Mortgage free by my own merit

OhtobeMortgageFree

South_coast said:

That sounds like more than chipping away 😀!

Thanks! ☺️
I've become rather addicted to tidying our bank accounts every single morning and rounding them all down to the nearest £10.
When I've had a bad day, I immediately overpay by £100-£200 before giving myself a chance to think about it. It makes me feel better, but at the same time there probably should be more thought that goes into how much and often I overpay! 🙈

OhtobeMortgageFree

So I've been through our current spending with a fine tooth comb, and have shared the breakdown below with my husband. (He has zero budgeting awareness or knowledge of how much we receive/spend! 🙈)

Husband salary: £2936

Total income: £2936

Monthly outgoings:

Mortgage - £858.52

Council tax - £195

Water - £39

Gas/Electric - £157.92

Phone/internet bill - £49

Mobile contract - £39

Nieces/nephew money - £35 (we put away £1 each week into savings for them each, £2 for our son)

Home Insurance - £10.41

Netflix - £10.99

Disney - £7.99

Contact lenses - £11

Football training - £10

Beavers - £6.75

Swimming lessons - £31.99

Adobe - £51.98

Office - £5

Car insurance (husband) - £24.71

Car insurance (mine) - £21.13

Car tax - £40

MOT - £80

AA - £13

TV licence - £13.25

Milk - £19.25

Cat jabs - £3

Reptile food - £12

Running club membership - £3

Pocket money - £13

Total fixed costs: £1761.89

Monthly variable outgoings:
Food/household shopping - £300

Petrol - £350

Gifts - £60

Total outgoings: £2471.89

Incoming - outgoing = £464.11

Doesn't include any of the following:

- haircuts

- school mufti/photos/charity fundraisers

- school lunches which will need to fund next year when my son starts Year 3

- clothes/shoes

- prescriptions
- car repairs

A few notes:
There is myself, my husband and our 7yo son living at home. We have a pet cat and a pet reptile. My son is an only child so he attends Beavers, football training and swimming lessons. He also has £3 pocket money per week, which he has received since turning 5. We pay for a milkman to deliver 6pts of milk approx every 10 days. We could probably lose the Disney account. I have an appointment with my accountant this week to talk about giving myself a salary from my business, - I'm initially going to look at taking £500 per month as a wage. I also probably earn £30ish per week through surveys on Prolific.

beanielou

What is Adobe at £52? 

OhtobeMortgageFree

beanielou said:

What is Adobe at £52? 

It's design software (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc) which I use a fair bit for the business and in my volunteer roles.

OhtobeMortgageFree

Thinking about it, I could probably put that through the business accounts as a business expense? I'll check with the accountant when I see him...🤞

beanielou

OhtobeMortgageFree said:

Thinking about it, I could probably put that through the business accounts as a business expense? I'll check with the accountant when I see him...🤞

Good idea. 

It is expensive! 

OhtobeMortgageFree

I had the meeting with my accountant this morning, who is going to get me added to the payroll by the end of November. I'll be taking a salary of £756 each month, with the ability to take out dividends as and when needed.
I feel much happier now that I've had that meeting! I may even celebrate by overpaying the mortgage this evening! 😂

beanielou

That’s good. 

Can you claim the software as a business expense? 

OhtobeMortgageFree

I've had a bit of a money overhaul this evening and overpaid the full amount I am allowed to pay without charge on my mortgage for the remainder of this year. (£6051). My mortgage total now stands at £54,762.71, and by the time the mortgage term ends at the end of April next year it should be sitting somewhere around the £45k mark.

We currently have £5k in savings, and I may be very optimistic, but I believe we are capable of finding that remaining £40k over the next 11 months and paying off our mortgage in full! 🤞🏻 If we were able to do this it would take a total of 15 years off our mortgage! 🙌🏻 Although I won't quite hit my original goal of being mortgage free by 40, I'll be very close, as I'm due to turn 40 at the end of October this year.

The plan is to continue to Tilly Tidy each day and put all spare money over £5k into a premium bonds account. I am currently teaching two days a week (until the end of the school year), moderating coursework for an exam board and have my own events business. My husband has just accepted a new job with a £74k salary which he begins on Monday. This is a £12k salary increase for him, although he will now be travelling into Birmingham regularly at a cost of around £30 per day, and resulting in a longer working day including the commute.

The end is in sight!!!

Moneywhizz

What an example of perseverance and discipline. You must be so pleased with how things have worked out but it was all down to your hard work and diligence. Well done.