Project Mortgage Neutral Begins

ajmoney

I have cash in my wallet, some I had forgotten and some I was given today. I don't know if it is possible, but I am going to see if I can only use that for the rest of the year. If I do, I have a nice amount to transfer into one of my savings pots. If I don't, I will have tried and should still have an ok amount. 

I have normally set some savings goals for the following year by now but I haven't really thought about it. Given that I remortgage part way through the year I think keeping my savings/mortgage neutral even with decoration costs is the main one. I will see what the remortgage options are and potentially pay a small chunk at that point.

I will look at the latter half of the year once I know what the new costs will be.

ajmoney

I have done some rough calculations to see what my savings might be versus my savings by the time I remortgage. I have been very conservative, only assuming my savings will increase by what I am paying into my main account (basically discounting my S&S ISA and any new RS account). I have also used the lowest monthly decrease in my mortgage. If I didn't use any of the money for decorating, the lower amount I might have is about £7.5k. I don't expect to spend that amount on decorating prior to July so things are looking good although I want to buy some new furniture for some of the rooms I am doing so it means I should comfortably remain mortgage neutral.

The remortgage point throws up a lot of unknowns, esepcially with my curent interest rates and whatever they might be by then. I need to do it based on what I think I might be earning in 3-4 years time which is impossible at least I will have a comfortable amount of savings behind me to help.

It is quite exciting and if the monthly change in the total differences remains around the same, I know I can decorate my house in the way I want and get all the work done. Once new year has passed, I will get in touch with some trades to get some quotes so I can start getting these first 3 rooms done.

ajmoney

So... I have been trying to gauge what the mortgage costs might be from July.

My mortgages are due to be paid off in 2039 so I have done 3 calculations, for 14 years (current term left to run), 12 and 10. I have also done it based on £55k which I think ithe total will be then and £50k if I was to throw some money at the mortgage first. There is between £40-50 a month difference based on the different amounts.

The biggest descision will be whether I go for a 2, 3 or 5 years fixed rate. My original plan was to go for 5 years, knowing my job will change at the 2 year point but having a low enough monthly payment that is doesn't matter. However, I'm not sure whether this is a sensible approach if I have the mortgage amount in the bank. If I was to take the 2 year option, I could just use the time to save/OP depending on the interest rate difference and then pay the mortgage off in full at the end of the 2 years, meaning I would possibly be MF in 2027.

There are a lot of what ifs and decisions but there are also a lot of possibilities...

ajmoney

I have just tidied my current account so I only have today's pay in there, the remaining money has been moved to my holiday savings account. I have reset my notes app which I have been using to track my spends on food, fuel and daily "anything else". The anything else pot is the money left over which hasn't been allocated but it is around £436 and I wondering if this is a little generous and whether I should challenge myself a bit. It is really only used for lunches at work and cafe visits although it means I can be frivolous at times. But...it equates to £14 a day which isn't small.

Food for thought I guess. If I can remember, I will keep my receipts this month to see what I am actually spending it on!

ajmoney

Happy New Year!

Money shuffle done. I am now £2441.81 ahead of mortgage neutral which is an increase of £874.81. This is down on what I thought it would be due to a drop in my S&S ISA but it is still ahead so that needs to be my focus. I also need to remember that rather than move all the excess money from December into my main savings account, it went to my holiday savings which will benefit me in the long run. I still have £200 to put into a new RS account, unsure if I can open this today or not as the account matured this morning, I will have a look later on when I have time.

Financial jobs for today (as a reminder to me):

Transfer matured savings into normal savings account

Look into opening new RS account

Look at other savings options for the accounts I currently use

I am doing well. I am up on last month and even if there had been no movement at all that is still ok. Why then does it not feel enough...

ajmoney

After a fairly positive start to the day I am feeling pretty down. There has been an undercurrent of bad feeling with someone in one of my hobbies for a while which I have ignored as I didn't know whether it was coming from me or them. I saw them a few weeks ago and it was noticeably uncomfortable but there wasn't really an opportunity to say anything.

I chatted with a couple of friends about it earlier as I felt it was maybe spilling out where it may affect others and this has been comfirmed. I am not sure if I have done anything or if I should approach them and say something. One of my friends suggested I should let them come to me but I don't know if waiting and prolonging things is the right way to go. I am unsure which way to proceed now so have asked someone else if I can have a chat with them to try and get a bit of impartiality and clarity. It has really got to me though. It isn't the best way to start 2025 when I want to focus on me, find my why and spend time loving myself and my life.

Watty1

That is just so difficult.  I remember when one of my friendship groups imploded after bad feeling in it.   It was a really difficult time.

ajmoney

Back to work tomorrow,  luckily it is only a half day tomorrow! The first couple of weeks back are different to normal and I am not too sure how I feel about them, I have a lot of apprehension anyway although I am going to try and enjoy it where I can.

I haven't managed to recuperate in quite the way I had hoped during my time off so the aim through January is to take time out of day as and where I can. Even though it is only a half day tomorrow, my plan is to get into a routine from the beginning.

ajmoney

I set some goals for the first part of the year the other day and have set some priorities for this week to make small steps towards achieving them. One was to get in touch with 2 decorators to get some quotes. During a break this morning I nearly but this relatively easy job off until later but forced myself, after all it doesn't take long.

I do still have a to do list and have a priorities list for work too which is going to be tough during our different working routine. I have focused on time sensitive ones for work that can hopefully be easily achieved in the time I do have around work.

I don't know if this approach will work but I was watching a couple of blogs on goals setting last year as I feel I am in a bit of a rut and figured I might as well try a different approach.

ajmoney

1st decorator has got back to me and is coming to quote tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the other one will get back to me too.

Ths goals and priorities lists have really helped today. I still have a couple of things to finish off when I get back in later but it is keeping me focused which is great