Lolu's Mortgage Free odyssey

misslolu

This is the first month of further reduced national insurance which has bumped my pay up a little bit more, it's not lifechanging, but every little helps. I'll be slightly increasing my debt payments by £30, which is an extra full payment every 5 months, certainly not to be sniffed at. If I don't do any more additional payments, I should have this debt paid off in the next 6 months or so, just because interest is sooo low. With some bigger survey payments coming up in the next few weeks i'd envisage that decreasing by at least 1 month.

CC2 (Ours) -  4,423 4,173
CC3 (His) - 7,762 7,501
Medical Loan (Mine) - 1,526 1442
Student Loan - 6,520 6,300

Total Non - Mortgage Debt - 19,906
Total Debt - 208,805

S&S LISA - 9,364 10,364 
Premium Bonds - 7,875 7,925
Joint Savings - 5,292 5,000

Some deadlines for the wedding have come up in the past few weeks, which is why the joint savings amount has been fluctuating as we put in and take money out. I can't wait for all of it to be over, both for money's sake and also my piece of mind! 

In other news, I had my bridesmaids over for a luncheon to get them all acquainted with each other. It was so much fun and a bit stressful since I did all the cooking but i'm super glad I did it. I need to find more excuses to hang out with my girls, i've been so isolated over the past few months, and I think it's a good idea to keep myself supported.

misslolu

So i've done something quite radical this week. My bonus meant that i topped up my mini savings to £1000 which has been my target for a long time. Now, without any major expenses on the horizon, it looks like I may be able to put all my extra mini savings money towards the debt rather than keeping it growing above my goals. I'm not sure of any major expenses that aren't wedding related, so it's possible I can continue putting the excess mini savings towards the CC debt until my part is paid off. That will leave the car finance & my student loan as my last major debts for the year.

CC2 (Ours) -  4,111 3,861
CC3 (His) - 7,501 6,972 
Medical Loan (Mine) - 1,458 1,355
Student Loan - 6,561 6,337
Mortgage - 184,661 184,440

Total Non - Mortgage Debt - 18,513
Total Debt - 203,000

S&S LISA - 9,726 9,832
Premium Bonds - 8,125 8,200
Joint Savings - 4,600 5,065
Total - 23,097

I do have a feeling that personal wedding costs will deplete my mini savings so it's very likely I won't be able to consistently put much more than my normal payments in until after the wedding. Until then, I just have to focus on paying consistently every month and keeping costs down.

misslolu

More wedding problems have me wishing it was all over with already. It just keeps getting more and more annoying trying to liaise with family and keeping the from taking over. Less than 4 months till the nightmare is allll over and I have my life back. Finances for the week:

CC2 (Ours) -  3,861
CC3 (His) - 6,964
Medical Loan (Mine) - 1,355
Student Loan - 6,370
Mortgage - 184,440

Total Non - Mortgage Debt - 18,550
Total Debt - 202,703

S&S LISA - 10,047 
Premium Bonds - 8,200
Joint Savings - 5,065
Total - 23,312

From next month, i'm expecting the joint savings to deplete as we start paying more deposits and installments, which is fine as it's all planned for. Surveys have been slow again this month but i'm plugging away and remembering that every bit I pay off makes a difference.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Weddings are very stressful! I think stopping others from taking over is the key, I really enjoyed planning my wedding to DH, so I might be a bit weird! Though I have a very complex family dynamic so that was where all my stress was based! 

Money stuff seems to be going well, changing things as you go makes the most sense, no plan has to be concrete! Sounds good to have spent time with your friends, definitely make this more of a priority!

misslolu

@Aimingforthegoodlife funny enough i'd say 80% of the wedding is family-related as like you said we both have complex family dynamics. E.g. something we're struggling with is the guest list, noone agrees on how much each family should get and everyone has invited more than even their proposed allocation. Very frustrating. I'm clsoing RSVPs this week so anyone that hasn't responded by then is getting kicked out. Money stuff is looking better though, just waiting for OH to get a better job and we'll be absolutely laughing.


Wasn't much to report so I waited for payday and guess what, I've paid off another debt!! I used OH's card which still has his educational loan and our card debt on it so it's not actually vsible, but I know in my heart that I have another debt paid off which is super amazing! This reduces my number of debts this year from 6 to 4, yay me! For some reason this month had low expenses, with most purchases coming directly from the joint account for food and petrol. Because of that, not only was I able to put my minisavings standing order towards the debt, but also the remnants of my current account. I decided not to put all the money towards it, and do something nice for myself as well but it does mean that next month there's good potential for me to make mega inroads to my next debt. A look at the finances now:

CC2 (Ours) -  3,611
CC3 (His) - 6,342
Medical Loan (Mine) - 1,355
Student Loan - 6,370
Mortgage - 184,440

Total Non - Mortgage Debt - 17,928
Total Debt - 202,703

S&S LISA - 10,047 
Premium Bonds - 8,200
Joint Savings - 5,065
Total - 23,312

I've now paid off 2 debts which is great, but these first two debts were quite small, under 1.2K each, and the next ones are larger. This means they'll take a lot longer to pay off, but it also means i'm really starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel debt wise. Now I have to make a decision on which debt to pay off next out of the car loan and my student loan.

Car loan
My half of the loan is £2,500 so still relatively low and would only take about 14 months with my usual £180 payments, but it would be faster if I continue to add survey money and any extra from the mini savings. However, the money is commingled with OH's debt and his half of the car loan. Something that's just come to mind is that the amount we're paying is split into 2 payments, with the lower interest part of the 2 coming to an end in June. That means we'll have to pay off at least half by then, so something to be considered.

Student loan
That debt is now just over £6k which is a decent amount and is technically my highest interest debt outside of the mortgage. Paying this first is more financially savvy, but is bound to take ages with my current payments and I can see myself feeling discouraged, especially if I can't pay £300+ (on top of my PAYE deductions).

Decisions decisions, i'm leaning towards the car loan at the moment, but we'll see how I feel when the first survey payment money drops.

misslolu

Payday has come and gone, btu apart from that not much else, except that we're expecting a few more wedding payments from the joint account soon. I honestly can't wait for it to be over so we can build the cash for other things.

CC2 (Ours) -  3,611 3,631
CC3 (His) - 6,342 6,354
Medical Loan (Mine) - 1,355 1,270
Student Loan - 6,370 6,178
Mortgage - 184,440 184,186

Total Non - Mortgage Debt - 17,9433
Total Debt - 201,619

S&S LISA - 10,047 10,154 
Premium Bonds - 8,220 8,225
Joint Savings - 5,065 4,972
Total - 25,280

I got my mortgage statement and an appallingy low amount has come off the mortgage this year so far. I've still got quite a bit more debt to pay but i'm hoping that by this time next year, i'll be in a position to pay more off. 

misslolu

My parents have started paying the loan back! This is great because i've actually paid off the interest bearing bits off of what they owed, so everything can either go towards the non-interest bits or can be used to pay off other debts. at the moment, i'm not sure what to pay off and I feel like i should keep it in cash in case of extra wedding expenses on my own part. I may do that since the wedding is pretty soon, for now it's in savings. Finances for the week:

CC2 (Ours) -  3,631 4,001
CC3 (His) - 6,354 6,038
Medical Loan (Mine) - 1,270
Student Loan - 6,178 
Mortgage - 184,186

Total Non - Mortgage Debt - 17,487
Total Debt - 201,673

S&S LISA - 10,154 10,278
Premium Bonds - 8,225
Joint Savings - 4,972 3,109
Total -  21,612


Lots of deposit payments have now gone out to vendors, there's probably still another £3-4k we need to pay before we're fully paid up. Can't believe there's less than 10 weeks to the wedding, i'm sooo ready for it to be over and for all of us to have control of our money again haha. In other news OH got a job!! Super excited because it means he can use his degree. The salary is the same as his current job, though he'll need to spend a bit more on transport but it does mean that he gets to sit down instead of standing all day and there's a pay rise for him 3 months in when he passes probation. We're really hoping this gives him the necessary experience to step up to the next level and get to a decent level.

jamesanning

You could put a massive spin on your mortgage free journey 
a mortgage is “leverage” let’s say you when your home goes up (in Kingston upon Thames) £150k you refinance and get a buy to let ( interest only ) costs roughly half the cost of a repayment mortgage. Now you have 2 properties doubling ever 10 years on average and you will have a tenant paying you the cost of the increase on your mortgage and paying for the new mortgage also you will probably make a profit which will be a passive income.

think of all house sale prices as 25% of the actual advertised cost as that’s all you need to put down. Also buy to let’s aren’t based on you income as they are based on the rental income

LadyWithAPlan

Well done on your debt repayments! 

If the families keep kicking off maybe just have an engagement party and then Elope to minimise hassles and cost (or at least threaten it!)

misslolu

Not too much happening these last few weeks, it's definitely been a bit quiet. I've been procrastinating on some things though, and need to get them sorted. Payday has just come so have started the money shuffle, I had some extra funds in my account before getting paid so swept those towards the joint CC debt. If I can keep this up, my part of the debt will be fully paid off in the next 4 months or so, leaving me with just the student loan as my last interest bearing debt. Assuming I can stay frugal (especially after wedding expenses end in the next 2 months), I could feasibly get that done by this time next year. But that may be thinking a bit too far into the future.

It's the end of the first half of the year, so i think i'll do a roundup and see where i've gotten to compared to the goals I set at the beginning of the year.


Financial goals
Clear my CC - [This has been done, woo! Cleared in full in April]
Joint CC to £1k - [Unfortunately had 2 unexpected bills so has not gone down as quickly as hoped, may pay some from joint savings once wedding is over, need to check 0% date and make sure it's paid off before then]
OH CC to £4k [This is looking good, down to £5.5k already and on track to pay off another £3k this year]
Medical loan is on 0% so will leave that to naturally be paid off
Student loan £4k [Also looking good, £1500 still to be paid this year from normal payments/bonus then any extras to be paid after my bit of the car loan is paid off]
Mortgage £175k [This is the one thing that's going badly, we're not going to be anywhere near this, best try will be under £180k i'm upping tilly tidies to make this happen]
Increase budget to incorporate car additional costs [we've just absorbed this £200+ cost into our normal budget, means less money for treats but it's working so far]

Actual finances then v now
(Mine) - 1,197 - 0 cleared!
CC2 (Ours) -  4,057 - 3,597 (booo!)
CC3 (His) - 9,034 - 5,516
Medical Loan (Mine) - 1,779 - 1185
Student Loan - 7,726 - 5,978
Mortgage   185,647 - 183,963

Total Non - Mortgage Debt - 24,337 - 16,276 [£8061 paid off!!!]
Total Debt - 209,984 200, 239 [£9745 paid off]

S&S LISA - 8,406 - 10.448
Premium Bonds - 7,625 - 8,275
Joint Savings - 4,403 - 3,259

Assets - 20,434 - 21,982 [Upped this by almost £2k while paying £4k+ in wedding costs!!!]


All things considered, I think we're doing a great job, almost £10k of debt has been paid off this half of the year and the next half could be even better once we're done with the wedding. I'm super excited about starting to get extra payments in to pay off my student loan, which will be my last interest bearing debt apart from the mortgage. I'll have to consider my future options, though, because once that's paid I don't think i'll want to put so much of my mini savings towards the mortgage right now. It may need to be put towards a maternity or house deposit fund instead, but I should have just under a year to figure that out.