Mortgage free & able to live the dream!

SWSEGirl

I'm starting to assess how I've done over the past year financially and see if I've hit any of the target I set out at the beginning of 2017 - and come up with some new ones for 2018! So here they are:

2017 Aims:
• Save £12,000 in joint account - Almost there! And should definitely be there by the end of the year.
• To overpay mortgage by minimum of £300 per month/ £400 once Student Loan paid Off - So far I've averaged at £241 a month overpayments - so not quite hit this target, but increasing my OP's significantly now, and aiming for a monthly average of £300 by end of the year. Aiming much higher next year!
• Pay off student loan by July 2017 - Done
• Pay off Barclays Credit Card by June 2018 - Not as far along as I'd like - but determined to throw more funds at it in the new year, at least it's still 0%
• Have 2 x NSD’s a week - Haven't kept the best track of these, but definitely achieved a few
• Save £1200 in personal savings - Not as far along as hoped, due to a impromptu mini break - going to pop extra income into this account from January, in order to take me & DH away for his 30th.
• For my bank balance to be £2900 on payday each month - This has been variable, I've had one or two big expenses that have occasionally limited my balance - next year I'll be better.
• To not go into overdraft again - Have dipped in once or twice, but overall so much better at money management.

Whilst there is definitely room for improvement, I am proud of how I've managed to turn my finances around in the past year - having started the year £2k into my overdraft, with £4.5k on my credit card and only £1000 in savings - and not mortgage OP's. I was once the person who didn't check her bank balance for 2 years (terrible I know!) and can now happily say I love the feeling of security that managing my finances brings.

I'll dedicate my next post to 2018 aims....

SWSEGirl

So as for aims for 2018 - this will depend very much on what happens with my job. If I secure the payrise I hope for, or move to a different company. Either way I'm going to tailor my aims as though I am being paid more - as I am determined that I will be (sorry if that sounds greedy & grasping, I'm just aiming for parity with my colleagues, and have never asked for a pay rise before).

2018 Aims:

* Overpay mortgage by £6000 (average of £500 per month)
* Increase pension contributions by 2% - I currently pay in 4% into my pension (my employer matches up to 4%), I think I need to up this, but am limited in my understanding of pensions to be honest, we hope that our current flat may be a source of income in the future, if we move back to where we're from.
* Add £12,000 to savings - this will hopefully take us closer to a deposit for a new home back where we're from.
* Save £2000 in my personal savings to take DH on a surprise 30th birthday holiday.
* Clear my Barclaycard before 0% period ends
* Be able to pay for a cleaner

We're thinking about starting a family - so savings may be scuppered by this! I'd like to be able to minimise the impact on us as much as possible, hence my aim to save/ pay off as much as possible now.

SWSEGirl

Am getting to grips with my FD account - but annoyingly my transactions don't show up as quickly as on my old Barclays account, so I'm worse off this month than I thought.

It's not a disaster as I have a small birthday cheque to pay in & Christmas money budgeted and sat in my savings account ready for the last of the Christmas shopping.

We travel home on the 16th December - and I'm hoping that between then & payday will be relatively cheap as I'll be at home with my family - all travel is now paid for.

In other news - the new job/ promotion is a step closer as HR signed off my pay increase - now just waiting to hear back from the project director that they can budget for this. If it does go ahead I start early January and will need to significantly re jig finances & goals. I don't want to jinx it, so won't start planning yet.

MM10

SWSEGirl wrote: »

TGI Friday....it's been a long, stressful week & I'm exhausted. After having family every weekend for 5 weeks my husband & I are going out for pizza just the 2 of us. It's really much needed. I did consider being MSE & eating at home...but we really need to be without the distraction of the TV& washing up, so it will be money well spent.

One really depressing thing that happened today - we asked for John Lewis vouchers as wedding presents (2 yrs ago) - we didn't have our flat then, but were working towards it & asked for vouchers in order we could choose lovely home bits when the time came. We checked in store & were told vouchers dont expire.

Fast forward to today - we've finally made a decision on what to buy (weeks of discussions & making lists - the vouchers are precious, so we wanted to invest in things we'd keep forever) - and I discover they've all expired. I am beyond gutted - £1000 gone. And it was money that would be a real treat for us, and very important being a wedding present. I spoke to customer services who said nothing could be done. I've written, but am not holding out much hope.

On the back of the cards - it reads that they expire 24 months after last transaction, I believed we were fine as we haven't made any transactions, but apparently the original purchase
Of the cards counts as a transaction. I feel incredibly stupid for saving them & agonising over spending them, but I felt reassured by customer services in store when we originally decided to ask for these vouchers as presents.

Bit tearful today

Any news from JLewis?:(

SWSEGirl

Hi MM10,

Thanks so much for checking in...I had good news, JL have reissued all my vouchers and said they will look into amending the wording on their vouchers, I am so relieved and planning to spend all the vouchers as quickly as possible! I can't tell you what a relief it was. Thank you for asking xx

SWSEGirl

My HR team have confirmed that they will pay me the money I asked for on this new project, still needs sign off from project director, but all looking a lot more promising. My rate will only increase for the duration of the project, but that's 9 months & I'd look for a role that could match this money thereafter.

One thing I am deyermined to do is to remain frugal & financially savvy. I want to have a minimalist January & February & try to give myself a headstart for the year.

This does change my goals somewhat for 2018 & my husband & I are going to try & save £2k a month - £1k towards mortgage OP (maximum allowed) & £1k into savings. We know neither of us will earn this kind of money forever, so are determined to maximise this opportunity, perhaps we'll even save enough for a deposit on our dream home? Aim high! :j

SWSEGirl

A lovely day off for me today - but almost nothing achieved, one of those lazy days where I drifted aimlessly, ah well! I did manage to tick a few gifts off the Christmas list.

Very annoyingly I lost my (new!) debit card on Wednesday - cancelled quickly & have ordered a new one, but still awaiting it's arrival. :mad: just annoyed at myself for being careless.

Sat down with DH & briefly discussed next year's finances. We're going to properly go through everything at Christmas & try to streamline & budget. I want to go through all bills & check we're getting the cheapest deals. I also want to plan ahead - for example, the months I don't pay council tax next year I want to channel that money straight into savings.

After the Christmas break I'm going yo take an extra day's holiday on our return to London, before starting my new job. I want to take that day & batch cook ahead of my new project starting, so I can go back to work with lunches each day & hopefully save me frittering! Still deliberating over a cleaner...I would love to avoid the stress of our flat being messy, but can't easily reconcile the cost in my mind. Something to duscuss over the festive period!

daisy_1571

SWSEGirl wrote: »

Hi MM10,

Thanks so much for checking in...I had good news, JL have reissued all my vouchers and said they will look into amending the wording on their vouchers, I am so relieved and planning to spend all the vouchers as quickly as possible! I can't tell you what a relief it was. Thank you for asking xx

That's really good news :j

Daisy xx

bspm

SWSEGirl wrote: »

That's also a really good point, thank you! According to Zoopla (unreliable I know) our property has increased in value by roughly £8k in a year - so hopefully we can rely on a rise in the value to help us with interest rates. I just hope the current instability doesn't mean that prices drop.

My first steps in maximising our savings & making a little additional cash here and there are as follows:

Switch to First Direct – get £125 bonus
Open Regular Saver Account w/ FD – start SO for £300 pm. (locked away for 12 months) = £3600 over 1 year = £180 interest.
Start SO for £500 to Mortgage – call to check if amount can be split into 2 payments
Put existing £10,000 svaings into high interest Harrods account (fixed for 1 year 1.9% = £190 interest)
Put £400 pm into an easy access account

This should make us around £800 in the next year if my calculations are correct - which would be a nice bonus!

You will not get £180 interest.

SWSEGirl

Happy 2018!

After a very spendy Christmas I'm back at work tomorrow in my new job. :eek: Ive got the proper back to work wobbles, the new job is likely to be full on & is a huge step up. It will also involve me travelling abroad & being away from home a lot. To be honest I'm pretty terrified. However, one of my New Year's resolutions has been to do something that scares me - so this is it!

The major bonus to my new job is the increased pay until May - I'm going to really try between now & then to maximise our savings & mortgage OP.

In the spirit of renewed frugality Ive spent the day organising the house, itemising our fridge & stocking up on food for my meal plan. Lunch is ready to take into the office.

I'll post an updated SOA when I get the chance.

Over Christmas my husband & I talked at length about our plans to move closer to our family in the next few years, we even looked at a few houses. We'd love to keep our London flat- but all the properties in the areas we love are upwards of £350,000 & there would be no option of me keeping my job if we moved - our earning potential would be hugely reduced. Whilst I could happily stay in London a few more years in order to afford a dream home, my husband wants to leave sooner. Hence OP'ing current mortgage & saving for a second deposit. It all feels a bit unachievable at the moment - bit we'll have to keep trying!