Mortgage free & able to live the dream!

SWSEGirl

So I've put together a presumptive SOA based on what i think we'll be taking home and have saved by the time our baby arrives in October, am going to properly think about the results over the next couple of days, but it certainly still looks healthy, which is a comfort:

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned....................

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1218
Partners monthly income after tax....... 3458
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 4676

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 1110
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 180
Council tax............................. 135
Electricity............................. 60
Gas..................................... 50
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 25
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 35
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 12
Internet Services....................... 25
Groceries etc. ......................... 330
Clothing................................ 30
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 250
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 50
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 10
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 25
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 50
Haircuts................................ 40
Entertainment........................... 300
Holiday................................. 200
Emergency fund.......................... 50
Total monthly expenses.................. 2989


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 380000
Shares and bonds........................ 19000
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 399000

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 309163...(1110).....2.24
Total secured & HP debts...... 309163....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 4,676
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,989
Available for debt repayments........... 1,687
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,687

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 399,000
Total HP & Secured debt................. -309,163
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 89,837

SWSEGirl

After a bit of a hiatus, it's payday again. I've shuffled £660 to our savings & OP'd the mortgage by another £1000, so that's good. Signature updated.

Whilst financially things are going ok, I've been feeling very low - I think Im overwhelmed by all the baby talk & the life change it will bring, it's left me feeling like I don't care about anything & I've become quite careless with my money this month - buying lunch every day because I cant motivate myself to cook, not bothering to find deals or devote any planning to our finances. It's had an impact on every area of life, so I hope I can snap out of it soon.

We are heading home to our family for a few days (quite an expensive trip!) next week, it will be a nice break from work- but I'm not looking forward to it I just feel I have to pretend to feel excited, when all I feel is overwhelmed & numb.I need to snap out of this - hopefully will post a more positive update in a few days. X

lixi

Sounds like things are going brilliantly financially. Try to be kinder to yourself.

Having a first child is a massive massive adjustment. I used to be heavily into my career (on reflection much to my detriment personally at the time). Going from being driven careerwise bod knowing my stuff and having the respect of my peers and clients to being a mum was a huge shift and quite difficult to deal with. But there's a huge payoff and the life change was worth it. There's a big change socially too in terms of the circles I used to move in. But being a parent is net gain, promise. I can understand how you feel numb and overwhelmed though. Just let go of the things you can't control and put a plan in place for the matters you can influence.

I am due with number 3 next month. Even now when my husband asks me if I'm "excited" quite frankly I want to slap him:-) he knows what childbirth involves from an observer perspective at least so (although I had two straightforward births previously) I have no idea why he thinks I was excited or would be again about that. Then the sleep deprivation and the whole keeping a dependent alive responsibility. Just trust your instincts and be kind to yourself.

And yes. Family visits - bah humbug! Hugs to you x

SWSEGirl

Thank you Lixi, your comments are really appreciated - it's just nice to not feel as though I'm an awful person - it is just a huge upheaval, and my general exhaustion isn't helping matters at the moment. Your post has reassured me that I'll start to feel better soon, so thank you.

lixi

Glad it helped. You are most certainly not an awful person. All sounds part of normal adjustment to me (and in the past I have been known to beat myself up far too much - too used to holding myself to high standards professionally).

Several other people have asked me if I am "excited" since I replied to you (including the husband - I asked if he was excited to see me in pain during labour as he knew what that was all about?!) and have got short shrift on that one. (In all good humour) I honestly do not see what there is to truly be excited about?! Yes, I will be pleased when the baby and I are through delivery safe and well and things settle down, but excitement is truly not something I associate with birth and the life disruption (read sleep deprivation in particular) that goes with having a newborn. I have never been a mother-hen sort and tend to hide in my office when people come in with their babies (I fake interest in my friends' children of course - don't want to make myself out to be completely barren of empathy and emotion ;-)).


My current two are 6 and 3 and are so much fun. Proper little people.

One thing I am not excited about is visits from the in-laws. The double-whammy of visits I had last time (in-laws divorced and remarried when OH was a kid so I get two sets) - them staying for over a week with a day cross-over immediately after the birth IS NOT HAPPENING THIS TIME. They have been forewarned, but it has taken me to child 3 to make sure I put in place boundaries to ensure my wishes are observed. Think about what you want to happen afterwards (and whether those visiting will truly be a help - in our case they certainly were not and we ended up having our privacy eroded and extra people to wait on!) and don't let other people's "excitement" override your own wishes. You will never get that golden paternity leave period back.

Feel free to disregard my comments as freely as they were given - everyone is different. This is just extremely topical for me as I start maternity again imminently!

try_harder

That certainly does look like a very healthy SOA for October ,thats a great comfort.

Runders

Hey SWSEGirl,

I've just read through your diary. We are similar in a few things like you said:

I also want to move back home to the country, and would also have to spend £300,000 plus to buy a place there :eek: Although my current mortgage is no where near yours, it is just me paying towards it.

You seem to be doing brilliantly so far and massive congrats on your baby. I see you've been feeling a bit down lately, and the biggest thing is to be kind to yourself!

Looking forward to seeing how you get on

SWSEGirl

Another gap in my diary - but I've just returned from a trip to see family. It was a welcome rest from work, but not the sort of holiday I really need - and quite expensive at the same time.

Onwards and upwards though!

I'm keen to start spending and saving more mindfully again, so I must get organised. I've just taken delivery of our online shop - so meal planning must start in earnest. We have started to plan what we need to buy for when the baby arrives - happily a relative has offered us a number of her items that were on our list, so that should save us a considerable amount. The main expense will be a pram I think. We're limited on choice, as we need something compact and light enough that we can lug up 2 flights of narrow stairs. I'll be checking my cashback options! I remain determined not to buy a whole heap of stuff we won't use - particularly when we are so limited on space.

In theory we have 6 more paydays left until the baby arrives - so I hope we can channel at least another £6,000 into savings or towards the mortgage - we should be able to save more. We're waiting to see if DH will receive a bonus this year - he should do, but I don't want to count our chickens just yet.

So in terms of all my balances this is how things are looking:

Current Account = £311
Joint Savings = £15,000
Christmas Fund = £600
Holiday Savings = £1500
FD Regular Saver = £600

Mortgage Overpayments = £6900

There's still a week until payday, but we have our big food shop in and no big expenses on the horizon, so all should be well.

SWSEGirl

DH's payday is upon us, so we have overpaid the mortgage by another £1000, he has put £3k in savings following a 5% bonus & backdated 5% pay increase. We do have to pay our service charge next month - which is almost £1000, but we're still doing well.

Balances as follows:

Savings: £18,000
Mortgage OP: £7900
FD regular saver: £600
Holiday Fund: £1510
Christmas Fund: £620
Bank Balance: £1806

DH and I are discussing how much we channel into the mortgage going forwards. Just to have it available DH wants to keep adding to savings, even though the mortgage makes more financial sense. I've suggested when we hit £20k, we focus on mortgage saving - although next year our saving ability will be drastically reduced in any case!

SWSEGirl

Not much to report, we need to pay our building service charge this month - at £952 It's not cheap & I think we need to question the cost now, as there is a good amount in our reserve fund now.

I'm 19 weeks pregnant now & my clothes & underwear are becoming uncomfortable. I originally bought some cheap (ill fitting ) bras to see me through, but I've just had to invest in properly fitting items to see me through. I struggled to spend the £60 necessary, but I was silly to buy the cheap items originally- such a false economy.
In other news I'm very tired- still waiting for the 2nd trimester burst of energy :rotfl: Work is dragging as a result, living for the weekends!