bunty109's 109 months to mortgage freedom

bunty109

Greetings from Spain! Spending lots of time doing not very much with my sons and parents: it's only when I stop working I seem to realise how tired I've gotten. So there's a lot of naps in there!

Today I bought I paella pan, big enough for our hob. It's the first time I've had room in the bag to bring one back! Mum has given me some spice mix and I've bought some rice too. Tomorrow, I'm off to the local market for a mooch with the boys. They're keen to come as there's a great stall that sells churros, but other than that I can't think there's much I want: just like looking!

Kittenkirst

Ooooooh enjoy your time away & the churros. Yum!

debtfreeoneday

I'm a 2023 MFW-er as well.. well done on securing a new mortgage and hope all is well with DD and you are having a lovely week away!

bunty109

debtfreeoneday wrote: »

I'm a 2023 MFW-er as well.. well done on securing a new mortgage and hope all is well with DD and you are having a lovely week away!

Thank you! Had a lovely week away and just getting ready to go home. Heard from DD and she's good, but reckons she won't have enough money to last 4 months so may be home a bit earlier. Offered her a loan, but she says she wants to get back and start earning before uni.

Just OP'd £55 after sorting out monthly finances. OH has bonus due next month, but it's all earmarked for our summer holiday (big trip arranged).

bunty109

So, it's been a little while....DD is definitely coming home early so she can earn a bit and do a month in Italy (she's going to study Italian as part of her degree). OH has had his bonus confirmed so that's great news and more than enough to cover the holiday. The remainder will need to include some kind of overpayment, of course!

Managed to OP over £450 in February so very pleased.

bunty109

Ended up off work for a week with the flu bug that has been going round. I've been back at work this week, but still feel off colour: just can't seem to shift the cough I've been left with. DD home in a little over 2 weeks. She's had some emergency spends this week after missing her flight to Laos: she collapsed with food poisoning. Thankfully she's better and used the emergency credit card I'd given her to re-book.

OH's bonus arrived but money has been allocated to holiday payments. However, it hasn't been too spendy a month so when the dust settles I'll allocate a (small)chunk to an OP. Very much looking forward to the new mortgage starting in July, but in the meantime I'm working hard to get the opening balance on that to £133,000: it's do-able if I OP at the rate I have been so far this year. I do think it would be nice to throw all the extra cash at the mortgage, but - to be honest - the holidays are important to us and we're still on course to repay the lot in a reasonable amount of time so happy to enjoy the opportunities for nice trips away...

bunty109

It's been a while since an update: managed a chunky OP of £500 today after OHs bonus payments settled. I've downloaded Karl's Mortgage Calculator app (thanks to someone on this board for mentioning) and have been playing around with that: if we could OP £900 on the new mortgage we'd smash the 109 month target bu at the moment, that will be a challenge. Definitely targeting £800 which would see the mortgage end in November 2023 so still squeezing in at 107 months!

Need to make some more Tilly Tidies then!

bunty109

MSE weekend: checked electricity and gas and moved to cheaper tariff with existing supplier. Hasn't changed the DD as yet, but hope it will reduce at next review. DD is home so to help her accumlate cash for uni we've asked her to help list stuff on eBay/ Facebook selling sites for a share of the spoils. Listed a couple of things today. As well as helping towards the OPs, it will help clear our messy garage!

Currently looking at SIM only deals for mobile as contract is up soon. DD is going to pay her own so hoping to bag a £30 pm saving (so can OP that). ☺️

Beckyy

Well done on the utility changes, fingers crossed it will reduce at your next review. Ours is due to be switched and I really, really need to get it done!

bunty109

Well, 6 weeks on from flu and I still have a horrid cough and wheeze. Went to the docs a couple of weeks ago and was given a steroid inhaler which seems to be knocking it on the head. Not been able to face the gym, but have been out walking when I can. Managed 10000 steps today after a lengthy "old person" walk (as my children call it).

Made a £70 OP today which was me cashing in all of the 50ps I've been saving. They've amassed pretty quickly so I'm impressed it was so much. Piggy bank has been almost emptied and I am starting again with a view to emptying again in September ��

I've also been doing a lot of Tilly tidies which is all money that otherwise wouldn't have come off the mortgage. Really looking forward to the new rate kicking in come July. It will enable over £400 OP just paying what we currently pay. Can't wait!

July holiday is now paid for and just need to sort spends. If anyone has been to Sri Lanka, did you take £ or US$ ?