I'm finally here! Now to get it gone in 15 years,10 if we really try!

My first post in the MFW forum!!!! I remember saving for IVF (wasn't needed in the end) at the beginning of 2016, and happening upon this forum. At the time I could only dream of one day having my very own MFW journey! And now I do. Although, tbh I don't expect it will make very interesting reading.

Myself and OH bought our first house in April this year, 3 bed terraced, West Coast of Scotland (literally west coast, 5 min drive to the beach).

It's the 2 of us (both 39), 2 daughters (5 and 4), a dog and a newly adopted tortoise!

We were lucky, we didn't end up in a bidding war, we offered the home report value (£85k) and it was accepted.

We currently have £74,855.27 to go, and 28yrs 7 months, our current rate is 2.54% fixed until 30th June 2027.

As my title suggests we would really like it gone in 15yrs, and in an ideal world within 10yrs. But we are mindful of the fact we still need to have a life and with a young family (it's complete, there will be no more babies) we want them to enjoy life.

We do have some stuff that needs done in the house, mostly cosmetic (carpets, kitchen cupboards) rather than needing (garden) to be done. So, at the moment we are focusing on funding that work, as opposed to overpaying.

Being M-free is just one part of our long-term plans, but more about those another time.

Ciao for now!

Replies

  • amydoll83amydoll83 Forumite
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    A typical rainy day in Scotland today, so a quick walk with the dog and kids, and a toy and teddy each (the kids not me), easy 10k steps completed, but we are soaking!

    Money making/saving
    Foraged some dandelion greens for tortoise, to go alongside his usual kale.
    HM lentil soup is bubbling along nicely on the hob, crusty bread is almost ready.
    Prolific is open, ready and waiting.
    Vinted sale this morning, already at the shop, £9 (pending) in the pot.


    Plans
    Spend at least 1 hr listing on vinted (I have 12 banana boxes full of stuff to be listed, and an additional 3 boxes full in the loft).
    Upload receipt on all apps.
    Try to reach cash out on prolific.
    Hit goal on SB.


    This month's goals
    This month we are focussing on the carpets, all 3 bedrooms upstairs and the stairs, been quoted £1.2k, so aiming for £1.5k (we always save a little over).
    Currently 197.85/1500
    Would like that figure to be at least 300/1500 by the end of the month, will tidy main account tomorrow down to nearest £10, 10% of CB due on Monday, and currently have £14.97 available to withdraw from vinted which I'll do on Monday.
    So approx. £68.03 to find before the 1st November.



  • amydoll83amydoll83 Forumite
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    Well a week since I started documenting my MFW journey. I've wanted to log on and update, but a not particular busy week turned out to be quite busy!

    Overtime, overtime, overtime at work, late finishes and early openings. Halloween parties at school and nursery (with more to come on Monday), waiting on deliveries, papering and painting our bedroom. At some point I fed and watered everyone.

    Tortoises new vivarium was delivered on Thursday, opened yesterday to build and it was damaged. No way it could have been built and safe for Mr R. Contacted company to return, and received an email and follow up call, saying not to return the vivarium (very heavy, bulky and awkward) just send photos of the damaged parts (done) and the replacement parts will be sent tomorrow. Fantastic service, not so fantastic for Mr R who will have to spend potentially another week in his old enclosure, but he comes out every day for a few hours and it's a vast improvement on what he lived in with his previous owner.

    Money making/saving
    Continue to forage tortoise's food as much as possible, but need to research what else he can eat, so he has plenty of variety. 
    Home made steak pie for dinner (shortly).
    £11.25 available to withdraw from vinted (atm), will do that tomorrow.

    Previous Plans
    A whole 30mins was spent listing on vinted last week, with a grand total of 3 sales! Fail, not a major one, but I know that when I spend time listing I generate sales. So really must focus and get listing on my days off next week (Monday and Tuesday).
    Receipts uploaded on apps, this is ongoing.
    4p off cash out on prolific, with £16.17 pending!
    Have hit daily goal once on SB! I use to do this easily, but some days struggle to find time to actually log on.

    Anyway, all steps in the right direction, even if they are just small steps!

    Plans for this week remain the same, plus keep an eye out for payment being available from zipzero.

    Goals
    Goals for this month will almost definitely grow as the month progresses, but I still have £23.14 to find to reach the £300/1500 goal, so am going to focus more efforts on meeting the total goal for this month. Setting the goal at £600/1500.
    Finish reading my book, and start new one. Sell ones I've read and won't re read!
    10ksteps daily.
    Shopping budget £75 weekly.

    Will try and update in a few days, if I have time and anything interesting to update  :D
     
  • Four_SeasonsFour_Seasons Forumite
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    lovely diary so upbeat, will be following you and cheering you on x
  • amydoll83amydoll83 Forumite
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    Thank you four_seasons! I do try to remain upbeat and positive :smile:

    Over a week since I last updated, possible theme going on here? In my defence I've had literally no time, worked every day since my last update (working this afternoon too), and my next day off isn't until the 14th. 

    Weekly shopping has remained under the £75 budgeted (one of the perks of my job). I really need to do a food inventory the freezer cannot fit any more food in and should properly allocate the weekly underspends too. I won't lie, there isn't a chance I'll get that done this week, so will do on the 14th.

    Prolific and receipt apps are plodding along nicely, not making loads of money but small amounts that are chipping away at the bigger amount. Re receipt apps, I completely misunderstood the email from zipzero (as did lots of people on the GPT forum on facey) and if I'm correct the old base units will start to be available for pay out from January first, so will earmark the £10 (maximum monthly pay out) to the council tax.

    Couple of wee sales on vinted, nothing major but slowly slowly shifting it. Again, I need to dedicate a bit of time to list.

    I looked at webuybooks, and a couple of other book buying/selling apps, in an attempt to shift some of the mountain of books I have. Over 40 books, and my offer was a massively underwhelming £5.62 (other offers were slightly lower). I wasn't expecting life changing money, but I felt that really was a cheeky, so declined offers and deleted the apps. And I've hidden the books back in the box under my bed (don't tell my OH) :wink:

    Popped to the shops yesterday for milk and had a nosey in the local charity shop window. Gruffalo jigsaw puzzle, brand new, unopened, for £1, yes, a single £1. My youngest read the Gruffalo at nursery around 2 months ago, and it is a firm favourite. I got a second-hand copy (from the same charity shop) for 20p about a month ago, and it's read every night before bed. Daughter has also been heard reading it to her toys and teddies. So, I know the puzzle will go down a treat, and is safely stashed away for Christmas. 

    Sunday evening, we attended a local fireworks display. It was advertised as having food and drinks available, and fair ground rides, cash only. So, I nipped to the bank and withdrew £40 expecting the fair rides to be at least £2.50 person, plus food and drinks. Now the food was nothing fancy, roll and sausage, burgers, hotdogs, chips that sort of stuff. £1 for each item, and per person for the rides. We spent a grand total of £16, all fed and watered, we all went on the waltzers and the girls went on a swing ride. Great night for really quite cheap.

    Cheery bye for now.

  • South_coastSouth_coast Forumite
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    amydoll83 said:
    Re receipt apps, I completely misunderstood the email from zipzero (as did lots of people on the GPT forum on facey) and if I'm correct the old base units will start to be available for pay out from January first, so will earmark the £10 (maximum monthly pay out) to the council tax.
    That's my understanding of it, too - you no longer have to earn the premium units to release the old base units, and they're going to release the base units £10 at a time until they're used up. Now I'm annoyed with myself that I stopped scanning receipts for the last 6 months, as I had over £50 in base units that I would never have been able to match in premium units 🤦‍♀️ Back on it now though, and that £50 will come in very handy (mine's going on the electricity account 😀)!
    Mortgage start: £65,495 (March 2016)
    Cleared 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️!!! In 5 years, 1 month and 29 days
    Total amount repaid: £72,307.03. £1.10 repaid for every £1.00 borrowed

    Finally earning interest instead of paying it!!!
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