Take Off! Time to blast away this mortgage!

therocket_2

Hi all!

It's been a long time coming, but finally I have started my own MFW diary! Now seemed to be an ideal time to start, as our first new mortgage repayment left our account yesterday so the countdown is on!

First though, a bit about us.... myself, Mrs R. and little R have been living in our home for 2 years now. It was originally going to be our "forever home". However, after a couple of years of tarting the house up (1970's decor before :eek:) and still needing a new heating system (in progress), a new bathroom, rear garden landscaping, and a new porch and driveway construction(!!), we're starting to think this may be a good way to gain more equity to enable us to be a bit more ambitious in the next 5-10 years.
I dream of having a house in a semi-rural area with a double garage to tinker away on a project car whilst Mrs R cooks up a storm on the range and little R mows the lawns :rotfl:

So, in order for this to happen, we need to pay down this mortgage. Current figures are a mortgage of £188k fixed for 5 years at 2.04%, with monthly repayments of £735, and a mortgage term of 28 years.
I would love to get to the end of the 5 year fix with a mortgage figure of around £140k remaining, which should give us at least the same figure in equity (plus increased value with new bathrooms, garden, drive etc).
Obviously, we still have work to do on the house, so it's going to be a difficult balancing act with MOP's, savings for house projects, building up the emergency funds and entertaining little R!

So that's me! I have been inspired by all the excellent progress many of you have made in your respective diaries (FortuneSmiles, SJ, CheeryDaff, Foxholes etc, to name but a few) so now it's my turn to give this a whirl! I hope to have you along for the ride and for you to read/endure/enjoy(?!) my musings!

Rocket x

newgirly

Welcome and best of luck with the new diary

MrMFW

Happy new diary wishing you the best of luck and look forward to following your journey along the way!

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

julicorn

Happy new diary, and best of luck

therocket_2

Right, SOA time!

Below is the rough outline of the monthly figures:

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

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

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2020
Partners monthly income after tax....... 1700
Benefits................................ 82.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3802.8

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 735
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 163
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 40
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 28.71
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 31 (mine + Mrs R's phones)
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 50 (TV, phone and internet)
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 150 (both cars, not each)
Road tax................................ 31 (both cars)
Car Insurance........................... 50 (both cars - joint policy)
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50 (both cars - not including recent repairs :eek:)
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 250.08
Other child related expenses............ 100 (savings for little R)
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 10
Contents insurance...................... 10
Life assurance ......................... 20 (both me and Mrs R)
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 300
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 2244.91


Assets
Cash.................................... 6500
House value (Gross)..................... 270000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 18000
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 294500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 188000...(735)......2.04
Total secured & HP debts...... 188000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Total unsecured debts..........0.........0.........-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,802.8
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,244.91
Available for debt repayments........... 1,557.89
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 0
Amount left after debt repayments....... 1,557.89

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 294,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -188,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -0
Net Assets.............................. 106,500

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

Out of the cash "left over", we save roughly £900 per month between us, which is used for house renovations, building up an emergency fund and a savings pot to dip into!
Car parking at work and childcare vouchers leave our wages before tax etc, via a salary sacrifice scheme so that helps pay the nursery fees :eek:

So, it looks fairly promising if we stick to our £150 per month "spends" each, for whatever we like to spend it on. All of these figures may need reviewing in future but this a good start I feel. Anyone have any feedback/suggestions where we could look to improve on, or how we can make the most of our money? All suggestions greatly appreciated

Cheers :beer:

therocket_2

Welcome all by the way! Lovely to have you with me!

therocket_2

So, time to finally pull my finger out and update you all...

In the months that have passed, we have made a total of £0 mortgage overpayment! However, it's not all bad news (before you all start thinking "what has he been doing for the last 4 months?!")

We have finally had a brand new heating system installed - old lot completely ripped out (radiators, boiler, loft water tank, immersion heater, all pipework etc) and everything replaced. And it's the BEST thing we've done since moving in over 2 years ago!
Aside from that, savings have gathered pace for more potential work (bathroom next I think) and also increased the emergency savings from £1000 for £3500.

Little R had his 2nd birthday and Xmas was also enjoyable due to having (a rare) two weeks off work! So plenty of beer, food and sport has been watched/eaten/drunk over the festive period.
The diet has started since, and can report that all is going well! 12lbs down, muscle mass increased and generally feeling SO much better. Hard going though! Could murder a pint....

January was a long year(!!) but managed to come through relatively unscathed and we are in a decent position to get a lot of our plans completed this year. I feel as though my DIY skills are going to be pushed hard in the coming months!

Final point of note - Mrs R has a job interview tomorrow for a well-deserved promotion at work but is terribly nervous due to her lack of experience in comparison with other candidates. I have everything crossed she smashes the interview and the powers-that-be give her a chance, because she would be absolutely marvelous at the new role!

Take care in the cold everyone! Don't eat yellow snow.

R x

therocket_2

Just quickly checking in...

The better half didn't manage to get the new job role she applied for - gutted is an understatement but I suppose that out of every negative, comes a positive! We'll wait to see on that one...

Finances not too bad this month, another week till payday for us and I'm off work for a week so will have to keep myself busy and resist the urge to spend anything!

Fitness is continuing although major roadworks where we live, mean that my commute to/from the gym is now a nightmare. Lots of other members have actually switched gyms because of the projected 12 weeks of disruption to the roads!!

No other news to report!

R x