Money and Life - my journey so far

fresh_cotton

I was on this forum when I started my MF journey a few years back and it has been a real help to me in the past. I haven't been on here for the last few years, but I have never stopped overpaying.

My mortgage started in 2013 with a balance of £145k. Today the balance is approximately £15,500. I should have it paid off by Christmas this year, or very soon after.

I have recently reduced my working days to 3 and my partner now works 4 days. We are aged 34 + 40 with no children. The original plan was to pay off the mortgage first and then reduce our working hours, but that soon changed.

One of the reasons why we decided to work less, is that I realised that if we continued to work full time until retirement, and spent as we are (which isn't exactly frugal but not foolish either) - then we would end up having too much money. So the choice was either to spend more or work less, which was an easy decision to make.

When I told people 'if I continue to work full time, I would end up with too much money' people look at you funny, because there appears to be a common misconception that there can never be too much money.

It may well be a cliche, but it was only last year that I really realised how valuable time was. Unlike money, time has a fixed amount that is constantly being spent and can never be replenished. So that is why I did not hesitate to reduce my salary from £35k to £21k.

I have done some retirement planning. My partner is a teacher and pays into a teachers pension, and when the mortgage is paid off, I will pay £700 per month into a pension and £400 into an ISA. The plan is to keep these going till we hit around 55 but then continue to work as and when we wish. We won't have £1m pension pots but then who wants to be the richest man in the graveyard anyway!

So, almost 6 years on from my MF journey, although the payments have been continued each month, my attitude towards money and life has completely changed.

LeighofMar

Welcome. It sounds like you have your priorities straight. We definitely believe in living now while also saving for the future and its a much calmer lifestyle for us. I am so jealous of your mortgage balance. That is wonderful. Well done!

kaycastle

I am well jealous of your mortgage balance Will need to look up on my spreadsheet when mine will be that haha.

I truly share the same philosophy as you about time and money. Its amazing what you've achieved so far, in 6 years thats brilliant

Jelllibeanz

Congratulations on getting your mortgage down so significantly! It's very impressive.


I completely agree and appreciate your approach to work life balance. I took a £18k pay cut a couple of years ago and whilst I still work full time it is with a mindful and supportive employer who provides flexibility. There is more to life than just work.


Good luck with the rest of your journey x

FIREdoc

Thank you for sharing, this is so inspiring.

beanielou

This is awesome

fresh_cotton

Thanks guys for your nice responses.

This place has always been an important part of my MF journey

Moneyfordreams

I remember reading your diary at the start of my journey… great to read you've progressed so well :T:T:T

Tropically

You can't take money with you when you die.

fresh_cotton

So we finally decided to scrap our two old cars. Its been surprising just how long the bangers have lasted actually. They were in desperate need to be ditched and we are now trying to survive on just having one car, to keep costs down.

We have therefore purchased a second hand (but still pretty decent) one, with the assistance of a personal loan. We have taken this over 2 years and the interest is very low. I think the total we will pay back is under £200.

The mortgage OP continues despite the loan payments.

Balance today is £13,900 exact.

To be honest, its a bit of a struggle, as we are reducing the mortgage capital by £1600 each month on our reduced income. Our joint monthly income after tax is £3,300 so after the mortgage payment plus the new car loan (which is an eye watering £500) - there isn't much room for error because, of course, we have all the usual direct debits.

But I keep telling myself that its just a matter of months, and then I will be free of the mortgage forever. So I am currently in 'just survive' mode. We have a £2000 overdraft which I am not ashamed to use over the following months.

Happier_Me

Hi Fresh Cotton and welcome back. I too remember you from a few years ago, I think we must have started our mortgage free journey at around the same time.

I'm mortgage free now but still have around the same owed on 0% credit cards as you have on your mortgage. We're paying this off at £1,100 a month to avoid having to balance transfer in the future.

The plan for us is to divert £600 a month into ISA's for retirement and increase our pension savings by £600 a month this year. These figures will increase again once the credit cards are paid off.

We haven't got enough saved yet so we are addressing gaps in our pension savings. My hours are currently going the wrong way too, so I'm somewhat envious of your working hours:).