Skinny Latte's Mortgage Mugging

Seasidegal58

Great news on your big life change skinny. I hope you and OH will be very happy.

Skinnylatte

hiddenshadow wrote: »

When I was paid fortnightly, I would have my pay deposited into my savings account rather than my current account. Then on regular intervals I would move money over to the current account for the planned spending (I did it weekly, so one big transfer at the start of the month to cover mortgage/DDs, then much smaller ones the rest of the month for groceries/fun money/petrol/etc).

It does require having a buffer so that you can potentially cover the small week + the big week on one paycheck (if it arrives at an awkward time).

Hope that helps. Good luck with everything else, it all sounds positive!

That's great advice, I have several dormant accounts around, I will set up my salary to go into one account, then transfer everything to the relevant places each month.

So much has happened, not sure where to start, but as this is a mortgage paying diary, I'll try and keep it on track! Signature updated this morning and the figure is now truly in the 100 teens, and looks a bit more manageable.

My house is now empty, and I finally found a decorator that didn't cost the earth (still £2k though) We thought about doing it our selves, but the walls were in such a state and I don't know where we would have found the time, so decided to pay a professional.

A deep clean and carpet clean this week, and then I need to find some beds and linen, take pictures and list it on air bnb. It's not a typical quaint holiday let by any means, but my target market is cyclists and walkers, there are 3 national cycle routes go right past our door step, so I'm going to try and market it as an overnight cycle stop. I've no idea if it will work, but worth a shot, as the tax advantages of a holiday let are far better than a residential.

If I do a residential let, I am still going to be around £3k short of paying the mortgage each year, if I do the holiday thing it should make a bit of money after the mortgage is paid, depends how many people book it at the end of the day!!

Pay day on 14th Feb, once I get it I need to sit down and organise my finances properly and get all my ducks in a row
On another note, things have been a little rocky at home. We had a huge row last weekend, over nothing really. It’s the first row we’ve had, I felt very vulnerable, having just moved into some-one else’s home, all I want to do was ‘go home’. Anyhow somehow we found a way through it, and things are better than before.

Seasidegal58

Well done on your mortgage figures skinny!:T. A nice psychologist boost to get the amount in the “teens.”

Your idea about the holiday let sounds sensible as well and tax effective.

Re your OH. I think living together full time is a big learning curve and the first big row always knocks one a little sideways and you immediately worry whether you have done the right thing! It’s natural as well to feel a little vulnerable in your position as you’re the one who has moved in with the OH! It’ll sort itself out. And if the worst came to the worst you do have your own home still out there.

Skinnylatte

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Well done on your mortgage figures skinny!:T. A nice psychologist boost to get the amount in the “teens.”

Your idea about the holiday let sounds sensible as well and tax effective.

Re your OH. I think living together full time is a big learning curve and the first big row always knocks one a little sideways and you immediately worry whether you have done the right thing! It’s natural as well to feel a little vulnerable in your position as you’re the one who has moved in with the OH! It’ll sort itself out. And if the worst came to the worst you do have your own home still out there.

Aw thank you. I don't now why, but your words brought a little tear to my eye. Maybe because they were bang on xx

Seasidegal58

Hope the job is going well skinny and how are DS and DD?

Skinnylatte

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Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Hope the job is going well skinny and how are DS and DD?

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[FONT=&quot]Wow, how rude of me, I didn't even realise I had a message, and here we are 4 months on![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]So things have changed so much. OH and I have had a very 3-4 months, it's been really tough, so many arguments, but we seem to over the worst (I hope!). Both learning to cope with our new lives. Oh and we opened a joint accounts at the weekend [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The job is OK, long hours and tough, but I'm getting my head round it. For the first time in 6 years I have direct reports, and 9 of them, I’d forgotten what a pain people can be.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]the best thing to happen is the Airbnb. Only 2 weekends not booked between now and the end of September, and 13 five star ratings [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My neighbours ended up being my co-host and they do an amazing job, it would not have been the success it is without them. The only issue right now is that I'm not getting many bookings during the week, I need at least a 30% occupancy rate to make it worth while, and I'm barely making 25%. Still its a really good start, but needs to improve[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]DS has an assessment with the police in July, and DS has moved out and lives with a friend now, financially independent and doing pretty well.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]So finances........well I've about bottomed the credit card finally, only took 2.5 years, although I've managed not to pay a jot of interest in those years, it has still served as a reminder, if I haven't got the cash, and it's not a car or a house, I can't afford it![/FONT]
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[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The mortgage is down to £116ish now, I would be delighted to see it below £110000 for Christmas, but I'll need to come up with something special!![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I've signed up for the share save scheme with work, and am paying in the maximum of £350 a month for 3 years, we get a 20% discount off share price, so I'm hoping it'll make a nice little profit and pay off a chunk of the mortgage in 3 years.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A week after I signed up, there was an announcement that they were withdrawing the fuel allowance, which is a blow. I’ll get an additional £1000 a year in car allowance, but as I spend around £250 a month on fuel, I will still be out of pocket.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I'm still not sure how they can just change our t&cs like that and leave us worse off, but not sure what I can do about it either.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]So that’s a brief update, I’ll try and post a bit more regularly![/FONT]

Seasidegal58

Good to see you posting skinny - things are going really well for you and your family.

Joint bank accounts! Now that's a sign of commitment!:D

Re the share save scheme - I did that with a former employer some years ago - I saved for a couple of years - in the end I was able to sell and use the proceeds on a deposit towards a flat - the share price had risen very nicely!

On the fuel allowance - that's so annoying! But bet you anything there's some small pront somewhere confirming they can do that!

Keep posting,

SSG x

Skinnylatte

Well another couple of months of change, throw it all up in the air and see what happens.
DS has been successful in his police application, what a star he is, he worked so hard to get through the selection process and interview, I'm a very proud Mummy. He'll be 20 by the time he starts, but now I can really say that policeman looks young enough to be my son :rotfl:
Cohabitation is continuing to improve, in the main we get on well, although do have a lot of separate interests, which is probably good. Arguing mainly over the utility bills and pets (usual stuff!)
The Airbnb has been amazing over the summer, August was virtually fully booked, not so much September onwards, although many bookings tend to be last minute. so we'll see. I am delighted with the first 6 months though.
My biggest news is that I have resigned from my job, I have in the main hated it. It's been very difficult to settle in, lots of politics and game playing, which I can't be bothered with. So I took the decision to leave and am currently working 3 months notice. I have nothing to go to, which sounds like financial suicide, but I will be fine for a few months, thank you to my lightbulb moments, I have funds put away for such times, and several other income streams that should keep the wolf from the door. Not a long term plan though! My current plan is...there is no plan :eek:
I need to take some time out to think about my next move. There is lots of work around, but I don't want to jump into a job only to leave again in a few months because it hasn't worked out. I don't enjoy my work any more, and I need to figure out why.
I haven't made any overpayments to my mortgage recently, as I need some emergency funds. I have done some bank account shuffling though so that all the Airbnb and related expenses is not going through by personal account.

zcrat41

That sounds like a big decision. You have to be happy in your work though and work politics can be a nightmare!

hiddenshadow

Good luck with the work transition! Sounds like leaving was the best decision, I hope it's as low stress a transition as possible.