My 5 year plan

fatrab

Well it's been a quiet week, which in some ways is a good thing! Not spent a penny on anything other than food and fuel so far but we're going out on Saturday for Mrs fatrab's birthday.

I've not mentioned much about Mrs's situation for a while so just a wee update. Her house sale should have been completed tomorrow but the mortgage papers weren't completed on time (or something like that) so it's not going to be completed until next Friday. Be glad when it's done and dusted!

Will update again as things progress

jwil

Hope the completion goes through properly on Friday!

fatrab

Just a quick update this morning, as nothing much has changed financially.

At SW on Saturday I got my 1.5 stone award and slimmer of the week for the 3rd time in 5 weeks! Really need to start getting some exercise though as the weight loss is slowing down.

Mrs house sprung a leak at the end of last week but luckily it was an easy fix, the surveyor spotted it while carrying out the home report, which was needed again as the previous one had expired. It's becoming a PITA and will be glad when the sale finally goes through. Fingers crossed no more hiccups!

My re-mortgage should be complete this week too. There's a slight shortfall in the difference between what I owe and my re-mortgage amount but I have the cash in my current account to cover it. It's only a few hundred so I don't even need to dip into my emergency fund! If this had been happening around a year ago I'd be sitting here skint and worrying how I was going to juggle things around.

What a difference a year can make when you've got your head in the right place and taken the right advice.

fatrab

So I've finally plucked up enough courage to try a new credit card. Difference this time is that I have an understanding on what works and what doesn't so there will be no frivolous spending. Shopping, fuel and work expenses only. I've gone for the new Sainsburys card with 29 months 0% on spending. We use Sainsburys quite a bit so the opening offer and bonus nectar points is appealing.


I will be treading very carefully though. They've given me a stupidly high credit limit which I'll be reducing as soon as I receive the card and I'll bank the money that would otherwise have been spent if it wasn't going on the card, "stoozing" but if it doesn't work out I'll clear the balance and close the account. I'm still not sure I trust myself 100% yet, but with the amount we spend each month on food and fuel I feel we'd be as well getting some sort of reward for it.

Working_Mum

Hey fatrab,
I occasionally have to use my credit card for work expenses BUT the main difference is that now I pay the money back to the credit card the next working day by internet banking!!!

It means I am not lulled into any false sense of security and thinking I have money!!

fatrab

Working_Mum wrote: »

Hey fatrab,
I occasionally have to use my credit card for work expenses BUT the main difference is that now I pay the money back to the credit card the next working day by internet banking!!!

It means I am not lulled into any false sense of security and thinking I have money!!

We're £200+ on food shopping plus the same again on fuel for both cars each month, and sometimes I'm out on site with more expenses than usual which I don't get back from my employer straight away, it's usually the week after month end before they get paid. Having a CC again will help in some ways but if the stoozing idea doesn't work then I'll just set the DD to pay the balance in full each month and take the bonus nectar points.

I use Sainsburys for fuel as its the cheapest in my area and we split the shopping between LIDL and Sains anyway so it seems the right card for the job at the moment. Time will tell!!

jwil

You are so determined, I'm sure it will work out.

Congrats on the weight loss, that's amazing!

fatrab

So the last part of my 5 year plan is about to go into motion!

I got a call from my lawyer yesterday to say that my re-mortgage is due to be completed on Friday, and that there was a shortfall of £360 which I was expecting anyway and had the money in my current account to cover. Paid it to them over the phone so all settled and good to go!

My plan is still to be completely debt free by end of Dec 2022, but the mortgage's end date for the 0% offer doesn't expire until October 2023. So I'll just need to be "mortgage neutral" by the end of 2022! By that I mean have enough in the bank to cover the remaining mortgage.

That will be a very good feeling!!!

Also everything is looking positive for Mrs' house sale to be complete tomorrow so fingers crossed for no more hiccups!

fatrab

I spoke too soon about Mrs fatrab's house sale.


There was a delay with the updated home report being submitted which means the sale won't go ahead this week. Mrs is stressing about it but it's just one of those things I suppose, nothing ever goes to plan. I think the lack of communication she's been receiving from the lawyer and the estate agent is the main problem to be honest.


I actually feel sorry for the folk who are buying it. They've had some remedial work carried out (at their expense) for something that was highlighted on the original home report so they must be desperate to move in and get settled. The house has been empty for 4 months and it's a shame they couldn't have moved in on the 5th which was originally the agreed date. Would've been better for all parties concerned!


Anyway, it's Friday! Not that I've got much on this weekend, just looking forward to a few days of doing nothing and spending time with the wee one.


Have a great weekend

[Deleted User]

Good luck, hope the house sale goes through asap!