28 - If only I had a nickel. ;)

stewby

Hello...

Don't ask me why but I have decided not to start the next part of my challenge on the 1st of a month but on the 28th. To be honest, I am not entirely sure why.

However, I decided that I would and looked online for an inspirational title for my new endeavour. Had a wee giggle whilst looking as 28 is the atomic number for nickel and nickel is a coin of the american currency.
Not entirely sure but it seemed to click... anyways, enough waffling.


I have just finished paying off my credit card and am ready for the next step of my "adulthood" which is to pay off the mortgage.

So... here we are with a nice shiny diary. Let the challenge begin.

stewby

The Masterplan

To start with, January's payment will be less than £200 as I used some of my wages to finish paying off the credit card.
As my income can fluctuate, I am hoping to create a little buffer to cover any shortfall in my wages so that I can put £200 every month. Hopefully this will work.
:undecided

The Important Stuff:

* Current mortgage as of 28/12/15 is: £46,176.33
* Current monthly payment: £341.10
* Planned monthly overpayment: £200.00

* Remaining term: 12 years and 4 months.
* With overpayment: Under 8 years.


Whilst paying off the mortgage, I am also hoping to create an emergency fund. I will be paying £50 a month into this.
The account for that is attached to my mortgage so will cover it in here as well (makes it easier to just update one thread).

* Current savings: £130.73
* Target savings: £2000.00

A_Frayed_Knot

Good for you. Sometimes you just know when the time is right, so no time like the present to start and a good plan you have all worked out.

Good Luck.

SueP19

Sounds like a good plan to me, amazing how OPs can really reduce your term

choccielover

To be honest I always think starting something on the 1st, especially on the first of Jan is a plan to fail. Mostly because you end up waiting for that date to come round so you Can actually start, as oppose to just starting when you really feel incentivised or in the mood to kick it off.

Good luck and well done for having a plan, and a diary to keep yourself on track.

Chocs

LisaLou1982

Hi Stewby!

Just dropped by to say hi - good luck with the journey

x

Luckyinlife

First off great balance :]

And some great goals

A EF for me is so important as like you my income fluctuates a lot due to self employment

well done paying off the credit card as well feels good dont it i payed of my debt being of this year and started to save/OP :]

stewby

Hello.

Thank you for the wonderful welcome. I received some great advice from this part of the boards a few years ago so I am so excited to be back having listened and sorted out my debts.


Feeling really quite excited and still on a bit of a high from finishing off the credit card.


Not sure how long this feeling will last but it is great. Spent today sleeping (due to nightshift) but then got up and made my OH a lovely dinner of sticky sausages and mash (I am not a brilliant cook, I try but need stuff to be simple).
One of my other resolutions is to make a meal once a week for my OH.
My OH wants to have my parents round once a month for dinner so that we try and socialise more without actually socialising (or something like that).


Thanks again for the welcome.
Hugs.

stewby

So... checked my credit card account today and they have received my final payment.
It was so amazing to see all those £0.00s looking back at me. An absolutely brilliant feeling.
:j

It has made me determined to sort out the mortgage too. It's crazy to think that I have had a mortgage since I was 17 but never thought to overpay it and live a mortgage-free life.
It's not like I had never heard of it (my parents used to pay off lump sums and got rid of their mortgage early) or that I never had spare money.
I just never seemed to recognise the opportunity which is quite embarrassing really.
:embarasse

Mortgage:
My income can fluctuate every month depending on whether I worked unsociable hours and extra shifts so it can vary from between £1690 (oh dear) and £1900.
This is why I would like a little buffer in my main account. According to my maths, I will pay out £1750 from this account a month between mortgage, bills, savings, etc so I will need a little spare to help me carry on when the wages are a bit on the low side.
I am not very very concerned though, as in the past year my wages have only been below £1750 three times. Due to holidays, I can already see April as being one of those months in 2016.

Plan is to make sure no "surprises" come off my account first then pay the mortgage £200 on the 20th of each month. That will allow it enough time to clear for my official monthly check on the 28th (I will be checking more often than this as it gets a bit addictive but this is my officially counted and documented check).


Emergency Fund:
This will be paid into by the 10th of each month. Mainly because I am taking the money for this from my budget account and to leave it until the 20th would mean it would not be there. I am hoping to set up a direct debit for that £50 a month.

I had never really thought about an emergency fund before until my brother got threatened with redundancy. He was let go from that job but they found him another one within the same company (thankfully). He wasn't too worried about what he was going to do as he had an emergency fund, a very healthy one. It would have given him at least three months to find other employment.

It suddenly got me thinking that my OH and I have no emergency fund, no savings of any description really and have outgoings of just under £2000 a month. Even if one of us were to become unemployed for any reason, we wouldn't be able to even survive a month. That was a very sobering thought for me so the decision to have an emergency fund was made.


OH has a "mortgage" of his own which is why it sounds like it is all about me. Although we pay his "mortgage" and my mortgage from a joint account, we take responsibility for our own.
I have asked him if he can overpay his one but he has never contacted the people to ask.
OH earns a bit less than me but is also well on his way to being debt free... only two months to go for him. There is the possibility of a new job where his wages would be similar to mine too (although he doesn't do unsociable hours so).
Everything seems very positive really.

stewby

So here we are at the start of another new year. Our Xmas decorations are down and sorted.
Have gone through them and gotten rid of the stuff we don't use (we have packed it up to see if my mum wants anything).


We were quite MSE this year as our Xmas lights broke right before Xmas (gutting as they were lovely) but where we would normally rush out and buy a new set, we simply waited.
I went to the local garden centre yesterday and bought new lights... two boxes of 100 lights for £10 (half price). Our Xmas tree is only small so one box will be enough. However this now means we can put lights up elsewhere in the house too!!


One of my new years resolutions (I still do them every year although I also do them throughout the year, it's a bit weird really). Anyways, one of my resolutions is to do more cooking at home. I am not a terrible cook, I just haven't really learned properly as I eat such a small range of foods.
So today, I am making my OH sausage curry. The link to it is below if anyone is interested. I am hoping it reminds him of our trip to Berlin. He ate so much currywurst there and then became quite sick of it afterwards.
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8368/sausage-curry.aspx


Sounds terrible but it is difficult to know what to write in here as my mortgage doesn't go out until the 15th and until about the 20th, I won't know how much I can put to the mortgage (this month only).
January is a very difficult month this year as my £200 to the mortgage got put to the credit card instead to clear that debt. Whilst I don't regret doing that at all, I am wanting to get going on the mortgage whilst I am still quite keen.
I feel like I am wishing my life away which is a bit of a depressing thought.


Oh well, only 11 more days before I can add something into the 0000's in my signature. That's got to be worth celebrating.
:j

stewby

Good evening.

We always knew that January was going to be a difficult month as I had already used my wages to pay off the final part of my credit card... so I am not able to pay the first overpayment that I had planned.

However, my wages come in on the 24th January so I am hoping to overpay the £200 as soon as the wages come in.
I am also hoping to be able to keep a bit of money for later and overpay twice with that wage.

I have joined an emergency fund challenge on another section and found a surprise £130 in an account I haven't used for a few years so I am considering putting this towards the mortgage overpayments as well and starting the emergency fund from scratch.
It's a bit of a difficult decision to be honest but I want my tables (I do everything on paper) to look next and I have slight OCD when it comes to making stuff look pretty and in order.
:undecided

Will see what the January wage packet brings. Only 19 days to go.
:rotfl: