Its a new Me! Wannabe Debt free ... and get a Mortgage! 27 May 2019 at 12:14PM in Debt free diaries 35 replies 3K views

SandyShores

So, yes, its a new dawn, its a new life, its a new day for meeee...

Me and OH have finally almost reached debt-free. I hope its alright for me to linger on this forum, its just so friendly and supportive. Mr OH has a personal loan which he took out to buy a vehicle (needed for his business) £8.5k for 3.3%. And I've £3k outstanding on my student loan - it was worth it as I'm now earning decentish money. We've built up £23.5k in savings so I guess we could be debt-free with £12k savings, but we are both in our 50s and want to buy a house again. The kind of property we want to buy, we could afford alongside the loan payments, so have decided for the moment to keep the cash towards a deposit. The aim is to have a property paid for by the time we retire.

I've read a few of the forums about mortgages and tried an online AIP form but I think I need to go and see a whole of market broker. I've got a couple of names and so will be making that appointment after the bank holiday weekend.

I've also used the weekend to write out to all the credit card companies we ever dealt with and ask them if we ever had PPI with them. We're aiming to build up as big a deposit as possible so, who knows, its got to be worth a try. Ticked that off my to do list.

I need to have a think about overpaying the debt against balancing building up a deposit and saving enough for fees. A mortgage broker should help and there are lots of tips on this forum I need to follow especially as recently I've been a bit more relaxed on being frugal. Its been fun relaxing for a bit, but I need a new target now to keep me on track for a mortgage free retirement. Its scary but exciting.

ElissaJ

Ooh, I'll be following you, if that's ok! I'm in a fairly similar position, paying off the last few debts and then hoping to get a small mortgage, but as a first time buyer who's hoping to be debt free for the first time in my life at nearly 50, I'm finding the planning process pretty daunting (although very exciting too)!

Wishing you lots of luck with your plans

SandyShores

Thanks for posting ElissaJ. Its good to hear there is someone else in a similar position.

Good luck to you too, will be good to hear about your progress and share any tips.

Buffythedebtslayer

I would like to follow along too if that is ok? You all sound so positive It is brilliant XX

ElissaJ

Thanks SandyShores! I'm a complete newbie here, only found this site about a week ago... I started trying to pay debts last year, but working self employed on a P/T basis with no clue how debt worked, it was one step forwards, two steps back...

I've been far more focused this year - my daughter leaves for uni in September, then it's just me and the cats, and they don't contribute much, lol. I spent the first four months of 2019 sourcing more work, so I'm virtually F/T, and managed to pay off just under half of my overall debt (which was about (£8k), tackling the most expensive CC 1st. £440 of that to go...

This last month, I've been keeping a spending diary (NOW I know where all that money went!) and making an ambitious plan to do the next CC by end July (£2k), with the OD last (£2k). No idea if this is the right way round, but I figure clearing the cheaper CC will actually be easier than getting & staying out of the red in the current account? Am leaving the smallish balance on the first CC to try & keep it open so it supports my credit rating for mortgage applications (it's my longest held one with the highest credit limit). Again, not a clue if this is a sound strategy - need to do some more research, I think!

Any mortgage will be tricky for me to get, I guess, self employed with a v low income over last 3 years, but at least I'll be debt free with a good credit rating when I'm done & that's a start!

Sorry...I'm a freelance writer...I talk a lot

SandyShores

Yes please Buffy. So pleased to have you along.

SandyShores

Elissa you have done really well. I had to find this site and then have a few light bulb moments before I was able to get started. I hope your daughter will be okay at Uni. It seems to be so expensive these days.

I found it really difficult to get rid of my overdraft - it was the usual pay it off, spend it again, so yes I would pay the CCs first and then cut them up. Its just getting into the habit of paying debts first. Its so frustrating when you are paying for things that you have had, its much nice saving for things you want.

Had an appointment with the broker on Thursday, and they will come back to us next week. Fingers crossed for good news. We had really good news this week - well a £4k PPI payout. I had a think about all the Cards and Loans we had and found that if you type in the name and PPI into the search engine, most of them have a simple online form. All they want is your name and any addresses you may have lived at. That was the easiest £4k I ever earned and has been a boost for the deposit.

I've had a few letters in response to the others - some saying we didn't have PPI, but there are a few who are doing investigations. I got a negative response from AMEX - who were the only ones wanting an email. Then Tesco seem to want an old fashioned letter so I need to get a proof of postage from the PO. Just try it folks, you never know.

Keep going lovely debt-busters, you will get there xx

SandyShores

Well, we have gone and reserved a brand new property to move in next Spring. Fingers crossed all goes well - its scary looking at the numbers and the timescale. I couldn't choose between the two sizes of home - one slightly bigger and £30k more my preference, but £30 is such a lot - I know as I've just paid that back in credit cards. In the meantime the cheaper property went and so we have gone for the larger one. Its all do-able, but who knows what the future holds. But who knows what the future holds anyway. We are going to give it a go - let's see how far we get along the housebuying journey (all the way we hope) and then it will be Mortgage-free Wannabe for me. Excited trepidation here

Lemon_Tree

Congratulations on reserving a new home, that's so exciting.

ElissaJ

Oh, that's brilliant news, well done! You must be so excited:T:T

SandyShores

Thank you Elissa and Lemon Tree.

Very exciting and very scary. It all has to happen so quickly - unlike when you are selling a property and have to show a billion people around. Its all systems go. There has been a lot of paperwork to fill in. And lots of signing and £ signs. My calculations are that we are still okay even with the larger property and I am planning to be able to make overpayments (however small) from the get go.

Seems very strange to have spent the last 7 or 8 years getting out of debt for about £30k, only to get into it again for about 10 times as much. The difference I suppose is that this is something useful (somewhere we will live) and its an asset - unlike those many cars, holidays, clothes and nights out!

I've spent a few nights thinking 'what if something negative happens' but have come to the conclusion that you have to take a certain amount of chances in life - there's just no option, things happen anyway, so just plan as much as you can and go for it. Fingers crossed here we go.