The second hurdle - Nichelette v the huge mortgage

Nichelette

Just been doing a bit of number crunching for nursery fees. Apparently this is bordering on a hobby  .

We need to put approx £4466 away for DS1 & £7950 for DS2. That takes us to when DS1 starts school and DS2 gets his 30 hours. It averages £1034 which is pretty good going as I was paying more than that just for DS1 before I went on mat leave. 

We no longer need to max out the tax free account for DS1. Woop. 

We've got £8825 in PB's still which I'm probably going to leave there as emergency money, but it looks like we'll be retaining about 1.7k of my earnings which is more than expected, so hopefully can divert this money to good use. Kids are currently getting nearly 30% in their vanguard account. Obviously appreciate this can go either way, but I think we'd be more than the 4.9% (I think) the mortgage is so I might start sticking any extras in there instead of OP'ing directly. Haven't thought about it a lot, but we might be able to squirrel away enough to pay moving costs instead of taking from equity. 

savingholmes

Well done. Sounds like you are very disciplined.

debtfreewannabe321

I only came back to mse this January after a long hiatus...I decided to move on a bit of a whim (well wasn't very happy here but we've made the house lovely so I was very indecisive for a while) and since budgeting again we managed to save enough for conveyancing and removals rather than take it from equity. Didn't quite have enough for the estate agent too. Moving is an expensive game these days! 

Well done on all the number crunching you sound super organised.

Nichelette

debtfreewannabe321 said:

I only came back to mse this January after a long hiatus...I decided to move on a bit of a whim (well wasn't very happy here but we've made the house lovely so I was very indecisive for a while) and since budgeting again we managed to save enough for conveyancing and removals rather than take it from equity. Didn't quite have enough for the estate agent too. Moving is an expensive game these days! 

Well done on all the number crunching you sound super organised.

That's really good going! If it weren't so expensive to move we'd probably have had a middle house, but as it is we'll probably be going from first to final (or at least until kids no longer about). 

Should probably do a new SOA as everything is different to when I started this!

debtfreewannabe321

Nichelette said:

debtfreewannabe321 said:

I only came back to mse this January after a long hiatus...I decided to move on a bit of a whim (well wasn't very happy here but we've made the house lovely so I was very indecisive for a while) and since budgeting again we managed to save enough for conveyancing and removals rather than take it from equity. Didn't quite have enough for the estate agent too. Moving is an expensive game these days! 

Well done on all the number crunching you sound super organised.

That's really good going! If it weren't so expensive to move we'd probably have had a middle house, but as it is we'll probably be going from first to final (or at least until kids no longer about). 

Should probably do a new SOA as everything is different to when I started this!

I have regularly updated my SOA to see where things are at as things can change so frequently as kids grow and life changes!

Nichelette

debtfreewannabe321 said:

Nichelette said:

debtfreewannabe321 said:

I only came back to mse this January after a long hiatus...I decided to move on a bit of a whim (well wasn't very happy here but we've made the house lovely so I was very indecisive for a while) and since budgeting again we managed to save enough for conveyancing and removals rather than take it from equity. Didn't quite have enough for the estate agent too. Moving is an expensive game these days! 

Well done on all the number crunching you sound super organised.

That's really good going! If it weren't so expensive to move we'd probably have had a middle house, but as it is we'll probably be going from first to final (or at least until kids no longer about). 

Should probably do a new SOA as everything is different to when I started this!

I have regularly updated my SOA to see where things are at as things can change so frequently as kids grow and life changes!

Just realised my last one was in 2020 when we didn't even have any kids 😂. We've been paid today and little is napping whilst elder is at nursery so today is my day for figures. New SOA incoming 😅

Nichelette

Accidentally added an extra zero to our house value so enjoyed being a millionaire for the two seconds it took me to realise the error  . Also can't edit formatting for some reason so excuse massive bold text!

Statement of Affairs & Personal Balance Sheet

Summary

Monthly Budget Summary	Amount(£)
Total monthly income	6,217
Monthly expenses (incl. HP & secured loans)	3,925
Available for debt repayments	2,292
UNsecured debt repayments	310
Amount left after debt repayments	1,982

Personal Balance Sheet Summary	Amount(£)
Total Assets (things you own)	418,825
Total Secured & HP Debt	-198,937
Total Unsecured Debt	-11,298
Net Assets	208,590

Household Information

Number of adults in household	2
Number of children in household	2
Number of cars owned	2

Income, Expense, Debt & Asset Details

Income	Amount(£)
Monthly income after tax	2719
Partners monthly income	3328
Benefits	170
Other income	0
Total monthly income	6217

Expenses	Amount(£)
Mortgage	1194
Secured/HP loan payments	0
Rent	0
Management charge (leasehold property)	30
Council tax	199
Electricity	59
Gas	59
Oil	0
Water Rates	60
Telephone (land line)	0
Mobile phone	22
TV Licence	15
Satellite/Cable TV	20
Internet services	25
Groceries etc.	300
Clothing	75
Petrol/diesel	250
Road tax	31
Car Insurance	50
Car maintenance (including MOT)	80
Car Parking	0
Other travel	0
Childcare/nursery	1034
Other child related expenses	100
Medical (prescriptions, dentists, opticians etc.)	60
Pet Insurance/Vet bills	0
Buildings Insurance	6
Contents Insurance	6
Life Assurance	0
Other Insurance	0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc.)	50
Haircuts	0
Entertainment	200
Holiday	0
Emergency Fund	0
Total monthly expenses	3925

Secured & HP Debt Description	Debt(£)	Monthly(£)	APR(%)
Mortgage	198937	(1194)	4.9
Secured & HP Debt totals	198937	-	-

Unsecured Debt Description	Debt(£)	Monthly(£)	APR(%)
CC	5549	150	0
CC	5749	160	0
Unsecured Debt totals	11298	310	-

Asset Description	Value (£)
Cash	8825
House Value (Gross)	380000
Shares and bonds	0
Car(s)	30000
Other assets (e.g. endowments, jewellery etc)	0
Total Assets	418825

Nichelette

Very quick update! 

I've found returning to work with two far harder than I did with one for some reason. The amount of washing is also off the scale 🫠. It's a real struggle to find the time to do things like cleaning. I can barely stay awake past 9 most days, and kids generally wake me for one reason or another still. Am trying to be better with meal planning in new year. I've made a spreadsheet with meals we like and links to recipes so I can just use a random number generator to plan. Hopefully they helps as I find thinking things up half the struggle!

Most of our money is going on nursery, but I've very nearly got enough in DS1's tax free childcare account to cover until he starts school. Sadly can't say the same for DS2!

Currently at risk of redundancy (though company claim not to know anything). Long story short but the building we're in is being sold. 30 jobs have gone already. A reduced number have gone to Scotland. Am convinced they're trying to clear the building so they won't have to find a new one. My bit of the business is necessary under license condition, but that doesn't stop them from moving the job... Think I'd get a bit over 10k in redundancy if it comes to it as obviously they're only doing govt minimum.. I've been in the job 15 years and to be honest with such young kids the last thing I want to think about right now is possibly needing a new job. 

I think this year is going to be a bit of an effort and not one that we'll breeze through. Fortunately DH is doing well in his job and will hopefully get a pay rise at some point so hopefully that will mitigate any issues with mine. 

Happy new year anyway! Am celebrating first full year I've not been pregnant since 2019 😂

misslolu

Oh no, hopefully it doesn't go that way and they realise how much they need you!

Nichelette

Thanks @misslolu. My managers manager was made redundant a couple of weeks ago. We actually thought we were all going to be yesterday too as we were all called to a meeting with three HR staff (the same happened with the others who were made redundant), but it was actually about moving us to a different directorate. That has happened a lot with us over the years and we've never had more than an email, so there's an example of how not to deal with change management...

Not overly delighted about where we've been moved to, but I suppose at least I still have a job. We're seriously looking now at possibly trying to move once DS1 starts school in September so potentially I don't need to hang on for that much longer. Saving grace is I think DH could do his job from anywhere, and we think it's pretty safe (we work for same company). I think with our existing equity and what he could get on a mortgage alone we'd at least be able to move to something slightly bigger in absolute worst case. 

Based on my rough calculations we only need to put around £800 into DS1 tax free childcare account to cover the rest of his time in nursery if he remains FT. Our nursery doesn't spit funding across the year and there is none in August so we're considering reducing him to 4 days for that month or the nursery bill will be nearly 3k for both. To be honest it wouldn't reduce it by that much, but it still makes a small difference. DS2 needs about 3.5k in his account to cover him until he will qualify for the 30 hours in September. 

Everything feels so up in the air at the moment. I'm still run ragged and have prettymuch no downtime. It's hard when we have literally no one who can give us a break. If there were an emergency people would help, but it's not practical for any more than that. I'm not saying that anyone should help us, but to be honest I am a bit jealous of those who have anything. My nan was literally a 2 minute walk away when we were kids. We'd see her all the time. I'd give a lot to have the same. My mum does wish she was closer and she loves seeing the kids. It's a shame she can't be nearer right now. Part of me honestly thinks we should disappear to Scotland, but we would literally be by ourselves as DH family aren't close like mine. Things would practically be so much easier though. We'd have a bigger house with a smaller mortgage. DH could continue doing his job. I could work PT so I could see the kids more and get things done around the house in the other time. I find it hard trying to squeeze everything into the hours around working. 

Sorry for the miserable rant. This was supposed to be a money update. Think am just a bit worn out and don't know what to do now!

Washing machine broke recently (can't complain, it was cheap and lasted 10 years) so we had to buy a new one. I've found paypal credit is quite good as it gives 4 months at 0%. I then do prolific surveys which pay via paypal to do my best to pay it off, then anything remaining after the 4 months I'll use our regular cash to pay off. Prolific is pretty good for making cash. Not as good as MB since that dried up, but still worth doing.

We've still got just over 9k in PB's and similar in vanguard for the kids. We'd not use it unless we had absolutely no choice, but I suppose it's there as a buffer if anything did happen with my job. Mortgage has reduced by £30 as apparently when they do the annual statement it has been adjusted due to my overpayment in summer. I'm continuing to pay the extra £30 for now as given the choice I'd have left it at the same level to continue slowly chipping away at it. All being well, when DS1 gets to school we should be able to start making significant OP's again. 

As hard as it has been financially (and sometimes practically), DS1 who is nearly 4 is amazing. I so love being able to chat with him and watch him learn new things. I am very lucky in a lot of ways. Just not sleep related ones  .