Pay off mortgage and start having even more fun 😁

newgirly

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙MONTH 27 OF THE 33 MONTH CHALLENGE💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Balance at start oct 2022:                               £61,452.11

Balance at 2nd January 2025:                        £7,527.82

Total since the start:                                        £53,924.29

Total for December:                                         £2,488.98


Still hanging in there just about, December was a costly month surprise surprise 😆 we are still on track to clear it at the end of March (my 50th birthday is early March) so it’s close enough! 

newgirly

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛END OF YEAR ROUND UP!💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

Balance at the start of Jan 2024:                £38,272.54

Balance at end of Dec 2024:                       £7,527.82

Total off in 2024:                                          £30,744.72 


Thats a monthly average of £2562.06 total mortgage payment not incl. interest. With interest it works out a total of 65.25% of our total monthly take home income, which is made up of wages, rent from the factory and ds2’s keep. Not a bad percentage I think! We have still been spendy this year, booking lots of holidays for the future, and going in a few smaller ones, but to be honest we have put lots on the credit card for the first time in years (0% of course!) as I wanted to still finish the mortgage in March 2025, so a bit of cheating I guess 😂

The card has a balance of £5,272.80 on it as I’ve paid the balance of a few trips that are early this year. I plan to clear it all by the end of the year as well as pay for some of the other stuff we booked 😬 I’m also £1000 “overdrawn” in the current account, I’ve money shuffled so we are not actually overdrawn just on paper if that makes sense, this will also be paid back in April when we are MF. So a lot of shenanigans to keep the end date at March.

It’s been a funny year, I just wanted to thank everyone who has popped in and visited this year as it’s been an unexpected one with having open heart surgery out of the blue 😆 but the support from so many kind friends on here really has helped as it has done for the last nearly thirteen years 😊 I’m sorry I’ve be very bad about keeping up with everyone’s diaries, I hope to remedy that this year, my brain has been a little more fuzzy than usual, at least that’s my excuse 🙄 Happy new year ❤️
 

TallGirl

That is an amazing achievement well done you and after the year you have had I do not blame you for splurging on holidays for the future. Sounds like a solid plan for paying it all off by March and beyond. 

Jessy103

Nice work, NG, so close now! x

South_coast

That is a cracking result, NG. You are sooooooo close now!!!

newgirly

Thanks guys, it’s good to see it down on paper as I think I’ve been very much focussing on what we still have to pay out once mortgage free rather than the bigger picture. 

I’m struggling to work out a budget for when we are mf for long term. It a a tricky one as our pensions will be state plus very minimal for both of us, however the factory income is enough to retire on if we stop the holidays and live carefully- well maybe we can afford a very cheap break or two. We need to allow for a nice big emergency fund as if our tenants (dhs bosses) move out we would need to get a new one, although that is a fairly swift process due to the type and location of the unit as it’s in London and there’s a big shortage as many get knocked down for flats, our is a new build eco type one though so that’s no likely. A new tennant would mean a fairly nice rent rise as they are paying a fair bit below market rate. 

I don’t know really if and when dh wants to cut down his hours and leave, he’s still at the point where he just wants to have money to spend 😆 I worry a little about “lifestyle inflation” it’s nice to have more but I don’t want us to adjust to a lot more money as then if he wants to retire it will be more of a shock to the system. Although he’s fairly low maintenance I think dh likes the idea of woohoo spare cash 🤣 I don’t know, Im giving it a lot of thought recently, I’ve talked to dh who just says get everything paid off first, pay for the holidays etc. but in reality that will be a continuous expense, we both like going away and if we have no mortgage I foresee more travelling not less! 

Then we have the should we move before we’re get too old question, we will possibly be just us by the end of this year in a 50’s built three bed mid terrace with an extra bedroom and en-suite in the loft. The location is brilliant, a few doors along from a row of shops, the bus into town where the tube is (you can walk to the tube) plus other overhead options, and a really nice town where I grew up. I think we would only move in the area still and a bungalow would be a very small one that needed work and is further from the local shops, a flat would be a bit cheaper but if we went into the main town which I’d possibly want to, it would cost more than our house 😱 I can’t see us ever getting a “big” mortgage again just to move though really as freedom as taken too long 😬

themadvix

You're doing brilliantly NG - so close now. I think you're overthinking at this point. I'd agree with DH - just get the mortgage done, enjoy the holidays. You won't last long without a plan and focus (speaking from experience here). 

I'd suggest, if you're worried, that you look at pensions/building up savings in an S&S ISA to increase your income in retirement (whatever that might look like). You're not going to want to live with just a couple of cheap breaks each year - you'll want to be able to travel while you're still fit and able, so you need a higher income for the first 20(+?) years of retirement to fund that.

newgirly

Hi Vix, that’s something I do need to look into, although I don’t want dh derailing his cutting down or giving up work too much. I think it is possible to get more in rent for the factory ( we have no qualms about this really as the owner is a multi multi millionaire trust fund guy and they have treated dh so badly) as it’s worth more than we are charging and so far he’s only held back due to the other three staff members who are friends and family and not wanting to rock the boat. Retirement plans have never really been part of our planning, it’s all been debts then factory mortgage and home mortgage, it’s something I really need to focus on soon. I’m a little nervous to move to a retirement planning or investment board though, everywhere else seems a bit less friendly than here 😆

South_coast

I'm sure if you throw some initial retirement questions into this diary, your friends here will be able to give you some pointers/things to think on, before you have to venture elsewhere 🤣

LadyWithAPlan

South_coast said:

I'm sure if you throw some initial retirement questions into this diary, your friends here will be able to give you some pointers/things to think on, before you have to venture elsewhere 🤣

Very much agree - lots of knowledgeable people here on pensions 

main thing once you pay off the mortgage (woohoo!) and the cc debt is to start socking some of that mortgage cash into pension contributions 
the amount is the question but the sooner you start the better