10 years to clear £334K - our FIRE journey
CCW007
Forumite 627 Posts
We bought our house late 2014 and have been (very) gradually doing it up. So far we have replaced the roof, oil tank and boiler and completely refurbished the study, living room and one bedroom. We have three bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and utility still to go.
We recently re-mortgaged and have released some equity to do some work and build a workshop in the garden. OH's hobby is doing up old cars and he rents a unit nearby which costs a lot so we want to build something here so he can do away with the unit and we can funnel the savings into the mortgage. We've fixed for 10 years at a better rate than our previous mortgage so the increase is only around £150 a month.
Both mid 40s and would like to retire before 60. Ideally we'd like to finish at 55 which is 10 years away and my aim is to have the mortgage cleared by then so we don't need to use any pension TFLS to pay off the mortgage.
I start a new job in May which is a significant increase in salary and OH earns a very good wage but we've got a bit carefree with our spending so I want to use this diary to keep myself accountable. Will be a mix of mortgage OPs, renovations and building works and savings for retirement.
Starting balance on 18th March 2022 - £333,999
We recently re-mortgaged and have released some equity to do some work and build a workshop in the garden. OH's hobby is doing up old cars and he rents a unit nearby which costs a lot so we want to build something here so he can do away with the unit and we can funnel the savings into the mortgage. We've fixed for 10 years at a better rate than our previous mortgage so the increase is only around £150 a month.
Both mid 40s and would like to retire before 60. Ideally we'd like to finish at 55 which is 10 years away and my aim is to have the mortgage cleared by then so we don't need to use any pension TFLS to pay off the mortgage.
I start a new job in May which is a significant increase in salary and OH earns a very good wage but we've got a bit carefree with our spending so I want to use this diary to keep myself accountable. Will be a mix of mortgage OPs, renovations and building works and savings for retirement.
Starting balance on 18th March 2022 - £333,999
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Small OPs are better than no OPs!
Feb 2018 £231,000 / Apr 2042
Current £149,500 / July 2036
Next month I should get back pay for 2021/22 FY increase which has only just been agreed - reckon this will be around £500 after tax so that's earmarked for this purpose.
In terms of retirement fund, I have a CARE DB pension (which I need to re-calculate based on the new salary). £5.5k in S&S ISA and £155k in SIPP (current value - this has dropped a lot recently but I know it's bound to at this time and this followed a period of significant increase). Also got a small pot of AVCs which I want to stop but can't log into my account to do so - need to make some time to contact the company during the working day.
OH has a share save scheme maturing at the end of this year (assuming he stays, he hasn't been too happy but with me changing jobs we are hoping he can stick it out for some stability until I'm settled) which should net mid 4 figures and will go towards the mortgage - he will get back what he paid in if he leaves early so not the end of the world.
Otherwise it's just cutting back on the unnecessary and unconscious spending whilst recognising this is a long haul so we need to be realistic about the fact we will still splurge from time to time. It just needs to be more considered.
Not much money saving to be done before next Monday when OH gets paid. We have some debt on 0% cards - paid one balance off last week just before it comes to the end of the promotional period. I've only ever let one slip and paid interest and it was galling to do so have all the dates listed in a spreadsheet now and make sure I transfer the funds in good time.
Free lunch thanks to Olio - sandwich (bread from my collection) with filling (collected from another OLIOer) and soup (made from salad previously collected and frozen). Dinner will probably be YS fake chicken goujons and jacket potato.
Groceries is an area I know I need to reduce spend so I can make some savings. I like to have good stores in so the cupboards are full and we have three freezers (American fridge/ freezer in the kitchen which I hate as the freezer part is impractical for anything other than square food), chest freezer and upright freezer in the garage. They are all full. Whilst I don't want to run them down totally, the upright freezer needs defrosting and it would be good to do an inventory as I am not entirely sure what is in there. Must stop buying YS food just because it is reduced!
OH had a flat tyre on a new tyre which was only fitted two months ago - took it to the garage and that cost £22 to repair which is a shame as he thinks it was down to not being fitted properly but didn't argue the point.
Approved Food order done, mostly cat food (we have several cats - some were only supposed to be fosters but ended up staying - and two dogs).
New mortgage is with the bank we have out joint account with and is now showing up on the App. I can see how easy it will be to make OPs. With the last mortgage, other than our regular OPs, I only made one ad hoc OP which I had to go into the branch for (and then they messed it up!) so it is going to be much easier to manage.
The benefit of our new vets however is that they have longer opening times so we are less likely to need the emergency vets - our old vet closed at 1.00pm on a Saturday and that was it until Monday morning but new vets are open until mid afternoon Saturday and have a short surgery on Sundays. The emergency vets is also based at their main surgery so if a cat needs overnight care they don't need to be moved somewhere else.
Meals today planned (we are not very good at sticking to longer term meal plans so I tend to have a few options available and we decide the day before / in the morning which we want). Lunch will be vegan quiches out of the freezer, may make some potato salad or coleslaw to go with it. Dinner will be fakeaway Indian which will use lots of bits out of the freezer. OH is asking for poppadum so might need to go to the shop to buy them if I can't convince him he doesn't need naan (from Olio) AND poppadum.
£250 sent off to S&S ISA and £100 to SIPP which are my usual monthly payments.
Last autumn we increased our DD for electricity as we owed quite a bit, we are now in credit (and are incredibly lucky to be on a good fix until January 2023) so have reduced the DD by £100 a month. I drive an EV and we have an EV tariff where we get four hours of cheap electricity from 20.30 so everything goes on then - dishwasher, washing machine, immersion heater, car on charge, tumble dryer (in winter - right now we line dry).
Also moved £1k to premium bonds as I managed to find my log in details. Now have a grand total of £1,025 in there!
OH is out for the day; I've been for a swim and done my Olio collection so, once that's listed, my plan is to to do my usual weekend chores (clean litter trays, cat water fountains and biscuit hoppers etc), walk the dogs and then get sowing seeds / planting in the garden.
Went to get a few bits at Co-op but used the points on my loyalty card. OH has just gone out to get diesel to move one of the less mobile cars so that will be a few quid. Bought some of our fave cereal bars on the big river site as they were on offer for £6 for 5 . Total spends should be less than £20 (hopefully!)
OH looking at three more cars which we have no space for
Yougov at over £40. Got a couple of bits to list on [email protected]
Usually buy my cat litter there as not many places sell it (used to buy it at Zooplus but they stopped stocking it) but looked and it's virtually the same price at PAH plus I can get cashback for a new subscription there so have done that - £5.30 if it tracks. Have paused Amazon subscription for the month.
App for last mortgage was pretty poor, am hoping this one will be better - just being able to send an OP without going into branch is a massive bonus!
Am going to set myself a target of £150 for groceries in April. Shouldn't be hard as have plenty of food in and get fresh fruit / veg from Olio but I can never ever stick to a budget so will see how we get on!
£4.42 tracked for the litter - presumably exc VAT which always catches me out!