So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!
themadvix
Forumite 6.6K Posts
Morning all,
So, after 10 years (to the day) in this house and on my old diary, with all the trials and tribulations of not moving contained therein, I thought it was time for a new diary. My old diary is here: Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off! and if you have time to kill, reading it is one way to do that, although not recommended.
We never intended to stay in this house this long - it was going to be 2 years, then 5, then 7 and now it's 10. And we've decided we quite like it, we don't need more space internally (it's a generous ex-local authority 3 bed house, offset terrace so we never hear our neighbours through the walls) and don't want to pay £200,000 extra for an extra parking space and maybe a double garage. All the annoyances of living in our road are mainly related to parking and the small garden, but 🤞 we're getting the garage we've applied for (with parking space, at the end of our garden) and I have this morning picked up the keys to our allotment, meaning I won't have to shoehorn fruit and veg growing into our small garden and we can give some more space over to flowers and being able to relax there (i.e. extend the patio and buy some garden furniture from this century - I kid you not, ours is plastic hand-me-down stuff that was green and is now grey). If we can get rid of the mortgage then we'll have more options - at times DH's work is very stressful, so he could downgrade; we could buy an investment/holiday property; we could save to build our own house; we could stash all the spare cash away, retire early and travel the world (or what's left of it by then).
As of today, we have £29,318.44 left on our mortgage, which is fixed until June 2023 and has exactly 4 years left to run. We've paid our OP allowance in full for this year already, so the focus is on adding to savings to a) pay next year's as soon as we can, and b) have enough over at the end of the fix (approx £18,500) to pay it off in full, or as close as we can get. DH will probably easily cover part a) so my focus is on part b).
And that's quite enough big picture stuff!
I picked up my allotment key this morning and have already been down to the allotments and met new people! 😁 I've also had a proper look in 'my' shed at the stuff I've acquired - quite a bit, some useful, some not so much. I've also established that I have a blackberry and several currant bushes (I really hope none of them are red!). If I get time, I might go back later. I also met some little frogs, who are living under the polythene cover on one of my beds!
I'm still testing negative, DH is still feeling grotty (he's not tested today yet). Despite a rubbish night's sleep, I'm feeling a lot better than I have recently, so hopefully this cold is on its way out. We had veggie bolognese last night for dinner. No idea what it'll be today, but I'll try to actually cook something healthy.
MS things:
* Clicks done
* Santa reward (£3.99) moved to savings
* Going to see a woman about a cat tonight (in walking distance)
* Only used tiny bit of fuel this morning and no plans to use car again today
* Dinner was not takeaway and won't be tonight - I'm determined we're heading out of this slump. Maybe shakshuka tonight? 😂
Gratitudes:
* Lovely people at the allotment and at the council offices
* The sun is shining (it wasn't forecast to)
* I'm still testing negative
Have a good day all!
So, after 10 years (to the day) in this house and on my old diary, with all the trials and tribulations of not moving contained therein, I thought it was time for a new diary. My old diary is here: Finally I have a mortgage I can start to pay off! and if you have time to kill, reading it is one way to do that, although not recommended.
We never intended to stay in this house this long - it was going to be 2 years, then 5, then 7 and now it's 10. And we've decided we quite like it, we don't need more space internally (it's a generous ex-local authority 3 bed house, offset terrace so we never hear our neighbours through the walls) and don't want to pay £200,000 extra for an extra parking space and maybe a double garage. All the annoyances of living in our road are mainly related to parking and the small garden, but 🤞 we're getting the garage we've applied for (with parking space, at the end of our garden) and I have this morning picked up the keys to our allotment, meaning I won't have to shoehorn fruit and veg growing into our small garden and we can give some more space over to flowers and being able to relax there (i.e. extend the patio and buy some garden furniture from this century - I kid you not, ours is plastic hand-me-down stuff that was green and is now grey). If we can get rid of the mortgage then we'll have more options - at times DH's work is very stressful, so he could downgrade; we could buy an investment/holiday property; we could save to build our own house; we could stash all the spare cash away, retire early and travel the world (or what's left of it by then).
As of today, we have £29,318.44 left on our mortgage, which is fixed until June 2023 and has exactly 4 years left to run. We've paid our OP allowance in full for this year already, so the focus is on adding to savings to a) pay next year's as soon as we can, and b) have enough over at the end of the fix (approx £18,500) to pay it off in full, or as close as we can get. DH will probably easily cover part a) so my focus is on part b).
And that's quite enough big picture stuff!
I picked up my allotment key this morning and have already been down to the allotments and met new people! 😁 I've also had a proper look in 'my' shed at the stuff I've acquired - quite a bit, some useful, some not so much. I've also established that I have a blackberry and several currant bushes (I really hope none of them are red!). If I get time, I might go back later. I also met some little frogs, who are living under the polythene cover on one of my beds!
I'm still testing negative, DH is still feeling grotty (he's not tested today yet). Despite a rubbish night's sleep, I'm feeling a lot better than I have recently, so hopefully this cold is on its way out. We had veggie bolognese last night for dinner. No idea what it'll be today, but I'll try to actually cook something healthy.
MS things:
* Clicks done
* Santa reward (£3.99) moved to savings
* Going to see a woman about a cat tonight (in walking distance)
* Only used tiny bit of fuel this morning and no plans to use car again today
* Dinner was not takeaway and won't be tonight - I'm determined we're heading out of this slump. Maybe shakshuka tonight? 😂
Gratitudes:
* Lovely people at the allotment and at the council offices
* The sun is shining (it wasn't forecast to)
* I'm still testing negative
Have a good day all!
13
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We have virtually the same amount owing on our mortgage, ours is now set to run until December 2028, but we have every intention of clearing it before then.
Glad to hear you are still negative, long may it continue.
Rolled over coupons 62.5/62.5 remaining (using for secondhand purchases)
One income, home educating family
Rolled over coupons 62.5/62.5 remaining (using for secondhand purchases)
One income, home educating family
Fortune x
PS - redcurrants make delicious gin you know
Holding On and Letting Go Knowing when to let go is just as important as knowing when to hold tight
Ten years! And now I've realised your issues with where you are (parking and garden size) and your solutions (garage and allotment) AND that your house is offset - it sounds like you already have the perfect house, to be honest. Loving the offset.
Subscribed to this diary too
Retired August 2016
Paid off French mortgage September 2018
New kitchen fully installed June 2019
Not counting this! 2020
Garden fencing completed, woohoo 2021..........
October 2021: aiming for £5,000 new money for premium bonds or a car.
I’ve just spent 2.5 very pleasant hours down the allotment 😊 Have done some clearing, put card down to mulch on top of and have covered quite a bit with polythene covers left by the previous owner - the weeds can start to die off. Also had a bit of a clear out and sweep in the shed, although there’s more to do. Most enjoyable - bird song, a few purple to say hello to, but mostly just peace and quiet. DH walked down towards the end to have a look, so we walked back together - the nearest we’ve been to each other in a week! (He only had a very faint line this morning, so hopefully tomorrow he’ll be negative.)
Oh wow! You are so close, only 29k left!
I know what you meant about staying in your house as we are exactly the same. We planned to stay here for 5 years, it's been already 4 and I don't think I will be moving anywhere anytime soon and to be honest I can imagine having it as a forever home. Our reasons are quite similar: we don't want to pay 200k+ more just because the house is in a fancier area, all of our neighbours are so lovely and it's a very quiet street, house is big enough for our large family and is well insolated so really it ticks all the boxes. I think I just always thought that I would live in a detached house with a big garden but never really realised that is not what my family needs to be happy. We have a roof over our heads and lovely community around and that's so important.
Your new allotment sounds amazing. My DH and I are big fans of Hugh Fearnley-Whittigstal and the River Cottage, love anything to do with foraging and GYO.