Diary of our £230,000 mission

chelseablue

CathT wrote: »

Hi, just spotted your diary. Life can get in the way of making overpayments, making Tilly tidies can help with the motivation. Even if you pay £50 that's £50 you never have to pay interest on again.

Yes I've just started the Tilly Tidies yesterday actually.


Moved 64p yesterday and 95p today :rotfl:

chelseablue

vicsmiles wrote: »

Hi I just spotted your diary as our mortgages are really similar, well yours is about 40k less than mine (also in the SE) but we made the move like you from a 2 bed to 3 bed semi, this is our forever home so I feel we should crack on with getting rid of the mortgage from the get go, but like you we have a whole house to decorate re carpet refurnish etc as well as working full time and 2 young children!
What I have done is budgeted for items we need and anything I can save I have paid the difference straight off the mortgage. Gumtree/ ebay is your friend for furniture especially tables and chairs we got a solid oak table and 6 chairs 2nd hand, it needs a clean up but for £50 I was happy to do that, the same table is 7 years old and still looks great even after 2 children and a house move.

Hi! Where in the South East are you? We're in Berkshire


Its always nice to know there's someone out there with a bigger mortgage than us :rotfl:


I wouldn't even say this is our forever home, I've always wanted a detached house and ours is a semi, plus the 3rd bedroom in ours is very small so I think I want to move just once more.
Would love to do it by 40 and I'm 33 now so something to aim for I guess.


I was in my flat 5 years and made 80k on it due to living in a town that's getting Crossrail

vicsmiles

We are in Surrey... so house prices are crazy. I am same age as you with 2 boys 7 and 3 and with no plans to grow we plan on staying here. The house we brought is a large 3 bed semi (but very dated the people we brought from had been here 45 years), the 3rd room is smaller than the others but still a good size. Long term we may extend into the loft (a few of our neighbours have and made an additional room upstairs which I think we may consider when we have 2 teenagers) or extend downstairs, tbh at the moment (1 month in) I cant see us doing anymore work until after the initial refurb which is basic painting decorating carpets doors etc.
I have started a diary on here to try and make me focus on what I need to do it feels overwhelming at the moment! However even 10% of the mortgage being paid off is still 27k which is kinds of my first aim!

chelseablue

I just have the one son at the moment, he is 2.


The people we bought the house from lived in it about 8 years so its ok but not to our taste and is very tired looking.


Between our house and next door there is no fence at all (!) and its the side we're responsible for so that's one of the big jobs for next year.
Luckily my brother in law does fencing for a living so we just need to buy the materials (plus give him a few quid for doing it)


Next year would also like to replace the flooring upstairs as the carpet is very tired looking.


Plus the previous occupants had 2 girls so my sons room one of the walls is painted pink


I shall go and have a read of your diary

vicsmiles

Hi Chelsea
I was thinking about your carpet dilemma this morning as we met another for a quote, if the carpet is tired looking maybe think about keeping it for a couple more years as if your little one is only 2 by that time the chances of him added paint/play-doh/ pen etc on it is more unlikely so it could be then you decide to do it. I certainly found the older my boys got the easier cleaning was EXCEPT football kits!

chelseablue

vicsmiles wrote: »

Hi Chelsea
I was thinking about your carpet dilemma this morning as we met another for a quote, if the carpet is tired looking maybe think about keeping it for a couple more years as if your little one is only 2 by that time the chances of him added paint/play-doh/ pen etc on it is more unlikely so it could be then you decide to do it. I certainly found the older my boys got the easier cleaning was EXCEPT football kits!

Good point! Anything like play doh and drawing he does sat in his high chair downstairs, the tray is really handy for doing stuff like that.
Plus its wipe clean! :rotfl:


We're going to look at dining table and chairs at the weekend as need one before Christmas, so more expense :-/

poddle911

Hi Chelseablue, just stumbled on your thread! Good luck on your journey, I'll be subscribing and cheering you on We're in a similar boat, living in our not-quite-forever home in the south east. We have a bigger mortgage than you, but no kids yet. We've been here 18 months and still juggling DIY with full-time jobs and overpayments with house spends and holidays, but generally enjoying life!

chelseablue

I have £700 spare and I don't know what to do with it!


I need to buy curtains for the living room (I know the ones I want, they're £140) plus a curtain pole (previous owners took it with them!)


Plus need a table and chairs (currently eat sat on the sofa every night)


But it seems a shame to blow the whole amount? Even though its stuff we need for the house so wont be wasted.


I owe £300 on my credit card, but I can just send £100 a month to that.

Also, going to my cousins wedding first weekend in September, Dad has said he'll pay for our room (good ol' Dad!) but still need some drinking money

Was thinking of using £500 to spend on the house and £200 on a mortgage overpayment

Any advice? Its making my brain hurt trying to decide


Not put an outstanding balance in a while: £228,832

Griffin78

Hi,

Did you see the post from Mallygirl on the previous page? I do similar.
We live in Berkshire, have £230k mortgage and a just over 2 year old daughter (born in May 2014). Our property is worth about £550K so a nice bit of equity but the sooner the mortgage is gone or much lower the better. I like to have about 6 months of salary saved just in case. This is not only an employment safe buffer but allows for any large expense which needs to be paid. If I am over the 6 month salary savings then I'll generally overpay the mortgage as it's not making much in savings.
With the equity you have I would focus on the savings you want and then think about the overpayments. As you say there is no point overpaying if it's sucking the joy out of life or becoming stressful.
We are just coming to the end of a 5 year fix at over 4% so looking forward to lower payments which will mean we should be able to overpay more now.

Good Luck with your goals

newgirly

Hi chelseablue, your name seems familiar did you used to have a diary years ago?

Anyway all the best with the new diary and home