The ups, downs, and occasional sideways bits of trying to be mortgage free

armchairexpert

Thank you Cherryfudge, it is very appreciated! It is raining AGAIN today, and I am so thoroughly over it now I cannot tell you. Poor Little Girl, hearing me complaining this morning about having to walk Doggie in the rain again, apologised for wanting a dog in the first place. I had to reassure her that Doggie is not the problem!

Wasn't an NSD yesterday after all because I realised I needed sour cream for dinner. Today won't be either, since I'm off to the hairdresser. All budgeted for, though. I'm impatient for the first mortgage payment for the new mortgage to come out and then I feel like I'll be able to see where we're at.

Betterthanever

I know what you mean about being impatient. We shouldn't wish our time away but those weeks when we just want to see a big payment or change seem sooooooooo long!!

shangaijimmy

Impatience is an affliction for MFW's! Short term monthly goals really help for motivation but the constant over analysis of our spreadsheets always sees us waiting for the next payment, the next payday, the next month end etc... Get used to it i'm afraid!!

I'm currently wishing away 2017 as i know we can be in the 99's by New Years Day!!

armchairexpert

shangaijimmy wrote: »

Impatience is an affliction for MFW's! Short term monthly goals really help for motivation but the constant over analysis of our spreadsheets always sees us waiting for the next payment, the next payday, the next month end etc... Get used to it i'm afraid!!

I'm currently wishing away 2017 as i know we can be in the 99's by New Years Day!!

That's a proper milestone and no mistake! How exciting for you.

I've definitely been wishing time away for a while now. This time it's more about understanding how the accounts work together and what to expect. For example, the mortgage payments are listed as being fortnightly, but the first one is due a month after we set up the package, and it's for a monthly amount - so is that just a standard thing that the first one is delayed and then it's fortnightly, or what? I could ring them, but I can't be bothered. Also I am still confused about the account balance vs what I actually need in reserve. Because it's all just been in one big bucket before I'm nervous about moving too much into the mortgage. But I want to!

Continuing cold and rain here and we're all so down in the dumps that I'm finding little treats very hard to resist. Yesterday I gave in and bought a hot coffee to take to the hairdresser with me, and today I stopped in at the supermarket and bought a meat pie to heat up for a hot lunch instead of a sandwich. I'm dreading the electricity bill. We're one of the highest priced places in the world for electricity, I don't have gas, and I work from home - plus Mr E gets cold at night, so there is a heater running basically all day and all night at the moment. I'm guessing it's going to be around the thousand dollar mark for the quarter.

Tahlullah

I can see the advantage of opening up the fireplace!!

What about an electric blanket? They are so much cheaper than a fire running all night. Would he be ok with that?

It's winter ad people treat themselves in winter; to keep their spirits up whilst they wait for the return of good weather, and to give them the essential energy boost that you just won't get from a sandwich.

These things come in waves. They are seasonal. You won't be doing it in summer, so accept that it is a winter tradition. Like hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, or mulled wine. Winter treats.

armchairexpert

We used to have an electric blanket but he found it took away from the softness of the bed. Oh, dear, I do make him sound precious! The bedroom heater is only a drop in the electricity-guzzling ocean, to mix metaphors. The bright side for us is that summer is pretty cheap: our house is old, and double brick, and was designed to withstand Australian heat long before air conditioners were a thing, so we get away with just a fan in the hottest parts of the year - a huge change from previous homes, where we ran the airconditioner all night just to sleep.

The new mortgage payment came out today. The interest component was $704, down from $905 before I refinanced. $200 straight off the principal, very satisfying. The monthly payment is now $1203, so in fact we're paying at least $400 off monthly even before my over payments. That isn't much when you remember the mortgage is $220K - it's only $5K a year (and we're not even talking about the second mortgage, which is higher) - but it's much better than before.

On the down time, we're getting lots of bills from the strata company for Mum's unit to do investigatory work around the subsistence. I paid a $200 bill this week and there's another $400 due in a month on top of normal strata bills. And Mum also pointed out the other day how very worn the carpets are getting. They're super cheap carpet, so it's not a surprise, but I'd been blocking it out. There's so much I want to do to my own house, but this stuff has to come first.

Tahlullah

Congratulations on the mortgage. I think we look for the big changes and miss the smaller ones right in front of our eyes sometimes. The $400 per month is great. You didn't have to lift a finger and there it is. Passive mortgage payments. Fabulous. And now you get to make the overpayments, so you are off to a great start.

The bills on your Mum's house will stop eventually. And when you are paying them, just remember this is an investment into your future.

armchairexpert

I've been putting this off because the refinancing meant that at the end of August I was still largely in limbo. But here we are:

1. As above - the refinancing on the home mortgage means I save $200/month in interest alone. And in fact, the investment mortgage is also benefiting, because it's offset by my savings account, which saved me another $100 last month ($1040 instead of $1150). So that's $300/month saved in interest alone. Add to that the fact that I am now actually paying down the principal on the first mortgage and I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere.

2. I do think that when I set up the balances, I mis calculated what I needed in savings to cover upcoming costs and over estimated. I'm going to keep reassessing those balances over the next few months, rather than do one big transfer, because I'm worried about not leaving myself enough buffer. It does mean that this month I made an overpayment of $778. Some of that is just number juggling: i.e., I've transferred it from savings rather than taken it out of this month's income, but I am counting it.

3. I am going to stop and look back a little bit here: I may not be making the progress that I originally hoped, but I am making progress. We've changed a bunch of habits. The grocery bill is consistently lower than it used to be, we bake our own bread and brew kombucha which has replaced our fancy squash habit (even the kids like it). I take the kids for walks instead of cafe visits when something's bothering them. It's the eleventh of the month and in terms of personal discretionary spending I've bought a coffee and some sweets, and that's it. I've checked the accounts every day since we started, compared my insurances, refinanced my home loan and generally made sure I understand where my money goes and why.

All in all, I'm counting this as an excellent month, whingeing about the weather notwithstanding!

armchairexpert

Today was derailed when Big Girl managed to slam her finger in the car door as we arrived at school. She went pale, vomited in the sick room and is now back home watching her fingernail turn purple.

No matter: she's watching TV and I'm doing all the bits of work I don't need a lot of concentration for, because she keeps chatting to me and there's no chance of doing the harder work! Should be an NSD if I get off my backside and make a new batch of bread. There's a school commitment this evening which I'm not looking forward to.

I really must start getting the rest of my life under control now the finances feel like they're taking care of themselves. I've been eating so badly I can't even tell you. Like two chocolate bars in a row for no reason. Now the weather's finally turned I can start to do better. And housework is letting me down. I had a bit of a meltdown on the weekend because so much of my house is old and hard to clean, but also I just haven't been keeping up, so I was scrubbing window frames which are old and cracked and filthy, and wiping down dusty and streaked walls, and just feeling mired in grime. I need a routine, but Flylady terrifies me!

To do this week:
1. Work out a little-and-often household routine
2. Return booking form for Girls' birthday party
3. Make a decision about whether to put some clothes on eBay (there is a back story, I'll spare you)
4. Bake bread
5. Make pizzas for lunches
6. Take advantage of weather and wash cushion covers/other upholstery linens (what does one do with curtains though?)

wishingthemortgaheaway

Morning.
Washing curtains can be a risky business.
Depending on type and size and level of risk.

To machine wash (huge danger of shrinkage though) remove hooks or eyelets wash gently, spin very slowly, if at all and hang up to drip dry.

Dry cleaning at the laundrette is the most common way.

Or... put the 'low suction' nozzle on the vacuum cleaner and vacuum both sides. Then, if you've got a steam cleaner (for things like tiles) lightly steam clean each side of the curtain and leave open to dry.

Sometimes a spray with a fabric refresher spray (fabreeze is the brand name in the U.K.) is useful too.

It all depends on the size, dirt level and risk level you want to take.

My curtains have been up about 11 years, they get vacuumed about once every 6 months and steamed at the start of every winter (more to get the creases out of them as they've been in the tie backs all summer)