Ready to embrace a mortgage-free journey

IAAM

That’s a great idea, thank you. 

I’ll check out some basic bank accounts over the next few days and put something in motion! 

It’s kind of difficult not doing these switches as it’s such easy money. I might look back and see which bank accounts I held when, so that I know when I become eligible again for different companies. They seem to vary in their eligibility conditions. 

IAAM

October summary of where I currently am:-

Mortgage balance: £165,465.77

Current overpayment of £111pm = remaining mortgage term is 9 years 9mths

 

Savings: £13,178

Pensions:

Current value of DC pot - £25,878

Defined benefit pensions:

(60) - £6,369pa

(65) increases to £7,375pa

(67) increases to £18,305pa

State Pension (67) - £9.627pa

Total pension @ 67 - £27,933pa (excluding DC pot)

 

Emergency fund: £5,000

Wealthify account: £46.08 (+ £50 bonus payable April 2023)

Partnership card voucher - £5

M&S voucher - £5

Nectar card - £1.61

IAAM

I've decided to set monthly targets for the next 2 months, and then set longer term goals in the new year, so my task this week (once the huge credit card bill has landed and been dealt with on Friday) is to set those goals.

In the meantime (and to keep up my momentum), my plan is to:
1.) check out a basic bank account (specifically for switching purposes as I'm happy with my current bank)
2.) I've identified how much my various pension pots are worth but I now need to look at pension options to increase contributions (as well as tax treatment and withdrawal implications) so that I can gauge how best to use my pensions in my MFW journey
3.) I've divided my savings into an Emergency fund of £5,000 and then £13178 as actual savings so that I've got a better distinction between the two.
4.) I still need to think of my preferred MFW date and then work the figures backwards from there, to see how feasible my goal is or whether I need a re-think.

On a random note - I had a look in my kitchen cupboards over the weekend and I've got 5 different types of tea!! (I'm the only tea drinker!). I have 4 of my regular teabags left before I need to buy more, but I've set myself the task that I have to use up all of the others first (Green tea, Cream Earl Grey, Redbush....), before I am allowed to buy more tea. (Thankfully there are only 20 Cream Earl Grey teabags as I'm not looking forward to drinking those. (Hopefully I might be pleasantly surprised).

I've also noticed 4 cans of chickpeas in the cupboard when I haven't cooked with them since lockdown! I need to review what meals I'm cooking to start using them again.

Happy Monday everyone!

LadyWithAPlan

Well done on getting your pensions clarity. You look like in good shape.


Cream earl grey? What will they think of next? Houmous is always fun to make or a sweet potato chickpea coconut curry?

IAAM

I do love houmous but I've never been able to make a homemade version that tastes nice. I'm rather partial to a Moroccan houmous that I've found in Morrisons and Lidl (different brands) but if anyone has a recipe then I would be extremely grateful!

It was a bad MFW day today as my DD2's gas oven was condemned by the guy doing a routine boiler check. Thankfully he spotted the issue as I daren't think what could have happened otherwise. Fortunately, we found a lovely local shop who can deliver a new one on Friday, but that will cost over £500. There's no way she can afford that so it will be a part Christmas present and I will shift the start of my MFW challenge by a month or so.

It could have been really frustrating as my MFW journey only started just over a week ago and it's already put me back at least a month. But....I am so glad the problem was picked up when it was, and that both she and my grandson are safe. I've got enough money that I was able to help and it's another reminder that I need to pay off my mortgage as soon as I reasonably can, but to always make sure I've got enough in my emergency funds to manage those curveballs that we all face at some time or another. 

On a lighter note, tomorrow is the day I will tackle those Cream Earl Grey teabags in the cupboard!! Wish me luck .......

IAAM

Update: Cream Earl Grey tea - not to be recommended!! 

I will dig deep and finish off the remaining 19 teabags but here's the dilemma: is it silly to do this as they were a present from someone and not a frivolous buy by me. Or - do I just bin them? 

South_coast

Maybe you know someone else that might like them? Ideally not the person that bought them for you in the first place 🤣!

IAAM

I have good news!! My neighbours didn't take up my offer but my DH was happy to take them to the office and try them. He's mostly a coffee drinker though so we'll see how that goes.........   

IAAM

I've just taken out an additional current account today. It was originally planned to be used just as a switching account when there are some good bank deals around. (Thanks again to South_coast for this). However, I found an account which is giving 1% cashback on debit card transactions for 12 mths, plus a rounding-up facility on payments (which attracts 5% interest) and then a linked savings account paying 2.1% interest.

I haven't tried this before but I've put this month's budget into the new current account and I will only use the debit card for all of November. There is no overdraft facility on the account and so it forces me to stick to my monthly budget. It'll be interesting to see how I do when I know I haven't got the flexibility of using a credit card.

I usually pay for purchases using my credit cards, both of which are loyalty ones. However, I've done the figures and the 1% cashback should get me a much bigger reward at the end of the year than my credit cards do. (Plus this will be given to me in cash, and not as a voucher for use in-store).

I need to review my To Do list from my earlier posts tonight, to see what else I have still got to do. I know one task is to choose my ideal MF date and then work backwards to see how much I need to save and whether it's possible, or if I need to manage my expectations.

It feels as though I'm moving forward still - even though I wasn't able to overpay the mortgage at the end of October.

IAAM

So I've looked at my ideal MF date (thanks LadyWithAPlan) and it's 2028. Unfortunately, that will require an overpayment of £1,250pm!

I'm not particularly hopeful we will be able to achieve that target, but the aim for being mortgage free in just over 5 years is pretty overwhelming. The overpayments are also within the 10% allowance by our bank.

On paper, we should be able to commit to an overpayment of £770pm, although that would put us at 2030 and would definitely need a real mindshift in terms of reviewing our current lifestyle (which isn't necessarily a bad thing)

However........our grocery bill might have some slack in it and, even if we just managed to shave £15 pm off it, that would reduce our mortgage term by 1 month overall. I will also review our joint credit card bill and see what other spend we have that could be reviewed or reduced. We have access to 6 months' credit card statements which will prove useful for that.

We've made big changes for Christmas presents already and have made a conscious decision to give more modest gifst, so that will also make a difference.

In summary....we're still moving forward! We now have helpful information to hand and something that will make us far more aware about spending decisions from now onwards.