Washing Away My Mortgage & Debt by 2035

Squirrelz92

Well, needless to say I am back with a part two! I cleared my original debt of £7401 (off the top of my noggin) last year where I stomped all over that balance until the cows came home in record time. I promised myself I would never get back into debt unless absolutely necessary. Whoops? Well, it was an 'on purpose with every intention' whoops. 

I have lived in my reno home since Aug 2020 and had managed to save up to get upgrades done as and when money would allow including rewiring, re-plastering, knocking down walls, flooring etc. However I saved the two most expensive reno jobs until last; these being the renovation of the kitchen and the back garden. After waiting patiently for 4 years I decided I couldn't wait any longer and took the sad and desperate plunge to have my home (almost) 100% refurbed by taking out a £20,000 loan to get these bad boys finished. It was well worth the spend and I now finally have every room modernised with some pennies to spare. I took out the loan in May 2024 and have so far managed to repay £12,564.01 Not bad going I would say! 

Circumstances have however changed since my last debt busting thread and my partner now no longer lives with myself and my midget squirrels (12 + 10). I am now down £525 a month in bill contributions which has naturally slowed down my progress on making the significant overpayments I have been accustomed to. 

However, life is not all doom and gloom as with my trusted spreadsheet weapon, hours persistently number crunching (god bless my job as an accountant) and plenty of patiently waiting for payday after payday to come around, I now have a clear path which sees me clearing this loan by July 2025 🎉

So, here's to the next 7 months of forever finding those few spare pennies, hammering this debt and living as close to stress free (wishful thinking) as possible whilst doing so!

Squirrelzz x

Squirrelz92

So current debts are as follows:

Debt 1 - MBNA £7,435.99 @ 8.37% interest
Was £20,000 but have attacked this religiously every month. Minimum monthly payments are £409.09 which comes out on the 1st every month. The last two months I have only managed to pay off an additional £250 as this was all I could afford. This will now increase each month going forwards according to my glorious spreadsheet workings 👏

Debt 2 - Natwest £790.08 @ 0% interest
This was a card originally intended to clear my loan balance but turns out you cant use a credit card to pay off a loan 🙄🙈 So instead, this is being used to continue the funding of my ACCA studies which will be reimbursed to me in full by my place of work the following month. The actual figure on this balance to be paid back by me personally is only £158.08. I am paying the minimum balance on this card with it being 0% until Jan 2026.

Shall post an SOA shortly to reflect my ridiculous obsession with the need to organise every inch of my financials

Squirrelz92

OK, so the SOA wasn't laying things out the way I like compared to my spreadsheet so I shall use extracts from this instead to show what I am currently working with

With me mid way through the month and with too many amendments to my budget it is easier to display what will be from the 22nd December (pay day). So...

From 22nd December the below SOA applies:

Income:
Salary  £2713.01
Child Benefit   £170.20
CSA   £291.09
Total income   £3,174.30 

Expenditure:

Mortgage	£394
Council Tax	£117
Places 4 People	£43
Water	£46
Electric/Gas	£130
Life Insurance	£9
Home Insurance	£18
MBNA Loan	£409
Internet	£44
Mobile Phone	£45
Food Shopping	£240
Car Fuel	£160
Car Expenses	£53
Netflix	£11
School Trip	£58
Gymnastics	£48
Football	£25
Amazon Prime	£9
Amazon Music	£0
School iPad	£16
Pocket Money	£50
Ring Cam	£5
Dog Groomers	£55
Holiday	£200
Birthday Pot	£50
Christmas Pot	£0
Vanguard ISA	£130
Total	£2,365

Leftover funds if I do not spend anything other than the above = £809

However, this is never naturally the case! Kids clothes/shoes, the odd takeaway and pet supplies come out of this as and when needed. At the moment I am on track to be able to overpay another £250 minimum off the loan on pay day eve (21st).

I have just managed to bag a great deal on my phone contract. I paid off the last instalment a few days ago leaving me with only the sim plan to pay. However this alone was costing me £43 a month (daylight robbery) so I have switched to a new sim only deal whilst keeping my now paid off handset for £15 a month. My two midget squirrels also have a £15 plan each totalling £45 a month compared to what was £104!

Our holiday to Greece will be paid off after the 22nd January. This has been costing me £200 a month so once January's chunk comes out of my salary, this will be an extra £200 a month back into the pot to go towards extra debt busting!

My council tax is band A and already has the 25% single adult discount applied. Places 4 People is an annoying leasehold charge that I must pay even though my home is freehold .... absolutely bizarre and something I asked my solicitor when purchasing to dive into. Sadly no get out of jail free card and I must pay this due to the area I live in. Completely stupid and pointless considering they only look after council properties.

The internet is up for renewal in Feb 25 so I am hoping to jump on the bandwagon and throw in the classic 'I want to leave you' card in the hope they will offer me even faster internet speeds for at least a little bit less. 

My son has a school trip to Paris in July 25 so this monthly amounts pays off what is owed but will change in Jan due to the instalment deadline dates demanding different amounts each time. 

Both my dogs get their 7 weekly full groom so I save £55 a month to cover this for when it arises. 

As for Vanguard, I am keen on putting away a bit extra on top of my 10% salary sacrifice in the hope that it may give me the option to retire a tad earlier with 30+ years of regular deposits and compounding interest. 

Right, that's enough posting for this evening. I shall be back regularly to update and keep myself in the groove for getting rid of this final chunk of debt before the end of July 2025 🎉

Squirrelzz x

Time2count

Hi Squirrel,

Do you do a fresh SOA each month? It's just I noticed there is nothing for the Christmas pot, which is understandable 3 days before Christmas but if that's the set budget for the year then the pot will still be empty next Christmas. Amazon music is also set to zero?
I realise you've recently reduced the mobile amount but are they all SIM only? I currently pay £4.95 a month for mine, unlimited texts and minutes and 6GB data a month.
Is it worth putting some of the excess into an emergency fund, maybe £200 a month for the inevitable broken appliance?

Good luck and I'm sure you'll get there

Nintud

I second the need for an EF, you could also start saving for holiday costs (travel insurance, transport, excursions/activities, souvenirs etc..) I budget £50 per person per day when travelling but you’ll need less if all inclusive

Sarahwithlove

What do you get for your leasehold costs then?? Have you checked the contract because if you are paying you should be getting something. Could be they maintain the green areas etc as some freehold places have those kind of costs attached 

Squirrelz92

Time2count said:

Hi Squirrel,

Do you do a fresh SOA each month? It's just I noticed there is nothing for the Christmas pot, which is understandable 3 days before Christmas but if that's the set budget for the year then the pot will still be empty next Christmas. Amazon music is also set to zero?
I realise you've recently reduced the mobile amount but are they all SIM only? I currently pay £4.95 a month for mine, unlimited texts and minutes and 6GB data a month.
Is it worth putting some of the excess into an emergency fund, maybe £200 a month for the inevitable broken appliance?

Good luck and I'm sure you'll get there

Hi @Time2count. Thanks for dropping by! Yes I do a fresh SOA each month as some of my spends either drop off or are added depending on the time of year.

My Christmas pot for example ... for the last 6 months this has had £80 a month put into it but with the last pay day for me being the 22nd Nov, this was the last instalment into this pot until May next year. This instalment will now decrease and move to the birthday pot to start up funds until August/Sept time

Amazon music is now 0 (was previously £11 a month) due to me receiving a 6 month free subscription that came with my new sim only contract Picked this one over Disney + and Amazon Prime as it costs the most.

Yes all the mobile phones are SIM only Happy with paying what I do for them at present as its a big step down from the £104 I have been paying. No doubt I will end up finding new deals for the other two phones as I cant help myself 😂

Squirrelz92

Nintud said:

I second the need for an EF, you could also start saving for holiday costs (travel insurance, transport, excursions/activities, souvenirs etc..) I budget £50 per person per day when travelling but you’ll need less if all inclusive

Apologies, I have just realised that I did not include my emergency pot which currently stands at £1000. Once I am debt free this shall increase to 3 months worth of bills. Thanks for pointing that out!

Yes I must have a think on how much I will need to take abroad for spending money. Where we are going is a sports heavy all inclusive resort for families so plenty of watersports etc either free or at a significant discount to using a third party Will need parking at the airport travel insurance and some pennies for 2 excursions.

Squirrelz92

Sarahwithlove said:

What do you get for your leasehold costs then?? Have you checked the contract because if you are paying you should be getting something. Could be they maintain the green areas etc as some freehold places have those kind of costs attached 

Within this they do look after the green areas as the local council don't come out to do this, only Places For People. Just irritating that within council tax you also pay an element of this for looking after the area. Feels like I am being duped. It has been a big issue for a lot of the residents who own their houses like me who also have to pay it. Nothing can be done though. It's the only thing I worry about when it comes to deciding to sell my house

peb

Freehold with a Management Company.  Completely unregulated.  However Places for People are actually one of the good companies out there.  No doubt frustrating but could be a lot worse.

Sarahwithlove

Squirrelz92 said:

Sarahwithlove said:

What do you get for your leasehold costs then?? Have you checked the contract because if you are paying you should be getting something. Could be they maintain the green areas etc as some freehold places have those kind of costs attached 

Within this they do look after the green areas as the local council don't come out to do this, only Places For People. Just irritating that within council tax you also pay an element of this for looking after the area. Feels like I am being duped. It has been a big issue for a lot of the residents who own their houses like me who also have to pay it. Nothing can be done though. It's the only thing I worry about when it comes to deciding to sell my house

I don't think it will be an issue for many as long as its not extortionate costs. Like you they will probably just want to know what its for.