10 years to clear £334K - our FIRE journey

CCW007

2nd September
Sub account 1 - £253,503.91
Sub account 2 - £73,301.80
Total - £326,805.71Reduction - £1,096.34

CCW007

4th October
Sub account 1 - £252,649.54
Sub account 2 - £73,051.63
Total - £325,701.17

Reduction - £1,104.54

CCW007

The project we had planned which we released equity for has been put on hold for the foreseeable future.  In addition, our interest rate on the fix is now lower than the interest we can receive on savings so we will not be OPing in the future, unless this changes.

I've opened a cash ISA fixed for one year at 3.5% and put the max in - whilst a better deal may come along, I am at risk of paying tax on interest due to being a HRT-payer so I decided it's better to do it now.  Some savings moved to OH's name and will open a cash ISA for him later in the year.

£160 switching bonus in today.  New CC applied for with 0% / no fee on BTs for 15 months - good timing as one of my stoozes finishes next month and I had a large CC bill this month which I have used BT to pay off.  

Will be tracking my amount to mortgage neutral from next month to offset savings against mortgage - roughly around £280k currently.

savingholmes

Fab stooze system

CCW007

Small eB@y sale = £8 in after fees and postage.

CCW007

Wow, far too long since I posted!

Mortgage itself is down to £319,008 which is a reduction of £6,700 since October,

However my "What I Owe The World" figure still sits around £281k and has not decreased in six months, however in that time we have bought and are putting up a workshop (basically a huge shed) in the garden which means that OH can give up his storage unit and save £££ every month. 

We had the base laid which cost a fair bit then the plan was to get someone in to build the actual structure but the only company willing to quote wanted £6k plus materials so we got someone to build the dwarf wall which cost £700 including materials and are doing the rest ourselves. 

The aim is to give up the storage unit by September and this build will pay for itself in 2.5 to 3 years.

Expensive few months with car costs, dog being spayed, vet bills etc but hopefully after end of April we can start making progress on our WIOTW figure (April credit card bill is huge!)

Will aim to post here more regularly to keep myself accountable. 

CCW007

So confession time, I don't budget.  We both earn good money (OH earns considerably more than me but I had a substantial increase due to a new job last year and should get incremental increases for the next couple of years until I hit the top of my pay scale).  As a result, over the last few years we have got very lax at tracking spending - every now and then we say that we need to have a "lean" month and then it all goes by the wayside again.

I am good at managing our savings and making sure we get the best rates we can and that we don't end up paying tax on interest.  But it's the day to day spending which is a problem when it comes to hitting target to be mortgage free and in a position to retire / downsize work at 55, which is 9 years away for me.

I've always referred to my "plan" to retire early but, without actual goals and objectives along the way, it is actually more like a dream at this stage rather than a plan.

So first step is to create a budget - will be a bit of a mix of zero base budget and previous spend analysis.  Once we get a handle on that we can start planning where we can (are willing to) reduce spend and then work out what we can realistically expect to save each month to create an achievable timetable for FIRE.  

Merlin's_Beard

Sounds like a reasonable plan. I think that sitting down and budgeting when you know you're doing "okay" is a massive willpower exercise, because it's hard to make a tangible reason to do it.

But well done for planning to take control!

KajiKita

I think you will be surprised at where you are ‘leaking’ ££££ and what on. You will find you can make small cutbacks that don’t impact your life very much but will accumulate to being a useful monthly mortgage OP for example. 

Love the idea of building a big shed to save on storage costs. The sense of satisfaction we felt when we *finally* emptied our storage container, 3 months after moving in here was huge! 😊 And actually the ‘payback’ will probably be quicker than you think, as storage costs will only increase over the next 2.5 to 3 years. 

KK

CCW007

Merlin's_beard, I think you have hit the nail on the head; I found it easier to budget years ago when I didn't have much spare at the end of the month and I had to consider big purchases but when it's for a long term plan it's hard to keep the motivation up.

KK - I'm sure groceries and takeaways will be areas we can make savings without feeling like we are sacrificing too much, we don't eat out much any more but get takeaway far more often than we should.  Still need to have some treats but it happens too often to be considered a special treat any more!  Will be interesting to see what other areas we can identify to make savings.

In the office tomorrow and have made lunch so no popping to Tesco / M&S for a sandwich.  I only go to the office once or twice a week so have found I have been buying lunch as it's not every day.  All adds up though.