Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home

MillQueen

Hello, I am joining you on the debt free journey, for a couple of loans that are giving me anxiety and also my mortgage. I have been reading these diaries for inspiration and it’s time to start my own. I hope to get to know many of you as time goes on. I moved into my home last April and I have some loan repayments that are eating up my pay, and the mortgage is weighing heavily on me, as it will last in its current form until I’m very old and past retirement age. Here’s a summary of where I’m currently at. I don’t think these are horrific in the grand scheme of things, but debt makes me stressed and my net worth is a frightening level of minus when I think of my age.

#Loan 1: Postgraduate Loan of -£8,974 (interest 7.8%)

#Loan 2: Personal Loan of -£11,466 (interest 6.2%)

#Mortgage Balance: -£222,469.64 (interest 5.24%, 28 years left)

The plan is to focus on overpaying my postgraduate loan first, so it doesn’t keep reducing my salary, as it will be very wasteful if I let it run. I have set up a regular overpayment of £75 a month, and anything I have left at the end of the month will be a 50/30/20 split (with 50% going into emergency savings, 30% going to the postgraduate loan, and 20% into overpaying the mortgage). I also hope to reduce my mortgage term to a less scary 25 years when I remortgage at the end of the 2 year fix, in April 2027. Alongside, I am working to build up 10k of emergency savings, then after I have that I will tackle investments and improving my pension, alongside overpaying the mortgage. One good thing is that I do have a pension. I have made myself a 20 year plan and spreadsheet to cover it all.

At the moment, I am making savings on my weekly spending (no more Uber Eats, clothes or small purchases). I have downloaded the Sprive app and I tried “Too Good to Go” for the first time. There aren’t that many areas I can cut down, as I now only pay for necessary costs, bills and groceries, and those take up almost all of my salary, with the cost of everything. I have been gradually furnishing my new house with items from charity shops and market place, with an emphasis on low price and longevity, so I have mostly bought timeless wooden items that will last for decades. I have plans for 2 lodgers in the near future, as I chose a house that would have plenty of space for this. The house isn’t in the ideal area I wanted, as it was difficult to find an affordable property near work, so I have a longer commute, but I gained the advantage of a house I like with good space.

I am working towards greater financial freedom and security, as I would like to not feel worried about money, with that feeling that I'm only one missed pay cheque away from being unable to manage. I’m not sure whether this particular house will be a forever home with it not being the area I wished for, but I will make it a home whilst I’m here. For incomings, I have a full time job and also a smaller part time self-employed business. However, this is limited by time and energy, as my main role is very demanding and requires me to do a lot of work in my free time, so I don’t always have much capacity to earn extra outside of that in the way I would like. I plan to spend 2026 trying to get on top of my postgraduate loan, as I’ve already been paying it for years and owe nearly what I started with. I want rid of that now. The other loan was to pay for home repairs and I will tackle that afterwards. I have further dreams for work and home, but for now just working on a basic level of neutral security. 

Nice to meet you all and I hope to get you know some of you on your diaries  

Summary of Current Position:

Mortgage: -£222,469 (January 2026)

Postgraduate Loan: -£8,974 (January 2026)

Personal Loan: -£11,466 (January 2026)

Net Wealth: -£204,317 (January 2026)

Emergency Fund Savings: Needs calculating (January 2026)

ellenvan

Good ambitions.
I'm going to follow your diary.
Sometimes people put up a SoA for input.

MillQueen

A follower! Lovely! That's very encouraging, thank you. Always welcoming input for sure. 

Dakota_Rose

Welcome @MillQueen. I am wishing you much luck on your journey. I am carrying similar levels of debt and mortgage to you and have just started my own diary too. I already feel it’s helping me to clarify my thoughts and be more productive with my money. I am sure yours will do the same 😊 

MillQueen

Thank you @Dakota_Rose and good to meet you. I have just bookmarked your diary and will have a read. I agree about the clarifying thoughts. I think us "writing things down" sort of people can benefit enormously from this type of approach. I like reading other people's thinking around their finances too. It sets intentions! 

FootyFanDan

Wishing you luck

MillQueen

Had a few no spend days this week, as I am waiting to get paid on the 31st. However, I've been coming to terms with the fact the car is going to have to be replaced, as it needs a new timing belt, the heater is broken, and there are some suspension noises that sound expensive. It also needs a couple of new tyres as they keep going down when I pump them up, and now also a new windscreen. All that and the cost of the MOT and service, plus whatever else the MOT will throw up (it had a long list of advisories when I bought it), means that it's probably going to be near what I originally paid for the car to repair it. On balance, I've decided it's better to take my chances on carefully selecting another used car with a long MOT until I'm in a better position financially. I've decided I'm going to not worry about that until next month though.

MillQueen

A small win was that last night I was really tired and I wanted to order a takeaway. I ate toast and went to bed instead. Saved about £20 right there. You win some you lose some though, as today I've forgotten to bring my lunch to work, so I have a choice of spending approximately £6 or not eating lunch… 🤔

FootyFanDan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81859672#Comment_81859672

you are still up £14.. :D

MillQueen

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860685#Comment_81860685

Thanks for the encouragement. I managed to do it cheaper and got a protein shake from a vending machine for only £2, then I came home and ate avocado and toast from my "Too Good To Go" haul and an Aldi pasty sort of thing from the freezer (also was "Too Good to Go" and was actually quite nice) so I have that smug feeling of having remained largely on track despite a set back. I've just sat down to make a spreadsheet comparing the various costs and benefits of different models of used cars. Taking this seriously 😂

MillQueen

I have never been so excited for the end of the month before, to do my calculations. With the grocery savings and my self-employed income, I have managed to make an additional postgraduate loan over-payment of £76.87 and a mortgage over-payment of £105 this month. I added £181.87 into emergency savings and I currently have £5,511 in there. Although, that is earmarked towards some huge work costs I have coming up and I need to buy a second hand car over the next month, so it will be back to almost nothing soon. I am working towards having 10k in there that’s untouchable so that I can sleep peacefully, but that’s going to fluctuate for a while, as there are various big and urgent things whilst I build some financial stability.

February and March might be harder, as I have some dental treatment coming up, as well as some vets bills for my cat. I need to replace the car with another old banger. I’ve been driving a terribly decrepit 20 year old car, after my other one died last year and this was all I could afford as I was about to complete on the house. It’s done ok for the £1,499 I paid for it. I’ll just get something for under £2000 with 12 months MOT while I get into a better position, and hope that if it needs replacing I can get something longer lasting.

In other news, I opened an investment account (stocks and shares ISA) and set up a payment of £150 a month from 1st Feb, as I’ve been reading so much about investing I’ve become a bit freaked out that I’m not doing it. I tend to worry about the future, so I plan to put in £150 per month in 2026, £300 per month in 2027, and £600 per month from 2028 onwards. Where that money is coming from is unclear as yet, but I’ll let “future me” handle the details, and I’ll just do the 2026 version for now. That will be money I then don’t touch and just allow it to build over the years. I have read that the way to go is to "get my first 100k" in investments. Starting off small there, with only £50 in there as an opening investment… 😂 Long way to go…

I am allowing myself a small reprieve if I want to buy a book or two about finance each month, as it will ultimately help me, and I have joined the local library to save money on entertainment. Luckily, I very rarely go out socially and I no longer get much joy out of buying most items, as I am preferring minimalism and sustainability these days. I will keep going with the grocery savings, although it might not last indefinitely, as I have been getting “Too Good to Go” groceries and supplementing this with what I have at home (experiencing a lot of random meal combinations!). But at some point my store cupboards and freezer will run out of extras.

I did a shop of about £50 for essentials like cat litter and bin bags but that’s the only time I’m doing a proper shop right now. I am allowing myself to buy the yellow sticker fruit and veg while I am there, but generally trying to get bargains where I can, as there’s no room to trim elsewhere as everything else is either a fixed cost or tied into a contract for the foreseeable future. I am so limited on doing self-employed work as I work 60-70 hours a week in my main job, plus weekends, and really squeezed for extra time and energy.

Current Strategies: Cut daily living costs with cheap food and batch cooking with what I can get hold of for low costs, alongside earning as much extra income as I can. When I have cleared the various upcoming necessary big things over the next few months, I am going to look at getting income protection insurance, as I am constantly aware it will all come crashing down if I lose my job or get sick. I am really determined to get myself into a position where nothing can de-stabilise me. I think it helps not having kids too, as the cost of that is frightening to even think about. I set aside my self-employed tax in advance in an account, so I don’t later get surprised by the bill, and this year I am putting it into a savings account for a better rate of interest.

I would like to be able to work less and have time to join a gym again. I cancelled my previous membership when I bought the house, as it was difficult to afford it unless I work a lot of extra hours, but then I don’t have the time or energy to go, so it was a catch 22 situation. Gaining weight and feeling tired isn’t proving a good alternative either though. Once I have got the lodgers (the timescale for that is a year or so) it should allow for joining a gym again, as I like to swim and it was one of the few luxuries that felt worth the expense. I plan to use the rest of the cash from the lodgers in overpaying the mortgage and saving up for a business idea I have that will ensure my self-employed future even if I lost my employed role. Those are dreams for now. I have paid into a pension since I started working aged 21 so I’m ok enough to leave that alone for now and concentrate on developing more security in the present and shorter future. Stop surviving, start building.

A final point of interest (or amusement) is that my hair is looking horrible lately because I’m working through a ton of conditioners from the cupboard, which I have bought and not liked.