We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

RT's path to MF

Options
Having followed a bunch of these diaries over the years and now just about to complete on the purchase of a flat I thought I'd start my own MF diary.

I'm 37, currently single and have 2 children, DD lives in Switzerland with her mum as did DS until a couple of weeks ago but he has now moved to England to live with me (I'll put more on this later). I'm hoping to be exchanging on the flat this week and completing shortly after, given that it's chain free and the purchase process started back in October it's been a bit frustrating with how long it has dragged on.

The financials
Property Cost: £215,000 (The seller bought this brand new 2 years ago for £240k)
Mortgage: £193,500

Salary: £65,000 (Take home £3700/mo after tax and pension contrib)
Bonus: 15%-30% in January, so somewhere between £5k and £10k after tax

Monthly outgoings
Mortgage: £711
Child Maintenance: ~£175 (this is under discussion at the moment, it was £350 when both kids were living with their mum)
Mobile Phone: £13
Other Flat Costs: £320 (Guestimate as not paying these yet, includes service charge, ground rent, council tax, insurance, utilities)
Sports: £225 (DS and I both do parkour and go karting)
Food: £300 - £400
Switzerland Costs: £800 (~£570 to rent apartment there, plus travel costs, probably an over estimate)
Petrol/Car: £70 (inc insurance paid annually)
Holidays/B'day/Christmas: ~£300

Total: ~£3014
Total left for overpayments: £686 (not including my annual bonus as this might just be put straight in to my pension)

Although this is a MF diary, I am actually going to be splitting where the money goes and I will class it as MF when my savings + investments is worth the same as the remaining mortgage, I currently have around £9k invested. Each month I will be putting some money in to my investments, and the rest will go in to savings accounts that pay more interest than the mortgage cost. At any point where the savings rate is less than the mortgage interest I will be paying the mortgage off with it. I can currently save at 5% so money is going in there ATM.
«1

Comments

  • rumpetroll
    rumpetroll Posts: 115 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 13 September 2019 at 9:21AM
    The situation with my kids is a little complicated as can probably be seen from the first post. My ex moved to Switzerland with our children 8 years ago (DS is now 9, DD is 11), she now also has 2 younger children. Things were a bit difficult to start with but over the years we've become friends again and I've been renting an apartment over there for some time and travel over regularly (probably spend a week or so of every month there). So while the maintenance I pay may seem low compared to my income it also takes in to account my expenses since she chose to live over there, infact the maintenance plus expenses is significantly more than I would pay in maintenance if she lived in the UK.

    As to why my son has moved over, his school in Switzerland had only 14 other children in with a 3 year age span, he wasn't being challenged with the work and he was suffering from bullying which was causing some behaviour issues. After discussing it with his mum we decided to try him at a school over here, we offered him the choice and he decided he wanted to try it, so he's now been here living with me and going to a UK school for the past 2 weeks. We're going to discuss it all again during the summer holidays and make a decision from there as to where he continues as he is due to go up to a much bigger school in Switzerland next school year, so it may be a case that he moves back then or he'll continue on over here.

    So lots of change for me at the moment but couldn't be happier.
  • nyc_451
    nyc_451 Posts: 502 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    That was a very interesting read. :)

    May I ask why did you choose a flat over a house, do you live in an expensive city?

    My purchase was also chain free and took approximately 5 months, very frustrating...
  • rumpetroll
    rumpetroll Posts: 115 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Thanks blue_mango.

    A couple of reasons for choosing a flat, firstly, like you suggest, it is an expensive town to live, the lowest cost houses that suited me were anywhere from £270k-£300k (2 bed and not in a rough area of town).

    It's also a 3-4 minute walk from the beach and very close to the town center which I wouldn't have gotten with a house. And finally with how much time I spend away in Switzerland I decided that a top floor flat in a secure block was more secure than a house.

    However, if I'd known at the time that my son would be living with me then I'd perhaps have chosen a house with a garden.
  • rumpetroll
    rumpetroll Posts: 115 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I was beginning to think it would never happen but had a call today from the solicitor and looks like we are going to be trying to set a completion date for Friday, with exchange of contracts hopefully happening tomorrow. So will be heading down to the bank to transfer over the deposit funds, and I've also got to go and get a new tyre on my car after getting a puncture last week from running over a nail, so an unexpected cost on that one, but at least I'm past the days of driving expensive cars with similarly expensive tyres.
  • FIREdoc
    FIREdoc Posts: 56 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts
    Happy new diary! And hope all goes to plan with exchange/completion!
    Starting mortgage Summer 2018 - £213,500
    2018 [STRIKE] Dec £205,330 [/STRIKE]
    2019 [STRIKE]Jan £204 200 MAY £199,650 August £196 000[/STRIKE] December £193 500

    [STRIKE]Goal for 2019 - £195,000.[/STRIKE] Goal for 2023 - £125000
    MFW2019 #89 £4303/£10,000
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 95,225 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Happy shiny new diary :)
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • greent
    greent Posts: 10,746 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Fingers crossed for a smoothly-running day today.... :)
    I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul
    Repaid mtge early (orig 11/25) 01/09 £124616 01/11 £89873 01/13 £52546 01/15 £12133 07/15 £NIL
    Net sales 2024: £20
  • rumpetroll
    rumpetroll Posts: 115 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 100 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Thanks everyone, after being told we would be exchanging every day this week it finally got to the point yesterday where we were ready to exchange but the sellers solicitor had already gone home by 4pm so we ended up exchanging and completing this morning, but finally it's all done. The mortgage is also showing up in my online banking already which is nice, and there's already £24.28 of interest charged!

    Thankfully I don't own a huge amount of stuff so have already loaded most of it up in to a van and just about to head out and get the keys. It'll be great to unpack as 99% of our stuff has been boxed up for about 4 weeks.

    Then to buy a TV as DS doesn't agree with me that we don't need one, which I guess will mean getting a TV license for the first time in about 7 years.
  • greent
    greent Posts: 10,746 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Glad it's all happened in the end :)
    I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul
    Repaid mtge early (orig 11/25) 01/09 £124616 01/11 £89873 01/13 £52546 01/15 £12133 07/15 £NIL
    Net sales 2024: £20
  • twinklie
    twinklie Posts: 5,165 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Sounds like a busy weekend ahead for you. Don’t forget to just stop occasionally to acknowledge that this is your new home. We moved in November and I frequently walk round thinking “I cannot believe that this is my house.”
    Reduction in daily mortgage interest since October 23 (new mortgage) - £1.42 Dec24
    % of house owned/% of mortgage paid off. Dec 24 - 3.85%/28.34%
    MFiT-T7 #21
    MFW 2025 #2
    MF Date: Oct 37 March 37
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.8K Life & Family
  • 256.8K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.