Mortgage Free by 50???

hatch_five

Busy weekend. I got the cakes marzipanned. It’s the first time I’ve marzipanned a cake but they came out looking good. Next weekend I need to ice them and it will be the first time making royal icing so lots of new skills being learnt at the moment. I made the meringue for the pavlova and after three hours in the oven it came out looking perfect so I placed it on the cooling rack with a tea towel over to cool…and the cat decided to walk over the top of it and it broke into pieces! After threatening the cat with becoming Christmas dinner, I have managed to piece it back together and thanks to the tea towel it is still clean and edible- hopefully by the time I have put lots of whipped cream and fruit on the top it won’t be too noticeable! Kids and pets- I love them all dearly but they seem to attract chaos!

I managed to get a load of presents wrapped and my Christmas cards written which is another job off the list and I found time to watch a couple of Christmas films- White Christmas and the original version of Miracle on 34th Street so starting to feel very festive. On the money front we realised that we didn’t pay the water rates this month so managed to claw a little money back and put an extra £25 in the emergency savings (treated myself to a couple of second hand books on eBay that came to £5 but don’t feel too guilty about that). Back to the dentist today (final visit) to get my crown fitted so that will be £4 in bus fare but that should be it this week. DD’s Cub pack is putting on a show for parents on Wednesday followed by cake and a cup of tea so that is something I am looking forward to and I am going to try and find some time on my lunch hours this week to get the kid’s presents wrapped whilst they are out at school.

[Deleted User]

Out of interest what sort of pension income are you looking to achieve at 60?
 

Have you considered it may be better not to overpay the mortgage, but instead put more money into pension savings over a longer period of time? Then let investment growth and compound interest do their work over the years.

Although great to be mortgage free there is no need to rush to do so. Property historically has appreciated over the years and the mortgage debt becomes relatively smaller to income and value.

Perhaps concentrate on becoming and remaining debt free ( not including the mortgage) plus investing in retirement plans. If your state pension is not payable until 68 you need to finance the ages 60 to 68 without employment income. 

hatch_five

[Deleted User] said:

Out of interest what sort of pension income are you looking to achieve at 60?
 

Have you considered it may be better not to overpay the mortgage, but instead put more money into pension savings over a longer period of time? Then let investment growth and compound interest do their work over the years.

Although great to be mortgage free there is no need to rush to do so. Property historically has appreciated over the years and the mortgage debt becomes relatively smaller to income and value.

Perhaps concentrate on becoming and remaining debt free ( not including the mortgage) plus investing in retirement plans. If your state pension is not payable until 68 you need to finance the ages 60 to 68 without employment income. 

I haven't a clue! I think with my current pension, if I were to stop paying into it now it would return about £900 a month from age 60 onwards- obviously I have another twenty years of paying in to the pension to do as well. At current market prices we would need a minimum of £1500 a month to maintain our lifestyle when the kids have grown up and left/contributing to the family budget, but there's inflation to consider as well. I will be honest and say its something I know virtually nothing about and I haven't a clue about investments etc- most of them seem rather a risky way of doing things and you could end up with less than you put in. I am risk averse when it comes to these things and would rather a lower return but lower risk. I am in a local government pension so I think I should be able to buy extra contributions so my plan was to do that when I had sorted out the debt and mortgage.

We pay £280 a month in mortgage at the moment and still owe about £22k (which is a slightly scary figure when its written down). According to the overpayment calculator, if I were to overpay (once the debts are gone), I could probably spare about an extra £400 a month and get the mortgage cleared in three or four years and save about £20k in interest over the remaining length of the mortgage. I am really keen to have the security of owning the property outright and not being behoven to the bank- I know its unlikely, but there is always the chance you could become unemployed and end up losing the roof over your head. My parents paid off their house at 44 and said it was the best thing they ever did as they had the flexibility to do what they wanted and more disposable income a month despite a relatively low salary. 

hatch_five

End of another week, not very good on the money saving as I got tempted by some books on eBay (£30 for £250 worth of books if I got them individually on Amazon so a good buy but still naughty) I have budgeted it in from next week’s pay packet so I can afford it, but not very money saving! Went to DD’s Cubs event on Wednesday and it was a fantastically chaotic evening- DD was Mary, complete with reindeer antlers! I got the model of Arkwright’s shop finished for my friend’s Christmas present this week, so will get that wrapped up for him this weekend.

Going to get the cakes iced this weekend and it should be a quiet Saturday as DS (who makes most of the noise and chaos) is having a day out at Leeds Christmas market with his girlfriend- as they are both twelve its very sweet and luckily her mum is going to escort them (wouldn’t be happy with two kids of that age off to the big city without adult supervision!). I am planning to curl up with Love Actually on DVD tomorrow and a little tipple- one of my favourite Christmas films, even if my wife says its ‘too girly’ for her tastes!

One more week of work to go, and then two glorious weeks off, my first leave since August so I am well and truly ready for it! I have a few Christmas holiday jobs to do (definitely need to cut some more firewood up to see us through the rest of winter), but I am planning a lot of relaxing with the family, eating the nice food I have been squirreling away for the last three months, long walks in the winter air etc. This has always been my favourite time of year and I feel the more effort I put in now, the more I get out of it.

BrilliantButScary

If your wife"s annual income is less than the personal allowance (£12,570), she can apply to do the following:

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance

Every little helps.

hatch_five

Last day of work before the Christmas holidays and payday (yay). Transferred some more money to my emergency fund- the Help to Save goes by DD on the 28th so I will update when that moves across. I have also paid another £200 off the PayPal CC and put aside £250 for Capital One (again a DD set up). It is quite addictive to see the savings going up and the debt going down! Its going to be a long month as I won’t be paid again until the 28th January, however I have budgeted carefully, all the Christmas presents are bought and I have even sorted out my Mum’s birthday present for January so I am on top of things (normally a mad panic after Christmas to find her something). The store cupboards are bulging and I have bought extra rabbit supplies to help tide me over until the end of January (can’t have my furry friend without his hay and treats- he has just jumped up next to me on the sofa as if to remind me!). We are planning to go and get the fresh bits on the 23rd so we can then avoid the supermarket on Christmas Eve and then just hunker down and enjoy the festive season.

I am up to my parents for a pre-Christmas-Christmas tomorrow when my brother and his wife come up to see us. I have made cakes and meringue for pavlova and tonight I am going to get a batch of gingerbread stars and Christmas trees baked to take up with me as a little extra Christmas gift for everyone- I am very conscious that I haven’t bought as many presents as I might have done in previous years but that is all part of the plan to live within my means and be more deliberate in my spending rather than just buying tat for the sake of buying tat.

hatch_five

BrilliantButScary said:

If your wife"s annual income is less than the personal allowance (£12,570), she can apply to do the following:

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance

Every little helps.

Thanks, yes her wage is definitely under the threshold as she doesn't earn anything. She has already signed over he personal allowance. Its one of the few sensible money decisions we have made over the last few years!

Sarahwithlove

Could your wife work? Or apply for any benefits? 

hatch_five

Sarahwithlove said:

Could your wife work? Or apply for any benefits? 

My wife has a number of quite severe health conditions so she can't work, however since moving onto UC that has been acknowledged and we receive benefits accordingly. She doesn't qualify for PIP, but it has been a major help to our income levels after we moved across from working families tax credits to UC as we hadn't claimed for anything before. It was a rigmarole to apply and the review process was very stressful, but it worked out in the end.

hatch_five

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. My money saving has been going quite well, had a fun day out to the cinema with the kids and everything kept in budget...and then yesterday the toilet seat hinges snapped. I had to pull £30 out of the emergency fund for a replacement (in my head a loo seat should have been around £10 but its not!). Part of me is thinking that this is exactly why we have an emergency fund, the other part of me is annoyed I have to use the money! At least if wasn't on the CC!