Excited to try and be mortgage free

chumpy45

Wow where did those days go? Felt very uninspired over the half-term break. Had great intentions but they didn't translate into actions sadly. Did watch a lot of rubbishy trash on NetFlix though, although this should have been time that I was batch cooking and thereby controlling food spends. Hey ho, will try again at Easter. Tried hard with YNAB, I can see that it would be really useful once properly up and running. However, felt a little overwhelming tbh and would also be easier if you weren't trying to juggle a joint account which is dipped into randomly by OH! So, onward and upwards, OH paid today and me at the end of the week. Will review budgets yet again and try and shake off the doldrums. Just had a lovely sunny walk in the park with the dog, so that's hopefully a good start. A couple more days and spreadsheet juggling can begin with hopefully some figures to report.

chumpy45

I have just being playing spreadsheets (my favourite activity) and just right for a grey and wet Sunday morning. Mortgage payment has gone out and I have just made an OP of £855 :T This is our usual (ish) £500 OP plus £300 which represents two months of Council Tax (don't pay Feb & March - but forgot in Feb!), plus a £30 National Lotto win this morning and finally £25 from changing energy supplier via the MSE energy club :money: This brings the outstanding balance to £19824.20. We are officially in the teens :j Could there be a tiny pinprick of light at the end of this very long tunnel ? Of course, I now wish I had added the £24.20 to the OP so that the mortgage was a nice round number :rotfl: However, new carpet for stairs and landing being fitted on Wednesday and need some money to pay the fitter ! It will probably make things a little tight by paying two months of council tax in one as an OP but OH still has expenses outstanding, so once these are paid into our account, I am hoping and crossing fingers that we will squeeze through. :rotfl:

I received a letter from Tesco yesterday to say that the current account interest will be dropping from 3% to 1% in June which is a real shame. I use this account just for savings (my personal running away fund :rotfl:) and it was really useful so it is disappointing that the rate will be dropping. I don't have any DDs going out and not much going in either (approx £150) per month so will have to do some research to see which other account I could consider.

Have been re-reading GallyGirl's diary and am just half way through GoldieGirl's diary for the first time (mmmmm..... two sets of GGs and both retired and living the dream - must either change my name or up my game to achieve the goal :rotfl: ). Have been very inspired by all the de-cluttering and keeping a count to help keep motivated. I think I am going to adopt this idea. Have MKd my bedroom but may start moving elsewhere in the house.

A bit of a long post sorry. Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday.

abba1772

Well done on getting into the teens how exciting.......how long do you reckon you'll be mortgage free by??

greent

Congratulations on hitting the teens!! :T :T
x

chumpy45

Thanks Abba1772 and GreenT. Finally feels like we are getting somewhere. The target is to try and clear the remainder by end of our current two year fixed term - so October 2020. We shall see what happens. NSD today as teaching all day, so hardly had time to breathe let alone spend any money. I want to really try and have frugal a month to see if any further OP can be made. Definitely need to shift that £24.20 !!

chumpy45

So much for a frugal month. Subs for DS4 dance lessons were due £82/half term. Dance concert tonight - £18 for 2 tickets. Arrived a little early and recklessly agreed to a pre-concert drink. £9.50 for two glasses of wine. £9.50!!!! could have bought 2 bottles in Aldi:rotfl: Another concert on Sunday (DS4 has singing solo - best stock up on tissues) but those tickets are already purchased. Probably be an interval coffee to fund. New carpet for stairs and landing was fitted on Wednesday and looks fab and very contemporary (another £85 for the fitter) although that spend was planned. Seen to be hemorrhaging money atm. Hopefully it will slow down now and the REST of the month can be frugal. We can but try !

chumpy45

My half (ish) day as teaching this evening so not in work until about 3 pm today. I am currently pondering the whole OP vs Pension balance conundrum whilst in bed with a cuppa. Have just opened a FD regular saver and putting the max £300 per month at 5%. Am also thinking of opening one for DH for the same amount. This would reduce the OPs considerably but could potentially still manage an OP of £200 per month. Given that the mortgage will finish in just over 3 yrs anyway, and that we are both mid/late 50s already (:eek: how did that happen), I am thinking we should focus on boosting pension pots as much as poss. I would also like to increase my existing Teachers Pension AVC by another £100/month (which actually only costs me £80 due to tax relief). Such a balancing act. OH is currently reviewing his pensions so that we can get an overview of where we are. (Mine is shown online so much easier to track) Although we have always both paid into employers pension, we should have been reviewing these regularly over the years. However, "stuff" happens with life, children, dogs, elderly parents etc and somehow it was never given the priority it should have received. Hey ho, better late than never and we do have some pension provision, probably just not as much as we would like (or will need). Phew long post for a Wednesday morning. Time to get up and out with the pooch who is waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs for me :rotfl:

Kat78MFW

Amazing to read your diary and to see how you have brought your mortgage down into the teens. Also interesting to see your latest post about pensions. My DH is also in the TPS and we should maybe consider some AVCs for him.

I received a letter from Tesco yesterday to say that the current account interest will be dropping from 3% to 1% in June which is a real shame. I use this account just for savings (my personal running away fund :rotfl:) and it was really useful so it is disappointing that the rate will be dropping. I don't have any DDs going out and not much going in either (approx £150) per month so will have to do some research to see which other account I could consider.

Do you have a Nationwide account? They offer 5% interest on £2500 for one year plus an instant access 5% regular saver (max £250 per month). If you are interested in switching your tesco current account in June and would like the Nationwide £100 switching incentive, I would happily refer you (I would receive £100 as well).

chumpy45

Hi Kat78MFW :wave: thanks for dropping in and for taking the time to read my ramblings. I have looked at the Nationwide account, but I think from memory it needed a minimum payment in each month ? I will check again and will certainly let you know if I am making the move. Would be great to support a fellow MSE at the same time :T Thanks for suggesting it.

I had a slight panic in the middle of the night (as you do) that I may be exceeding the OPs possible for this year. I think it was just 10% that was allowed. I will contact FD hopefully tomorrow in order to check this out. I don't want to incur a penalty for OPing. Would be a little :eek: If we are approaching the maximum I will redirect to savings. Although as per previous post, OPs will most likely reduce in favour of pensions.

I have just ordered a Click and Collect food shop from Tesco. Cheaper than home delivery and will hopefully save me time as I can whizz down to collect after I finish work. Feeling really tired atm and just can't face the thought of trudging around the supermarket tomorrow. I know Aldi would be a little cheaper, but sometimes a little bit of quality time is worth more :rotfl:

greent

Definitely agree that sometimes it is just better for oneself to pay a little more for the sheer ease...

Hope the concert is wonderful tomorrow - and that you don't run out of tissues! xx