The £300k Road to MF Wonder by 40(ish)!

Tomby1

We (wife (30), myself (29) and baby (4 months) have a plan to be mortgage free by the time our youngest hits secondary school, which I believe gives us around 11 years from today. (although I'm not sure the baby has much of a say...)
We also have a Japanese Spitz called Sasha and 2 cats (Bluebell and Pixie) so it's a chaotic household!
We're looking to have a 2nd child in the next couple of years but definitely no more after that!

House Value: Approx £375,000
Smallish 3 Bed Semi - we'd love to get somewhere bigger one day
Mortgage is currently around £285,000 (started at £308,000), with a monthly payment of £1,307, at 1.85% with Barclays. (3 year fixed, ending June 2021) Just over 22.5 years left on mortgage.

We have some credit card and student loan debt we're currently paying off, but hoping both of those will be finishing up by the end of 2020, giving us even more scope for overpaying.

I have pots (using Monzo) that I use to save up for yearly and one-off expenditures and that means we are always on the front foot with spending.

Wages: £4,680
Plus normally around £1500 annual bonus for myself

Direct Debits

Mortgage: £1307
Council Tax: £180 (paid for 10/12 months)
Electricity & Gas: £78/126 (Summer vs Winter)
TV, Internet & Phone: £70
Life Insurance: £66.58
Vet Cover (monthly scheme for injections, checkups etc): £35.50
Music Streaming: £9.99
Mobile Phone: £20
Bins Cleaning: £10
Dog Walker: £30

Other Spend
Groceries & Toiletries: £300
Petrol: £150
Pets: £100
Car Repairs / Service / MOT: £40
TV License: £13
Pet Insurance / Contingency: £40
Water/Sewerage: £50
Breakdown Cover: £10
Home Insurance: £20
Car Insurance/Tax: £50
Dental/Health/Optical: £100
Haircuts: £30
Dining & Drinking: £25
Entertainment: £30
Holidays: £50
Pet Boarding: £20
Presents: £50
Window Cleaner: £10
Other/Misc: £50
Personal Spend for wife and I ("Pocket Money"): £300
Contingency: £100

Childcare: £300
Misc Child Costs: £175

Total Expenses: £3,810

TOTAL REMAINING: £870

Loans/Debt

Student Loan: £5,785 (to 31/07/19), currently being paid off at £346 per month, last payment expected December 2020 (interest rate 1.75%)
Santander Credit Card: £1,325 (0% interest until January 2021)
Sainsburys Credit Card: £10,410 (0% interest until April 2021)

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The aim will be to see where more savings can be made, and overpay the mortgage whilst ensuring the credit cards are paid off before the end of the 0% interest period.

The goal is set - let's see how it goes!

savingholmes

Good luck on your journey.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

LeighofMar

Welcome with your new diary.

clearmydebts

Good luck!

BachSoon

Good luck,you seem very determined.

Tomby1

Update 1: Weathering the maternity storm

No real progress since beginning as payday was my wife’s final maternity pay before returning to work.

Saw a house that we loved locally but it would have realistically meant adding another 10 years to our mortgage free date! Decided we would be happier for now with a smaller house but more disposable income, which I think will be the right decision! The house is big enough to suit our needs for at least the next few years.

Looking forward to starting to make some positive changes this month and saving some extra money by months end...

Tomby1

Update 2: Working towards 2020

Still paying off money taken out of savings over the past few months so no real progress on the mortgage free journey yet.

Struggling most with keeping grocery costs down, particularly as we are trying to avoid processed food which makes things much cheaper!

Current aim: make it through to January without any further setbacks and then start making some inroads!