So close, we can smell mortgage freedom!

themadvix

Evening all (afternoon? It's been dark for ages here, so who knows!),

Thanks for your lovely Christmas wishes - I hope you've all had lovely Christmases too.

We did have a good one, seeing family on Christmas Day and then having them visit here for tea on Boxing Day. As previously, I massively overcatered for BD, so there's plenty of 'party food' in the freezer, plus some half baked rolls/baguettes and still plenty of actual leftovers in the fridge, which we are slowly working through. We received some lovely thoughtful presents and I think everyone appreciated the presents we gave too - despite the charity shop nature of some (and some, I'm sure, didn't even notice that they weren't brand new - my Dad's DVD and my FIL's book being two of these). My wrapping bags were admired - I'm not sure I'd have got them all back had I not asked!

All the running around before/during Christmas has caught up with me though and I am suffering from a cold now. Yesterday we did absolutely nothing, apart from me visiting two lots of cats. I spent the rest of the day reading and watching TV, which was lovely.  Have done a bit more today, but still feeling fairly grotty, so have taken it relatively easy (some housework/tidying has been achieved, as well as cat sitting). It's niece's birthday tomorrow so I need to make her a card. I'll take her out for the day for her present later in the year, so no effort required there.

MS things have been ticking over:
* MM surveys - have just cashed out a £25 voucher for Argoose towards a chest of drawers
* YG surveys
* HW and clicks - have cashed out another £5 from L4dbr0kes as a free bet came good (had £5 from another bookie before Christmas that might not have been mentioned
* Cat sitting - the ongoing one, one over Christmas itself and one just for yesterday - two of the three were direct (as I have insurance for the ongoing one), so no fees to Cat in a Flat
* NSD - haven't spent since 23rd...

Gratitudes:
* Lovely family time
* Lovely quiet time with just Mr MV (I confess I did wake up on BD and think 'why have I invited people round this evening?'!)
* Some very useful gifts - a propagator for my tomatoes/peppers/cucumbers/chillis; some waterproof and thermal gloves (although these are going back as they don't fit) and a seed box, as well as lots of food and drink related presents, some cash and some kilner jars.

Back shortly with vague plans...

themadvix

So.... 

Mortgage is currently £23,902. Regular payment will go out on 2nd Jan and on 1st Jan we'll be able to make an OP of the full amount (approx £2,391). Our fix ends in June (when balance will be approx £18k) and then we'll be on the SVR (currently 6.25%, who knows what it'll be by then). We'll have less than 3 years left on the mortgage by then, so we won't be able to get another deal. Mr MV reckons that allowing for what he's able to put aside to make a lump sum OP between now and June (Mr MV's share estimated @ £5,300) and what he'll be able to afford every month after that, by December next year there'll be approximately £10,000 left on the mortgage (in reality, this won't be the case as obviously I'll be paying bits off ad hoc). So that's the target for 2023 - find an extra £10,000 or as near as possible, so that we can minimise the amount left even if we can't pay it off in full. It'll be back to the old ways of paying every random penny off (although I suspect Santander won't be as fun as Natwest and actually let me pay pennies off).

I do, of course, have cash sitting in an EF for those months when my earnings might be down/actual emergencies. However, if we're close enough, I would allow up to £2,000 of this to be used to finish paying the mortgage off if we're that close (especially given the interest rates!).

Given that my income fluctuates and Mr MV is pretty much allocating most of his disposable income to OPs, setting clear and defined targets is going to be tricky, so the way to go about making/saving this money isn't going to be 100% guaranteed. However, there's the possibility of a big project from my main client next year; I'm doing a slightly more involved form of work for another major client; and the Americans have at least two projects in the pipeline (one of these has been in the pipeline for over a year though, so I'm not holding my breath!). There's also Cambridge work, and they are very keen to keep me - I can only do 9 months on a temp contract there though (which will come due in March), then have to have a month's break before 'changing assignment'. Not sure how this will work, but we are working on it. It's ridiculous really as I have no desire to become an employee so staying as a 'temp' would be perfect (especially given my hours are approx 10 a week!).

We've already decided, yesterday, that we'll be having a camping holiday in Yorkshire (probably) next year, so a substantial reduction in costs on holidays compared to last year. We will also have our cheapy caravan week in Devon again as a way to see our friends. Ideally I'd like to be able to go to a proper German Christmas market next December, as it has been tooooo long, but costs are getting silly and if it's a choice between the mortgage and that, it might wait another year - we'll see.

I do intend to buy an e-bike soon with my contribution to Mr MV's sharesave scheme that we've pulled the cash back from (as share prices are rubbish). If this works, I'll be getting rid of my car, which will save on tax, maintenance and insurance (and get me fitter). I did cycle to the cats on Boxing Day on my pushbike (which is far too small for me - had it since I was 11) - it's doable, but would be easier pyschologically with an e-bike as we're at the top of the hill (easy to leave, but it's the effort to get home again!). I need to arrange an appointment to go and view/try the bike as it's only available to purchase online (but the company HQ is relatively close, in Berkhamsted, so doable). It will be a folding e-bike, with 20" wheels - so useful if I want to meet Mr MV somewhere or if I get stranded, but also with wheels big enough for some trail/off-road cycling hopefully.

Places to save:
* TV subs - currently we have Netflix and Apple TV+. The former we've just swapped back to from Disney to catch up on a couple of things we watch; the latter is a free trial (that has somehow stacked two offers and we now have it until August for free!). I've suggested to Mr MV that perhaps we binge-watch what we want on Nf and then cancel that - use Apple and free stuff until (at least) August.
* Phones - Mr MV has just replaced his phone so that's fine. I may replace mine later in the year if necessary, but it's OK at the moment. It is an iPhone 7 though and the battery life isn't great (even with a replacement battery). Contract-wise, Mr MV's deal runs out in April and he'll be able to switch and save (we'd been holding onto our 3 contracts for US usage) and mine will do the same in August.
* Food - Olio, allotment etc. No food waste! I think foodie gifts went down well with people? It certainly felt like we were able to be generous this Christmas - with CS/secondhand stuff and then a few bits of hm stuff as well as things people had asked for (budget goes so much further with secondhand stuff!). I have a few jars of things leftover, which will be useful for gifts when we get invited to places and it won't be long now until I can make more rhubarb-based things!
* Takeaways/restaurants - we know we can do this.... and we've not been too bad lately, so that's something to keep up. I will however, make an exception for a (monthly/less often?) lunch date with my sister as she's just got a new job which means we'll be able to meet up for lunches occasionally - vouchers/deals definitely will be used!
* Gas and electricity - hopefully as the days get longer and lighter we'll really start to see the benefits of the solar panels/battery

Right... I'm sure there's more, but I think that's enough for now. I may also dip my feet into the world of the big Happy Wheel, but that can wait until January and I've seen what my workload is looking like.

Mr MV has just informed me that if we pay this off within 18 months from the end of the fix, i.e. end of 2024, we'll have saved approximately £60,000 in interest - if that isn't an incentive, with a relatively small mortgage (compared to some) and record low interest rates, I don't know what is!

Cheery_Daff

Wow, that's an excellent target to aim for, well done you! And exciting bike plans too 😊😊😊

Jessy103

Super exciting plans. Good luck with the target, I'm sure you'll smash it! 🙂

Happy New Year to you and all the best for 2023 x

LeighofMar

Sounds like excellent goals. We have similar balances on our mortgage. We just now broke into less than 21k. It's exciting to see the finish line.

Love your e-bike idea. We've also thought of those as we only live 2 miles from the park and downtown with plenty of trails to run along the rivers but getting there next to traffic on a pedal bike is just too stressful. And I always feel silly firing up my SUV to go 2 miles down the road to park and ride from there. 

themadvix

Thanks Cheery and Jessy!

@LeighofMar we’re really lucky that our town has a very good cycle network completely segregated from the roads (and sadly very badly underused), so cycling makes a lot of sense here. Having experienced US traffic in May, I don’t blame you for not wanting to cycle to get to the trails, but it’s not a great situation (we also, bizarrely, watch a lot of US planning/zoning related YouTube videos so we’re also quite familiar with the structural problems with American car dependency).

Karmacat

Fantastic plans, madvix!  Realistic too, and getting you to *such* a good place!  I do love the sound of folding ebikes, but I'm almost certainly getting a free one from my brother, only 6 years old and not really used very much, I can't pass that up.  

Huge saving of interest payments, £60k ... your options are really going to open out, very soon!

QueenJess

Wow, what thorough plans! You’re making me feel quite inadequate with my general “spend less, save more and see what happens” philosophy 😂

Sounds brilliant though and will be rooting for that mortgage balance to keep clicking down. As you say, the increase in interest rates is definitely an incentive and you are getting so close now.

savingholmes

How lovely to be so close to the end of your mortgage. 

themadvix

Karmacat said:

Fantastic plans, madvix!  Realistic too, and getting you to *such* a good place!  I do love the sound of folding ebikes, but I'm almost certainly getting a free one from my brother, only 6 years old and not really used very much, I can't pass that up.  

Huge saving of interest payments, £60k ... your options are really going to open out, very soon!

A free, newish pushbike is certainly not to be sniffed at! If it weren't for the fact that mine is old and heavy and too small, I'd certainly be thinking longer and harder about replacing mine, but as it is, it seems sensible to combine a new one of the right frame size with the battery (which may actually make it heavier - I know how heavy the new one will be but no idea about my current one.

I think £60k figure really illustrates the benefits of OPing - we've certainly not had fun and spent money over the last ten years either, but that's equivalent to approximately a year's combined currently salary and a whole lot more than that when we started this journey.