The Journey Begins...

porgiegeorgie

Keeping a diary of spending for a little bit will probably be useful (I find we fritter away a fair bit each month on little spends here and there).

If you've included everything on your SOA above then your £333 looks doable; don't forget to also budget in having fun and the odd treat every now and again

Good luck with your mortgage free journey!

Thriftmaster1973

Don't want to sound stupid but what's soa?

enthusiasticsaver

An soa is a statement of affairs and can be found on sticky on DFW board.

Whilst I applaud the proposed mortgage overpayments are you maximising your pension contributions as with a 2.58% mortgage paying extra into your pension may be financially more lucrative?

Keeping a spending diary is a good idea although you seem to have a fairly good handle on your spending.

Thriftmaster1973

Pensions are on back burner for now, the main project for the next few years will be reducing mortgage debt.

Thriftmaster1973

Sorry, let me re phrase that - "Eliminating mortgage debt"

Firegirl

Good luck on your journey!!!!

jimi_man

Thriftmaster1973 wrote: »

Pensions are on back burner for now, the main project for the next few years will be reducing mortgage debt.

Why would you rob your retirement just to eliminate a very cheap way of borrowing money? What will you live on when you retire?

Surely it would be better to save the money in a pension, take advantage of the tax savings and then use the free lump sum to put towards your mortgage if you want to.

Pensions are so much better when they have time to work the compounding effect?

Am I missing something?

As a practical point though, the budgeting diary is an excellent idea. Don't forget a cash buffer of about six months to a year's outgoings - say £10k in your case for an emergency fund.

Thriftmaster1973

The redundancy / sickness insurance pays out 12 months mortgage back to day one in case of any mishaps. That's £6 k that's accessible straight away.

Welshlassie

Well done on your plans, you need a plan to be able to achieve your goal.

What about christmas/birthday gifts etc, clothes, car maintenance, household maintenance, appliance replacement etc?

Do you need boiler cover - would you be better self-insuring for this? Is it a new boiler? have you ever actually had to claim on it?

Have you reviewed your life insurance recently, my husband and I pay less than that for £150k cover? Might be worth a look.

Are you on a Water meter? Have you checked your energy suppliers are the cheapest?

Thriftmaster1973

Hi there, yes your right about the boiler cover, I could put that money away and let it build up itself.

Christmas is a cheap affair for me, I have never gone overboard for the hype of Christmas.

Yes I have changed onto a water meter, I was paying £57 per month on rates, now on £25. I might actually be overpaying as I use average of 1 Square meter of water a week.