Halving our income and still aiming for mortgage free!

smetf

Morning,

Just doing a pre wages coming in money sort and made an extra £64 OP.
Am likely to make another large OP this month - my SE earnings are going to be higher for the next few months so will up the money going into the holiday/ home pot and it makes sense to pay a chunk off the mortgage now in terms of interest. Will then split the extra income between savings and pension each month plus a little extra spends.
Think getting the mortgage to start with a 3 before we remortgage at the end of 2025 may just be doable!
No luck on the job front - wasn't shortlisted but there's a couple more opportunities I need to give some thought to.
I have an unexpected day off tomorrow so planning to get my SA done, last year I was hit by unexpected student loan payments so want to be more organised this year and am thinking my last month of SE can be put to one side ready.

Hope everyone has a good day!
S

smetf

Back from a few days away in the Lakes - some lovely meals out and walking on the hills so has felt like a real treat.
Standard OP of £686.62 has been added. 
Will do some more tweaking once SE income materialises.
S

smetf

Having a very relaxing day here. Finished a book from my virtual tbr pile - borrowed from the library so nice and money saving and have got the next one ready to start. A couple of loads of washing and a batch of rhubarb compot made whilst we have very cheap electric today. 
In less ms news have booked flights for this year's Canada trip but we got a good price and the money is there in the holiday fund. 
Car insurance, car tax and a service all to do this month so am thinking I'll pay an additional £60 ish off mortgage when SE income comes through but will leave making a bigger payment till all those car related outgoings are paid! 
In other news have seen another job that I'm going to apply for so have the application for that to add to my to do list.
S

smetf

Morning all,

£70 through from surveys - they take a while to build up but nice when it's finally time to claim! (Onep*ll and Y if useful for anyone).
This has meant a £100 OP made today. 

Had a big money chat - we're hoping next year can finally be the year of our family Japan trip so have decided to prioritise building a holiday fund of 10k whilst my income is at current levels, we're at 5.5k although there are a few expenses for this year's breaks still to come they shouldn't hit it too hard. 

That said, our standard OPs will stand and I will still try to knock off £60 - £100 extra a month to mean a £1k a month off the total mortgage.

Our fixed rate comes to an end in December 2025 so our aims are to have a £40k mortgage and £10k in holiday and home savings by then.

Doable with my current job situation and we can reassess then depending on what happens with work.

S

smetf

Hi all,
Plodding on, had a very busy time at work, still waiting to hear back from job application.
Flights for Canada are booked and credit card payment for these will come out this month, emergency fund looks like it'll tip into 13k once July's payment is added (if markets are steady) and the holiday/ home fund will see the withdrawal for flights pretty much balanced out by the monthly deposit.
Very much maintaining the status quo.

On the plus side our OPs are still good and the mortgage will continue to go down.

Happy weekend all 😀
S

smetf

Popping in as have rejigged figures and updated signature.

Standard mortgage payment, OP of £686.62, and extra OP of £100 made. Think that'll probably be it for OPs in July, SE income will be split between short term savings and pension.

Still no word on job application - hoping to hear soon!

S

edinburgher

Japan would be lovely, main location on my bucket list! 👍🏻

smetf

Morning all,

Back from a week in France, a lovely time watching some of the Tour and enjoying nice French food and wine.
Had a first interview online whilst I was away and a second one this week, so some prep to do for that this week.
SE income come through and all in short term savings for now.
Right, better crack on with the work stuff!

Have a good day all,
S

smetf

Hello, 

Well nearly 4 years on from starting this diary I have a new job that is full-time with a decent rate of pay.
It means from September I will be down to two jobs, I'd like to drop the additional one but it's slightly complicated so if I plan to see how it pans out over September and October and then make a decision.

It's really positive to look back and see how we've continued to gently grow the emergency fund and overpay the mortgage whilst still having a balance of treats and good holidays. 

The new salary will definitely help with the mortgage free journey 😀 as well as being a brilliant new challenge for me.

S

smetf

Happy Sunday all,

Just updating spreadsheets, standard August OP of £686.62 has gone to the mortgage. I should be able to add a further £100 once my SE income for July comes in. In the short term, we're planning to stick to our end of year plan of building the holiday home fund to 10k and getting the mortgage down to £40k.

Will then have a rethink for 2026 as will have settled into new job, made a decision about the second job and be on a new mortgage deal.

Our monthly interest has just dipped under £200 from this month so that feels good!

S