Money and Life - my journey so far

fresh_cotton

Hi guys.

Balance is now £9,400 - which means we are on track, however completely broke.

Its surprising how easy it can be to stop buying 'stuff' when you put your mind to it. I dont think we have purchased any clothes or gadgets for months, which I am really pleased about.

August will mark 6 years since we purchased the house and I cannot believe how much progress we have made on the mortgage. The end is starting to look really near.

But yes, I am so excited to be below £10k!

LeighofMar

That's amazing. You must be so psyched. What a wonderful way to finish 2019. I will be cheering you on.

Gstrang81

That's amazing! Well done, you should both be very proud of yourselves

zcrat41

Wow what a fantastic journey, well done.

I have property instead of a pension. Mainly because of circumstances (had bought before I met dh pre 2nd home stamp duty etc). But also because I like to be in control of my assets. One word of warning, it's not easy - there's days of clearing gutters, ringing plumbers etc. Pensions or investments would be a lot easier.

Good luck.

[Deleted User]

Brilliant! You're going to give us all a big boost as we cheer your success at the end of the year. Amazing!

fresh_cotton

Hi guys, Its been so long since I have logged on ....

By way of an update - I am hoping to pay the mortgage off end of October! so this is now my last month with a mortgage. I can't believe it.

However - I do owe my mother £5000, as she wanted me to save it for her and we decided that I would pay that off my mortgage to save on interest (so I have cheated) The reason for this is that my fix is coming to an end and of course I did not want another 2 year product, and the interest rate on the variable is pretty high.

Also - we have a car loan to pay off, which I will hammer once the mortgage is out of the way.

But I could not be happier with how the journey went, its been 6 years and 2 months, and its almost gone.

In terms of other news, I am still working 3 days and enjoying pottering around as much as possible. I have discovered that I am a cat lover, not having had one before, and now have 2!

I have become so much happier now that I have stopped buy stuff and instead arguing with my cats because they are taking over my life and offer me no rights.

Even though I haven't posted much on here, this forum has been the backbone to my journey. It was so encouraging and inspiring, and meant that I never felt alone in what I believed I wanted out of life. So thank you to everyone. Whether or not we have swapped comments, just reading what you have to say has helped.

I will, of course, be back soon for updates.

fresh_cotton

Moving forward, I will have some other debts to clear, mainly the car loan which i want out of the way and I owe my mother £5,000. I will probably focus on clearing them as quickly as possible, so I can finally be completely debt free. I will have it all gone by next summer.

Then of course, I will start putting money away for the future. I have moved away from private pensions, having given it a lot of research and thought. The main reason is the lack of flexibility. I do not like the idea that the rest of my life is divided into two 'sections' (i.e. pre and post retirement). Mentally, it just doesn't work for me.

Working 3 days a week means that I am never exhausted from work, so I plan to keep working. I will take big breaks from work and will use my savings for that, however I don't want to have to wait till I'm 55 for that option. If I need the money to buy a property abroad (unlikely, but not ruled out yet) - then I want to be able to do that. I want the option of being able to live each day as it comes.

I will always be sensible with money and will make sure I have savings and will continue to add to them each month. I will of course, make the most of my ISA's, including stocks and shares to try and get some growth long term.

But the plan is to not overthink it, not set goals or feel like I should have a massive portfolio of investments at 60. I am naturally frugal and increasingly not wasteful, so my finances won't run away from me.

Not long now ....

fresh_cotton

Its been paid off!

I sent the money across yesterday and just waiting for it to clear, and then make a small additional payment for any last bits of interest, which I think will be less than £3. So whilst technically the account is still open, it should be resolved in the next day or two.

Its going to feel weird not having a mortgage account at the start because I am so used to constantly sending money across to it and watching the balance come down. I will do another post once I have the closure in writing or confirmed over the phone.

Moneyfordreams

Huge congratulations :j:j:j

kev2009

Congrats!

Kev