Mortgage Free in 5 years?

Lixi_2 · 2 October 2011 at 2:09PM

So I had my Monsoon goodies delivered and have decided to return more than half (so literally my "splurge" is not half as bad as I thought

). The items that i am keeping are lovely though and I am very pleased with them. Bargain classic pieces and now I have a wedding outfit for my last wedding of the year.

Mr L has agreed to post the returns back for me on Monday as I can't hobble to the shop

. I will have to diarise the refund and make sure I chase it up though in a couple of weeks.

Two NSDs (so far) this weekend for me. A quiet one as still resting the leg. It is really frustrating not being mobile! Mr L is being very good though bless him.

New credit cards have arrived and been activated so that is a big tick in the box.

And I can't believe this October weather! No central heating in this house! Absolutely beautiful today.

Here's my to do list at present:

1. Possibly switch gas and electricity supplier;
2. Sort ISAs (need to open new cash ISAs for this years' allowances - no immediate rush, but need to put my to do list for the next couple of months);
3. Check out other savings/finance products (need an instant access saver this month and maybe consider stocks and shares isas - this is to consider over the next couple of months also);
4. Monitor credit card. I paid off most of mammoth credit card now I have had pay day. Will have to carry forward a small balance next month if Mr L doesn't sell his project bike soon;
5. Sort wills out for me and Mr L (can't believe I haven't done this already!);
6. Check what magazine subscriptions Mr L has (see if we can cancel/renew on a cheaper basis);
7. Look into possible pension rebates for tax;
8. Look into leaking toilet (both Mr L and Mr L-in-Law have looked at this, but I think (I have a knack with fixing toilets) I might be able to work out the problem if I spend a bit of time on it). After that we might be able to switch to a water meter;
9. Write Christmas lists (me, Mr L and family pressies);
10. Consider birthday presents needed in the next 2 months (at least 2 required);
11. Buy more sensible shoes for work when more mobile;
12. Return Monsoon clothes and follow up on refund;
13. Check insurance renewal dates and consider early quotes (I am convinced they are cheaper if you get them earlier); and
14. Think about what we are going to do for our anniversary next year (MSE-style party I think).

Think I might start with the Christmas/birthday present lists today! Time to read some other diaries for inspiration!

Lixi_2 · 3 October 2011 at 9:55AM

So September saw this as the progress to date:

Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_
Current mortgage (Sept 2011): £178,900

Current term end date: April 2031 :eek:
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £178,150 :think:
Target term end date: December 2016 :dance:

I am just about to update my new signature with the following:

Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_
Current mortgage (Sept 2011): £178,200

Current term end date: April 2031 :eek:
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £177,200 :think:
Target term end date: December 2016? :dance:

Not the best month due to things going wrong with the car and Mr L's bike, but we will be back on track next month I think.

Lixi_2 · 7 October 2011 at 6:55PM

that was a long, long week! I am so tired, but so happy it is the weekend (yay!). :beer:

A relatively quiet night in this evening. I think I deserve a "rubbish tv" session at some point to switch the brain off. Next week I need to be more focused in work and productive every day as I am only in the office for 4 days and then on leave for a week. So, I need to allow myself some down time this weekend in advance of that. The great thing of course is that I WILL THEN BE ON LEAVE FOR A WEEK! :j

Not too bad on the spends front this week either (although not great as haven't actually had a NSD with one thing or another). Monsoon returns went back (so more than half of splurge will be refunded in due course) and Mr L got a refund from returning excess flooring he had bought for the hallway from Wickes. Bargain.

Will have a proper catch up on diaries etc and targets tomorrow I think. Tonight is the second Millenium movie (The Girl Who Played With Fire). Should motivate Mr L to finish the third book (n.b. that doesn't count as "rubbish tv"

).

Happy Friday everyone!

Lx

Lixi_2 · 16 October 2011 at 7:03PM

This week has been a relatively good one on the moneysaving front:

1. Monsoon credit obtained = cash back in the bank!
2. Sorted new car insurance and saved £35 quid or so on renewal quote (better in my pocket than the insurance companies).
3. Sorted SiL's birthday present (funky tights in HoF sale - bargain and bagged myself a few pairs).
4. Looked at gas/elec again and decided to stay with EDF as they seem to be cheapest without a fix for now. May think about a fix another time, but not now as I am on hols!
5. Definitely going down the offset instead of overpay route now as (fingers crossed) babies might be in the offing in the next year.

Anyway, bit of downtime and free wi-fi so I am going to catch up on a few diaries now before dinner and then an early night. Bit fun-filled active days ahead!

Lx

Lixi_2 · 2 November 2011 at 3:03PM

Not doing too bad on the spends front last month (all things considered and despite holiday!).

This month ahead I am going to refrain from too much Christmas shopping and make lists of things to buy in early December (and stick to them).

Paid a bit more off the capital this month to round it down, but from next payday on, dosh will be going into investments/ISAs instead to offset...

Anyway, now it is time to update the signature:

Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_
Current mortgage (Nov 2011): £175,500

Current term end date: April 2031 :eek:
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £174,250 :think:
Target term end date: December 2016? :dance:

Looking at those figures it makes me feel really proud. We have come so far since April 2006 (which is when we took out the mortgage). I even catch Mr L reading the forums every now and then!

Lx

Twiddy · 2 November 2011 at 5:29PM

Just caught up Lixi, well played, massive mortgage to start with, still some way to go but you're certainly taking huge chunks out of it, keep up the good work....

I noticed you are watching the Millenium films, I've read the books and am intrigued, whats your opinion of them? And I gather there are a few versions of these films out, which ones are yours in terms of actors/year of release?

Cheers
T

Lixi_2 · 3 November 2011 at 3:03PM

Hi Twiddy - I will certainly try! I keep a hard copy diary (mainly to keep track of spends really) and I put "mortgage £175k by end of 2011?" in the year planner in the front of it in early January. We will hit that next month (woohoo) so I am really pleased.

I have read all the Millenium books and Mr L has just finished the last one too. We have been watching the Swedish films. I am a bit of a fan of foreign movies - if they make it over here as recommended films in subtitled form they are generally cracking movies. I have a lovefilm subscription and sometimes I let them sit there for a couple of days as I can't bring myself to watch subtitles after a long day, but whenever I do, I always enjoy them. I thought the first Swedish movie was cracking. The second one was really good too, but so close to the book (aside from one deviation) that although it was a great movie I was a little bored. Worth a watch though. We ended up watching the English dubbed versions (which I thought were pretty good actually - less annoying than I thought). Not sure if I will be watching the US versions when they are released (I suspect they may ruin them and just not get the feel of the movies right - the Swedish ones were spot on really)...

Lixi_2 · 11 November 2011 at 11:06AM

Another £250 went into our regular saver today so effectively we are down to £174,000 on the mortgage. Just about to update signature to that effect!

Been a good few days on the spends front. Minimising waste on food and drink this month and not too many expensive days out. Still feel like we start the count down to pay days at around this time every month though! It feels like it will be a long time coming in November!

McCues1234 · 11 November 2011 at 2:34PM

Fantastic thread Lexi.. gives me a lot of motivation to start going down the same route. In February i had £14k debt, cut right back and now to just below £7k. I have 4 credit cards and 1 will be paid off this month

:) Another in Feb, May then none by next summer

We seem to be off a similar age (guessing!) and I just married last December, so likewise babies are on the cards for next year

:) I would love to try now however being sensible i am not trying until my other £7k CC debt is paid off. Once this is we are going to start overpaying our mortgage and hpefully like yourself will be debt free before our 40s

Sounds fantastic!!! Keep it up, you and your hubbie are doing an amazing job

PS, our Sat evenings have went from partying all out to chinese and XFactor, rock and roll eh!!

xx

Lixi_2 · 11 November 2011 at 7:09PM

Thanks McCues! Before our mortgage we cleared a whole lot of credit card and student debt, so I have been in your shoes

. Sounds like you have a plan and are doing things the right way round! I don't miss the credit card debt, but there was something satisfying about crossing out an entire liability altogether when you pay one off! Sometimes it feels like a long haul with the mortgage, but I must remember to remind myself of the progress we have made over the last few years. When we took it out we were limited to overpayments equating to 20% of the minimum payments. Now we are on unlimited overpayments. With LOs on the horizon, I am more persuaded to the offset route. I am 32 now. That your ballpark?

I am off the drink at the moment with LOs in mind so we are exactly the same about Friday nights (weekends generally - I don't know what I am going to do on Sundays as Downton Abbey has now finished again!). We got some M&S vouchers in this week (rewards from our credit card spend) so I am off to shop tonight (hopefully pick up something nice for tea and get a gift for my friend whose wife gave birth last week and maybe even a few Christmas pressies (for "free")).

X Factor is a guilty pleasure for me. Mr L despairs (he claims) although he now watches it with me so long as we record it and fast-forward through the ads and junk (you save an hour of your life)!

Have a lovely weekend!

Lx

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