The Financial Adventures of VelvetFreak

VelvetFreak

Hello Friends

I recently became debt free 'cept the mortgage, so I thought it was time for a new diary. If you would like to read my debt free diary, it can be found here. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5610244

Long story short, I borrowed $8000 from my mum to assist with the downpayment to purchase of my 1bed flat. I paid it back in about 15 months.

A little bit about me: I am 23 years old and I am from Australia, hence I am operating in dollars. I have a pretty decent job, but am only working part-time and am looking to do something else. I have had two interview so far, but didn't get either of the jobs. I did not go to university, so I'm going to start looking into some options to do some further study and get some kind of qualification.

My initial goal is to save up an Emergency Fund of $10,000, and once that is done, start hitting the mortgage with overpayments. Also along the way I am doing some very minor renovations to my flat such as painting and whatnot, as well as purchasing new furniture and decor etc. It kinda needs a new kitchen, bathroom and flooring, but is perfectly liveable at the moment, so that will have to wait a few years.

I'm not sure if you have it in the UK, but here in Aus we have this neat thing called mortgage offset or mortgage redraw, which in a nutshell lets you pay extra against your mortgage to save on interest, but you have access to withdraw the extra funds at any time. So every dollar that I do manage to save will be stored in the mortgage, and that will be a dollar that I don't have to pay interest on. Hope that made sense

In time I will post my budget and all that fun stuff.

Currently I have saved $1725 / $10,000 for my Emergency Fund.

And it's almost time to lodge taxes. Hopefully I should get a decent return this year! :T

Anyways, I must go and find something for lunch and then be off to work. Back later with more ramblings. :cool:

armchairexpert

Hi Velvet! I was just reading yout DFD and thinking, you should really be over here because although that was technically a loan you were repaying, it was part of your mortgage really - it just happened that your mortgage was split over two lenders, and one of them was your Mum!

Anyway, I'm always happy to see another Australian around here so welcome! Given how ridiculous housing prices are in Australia, I think you can be very proud of yourself for both getting on the 'ladder' and paying off so much of your mortgage already. I also have an offset mortgage, I think they're gaining traction in the UK but definitely still more common here. Mine was interest only at a whopping 5.15% but I'm in the middle of a refi to 3.98% - just in case that's useful information for you at all.

Subscribing now.

Cherryfudge

Just popped in to start reading your new adventures!

We do have offset mortgages here in the UK, but having looked into them, they seem to cost a lot to set up. However, inspired by a couple of the peeps here (including ACE above), I'm saving to cover that set-up cost before actively investigating. Half way there so far.

VelvetFreak

armchairexpert Hello fellow Aussie So great to have you. It's funny that I never considered that loan as part of my mortgage. Indeed housing prices are ridiculous here. I am somewhat lucky in the sense that I live in a large regional town as opposed to a city so it's not too bad where I am. Yet. Still I could only afford a 1bedroom unit. I don't know how families manage the cost of a 3 or 4 bed house.

Cherry Hello and welcome to the new diary! Good on you, planning is key.

VelvetFreak

I write to you from the comfort of my bed. It's 8:30pm Wednesday night here. I've made dinner, eaten it, washed up, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed and have ironed my work uniform for tomorrow. Even managed to eat a chocolate bar. Needless to say I am feeling quite smug.

Am sitting here thinking about my tax return and what I will spend it on. Also getting excited for payday as it will be my first one since paying off my debt, and I will be getting a bit more than usual as I did some extra hours this fortnight due to people being away sick and whatnot.

Am trying to think of what kind of stuff I can make for dinners. I am a decent-ish cook, but I live by myself so it's just me to cook for. And I really resent having the same thing more than twice in a row. But it can be hard to get portions right. Always end up making too much or too little. Off to look at catalogues for inspiration.

Cherryfudge

Try browsing the Old Style posts. They have thousands of recipes!

(P.S. Nearly lunchtime on a grey, wet day here. Want to swap? A duvet sounds good... )

VelvetFreak

Thanks Cherry, will pop over and have a look.

I have an electric blanket best decision I ever made. So cold here and determined not to turn on the heater.

VelvetFreak

Another day, another dollar. It's cold and rainy here tonight. Have given up and turned the heater on.

Brought lunch to work today, but bought ravioli for dinner ($4) but have put the rest in the freezer so will get another 4 meals out of it. Snuck in a cheeky chocolate bar for $1.

Still have $50 left in grocery budget which needs to last me 6 days til payday. Also I am hosting the fortnightly friendship get together on Tuesday so will need to make dinner to serve 6 people, but others will bring sides/drinks. Might have to pay for at least some of that from personal money but should be all good. Planning is key.

shangaijimmy

:hello:Shiny new diary... :hello:

armchairexpert

It's freezing here too! Frost on the ground this morning, and I don't even live in the bit getting the "polar vortex". Poor Canberrians.

What I did when I lived alone was make vats of things like hearty soups and portion them out. Also I have a high tolerance for eating the same dinner three days in a row, so I'd make, say, a big pot of curry and then just eat it over three nights.

Another thing to do is, say, roast a chicken (hear me out!) and have a wing and breast with some veg one night, pull off the legs and fridge to eat cold for lunches with a chickpea salad, take the rest of the meat off and freeze it for a chicken soup/sandwich fillings and then you can save the carcass and make a good stock when you've got a few. I always want to do this, but my family eat like starving wolves so I'm lucky to end up with enough for a laksa!

Likewise, you can buy a packet of drumsticks, marinate them (say a nice honey/soy/lime?) and then freeze in portions of one or two and then it's quick to cook one up with some rice and wilted Asian greens. I also used to buy white fish and when I got home, divide it into fillets with some marinade and wrap in foil and freeze. Then take it out of the freezer in the morning to thaw, when you get home from work open the foil, chuck some quick-cooking veg in the foil (Asian greens again, or asparagus, or broccolini and beans), re-wrap and chuck it in the oven. I also do a good baked salmon, but it's better in summer: buy a punnet of cherry tomatoes, halve them, scatter them on a baking trap cut side up. Place salmon fillet (or cutlet) on top. Spread pesto over the fillet. Bake. The salmon cooks and the pesto melts into a tomato-ey sauce. So good.

Cherryfudge

I think I'll go to Australia just for the food!