FtbDreaming wants to clear £69,700 before Im 40 (2027)

FtbDreaming

Well my car went and broke on Monday. As I drove off the kerb I heard something snap and clang. Assumed it was the suspension and DP ordered a new spring without even looking at it to see. Today the springs getting delivered and now he decides to have a look at it. It is only the blooming steering rack snapped. So that’s £40 wasted on a spring and another £60 to spend on a 2nd hand steering rack, needless to say I don’t think I’ll be making any payments to the mortgage this week as I’d rather steer clear of the overdraft which is much more expensive than the mortgage. 

I’m coming up to my first £10 earned on prolific. I’m gonna withdraw that to dd1 bank account so that will cover her phone credit when it auto renews at the start of Oct (she needs credit for my peace of mind when she’s on the school bus). I also need to start building savings. We had booked someone to come and do the drive on the 23rd of this month but they didn’t turn up for the quote so I doubt they’ll turn up for the job. If they do then that will be going into the overdraft but will be back out of it in 5 weeks. 

work has been a killer. I cant cope with nights anymore. I am even getting tired in work and I never used to. I’m gonna go back to 4 days on 10 off as I can see the 2nd peak coming and I want to reduce exposure to covid as much as possible for my nan and the kids sakes. I have kept up my exercise this week and last. Not lost any weight at all but feel a bit fitter each day. 

Overall I’m just feeling very miserable, tired and defeated today... fingers crossed I cheer up soon! 

FtbDreaming

Oh my god I have no self control. I just couldn’t not pay anything.... another £50 op takes the mortgage to £68,800 so that’s £900 off the capital and I’ve owned the house for one month today! I want it down so the first £1000 Is off the mortgage by the 1st Oct. the 2nd £1000 will be spread much more thinly between 1st Oct and new year as I have a lot of birthdays and outgoings in the winter. 

Bargainhunter30

I feel your pain ftb, I struggle with night shifts too these days and i only do 1 or 2 a week. They wipe me out for days and make me so grumpy with everyone.  

MovingForwards

Can you return the spring for a refund? Cars are never sympathetic and always get their timings wrong when they want TLC.

You are under a lot of pressure, mostly from yourself. Stop trying to do everything at once. You lived in that property for a while before buying and coped, waiting a few months or until next year to get some things done is not a big deal. Dipping into your O/D, even for a few weeks, is not the way to finance things and you should be prioritising saving and saving to fund the different things you want. Do that and you won't be feeling defeated.

FtbDreaming

That’s is @Bargainhunter30 I’m a cow and I’m cranky as hell! 

I know @MovingForwards I do put myself under pressure and want everything at once. It’s because I have waited so long to be able to make it what I want and now I can but I can’t because I’m not a millionaire. 

I know an emergency fund is a big thing on here but at my stage of life it’s just not that doable. I have 3 kids who always have expenses. I have enough to to cover all my outgoings, make some overpayments and live a little. Plus a little £1000 cash buffer and £3000 in overdraft available for emergency. I am lucky that I have a secure job with as much work as I will ever need. If I were to die or become critically ill then I have insurance for that. I also have other means to fall back on if we were to hit dire straits we could sell one of the cars etc, family could help us out. 

The jobs for the rest of this year are:

finish the front/ driveway £1800
do the shed door (recycling driveway gates so free) 
get new blinds for the livingroom (£160 as they have to be custom made) done the 3 upstairs windows last week for £85. 

FtbDreaming

Hello! No more overpayments this week yet. I do have £500 in the bank but I think I’m gonna keep hold of it and see what expenses come up/ jobs I can get done soon. The car screwed us a bit last week as that ended up costing about £250 for a steering rack and new suspension parts too. 

Ive been on the overpayment calculator and I’ve already taken 7 months off the mortgage so that’s fab! This sounds ridiculous but I wish my mortgage was with one of the companies that actually reduced the term when you overpay so I could see the years go down! (That’s a thought for remortgage time- beggars couldn’t be choosers this time as I had adverse credit and low income). 

I’m thinking of going for a public health job. I am so so tired with nursing and with a&e being the only place I enjoy working.. I just don’t see my brain/body sustaining it long term it is so physically draining. There’s one job going with a £30k salary so I’m gonna apply for it. I have the Msc in Public health but no actual work experience in the field, all the roles seem to be senior. I could do with starting as junior and working up but hey ho I can just fill in the application and see how it goes. 

MovingForwards

Good luck with the application, it's all about transferable skills and awareness, not always experience in that actual role.

Well done on keeping some money back, it's worth building a kitty up.

You know the term is naturally shortening, it doesn't matter that it's not showing on the mortgage.

FtbDreaming

Thanks @MovingForwards I put in the application last night. I said about all my transferable skills. Tbh the job looks easy compared to what I’m used to and the salary is the same as I’m on now if I worked full time. 

I’m gonna wait for the dd to go out now and see what the balance is once the regular payment has been made. My target balance for the end of Oct is £68500 as I’ve got the kids birthdays coming up so don’t want to overstretch the cash available. 

FtbDreaming

Well what a busy week I’ve had! Last Thursday DP decided that we couldn’t manage with the drive the way it was as that’s what caused my steering rack to snap with me driving and parking on a dodgy uneven surface. So we went and ordered the materials and they could only deliver the next day. Queue an afternoon of lugging tonnes and tonnes of bricks and slabs to the dump then attempting to do the same with mud! The mud turned out to be impossible so we ended up hiring a skip to save our backs. It was a hard slog but we managed to get it done by Sunday night when I started my 3 night shifts (I was a dead woman walking by then but I’m still here to tell the tale!) anyway the pennies... all quotes were in the region of £2800-£3000 and we managed to do it in £1450! So a good saving but lots of stress. 

My interest showed up today on the mortgage. I was surprised how much it is tbh! I am going to make an OP of £43.20 and that will bring the balance to £68700 so that’s the first £1000 off! Hopefully get to £68,500 by the end of the month but we will see. 

After the learning curve of the drive I have realised I need more cash available to me which means I may reduce the overpayments for the time being whilst I get a good loft fund saved. I am thinking slow and steady wins the race so pay less now then from 2023-2027 I can smash it when the kids are older and I can work a lot more. 

I hate the beginning/ end of the month financially... I have so much go out that my bank goes from +£££ to £ and then I spend the next 2 weeks recouping it for it to then go the same again! The joy of weekly pay lol. 

MovingForwards

Well done for getting your drive done, that's a good saving with 'free' labour and only paying for materials.

First thing I did was work out roughly how much the mortgage interest was each month, then I knew roughly how much capital was being paid just from the normal monthly payment. Remember, as time goes on the capital payment will be higher than the interest element. Mine is about 40 months until the capital is higher than the interest side.

Weekly pay is beneficial, you know it's only a few days to wait if you've spent everything. Downside, as you noticed is payments being monthly. 

With such big projects, you do need that money behind you. There's nothing wrong with making token O/Ps while saving as you will be able to 'catch up' and meet your goal when everything is done.