Paying it down and building it up

Maxthebrave

Hi everyone :j
I am a long time lurker and attempted a diary a while ago we were in financial limbo at the time. Now we have a little certainty so we have created a plan to start taking us forward in the money department. Both DH and I turned 40 this year and we have started to panic that we are running out of time to provide for our children and give us any decent form of retirement.

We have 2 daughters (6 and 4) and a cat who seems to cost the most out of all of us. We live in a lovely house in a village which is wonderful but brings with it all the added costs of remote rural living - petrol, an Aga that drinks oil, septic tanks, tree surgeons and the rest. We have been here a few years now so I think we have the costs sorted while initially it was a bit of a shock:rotfl:

We have £76k left on the mortgage which is currently on the longest term possible creating a very affordable £280 a month payment. We are in the middle of paying off our interest free sofa loan but once thats up we can throw at least a total of £600 a month at the mortgage and then there will be extras too. I want it gone for good by the age of 50 but I've given myself a 5 year goal as I want to see how much I can achieve in that time.

My job tends to come in 18 month contracts so to counter the instability we have devised our own form of budgeting. This involves us saving a years worth of bills and sinking funds first before we allow money to go elsewhere into savings and mortgage ops.
This year we are doing really well thanks to some mega budgeting on my part and a surprise £3k windfall so we are nearly ready to use the money in other ways:j Our year start and end is September so only 3 months in! As well as paying off the mortgage I want to build on our savings. We currently have nearly £15k in an emergency fund but I would like to see that increase significantly.
We don't earn a huge amount but I am a big believer that little bits here and there add up to lots.

CathT

A 5 year goal is great and it sounds like you've made a good head start by building up EF so can really attack the mortgage now.

Maxthebrave

Hi CathT, thank you for stopping by:j

Just sorting out our figures and balances so I can add to my signature.
Sinking funds £8013.73 / £13440
Mortgage - £75832.86
Savings £14711.46

The sinking funds are for next year which starts in September. We already have all of this years in the bank and being used.

I have been reading up a lot of Dave Ramsey type literature and I am starting to see the point of investing rather than paying down the mortgage. However there is lots of talk of 12% returns etc and I haven't a clue how that translates in this country. Everything I look at seems to be people bragging about how rich they are and trying to sell me a course :rotfl:

Have decided to try to do one money saving / making event a day. If I just made my own lunch it would be a great start but our work canteen is so good its hard to resist sometimes.:D

Expensive day so far today. We have just booked tickets to a gig and DH has just set off to buy new running shoes (cheaper than the gym membership I talked him out of).

We are all off to fireworks tonight with some friends. Hoping the rain stays away and that DD2 can cope with all the loud whizzes and bangs.

I am off to shop the cupboards for this weeks meal plan. Have a lovely weekend.

Daily money saving / making goal - worked a shift in pub (side hustle) £75

Maxthebrave

Fireworks were lovely last night. We used up some old sparklers before we left and a friend had the genius idea of taking a pack of glow sticks so all the kids were happy without spending any money other than the entry. The rain dried up and it was one of those gorgeous, crisp autumnal nights. I made lentil soup with crusty rolls before hand and I heated it up to be eaten in front of the fire while DH got the girls to bed. Bliss.

Hoping to have a relaxing day today and list a few bits on Facebay. Would also love to tackle the chaos of the larder / fridge / freezer before hitting the weekly shop.

Money saving - around a fiver on not having to give into peer pressure and buy sparklers / glow sticks

BVic28

Hi Max, looking forward to following your mortgage free journey! I love the idea of doing one money saving/making thing a day.

Maxthebrave

Hi BVic28 :j Hoping it helps keep me in the mindset. I am definitely the money organiser and motivator in my household but also the one who caves first after a bad day and demands a take away and wine
Trip to Aldi yesterday morning to do the weekly shop. £65 for a trolley full of stuff. I love Aldi. In my "i'm not going to Aldi, I'm middle class" days shopping at Waitrose or even Sainsburys that shop would have been over £100. I do still pop to the others for top up bits but with meal planning and cash enveloping our food money we have got our total down to around £475 a month.

Failed to sort out much of the selling things yesterday but did go for a nice walk in the woods as a family. All was going well until DD1 fell off her bike on the way back to the car.
I cooked a whole roast cauliflower (from Jamie Oliver veg book) for dinner and DH and I loved it. The girls were not so keen sadly but they are still at the fusspot stage. Will definitely be making it again.

BVic28

That sounds exactly like me, I’m the one who knows exactly what money is going where but also the one who spends the most unnecessarily. My excuse is that I know how much is left that I can spend haha