My Own Little Slice of Paradise

pretty_butterfly

I bought my first home in November 2015. I had a large deposit (from a decade of saving, inheritance and gifts from family) and got a tracker mortgage with a great interest rate. I want to get it all paid off ASAP. However I also want to do some home improvements and also hopefully start a family soon. On a single income this is quite a challenge!

My current goal is to put £200/month into a regular savings account (which has a higher interest rate than my mortgage), then use this to pay down the mortgage when the rate on the savings account drops. If I can achieve this goal, I will pay off the mortgage just over 10 years early!

I have made myself a motivational spreadsheet which shows what my mortgage balance should be each year if I pay it off over 25, 20, 15, or 10 years in total, so I can tell if I'm on track or not.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

Number75

Good luck, fellow today diary starter!

allmannerofthings

I've just started my diary recently too. Welcome, sounds like you have a great plan!

pretty_butterfly

Well the carbon monoxide alarm went off so getting all the gas appliances inspected. The boiler is elderly and I fear the worst...

Tahlullah

Congratulations on having a working Carbon Monoxide alarm! Everything else in comparison is small fry!

pretty_butterfly

Thanks! First thing I did when moving in was fit carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors!

There was no carbon monoxide detected and the alarm spontaneously stopped and hasn't started again. I've got the boiler switched off just in case until I can get it thoroughly checked. It's overdue it's annual service so I am booking that in ASAP. I will also be getting a new carbon monoxide alarm although the one I've got is only 17 months old.

I've got an electric shower so no hot water isn't a biggie and the heating was off anyway. Think I've just got to face the fact that, even if it passes this service/safety test, the boiler is probably on it's last legs.

pretty_butterfly

I have neglected this diary haven't I?! I've been saving reasonably hard, signing up for cashback deals, was very lucky to receive £3000 from parents most of which I put towards the mortgage. I've switched supermarket to ASDA, switched my utility suppliers, and paid line rental up front to save money. I also flea and worm my cat myself as it's much cheaper than going to the vets, pilling the cat is a nightmare though. All of this has enabled me to put quite a dent in the mortgage. I've also put £1000 into a stocks and shares ISA and have cash savings in a 5 year fixed rate ISA (taken out in 2015).

I've spent quite a bit since last posting on a long haul holiday but was lucky enough to get compensation for a delayed flight that covered more than the cost of a return trip! This was lucky as I'd underestimated food spends abroad and also got hit with a lot of unexpected charges from the car hire company (grr). Also went to V fest with some friends which was fun although I think I'm getting too old to sleep in a field with that many drunk people in. At V fest Greenpeace give you £5 for each big plastic bag filled with bottles for recycling you collect, you can easily fill a bag in about 10 minutes just wandering around as there's so much rubbish strewn everywhere, I started to get a bit cross about how wasteful it all was. Filled a few of those bags which offset some food costs but most of the money I donated back.

If I keep up my current pace I'm on track to pay off more than 10 years early, but I probably can't keep it up as the house could do with some work and there are plans afoot for kids.

At the moment it's just me and the cat but partner is due to move in later this year (would have moved in already but was unable to due to military deployment/commitments).

My mortgage reverts to SVR in November of this year and I would really like to get my mortgage down to £60,000 before I remortgage, psychologically I think it will feel really good to know I'm 1/4 of the way there. This should be achievable if I knuckle down and keep saving.

pretty_butterfly

Things have changed quite a bit since my last post. My partner has moved in having quit the army and is currently job hunting. We've spend more than 4 grand on fertility treatment, with only a miscarriage to show for it so far.

We're planning more fertility treatment so been doing some overtime at work to fund it, also been dabbling in matched betting which has been reasonably profitable so far (although quite time consuming so by no means free money).

Despite all this I've met my goal of getting mortgage down to <60k by November and I've arranged to switch to a 2 year fixed term deal once my current deal ends. It's with the same mortgage provider so I'll be able to keep my over payment reserve which I can dip into if things get tight. I'm always careful with my day to day expenses but this year have also reduced holiday spends. We're planning a big trip next year though to visit partner's family so got to take that into account. The other area I've scrimped on is things for the house but the fertility treatment has had to come first.