£50k to zero - made it across the finish line

remote_control

That's annoying about the paint. I had a similar thing before, spent so much time researching, drove to buy the varnish, did 3 coats and it didn't look how I wanted to. I was so upset. I sanded the whole thing back and just used some Danish oil I had in the shed and it looked how I wanted it to. 6 years later and it still looks good! 

Our dfd is in 2023 but our fixed rate is up in 2022 so I am thinking if we can get the debt paid off by then we will be able to significantly reduce the term. We pay £600 fixed payments to the debt. If covid continues though we can have it paid off much sooner as we're spending so little.

One-step-at-a-time

Frustrating, isn't it? I was trying to be frugal and use what we had as much as possible, but once it was on the wood it was clear it wasn't going to look right with the new fabric. I'm glad the fabric had already turned up or I might have gone a bit mad doing everything before I realised - I would not have been happy re-sanding five bits of furniture!

We've only got another 7 years on the mortgage but should be able to put enough by to chop at least two and a half years off it by the time the fix ends. I am so looking forward to getting shot of it completely!  I was mortgage free for a while years ago and it was a brilliant feeling. The French translation death pledge is almost enough motivation on its own now

There is a bit of a temptation to become completely mortgage-obsessed once the other debt is gone, but there's too much deferred maintenance to make that realistic (mainly boundary walls and fences) and I really want to up my pension AVCs and build up a solid emergency fund, so that will affect the amount of saving we can do for other purposes until DH's work situation gets better. Covid may have slashed the general spending, but the income drop has cancelled that out. In the meantime the cards are getting as close to 40% of what's coming in, and the urge to make progress is being satisfied by fixing as much as we can ourselves.

remote_control

Do you have any other goals for post mortgage? We love to travel and if I was in your position I would probably give yourself a break and have a holiday at some point between dfd and end of mortgage, likewise do the work that needs to be done to the house! I bet your interest on the mortgage is low.

Sorry that DH's income has dropped. So far we've been ok which is why I had been putting any money into savings and not paying off the debt, just in case.

Sarahwithlove

Be great to be mortgage free but like you said it's only 7 years so allow yourself some breathing room to get the things done you want to and pay the AVC as you'll be glad when you get to pension age

One-step-at-a-time

remote_control said:

Do you have any other goals for post mortgage? We love to travel and if I was in your position I would probably give yourself a break and have a holiday at some point between dfd and end of mortgage, likewise do the work that needs to be done to the house! I bet your interest on the mortgage is low.

Sorry that DH's income has dropped. So far we've been ok which is why I had been putting any money into savings and not paying off the debt, just in case.

So many plans  The mortgage is fixed at 2.19% at the moment. 
Travel has always been a big thing for us and is the thing we've compromised on the least whilst still paying the debts. When it became obvious that we needed to cut way back, some form of annual escape was the thing that was non-negotiable for both of us! We've managed to keep holidays going (or at least we did before last March) by planning as far ahead as possible and putting a lot of energy into raising extra funds and keeping costs way down, and those learned habits will help us out in the future. My favourite bargain break was a five day trip to see friends in Spain with business class flights for £25 each (thank you Avios!) which included airport lounge access (loads of free food & drink) at both ends; all the touristy stuff we did was free, and all we paid for while we were there was food and a couple of local buses. Travel restrictions permitting, winter breaks are also a must (DH gets hit horribly by SAD) and this is the first year in many that we haven't gone to stay with relatives overseas for part of January. A lot will also depend on the recovery of the entertainment industry as that will affect DH's future work path.
We also want to get ourselves into a better position for possible early retirement or at least shifting into part-time work further down the line. Eventually we'll relocate, but that's much longer-term as we're tied to this area for the forseeable future and plan on our next move being our last!

Sarahwithlove

Sounds like you have some great plans ahead of you. I can't wait until I can go away for a long weekend. 

vampirotoothus

Hi I saw your comment about a new planned spending CC. I use Tesco's. They give you clubcard vouchers and you can either spend these in Tesco, or use them in many other outlets, so we use ours for a nice meal out (as you get 3 times the value, or you did). Good luck on your journey V.

One-step-at-a-time

vampirotoothus said:

Hi I saw your comment about a new planned spending CC. I use Tesco's. They give you clubcard vouchers and you can either spend these in Tesco, or use them in many other outlets, so we use ours for a nice meal out (as you get 3 times the value, or you did). Good luck on your journey V.

Thank you - we'd already ruled that out though, before I posted we'd weighed up the rewards on offer against our normal spending patterns. Nectar points suit us better!

One-step-at-a-time

Up early this morning after having a 10pm work-related brainwave, doing the preliminary steps, then starting early to get it done and dusted and email all the people that needed to test it. Now sitting back with a cuppa waiting on feedback and appreciating flexible working patterns
I find the range of attitudes towards the role that work 'should' play in a person's life interesting. My ideal scenario has always been to have a decent job that I enjoy but that I can park for the day at 5pm and not have to think about until the following day unless I want to, but like it enough to be happy to dip in at random hours when the inspiration strikes (as was the case last night/early this morning). I'm lucky to have had that for the last few years after a spell under an awful manager.
I've always felt that there are never enough hours in the day for me to do all the things I enjoy outside of work and am definitely someone who when I do retire will wonder how I ever had time for work in the first place.

Moneybelle37

Just popping in to say over the past 2 days I’ve read your diary and have found it so inspiring! You are legend!!! Well done! So excited for your Debt free day and looking forward to following you all the way there. You should be proud of yourself, you’ve done brill!