Mortgage free in 4 years

Sensiblesaver

Just made another OP thanks another refund from something I no longer needed. £138 OP made today bringing total this month to £752.59.  I still have one of my ISAs interest to add, probably about £50. I also added £100 into my son S&S ISA today. I have not added much this year due to change of jobs, reduced income. We bought a mattress last February and I pay £100 a month, once that finishes I will add to his ISA.

Sensiblesaver

Another small OP of £58 sent today, some interest from my saving  and I wanted to round it up so the total OPs for this month was £810.79. I also called my mortgage to change the direct debit to the 7th as I now get paid on 5th and 15th of the month and I keep having to move money from savings to cover the mortgage on the 1st. They re-calculated the amount I need to pay and because of the OPs I have made it has gone down by £250 a month, but I will ignore it and continue to OP the same amount. Minimum OP now should be £800.

Next year I will start increasing the amount I overpay, at the moment I still invest into my ISA. not as much as before, but my accessible investments have gone over 100k (106K), so I am focusing on pension and mortgage whilst I am still increasing my income.

I'm off today but had quite a lazy day (I did manage to go for a quick run, 4k) as dog kept us up all night with a bad stomach, had to take her outside a couple of times and she had an accident in the bathroom, bless her. But I'm knackered today, good thing I don't work on Mondays. I'm talking to my boss tomorrow about dropping a day as I have been offered a day at another place, hope it goes well.

Sensiblesaver

I had a great day at my job yesterday, which is good as one of the places I work is very quiet this month. I'm glad I work in 2 different places. I should get £100 for a survey I did on Friday, it was 1 hour during my lunch break, but nice easy money not to be sniffed at . I will make an OP once I receive it, or maybe buy some sunglasses as I lost mine during our last trip and am going away early January and will definitely need a new pair.

I woke up early and have updated ynab, budget very tight until I get paid, but we are still on budget, and I have some money set aside for DH birthday on Thursday, food shop has been done, so it should be ok.

Proper winter weather now which makes me just want to snuggle on the sofa, but I booked a gym class later and will go and take the dog for a little walk in a bit.

Sensiblesaver

Had a very lazy day yesterday, couldn't be bothered to do much, but I did take the dog out for a long 1.5hs walk at least.

We managed to finish the month on budget and had £50 spare on the gifts category, so just made a £50 OP to the mortgage today. I don't get paid until 5/12 but DH transferred his contribution so budget is ok until I get paid. Mortgage now goes out on the 7th so I will make an OP after I get paid. I keep playing around with my budget spreadsheets and I'm in 2 minds over should I OP all my spare money this month or split between ISA and mortgage? Very keen on making a bigger OP this month, have till Friday to make my mind out.

Sensiblesaver

Mortgage balance was -£174,714 so I just made another OP of £14 to round down the number(will just move the money from the Christmas pot). This OP obsession is real lol. Now I will stop looking at my spreadsheets for a few days as not much will happen unless I win something on premium bonds tomorrow

Mortgage balance now -£174,700

Sensiblesaver

Unfortunately no premium bond wins, but I decided to sell some shares that are not in an ISA. I will sell them in bits every year to avoid capital gains tax, so £2k OP made today . Mortgage balance now -£172,700. I get paid tomorrow so will do the normal OP tomorrow. Total OPs this year so far are £10,068. Considering I changed jobs and had a massive drop in income for a while I'm quite pleased with this. Mortgage end date now Feb 38 (original date July 41)

Sensiblesaver

Had a lovely weekend off and saw some friends yesterday. I didn't drink alcohol and slept well and woke up nice and early. Even though I don't work today I want to go to the gym and have a more productive day. We bought our Christmas tree and I need t decorate it today and make the house look more Christmassy

Normal mortgage payment went out today, so made another OP of £834.23. New balance -£171,180. New end date Jan 38. 

Sensiblesaver

Just got paid from a survey I did a few weeks back so another OP made of £100. New balance now -£171,080

Sensiblesaver

Received interest from my ISA and jiggled the budget a bit more to send £80 OP. Balance now -£171,000. That's it for this year I think. Total OP this year was £11,082.38 which is not bad considering I changed jobs and had a drop in income.

Christmas shopping all done and still have £45 left on the Christmas pot but will leave it in case I decide to get something else.

Total saved for December:  £2000 into my SIIP, £500 S&S ISA, OP £1,014.23 (+2k OP from sold shares), so not a bad month and still in budget. I'm going away 1st of Jan for 2 weeks and can't wait. Goals for next 2 weeks is eat healthy and exercise as I'll be going to the beach soon . All Christmas celebrations are out the way now so no alcohol now until Christmas day. 

Amount left until I am mortgage neutral is -£46,742. I will sit down over the Christmas break and work on my goals for 2026. I definitely want to achieve mortgage neutrality then, it will be such a nice feeling. I will not use my S&S ISA to pay the mortgage though, I will just plug along until is gone as it would not make sense to sell my stocks. It also gives me a sense of security knowing I can access my ISA if needed. 

Sensiblesaver

Time for an update. I had a lovely holiday and it was quite healthy, lots of exercise and sunshine to lift my mood Unfortunately my mums' dementia has deteriorated and she is no longer able to live by herself, so I had to arrange carers for her. It will be quite an expense (£700/month), but this is the only thing I can do as living abroad I can't help her any other way. I have managed to find another job so I will now be working 5 days again. It was nice working 4 days a week but with the increase in expense I can't have this luxury for the moment, at least until the mortgage is gone. I am hoping this extra day will cover my mum's expense.

I have come back from holiday and just had a 7 day week with 2 training days at new job so I am knackered. I started last week well going to the gym 3 days in a row but failed to do anything the rest of the week. I'm off today so will be going to the gym to get back to my routine.

I worked out my financial goals for this year (quite ambitions due to recent expense with my mum but I would like to push myself):
Save 10k into S+S ISA
Save 2k cash
Add 30k into pension
Save 2k DS S+S ISA
OP 10k to the mortgage
Total 54k 


Total saved in January:
£2.5k into SIPP       £2500/£30000
£300 S+S ISA           £300/£10000
£135 cash                 £135/£2000
£100 DS S+S ISA     £100/£2000
Mortgage OP       £801.20/£10000

Current Net worth without the house (only me, not counting OH)
S+S ISA £102,183
Stocks £ 5,415
Cash £18,800
Pension £147,585
Total £273,983