What do you do when mortgage free?

missyg_3

Since becoming mortgage free I've reduced down to part time hours with my self employed work, never been happier

Good luck everyone.

FreedomGirl

Hi missyg,

Just read your signature. Now I know what to add to my MF plans (health and happiness) - it sounds weird, but didn't quite engage my brain before this thread, and hadn't realised that I'm likely to feel a lot happier without the burden of the mortgage (having short term problems with work at the moment)

Good luck with the reducing expenditure as well...If I've read it right, you cut family expenditure by over £600/month in 2007 and are planning to take another £400/month off this year. Can I be cheeky and ask you what you think a monthly spend target might be for two adults (i.e. me and Mr FG) if we followed your approach ?

I wouldn't be so cheeky as to ask you what you're spending as a family!!!

TIA

FG

missyg_3

Hi FreedomGirl, thanks for your reply. My target for this year is quite a stretching one, as I had already got it down so much last year, but I'm hoping I can do it or come close.

My figures include ALL expenditure with no exceptions, including business expenditure for my self employed sole trader work. Someone who didn't have this expenditure might have commuting costs or similar though.

Using my figures I'd say £950/month for 2 adults for overall expenditure including all bills except mortgage, living on a frugal but not deprived basis.

I'd be interested to know what you think of that number!

Innys

Well I never thought this thread would attract this much interest!

I guess a lot of people are so driven by reducing their mortgage term with no considerstion for what they will do afterwards.

I should have paid off my mortgage by the end of next month. I have had a rough time of it at work and am considering looking for a similar job closer to home in return for a pay cut of up to 1/3 (!). I spend nearly two and a hlaf hours each day commuting and am wondering why I should continue with no mortgage to pay.

BUT, last week, work improved and has been better for the last few days so I am now dithering.

Of course, if I am made redundant, that would be nice and make up my mind for me. No chance of that, though...

I think I may carry on, build up some savings while I look for something a little less stressful and closer to home.

Thank you all for your interest in this thread!!!

FreedomGirl

Hi missyg,

Thanks for the info.

OK - now I know what to aim for:D

Er (slightly embarrassed)...based on the last 12 months' worth of numbers, we're at least 50% more than that (and probably closer to double if you include personal spends)

However, things have been dropping month by month (e.g. we spend between a half and a third on food now compared with a year ago) and I don't think we've hit anywhere near as low as we can go on the overall spends.

Our saving pots are £400/month (e.g. house, holidays, Xmas...) and the car (petrol, running costs - over 20,000 miles/year for commuting) is probably the same again, so £950/month would not be achievable with the car.

However, this month is currently on target to be ~£1500, but that includes around £450 of one-off spends (not likely to reoccur), so maybe we're closer than we think:D

I've written down £950/month for everything as a target for one month this year. Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Thanks again for sharing the info

FG

MissKJ

I think if you were really focussed you could spend a lot less. Not that I am recommending that if you don't need to, but if you look at some of the DFW SOA figures, you will see it can be done for less. I think that to some degree you have to be careful not to be addicted to being frugal.....we all know the people in our lives who would fit into this catagory...they don't have cash for someones leaving present/tea club/etc, and they are always last at the bar, yet they seem to have more in the bank than the restof us??? I have dropped so called friends who start to get more and more tight as they haev got older because i can't stand mean people.

So, I would say, dream and make it happen, don't just save for savings sake, you could get knocked down by a bus the day after you pay your mortgage, spend a little, save a little.......everything in moderation....how i wish i could take my own advice LOL....

missyg_3

FG - don't be embarrassed. I've been getting the expenditure down year on year for 3 years now, and at the start things were just the same for me!

If I can be of any more help with the numbers do feel free to PM. Good luck with your 2010 goal.

FreedomGirl

Hi,

missyg - thanks ever so much for the kind offer. I'll PM if I've got any questions

I'll keep practising over this year - all things being well we should hit the target by the end of this year and then it's new jobs etc. What we're now working on is how much we need to cover running costs (and one-off) stuff, and set what we need to earn from that...

I'm sure I'll be posting again on the MFW thread before the end of the year!!

MissKJ - I've been impressed at the kinds of budgets set by DFW-ers, and even more since we've tried cutting our own expenditure. It's got to be so tough to stick to those levels of spends.

No danger of me becoming a meanie though (I know people like that, who have plenty of money but are tight. It would be fine if they lived the frugal lifestyle and believed in it, but these guys are happy - and in fact look for opportunities - to get people to pay for them, so that they enjoy your lifestyle. Worst bit is that they then look down their noses at you for subsidising them, and for being more weak willed (i.e. generous) and less thrifty than them (ooh, mini rage moment :mad: ).

No - there's no chance I'll get myself get like that!

FG

halia

if we manage it the intial aim is to save the cash for a move to the country, then if we STAY mortgage free in the new house we can work less!!!

swingjune

Moving to the UK is the best thing we have done :T

For once in our lifetime, we are mortgage free. At the moment, the interest paid on our savings, cover our rental costs .......... Yipeee :j

We want to build our equity over a couple of years and hope to buy a house with cash In the meantime, keep monitoring the house price :cool:

May consider going for a cruise on QM2