Dream to be mortgage free by 40

abi_a_mfw_mum

Hi all, I've been lurking and reading diaries for a while and have finally decided to take the plunge and start a diary.

About me, I'm a nearly 28 year old mum to one, with another due in August. We bought our house just over 2 1\2 years ago, with a mortgage of nearly £130,000 on a 30 year mortgage. When we remortgaged in November we'd paid off around £15000 of equity, and reduced the term to 26 years. We managed to get a 60% ltv tracker mortgage with Nationwide on a rate of 1.69% with unlimited overpayments. However the bank were quite reluctant to lend to us, as dh is on a fixed term contract and we have young children. Initially they only proposed lending 1.5 times my salary :eek: . We therefore realised we need to up the overpayments to make sure the bank are willing to lend to us when we need to remortgage. We therefore want to reduce the mortgage to £90000 by the time we remortgage (Nov 2018). This made me realise it might be possible to pay off the mortgage by the time I'm 40 and halve the initial mortgage term. I'd love to achieve this if we can.

In addition if we're going to live here long term the house will need some major work doing to it. In the short term we also need to buy a bigger car to fit two children in rear facing car seats, and fund the income shortfall from my maternity leave. I'm therefore hoping to set some balanced goals to pay off the mortgage and save for house improvements, maternity leave etc.

I'd love some company on the journey to keep me motivated, and help me find ways to save money and increase inome. Do join me if you'd like to.

abi_a_mfw_mum

Ok, my early goals are:
Overpay mortgage by £250 a month
Overpay an additional £1000 by December 2016
Save £4000 to cover maternity leave
Save £5000 for DIY projects

abi_a_mfw_mum

Right, getting started by sorting out the gas and electricity supplier, as our contract is coming to an end. I'm quite pleased as I've managed to reduce our direct debit by £28 a month, get £50 cashback and find out that our current supplier owes us money. I can claim that back from the 25th so I'll be doing that asap. A bit more money towards the goals��

Busy_Mee1

Welcome and well done on a great start ! Just be warned this all gets ever so slightly addictive :rotfl:

abi_a_mfw_mum

Thanks for saying hi Busy mee. To be honest I'm hoping this will be slightly addictive, as I can't see me meeting my goals if it's not!

abi_a_mfw_mum

I though I'd set myself some early jobs to save/make money and see how that goes. So I plan to
Sell a couple of old garden gates online, as they're no use to us. They're cast iron with a nice pattern so may fetch a bit
Investigate opening another bank account to maximise savings interest and cashback. We need to keep our existing current account as it gets us a better deal on the mortgage and savings accounts but we have quite a bit sat in ISAs that aren't currently paying much interest
Pay for the new (secondhand) car using only cash and the proceeds of selling the current car
Make some fitted cot bed and crib sheets from an old sheet of ours instead of buying them

I'll keep you posted on how it goes

chelseablue

I'll cheer you on


We have a young son (he's 2 today!) and our house needs work on it and redecorating throughout so we're in the same situation. Although I am definitely not pregnant!


I would like another child one day but need to save up some cash first.


We have £230,000 to pay off so Im envious of your balance

abi_a_mfw_mum

Thanks Chelsea blue, it sounds like our boys are almost exactly the same age. DS turns 2 on Sunday. Hope your son has a great birthday. Good luck with the house renovations.

chelseablue

How spooky! Where about's in the country are you? Im in the South East, hence why we owe a huge amount :rotfl:

Crumpets

Hi abi,

Good luck with your journey! it sounds like you know what you're doing. you'll find lots of tips about how to save money whilst having young children.

good luck with your pregnancy too

C x

turtlemoose

Are you on Facebook? If yes do you know the group "car seat advice for mummies and daddies" ? There's good info on there about family cars for erf seats. We've just gone for a Renault Scenic as we have a nearly 4yo rf in a britax two way elite, a nearly-teenager, and come September we also need to fit a britax first class plus in for new baby. The intention will be that by the time baby outgrows the fcp rear facing, then DS will be old enough for a high backed booster and can relinquish his twe to baby. As well as having space for all that kids, it has a decent boot too.