before and they beat the offer and gave me a life-of-contract monthly discount too.