Thirty something dreaming of not paying mortgage

kaycastle

Ooh that's not too far from us at all. Thanks nichelette

Predictably now we've paid our money and signed on dotted line we get silence. Looking forward to a whole summer of chasing.

I do think I'll look elsewhere for mortgage arrangement in 5 years. I've just gone with the estate agent group we used last time. In fairness their mortgage amount did match the lowest on the comparison searches I did. But I find the way they communicate makes me very stressed.

I'm looking forward to doing the budget this weekend work is crazy busy at the moment.

I'm trying to get into an exercise routine as well. I was pleased as I wasn't in the mood at all this morning but I got up anyway. I think a good sign as last week I would have stayed in bed hehe.

kaycastle

Hiya All,

So its been a good while since my last post and so much has happened, not sure where to begin. And more and more kept happening so I kept holding off posting until things got better. I'm going to split it into sections.

Mortgage

Our renewal was up in a couple of weeks and we had really good news here. We signed up to a 5 year fixed rate as circumstances might change in a couple of years for us and we got a good rate, and when I did the sums it seemed to all work out better compared to paying a few more lots of £1000 product fees every couple of years.

Onto the super good news, so we chose a lender who run our house through their computers for their valuation checks and they decided even after we had locked into them with the product fees etc. that our house was worth £24,000 more than when we brought it!!! So they gave us an even better rate!!! This was surprising and awesome news, especially after our broker tried to put less of a value on it then when we brought it! I felt very very triumphant
And I literally can't understand the valuation even myself, looking at recently sold prices in the area, I really really don't think it would get its valuation. But obviously bowed to the superior knowledge of their automated computer :T :beer: :j

So our new mortgage is about £80 less per month and rate fixed for 5 years. And now I'm going to stop rambling and move onto the next part of the summer story...

Job

I've always been stressed and miserable in my job for the last few years. Its a lot of politics and bad culture, and I've always told myself its worth it for the money but it really wasn't. I'm not the sort of person who comes home and talks about it too much either but a month ago I came home and I just started crying even before I had got home, walked in the door and just sat crying about it unable to get any words out really.
So the next day I just quit, with the encouragement of my husband. Thinking I had 3 months notice which is plenty of time. Never quit without another job before but 3 months is a long time.
Then I was very very stressed about what I've done because I'm a completely risk averse person. And then HR informed me that I infact only have 6 weeks notice :eek:, even though both me and the company had a letter saying 3 months, apparently it didn't have the right signatures in the system for it. The person who informed me did it with a complete lack of empathy and it was a really really horrible day.
But thankfully I kicked up a bit of a storm about it and luckily I've formed some good relationships with people because by the end of the next day it and dealing with a different HR person had been agreed that I only have to work for 6 weeks, can work mostly from home and I get a full pay out in lieu for my 3 months at the end of the 6 weeks. :j :j :j

So that worked out well in the end but I literally didn't sleep for ages until I got a new job.

And now I have secured a new job and its just lovely. All the people are really nice, its a much smaller company. It won't be a political, slow moving corproate beast. And I'm on almost the same amount of money, with agreed regular reviews in place (in writing).

I feel like the universe has paid me back for the last few years of....utter rubbish.

I can't tell you the energy I have and relief I feel. And my husband was just so kind and really really supportive.

It was really good to see how many jobs were out there for what I do - I was getting interviews secured for like £85k jobs in london!! But I didn't want to land myself in the same mess I've been in the last few years so I went for happiness instead

Savings


So at the same time as quitting my job also decided to commit to getting a whole new kitchen...with some building work. I must have been switched with a doppelganger for a while. So new kitchen is being done in November which is really exciting, its going to be lovely.

Savings are good, I switched off the overpayments just for the past month with everything going on.

We've also had a bit of a talk about spending a bit more on ourselves in the future and going on a big holiday next year. A far off adventure but the costs of far off places has left me in shock.

I have decided I've probably been focusing a bit too much on the distant future of paying off mortgage and possibly early retirement....so I'm going to adjust my budget and savings to include different pots for holiday spend etc.

amycool

Super news on the new mortgage terms! What luck!

Also massive well done for leaving a job that made you miserable. It was very brave and thankfully has paid off.

I hope your kitchen goes well and better than our bathroom...very stressful and overran by 5 weeks! Only a 2 week job!

With the environment in mind, have you thought about visiting somewhere in Europe? There are some amazing places and you could visit a few? Iceland is completely beautiful and different to anything in the UK. Or somewhere like Slovenia in the mountains? I always find it odd when people fly thousands of miles away to sit by a pool/beach for 2 weeks!

kaycastle

Hiya Amy

Thank you, I know, it feels like the first time ever a company has done something so good for me without even trying....it feels bizarre! it feel so good quitting and so excited to start new job soon.

Ugh that sounds awful and is my worst nightmare, luckily my OH works in kitchens so its going to be very okay I think.

You're absolutely right with the holidays, this is the first time ever I've considered doing something "big and far away" I think because so many people seemed to do it this summer, it got in my brain and also because we're thinking of starting a family a couple of years from now, all everyone keeps telling us is to have our "adventures" now.

We were both uncomfortable with the cost and when we sat back and thought about what we really enjoy, we would much prefer several city breaks and trips around europe to scandinavia, greece etc. like you mentioned. I couldn't understand how paying £££s extra was going to get me more enjoyment if I'm honest. And I agree, the environment is an important reason not to as well.

I said to OH if we do ever go to a far away place its got to be that we've both really wanted to go to a very particular place for a while and not just for the sake of a holiday.

kaycastle

I haven't posted for a while as I haven't known what to say.

I couldn't have been more wrong about my new job!! And I'm so saddened when I read how excited I was a few posts back.

It's a toxic hell hole in short. My manager who really attracted me to the role and I would have learned tons from got made redundant 2 weeks in....and workload got distributed to me and others of course. Obviously we aren't getting anything to reflect the increased responsibility or anything. The redundancy was entirely rubbish and personal. And that's not a one off. They have done it to whole departments before. I've never been treated so poorly in a new job...its only been 6 or 7 weeks and it feels like its been so so much longer.
It's like I've entered some sort or sitcom.

I dread getting up every day and dragging myself on a long commute which I thought would be to go to an amazing new job...but it's so much worse than the one I was trying to get away from.

I've started job searching immediately and had a good interview this week.

Oh this has really finished me off and I think I'm a bit depressed

System

Oh, babe, please don't lose heart! I'm new to this forum and have been reading through this thread, and I've been so inspired by your ambition and determination.

Life, work, people... they all have a way of kicking you when you're down. Trust me, I know from a bitter 5 years (and counting) of experience. Going out interviewing is the best thing you can do—puts you in control and reminds you how capable and generally awesome you are. I really hope you get some good news soon.

Take good care and keep us posted. Xx

kaycastle

Thank you so much, you are so kind and that was so lovely to read. Xx

I got some brilliant news today, I got offered the job I interviewed for and it's a really good offer!! And its going to be brilliant I think and hope it's going to completely change the timelines on paying off mortgage and things, so excited to do calculations when I get home. I feel so pleased that I have a high chance of having a super calm work life next year!

I'm so relieved and exhausted.
Perhaps posting here was a good luck charm this morning!!

gallygirl

Brilliant news, well done :j.

I remember when I got offered a new internal role with a whopping pay rise. Boss was asking me what my initial thoughts on role were but all I could think of was how much earlier I could retire :rotfl:.

kaycastle

Thank you!! I feel so lucky

I'll be taking home over £3000 a month. I've still got to save for some house renovation work in future so we can have a third bedroom. I'm thinking of saving as much as I can in a bank account then once a year doing a massive overpayment...see how close I can get to the limit. I've still got to work it out a bit. Would.be nice to get this massive renovation project done as after that there is nothing so huge.

It's my last day at this rubbish place today yay and then tomorrow I will play with my spreadsheets! :beer:

We are going to treat ourselves to a couple of bigger holidays next year, nothing too fancy but at least abroad. I'm thinking of booking those now so can look forward to them and know how much money I've spent.

kaycastle

I really cant decide between paying off mortgage and being mortgage neutral... I do like the idea of lots of money in an account.

Things would be a bit simpler if I did the third bedroom add which would be around £40k. Anything else we would need for house would be well under £5k and they would be more want rather than need. Plus it would add value for next remortgage in 5 years so it does make sense to save for that as quickly as possible.