Mortgage free in Forever Home :-)

KajiKita

savingholmes said:

Glad the MSE site is helping you. I find it a huge source of support.

Best of luck with the dining table. Be kind to you - the building works won't last forever - plenty of time to sort it when you can put things back where they are supposed to be.

On a level I know you are right but I keep getting small glimpses of a tidy and organised house which is nice to be in and then we rip it to bits again … 🙄😂

KK

savingholmes

Those are a huge list of positives. I appreciate the advice and encouragement on here - regardless of whether I take the advice! Most of the people in my RL don't like talking about money - it's still taboo - but I wouldn't have stopped my debt cycle without this site - and wouldn't be saving towards Fin Freedom without it either.

KajiKita

savingholmes said:

 Most of the people in my RL don't like talking about money - it's still taboo - but I wouldn't have stopped my debt cycle without this site - and wouldn't be saving towards Fin Freedom without it either.

Same here. It’s soooo frustrating as we could all learn from each other. I happened to find out that one of the other managers I work with is mortgage free and was really impressed (he’s quite a bit younger than me with two small children), but as soon as I started to say that, he shut me down and told me not to tell anyone! What’s that about?!! 🤷‍♀️🙄🤔😂

KK

South_coast

I'm very discreet about my MF status, as I think it puts an erroneous perception in peoples' minds that you must therefore be loaded. I wouldn't really be comfortable with my bosses knowing, as they might think I don't need a payrise, and I certainly wouldn't want my sister to know (big mortgage / renovation project / husband / child / dog / misc other expenses), as she already has the idea that Auntie SC is minted, without knowing that as well!

savingholmes

It shouldn't matter for payrises but it shows the sympathy card still rules 

badmemory

I am afraid that when some people find out you owe nobody anything they seem to put their hands out.  I worked with mostly 2 people.  The younger one when finding out I was mortgage free said something along the lines of she would be joining me as soon as she could.  The one almost my age was a totally different kettle of fish.  I mean I was a single mother & she was married with no kids, what right did I have to have paid off my mortgage.  Well that was a new learning curve, but then I didn't have a current husband who had made it necessary to extend my mortgage to almost double what it was.  Cue 2 of us never talking about anything money related whilst the 3rd was around.  Back then personal allowances were increasing annually but even that became uncomfortable to mention.

KajiKita

I am really close to a significant milestone…..
My regular savings deposit went into my savings account today so I have done some mid week financial updating. I have also moved some of the joint account balance excess into joint savings (to top up to the minimum £1K after various bits of DIY etc.) and a small OP (£108.62).

After a bit of fiddling about, working out how to set up the equation between different sheets of the same spreadsheet, I can see that I am at 5.94 months of minimum spends if I were to lose my job. That is sooooo close to 6 months. So very, very chuffed. Never thought I would *ever* get here! 😊 And once I do, I can OP even more (until we have to change mortgage deals and then all bets are off ….!)

KK

LadyWithAPlan

well done!!! focus, determination and never giving up pays off every time

beanielou

That's amazing 

Merlin's_Beard

Well done! That's a hell of a milestone and security, and like you say it just gives you a bit more freedom with everything else.

Definitely also find this place much needed because people don't talk about finances in real life. Parents never did and while they're savers who paid off their mortgage early by just not reducing payments as interest rates came down, they're the generation that had steady jobs and DB pensions so they've never had to think beyond "spend less than you earn and the rest takes care of itself". Colleagues can be very cagey about finances too, especially the ones on my level of salary, and the younger ones are mainly "spend to zero" still. Severe lack of folk who are aiming for the same balance as me and are willing to talk about it and share advice so I'm forever grateful for the conversations here.