Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

Watty1 said:

I sometimes wonder if I need a TV in the living room.  I so rarely watch it.  Oh I've just remembered the Olympics are this year. Yes I do LOL

The Olympics is definitely a reason for a tv. Definitely not the amount I was paying that company though!

ajmoney

All old tv/internet kit uplugged and ready to return when they send the packaging out.

Smart speakers set up to my phone hotspot. I am taking this as a huge win doing it myself, I haven't always found this the easiest.

I need to get a tv aerial cable so I can watch tv, I assume they are all the same but I don't actually know. I will go shopping somewhere and ask tomorrow, then I need to find out which is the actual socket as there are many different ones in my house that could be it. I have a friend coming to stay tomorrow but I really need to try and do stuff like this by myself like the smart speakers.

I suspect I will need to move the tv so it might result in a change around in the living room.

Watty1

I remember being so happy when i got someone in to put an aerial on the house and get all the tv sockets working again. It was the first thing I did by myself. I rarely watch TV but it still cheered me to do something.  All I actually did was pay the bill but I felt I had done it all without the ex input

(He commentated it was a shame the aerial had been put on the house as it spoilt the look (the old one was on the barn some distance away but I still didn't care)

ajmoney

I have a long weekend holiday, the weekend is taken up with parkrun but I am determined to make the most of today and Monday (even if I do have a meeting this morning!)

Already cleaned the rooms that are regularly used and going to try and do a bit of sorting in one of my spare rooms before the meeting so I can get the stuff up in the loft this weekend. I wanted to do some sorting in the garage but it is so cold. While I could do it by myself I might see if my friend will come and help me in there for moral support tomorrow. He was in there a little while ago with me and I gave loads of (what now sounds like) feeble excuses as to why I couldn't get rid of stuff. Seeing as my ex-husband won't be here again I need to be ruthless in there too as some of the car cleaning stuff is his. For the last few months everything has just been dumped in there and I want it to be a functional space so it clears my mind a bit more.

Inspired by you @Watty1 I want to get some stuff done in the house finally. I need to call a roofer and builder so I will do that by the end of Monday when I have worked out exactly what I want them to come and look at. I deserve to have somewhere I feel safe and comfortable and enjoy being in.

ajmoney

I have spent a bit of time in my main spare room today. Sadly some lovely jackets are now in the charity shop bag as they don't fit across my shoulders. I have also made the decision to take some good quality curtains from the last house to the charity shop also. They don't really go with my plans so someone may as well get use out of them. I am off out for a massage that was postponed before Christmas due to not feeling very well. When I get back I will get the stuff up in the loft that needs to go and see what else is going on. 

I normally keep my holiday stuff in the case but I think it might be better vacuum packing everything, I am unsure yet so will look at the suitcase/bag stuff when I get back too. After that I am hoping there isn't too much left to sort in my spare rooms.

ajmoney

I took the curtains to the charity shop this afternoon along with the bag of clothes. 

In the smaller spare room, I have put things in the cupboard that should be in there. I had taken them out while the workmen were going into the space under the house (the hatch is in there) but figured they may as well go in there and I will move them out when required. I have a pile of work things to organise in that room and other than that, I think I am mostly done.

The other spare room has a pile of stuff to go in the loft. I have two boxes to look through and will try to do that this week so I can put everything up in the loft in one go at the weekend. I don't have much time in the house but think there should be enough.Once done, there shouldn't be anything left in this room other than the furniture, it is the room where the damp smell is the worst so I am happy with this.

I won't have much time to do a huge amount of sorting over the coming weeks so my plan, when I have any time, is to do 5 minutes here and there in the garden. Yes, I could sort the shed and garage but I will get more joy in the garden, reap the rewards and can tackle the other areas when I can do them in one go.

ajmoney

What a week, about half an hour after the above post I was $cammed. It has been very stressful not having easy access to my money or being able to track what was going on but things are nearly back to normal now. As soon as I had online access today I have moved everything back to where it should be.

It has knocked me quite a lot, confidence, safety, everything as I am normally on top of stuff like this. The bank has been incredible and so supportive and have been constantly telling me to not blame myself. It is hard not to but I am slowly able to breathe and think about what has happened.

Yesterday was 19 years since I became a homeowner for the first time, it also marked 6 years until I would like to be MF. It was frustrating not being able to do any calculations so today I started trying to work out how feasible it will be. I am remortgaging next year though and have no idea what the interest rates or monthly costs will be so it is tough to work out what I need to save or OP to achieve this. I am currently saving all my spare money ready to transfer it over next year if required to get a better interest rate and/or sort the improvements in the house. Once July 2025 is here I will be able to work on the figures as I hope it will be one of the last remortgages I need to do.

ajmoney

Even though it is theoretical, I have done some quick calculations to see what I might be able to remortgage to next year. It looks like I might be able to have roughly the same monthly payment, just with a higher interest rate. This will definitely mean I will be OPing a larger percentage at that point so it might make sense to save as much as I can until July next year as my accounts won't be getting bolstered as much as that point. Obviously I will only take a 5 year fix rate if it makes sense finanially but hoping it is, I will aim to be MF by the end of it if not earlier.

Watty1

Good to aim   I'm sure you will get there.

ajmoney

I have never been so glad for a month to end, goodbye February.

I have less left in my account to transfer as I went away last week for a work/social trip. I should get some of the money back though so I will transfer it into savings when it comes through. My finances are still looking good though, alot is based on my S&S ISA but I am down to a shortfall of about £15.5k between my savings and mortgage balance. I have 42 months to try and balance it, which will mean reaching mortgage neutral to give me a lot of freedom when I change jobs. I think this is more than possible so long as there are no crazy expenses but the home improvements are just as important.