making hay while the sun shines (by freshcotton)

SuperSecretSquirrel

freshcotton wrote: »

So. Our current home is a 2 bed, small terrace, albeit in a nice area. My partner is adamant that he wants to move eventually, although we are not sure when and it's certainly not soon.

I would estimate the next move would require an additional £70-£90k.

What would be great is if I could pay this mortgage off (let's say 3 years to go) and then save the required amount before moving so I can purchase outright.

That's my long time (slightly pie in the sky) aim, to pay as little as possible in interest, even if that means I'm not "upgrading" my house as quickly as others.

We don't have firm plans to move anytime soon, we factored in the possibility of a couple of children when first time buyers and bought a fairly modest but future proof house. Where we are now is close to perfect for us, though we'll probably want to move to a bungalow in 30 years time or so We could sell up now and add an extra 100k mortgage to buy somewhere even better in the meantime, but the thought of how little 'extra' we would get for our 100k puts us off.

Since hitting mortgage neutral we have continued living a reasonably balanced "luxury frugal" lifestyle, with one eye on early/semi retirement... Of course should we decide to make the house move in future, and ease off on the retirement dreams, having savings would give us options. We could sell up, move to rented, and provided we had enough savings behind us buy the next house in cash. We could buy the next house with a flexible mortgage, keep hold of the current house and either sell or let it out in the future to eventually pay off the new mortgage. All realistic options, not at all pie in the sky

I think once MFW thinking bites, it sticks with you, so for the infected, like us, if not in too much of a hurry, buying the next house cash only is quite realistic If you don't end up moving in the end, having that cash cushion behind you offers up even more options, and makes for a low stress high happiness life. So long as you don't live a life of pure denial on the journey, and make sure you enjoy the ride, there is no downside to this kind of thinking to my mind :beer:

freshcotton

Thanks guys, I couldn't agree with you more. We are in no rush to upgrade. With having no kids, there is actually no need and I don't clutter my house with "things" so it's not even like I need more space.

So it's my payday today, and a good month due to my out of hours work in June, which is great timing as need to buy tiles for the bathroom, spending money for Cornwall (hotel has been paid for) and we need to buy clothes, oh and house insurance is due, which I paid for this morning.

Will do my usual overpayment of £960 and save £1500 this month. Which still leaves a lot so I'm hoping not to spend it all but then again, I'm not holding back on my holiday (well 3 day trip actually).

Will confirm exact spending figures on here this month so I can reflect.

hope everyone is doing well

A_Frayed_Knot

Every time I see your monthly o/p amount :j I think - fantastic, you'll be there in no time at all.

Enjoy your break.

freshcotton

Financial assessment for July.

I'm getting paid tomorrow, yey! I'm going to try and save £2k between us. We are remortgaging in Aug 17, so 12 months away and I aim to have £40k saved by then. If my calculations are correct, my actual balance will be £90k which will leave me with £50k to clear. It's a very optimistic target so wanted to note my thought here for reflection.

Apart from that, no spending notes. Currently relaxing in Cornwall and spending loads on eating out, but have no choice as we're in a hotel and need to eat. Today is the last full day here and I suggested to my partner that we have a frugle day but that didn't go down well.

Got a few things to pay for in August such as car repairs etc and bathroom tiles, so things will be super tight, but then they always are for me.

I am, however going to try and save on the food shopping. Will let you know how I get on.

A_Frayed_Knot

A_Frayed_Knot wrote: »

It's thinking about the interest that makes me o/p as soon as I have a spare cash. If I was allowed to o/p, say £6000 till the end of the year, and I had the cash now, I would o/p now, then save what would have been my monthly o/p's back into my savings, (if you can follow me) Saves so much more in interest, than o/p monthly.

This made me think as had "spare" cash in the bank. So done what I said (above) and have paid just over £850 above my normal o/p's
Typical, I usually suggest to others what I would do in their position, then think, why am I not doing that, then peek at my figures only to find out - I can (in smaller figures) :beer:


Enjoy your last day, we have sun out today - 1st in ages:j

freshcotton

Thanks guys for your comments, they help a lot x

We went out for lunch yesterday with friends, who chose a rather expensive place. Well I thought so anyway. Whilst I was sat there, I couldn't help but think whether I was just being cheap. I often find eating out to be the biggest waste of money. I make no criticism of resturants themselves, I get that they have massive overheads to cover, but why should I pay £4 for a passion fruit and orange drink?

Oh and of course, £9 for a flatbread, which I could have made myself for £2. My partner says that life is about experiences, but what if that just isn't what I enjoy. It's not about the £25 we spent that bothers me, given our incomes, we are lucky enough (at this moment in our lives) to not have to think twice about it, it's more of the frustration of not getting why others don't see it as such a waste.

Or am I just cheap.

In the evening I went to a colleagues house for a BBQ. I sat there, looking around all the clutter and gagets and again, thinking, what a waste of money.

Maybe I should stop "judging" and shut up. Or maybe the western world is just obsessed with spending.

I wasn't always like this. After uni I had masses of unsecured debt, my lifestyle was the complete opposite, spending £100 on one pair of jeans, withdrawing £10 from the ATM and spending it over one lunch break etc. So Iv lived both lifestyles and would never ever go back.

freshcotton

Iv just spent a few moments reading my diary back and I'm pleased to see that Iv stuck to my plan and got through the redundancy fiasco back in January ok.

August is an important mortgage month for me because we purchased our home in Aug 2013. So 3 years on and I have £105k to clear.

My mortgage overpayment account stands at a random figure of £23,750.

At the current rate I hope to have £40k this time next year saved and my mortgage balance should be £90k. My fix comes to an end next Aug too so will dump my savings into the mortgage leaving a balance of £50k which will clear away in 12-18 months.

If I can keep being frugle for 24 months, I could be MF (or very close) @ 33.

But for now, I just need to save as much as possible to ensure I have 40k next year.

freshcotton

Hi guys, just read a few diaries and its nice to see people are still doing well.

I love this time of the year, the start of Autumn is so cosy and conforming and I get to make my favourite butternut squash soup (cheap too).

Take away tonight, which is this months treat, apart from a few books. Got nothing planed but relaxing tomorrow so that's good.

Still overpaying maximum each month and saving a good amount. Iv been frugle for 7 years now so struggle to pick up new tips anymore.

freshcotton

Iv just noticed that my mortgage balance is now £105,072.

This means Iv cleared £40,000 in 3 years which I'm very impressed, especially as I wasn't even overpaying for the first 6 months.

My overpayment pot (taking into account Septembers pay) is £25,250.

My short term target is to get that up to 30 by the end of the year, by which time my mortgage balance should just have got into the 90s.

Keep going guys

Ps this month has been car crash financially, dentist bills, partners new clothes and bathroom decoration costs!

I think my problem is that I put too much away on payday and always fall short

User1489

Hi FreshCotton,

I love the name, always makes me think of that fresh bed sheets feeling

I think my problem is that I put too much away on payday and always fall short

Same. I know I'm new at this but I do give myself an allowance for the month ad the beginning of the month, overpay everything else immediately and then end up being skint - currently have £10 in my wallet to last until midnight of the 26th.

I earn good money. There's no need for me to be like this. Why do I do it?

I guess I'm just very goal-driven (too goal-driven?) and I know I can entertain myself without spending cash. But when I need something it can be a problem. Sometimes it works out that I never really needed it and it passes. Sometimes I do miss out on stuff or 'suffer on' until payday.

One thing is for sure though, if I kept a bit back on payday I would spend it on nonsense for sure!

Just musings

MvM