*sigh* this may take a while

enthusiasticsaver

Glad you seem to be on top of your money and debt now and like most other people (who are still being paid that is) we have saved money over the lockdown. No meals out or theatre trips etc has meant lots of money still in the bank account. We also rearranged our two holidays for next year instead as we don't want to do international travel until things are more back to normal. I am interested to hear you are considering moving away. We moved from Surrey 32 years ago to Cornwall.  We had the advantage  that DH had a job in the West Country to go to with the same company though and did not suffer a drop in pay which is unusual as most wages in the West Country are lower.   Presumably if you are a radiographer (DH is in that line too except he installed, mended and serviced the medical equipment) you could work at any hospital in the country.  Schools are probably the problem though now for you. Luckily our daughters found good jobs down here after graduation , one in our town and one in Bristol and have both managed to buy houses. That was our biggest worry alongside moving away from extended family that their life chances would be affected by moving away from London but that has not been the case.   We just found moving away from Surrey led to a slower pace of life and the countryside we have enjoyed during this lockdown has been wonderful and quieter than usual as no tourists.  

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks ES, good to hear a success story.   OH works in IT, if he could find a job that lets him work from home 2-3 days a week, he'd commute the rest of the time.  He's hoping this situation over the last few months might open the possibility up.  Up until then his company hadn't allowed home working, which is silly.  As you say, radiography is a very portable career, there are vacancies everywhere especially in the two modalities I've trained in. 
I think we'll unfortunately stay round here until schools are no longer an issue.  Mainly because we wouldn't want to move them during GCSE/A-level years and the age gaps of 2-3 years between each child means that's going to be perpetual for the next 15 years!! OH will be 60 by then, so the ideal would be to retire at the same time as moving away. 
We both wish we were brave enough to do it sooner though, change of pace sounds lovely.  Sometimes I think it's a self fulfilling prophecy... you work to fund an expensive lifestyle and if you actually changed the lifestyle, the pace of life would change with it.  Probably naivety on my part

enthusiasticsaver

Yes I thought schools would be a bit of an issue.  Our daughters were 1 and 3 when we moved so an ideal time for us. We thought it would be then or never .  The thing is though that by time it comes to retirement and the school years for kids are over many have elderly parents who need them so leaving is not easy then whereas when we left my mum and dad were still leading a very active life so the decision to move was easier.  It is a big lifestyle change to move away but we had time to build a new life at the other end of the country. Doesn't work for everyone.  My sister loves the buzz of London and whereas she likes to come down to holiday with us I don't think she could live here. Too slow and miles to go to a city. 

savingholmes

It's good to re-evaluate your life and create a plan rather than drifting as so many of us do

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Been looking on mortgage free wannabe board, there are some interesting threads on there. 
Any recommendations of good diaries to look at/follow?  Our mortgage is £340K, so relevant big mortgage threads would be good or those paying off mortgages while children are still quite young would also be fab.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

After June's pay, we'll have enough saved to pay back FIL and we're going to do it straight away and be officially debt free by the start of July
We do have a car loan, but I'm not counting that as the car is worth more than the loan and we could hand it back anytime if we absolutely had to.  There's 2 years left to run on it, we need to either pay a £6k balloon payment at that point or think again.  OH usually gets an annual bonus, so I think we might save some of that and keep it back to cover this.
We've decided to start overpaying the mortgage by £350 each month to start with, which rounds our payments to £2000 per month. That will start August 1st. Ideally, we'd have liked to do the £500, but until we've finished renovating the house, that will have to wait.  
We are going to try and get house renovations finished in the next year or two and then increase OP up to the level they need to be to aim for that 13 year (from now) target that we've set ourselves.  
Looking forward to starting on the next steps

mark55man

well done on clearing the FIL loan

in terms of mortgages I prefer mortgage neutral to a strict repayment regime - ie like your view on the car loan - its oK to have a loan but you don't have to pay it off you need to have matched savings/assets.  You've talked about pensions before, but this feels more like an ISA/LISA thought.  If you are only paying 2% interest (other figures are available) it seems to me a no brainer to try and invest that over the long term (I imagine you have enough years left on your mortgage)  when over that period you can conservatively earn 2% or more than the interest

The MFW boards, don't accept this argument, they say only the purity of vision of having a mortgage balance of £0 gives you the true security of owning your home, and the incentive to see it come down.  There are a few London sized mortgage threads if you look. Ironically I find the MFW threads more about the money and the OP than DFW

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Thanks Mark... debt neutral would work for me, if I had £340K in the bank, I wouldn't consider myself in debt if I had a £340K mortgage. Chance would be a fine thing!
We're trying to save a pot of £20K alongside overpaying the mortgage.  I think we're more likely to be strict with ourselves if we pay the mortgage off, we're a bit rubbish at leaving savings alone.  But maybe we'll learn the art while starting to save our pot?

mark55man

Hey there.  This is a roller coaster of a MFW diary, international jet set but fun and obviously switched on chilled people - romance, financial wheeler dealing and ending up in the sunshine ,, but no spoilers - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5524556/getting-rid-of-a-london-sized-mortgage 

Plus a number of other London sized mortgages turn up many of whom have diaries. 

MFW is an quite an active board, but not so active you couldn't spend an hour to find a few you like and match your position - my bookmarks are mainly £100K 5 years to go types - I suspect you need something racier / longer

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Amazing, thank you.  Will have a read