Journey to £0 by 2020, with a few bumps along the way

enthusiasticsaver

chelseablue said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

Happy birthday for tomorrow and yes probably best not to get involved with his finances if as you say it stresses you out.  Glad you did not get the loan.  Maybe your husbands mum gave him money. 

Thank you  
I thought she may have done but he left his receipt from his round of golf on the side and I had a nosy and he paid on his credit card 

That's ok as long as he does not ask you to pay it off.  

chelseablue

enthusiasticsaver said:

chelseablue said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

Happy birthday for tomorrow and yes probably best not to get involved with his finances if as you say it stresses you out.  Glad you did not get the loan.  Maybe your husbands mum gave him money. 

Thank you  
I thought she may have done but he left his receipt from his round of golf on the side and I had a nosy and he paid on his credit card 

That's ok as long as he does not ask you to pay it off.  

He can ask, the answer will be no  

chelseablue

My car insurance is due beginning of July, cheapest I've found is £211. 
That's the cheapest its ever been, only took 19 years of driving  
Will pay it in full 

enthusiasticsaver

That is a pretty good quote and even better to pay for it in full. I always end up having to shop around each year as these insurance companies quote low but then the following year ramp it up so I have to move insurers again.  I guess they make their money on people being lazy and just sticking with the same insurer year on year. Mine was £215 in February which included breakdown cover but that is after 40 years of driving.

chelseablue

enthusiasticsaver said:

That is a pretty good quote and even better to pay for it in full. I always end up having to shop around each year as these insurance companies quote low but then the following year ramp it up so I have to move insurers again.  I guess they make their money on people being lazy and just sticking with the same insurer year on year. Mine was £215 in February which included breakdown cover but that is after 40 years of driving.

Sometimes it pays to get older
I’ve also had the car tax reminder in the post, £240 for a year. In January I did 6 months but I think I’ll do the year now as if I do 6 months it’ll be due again in December and who wants a car bill then. 

Now I’ve got £15k in savings I’m so tempted to just pay off the £7k loan. 
I’d still have £8,000 left. 

Would take me about 6 months to repay the money to my savings, plus I’d be £187 a month better off. 

enthusiasticsaver

Yes getting older does have its benefits although it has its drawbacks too
Whether you use your savings to pay back your loan would depend on several things if I were in your position.  
Is the £15k invested ( I seem to remember something about a stocks and shares isa?) and would you be consolidating a loss if you sold at this point given the stock market fall in March although it has recovered somewhat? 
What interest rate are you paying on the loan and is it much higher than the rate you are gaining through savings?
How safe is your job, given the current climate?


I joined a discussion the other day around savings and the reasons why people save and having a think about your financial goals may clarify your decision as to whether to use the £7k in savings to repay the loan.  £8k is still a substantial amount to keep in savings so I think that would be my preferred option but then I am very debt averse.  Having the £187 back each month would give your monthly disposable income a boost too so you could start to think about saving in percentages then?  A percentage towards long term savings (so investing maybe or mortgage overpayments?) then a percentage towards a new car and some to boost the remaining £8k back up to a suitable long term emergency fund? 

Do you have a figure in mind for an emergency savings account?  Ours is £10k and the rest of our savings are earmarked for replacement cars, future house projects, holidays. All the rest of our savings are invested as a buffer to pensions or for inheritance/care in old age etc. We do not save for the sake of it.  Some just like to accumulate savings and fine if it works for them but we always had things in mind to save for, whether it be a new car, early retirement or long haul holiday. 

chelseablue

Its currently all in cash, I took it out of my s&s isa in March and am actually glad I did. 
The loan rate is 2.9% and Im getting 1.2% on my savings 
Would like to keep around £20k as an emergency fund, but this would include using some for when I need a car (maybe use around £6k-£8k for a car??) 
When I've got that saved maybe start overpaying the mortgage? Been thinking during these uncertain times that I'd feel a lot more relaxed if we owned the house outright
Currently owe £209,000 with 28 years still to go 

PurpleFairy26

If it was me I’d think if my job was secure I’d pay the loan off. Then start building it back up with the £187/month. Can I ask where you’re getting 1.2% savings? Mine is down to 0.01 apart from the fixed savings. 

As for OP the mortgage how does that work with your DH finances? Assume he hasn’t the ability to OP given he wanted you to take a loan. 

chelseablue

I’m a PA for a house builder, not sure that’s the most secure industry at the moment haha. 

Might wait a couple of months then pay it off so I’ve still got £10k in savings. 

Yes overpaying the mortgage would come from my own money. Maybe I should keep a record of how much I overpay? 

This will sound a bit morbid but my husband isn’t the healthiest person (drinks and smokes) so if the worst happened and he keeled over maybe overpaying would be a good idea to owe as little as possible? 

PurpleFairy26

If you can make OP to the loan, could you not say pay 50% off so you get the best of both worlds as surely that would still save you some
interest on the amount paid off. Can you also OP say £13/ month so the balance always a nice round number 🤣

As for OP mortgage, sorry if this sounds harsh or isn’t valid but I was more thinking if you and your husband separated how that would work with OP. Obviously that hopefully will never happen but your views on money are at such odds and you have such different approaches it’s a shame that your hard work and thriftiness isn’t matched my him. However, if you keep a record of OP this would mitigate some of that risk.