Lolu's Mortgage Free odyssey

powerspowers

Oh lolu sounds like you’ve been hit by everything at once!  Glad you’ve got a plan to sort it and there’s no shame in dropping your OPs right down to just Tilly tidies so you still make tiny some progress. 

I’m sorry your family are giving you a hard time about your earnings! That’s really not fair. I have one sister that I talk money with and don’t really discuss with anyone else other than here. I’ve been promoted quite quickly at work and out earn a lot of my old Colleagues, it’s awkward when people can’t just be supportive and understand that quite often your obligations increase as well. 

savingholmes

Just caught up on your journey. Good luck with it all. I am taking on a much bigger mortgage on my own soon so feel your pain in juggling everything

misslolu

Thanks @powerspowers funny enough I used to live at home before I bought and paid my mum a sizeable amount of rent because she needed the cash, she didn't talk much about my earnings then. My new expenses are currently more than double what I used to pay her, which i've discussed, but all she thinks is more money = more disposable income.

Thanks @savingholmes it really is scary having so much debt relying on only you. I'm frantically trying to get my monthly payment down to an amount where I wouldn't struggle as much if I had to live on savings/benefits for a few months. Not because my job is unstable, but I was out of a job this time last year and it was scary even living at home.

My current mortgage balance is £190,836 so almost down my first £10k barrier. My goal for now (after my disastrous overpay 1% of the total mortgage goal) is to get under £190,000 by my pament on the 1st of January which means I would have paid off 1% of my mortgage. Not quite the same, but close enough!

Mum is paying back the money she owes + has added a nice bit of thank you interest on top which means I should also meet my goal of saving £3000 for the year. My stretch goal was £6000 but I've really underestimated how expensive home ownership will be, ah well. But it means that I can be a bit more relaxed about my finances, and I feel less stressed.

killerpeaty

Hi lolu, sorry to see you had a little wobble. Honestly I felt very similar (and probably had a much bigger wobble) and it passes. The stress of being the only person paying the bills always linger but you get used to it.

Hope you continue to feel better.

I am fortunate that my family fight to pay rather fight not to pay. I wish I could give support. Keep going, you're being brilliant.

savingholmes

Glad you have got some of your money back with interest. You are doing really well. It's great to have goals but not if you beat yourself over the head with them.

kaycastle

I feel for you with your parents. My parents to have charged me a fair amount of rent since I was 14, it's why I didn't return after uni...their rent was the same but with less freedom. 

I've never revealed how much I earn to my parents but they seem to think I'm some sort of millionaire. They always expect me to pay for meals out so I avoid going out with them anywhere and have got a bit braver over the years about stating we should go halves on the bill. 

They do this even now we are on one salary and expecting our first child. It's almost funny 

misslolu

@killerpeaty 🤗🤗

@savingholmes i'm the worst about missed goals haha, i'm not disciplined without them but they can get me down if i don't meet up.

@kaycastle I lived with my mum during and a few years after uni and had to pay, my dad didn't charge when i lived with him, but he doesn't live in as safe/fun an area as my mum did which is why I moved back. That's sad about your parents taking your money for granted, i'm glad you feel you can talk to them about them paying more.

misslolu

I just made what is technically my last payment of the year, but since I also pay my mortgage on the first I'm actually going to count on January 1 payment as the last payment. My last overpayment was £105 which means i've made a total of £491 of overpayments this year which i'm generally happy about. My goal was £1925 (1% of my whole mortgage) but I reckon I was slightly ambitious after considering what i've had to spend money on.

That means I have £190,364.01 left on my mortgage and I really hope with my next payment/overpayments I can get under £190k, that would be a great way to end the year and it would mean i'm a full 2 months ahead of schedule. My monthly payments are also down to £860.58 meaning my payments go that bit further.

In other news I also got a small pay rise which means I'll be taking home just under £100 more a month. It's not a life changing but it'll definitely give me some leeway in my budget as I wait for some of my compressed bills to calm down a bit. The plan for my service charge is working and I'm not having to pay extra interest since I'm paying off in instalments and I'm feeling quite calm about it all. Hopefully next year is even better for me!

savingholmes

Great news on the payrise and being 2 months ahead. Well done.

misslolu

Scratch that, i've only gone and been made redundant *sigh* need to look for.a new job, pronto.