Mortgage Free in 5 years?
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Love reading these diaries!
If you are repaying parents for a deposit, I would definitely look on that at as overpayments. It is money borrowed to buy your house after all and the only reason it isn't technically a mortgage is because it isn't a loan secured against your property. Definitely still counts for motivational purposes I would say
Current mortgage (May 2014): £152,927.10
Work was rubbish today, but several good things happened. I had a talk to go to at lunch so had a free lunch
Couple that with the news that [STRIKE]I am[/STRIKE] he is getting a bonus this month and I am a very happy bunny at the moment :rotfl:.
10 days to pay day this month and only 59 working days until maternity leave. I am on countdown now :T
Current mortgage (May 2014): £152,927.10
I always chuckle to myself when I call internet banking as it seems to me that every time the automated voice says "credit" after the balance, there is a hint of surprise in the voice
I won't update my signature until later in the month (certainly until my mortgage payment has gone out, but the total offset mortgage figure against savings (less credit card at 0%) should be around £162,500 I would think. :T
We maxed out both cash ISA balances for this tax year, but had a little help from stoozing on my 0% credit card, so the target over the next two months is to make sure that credit card balance is paid off pronto.
Mr L has been doing a smashing job on the DIY front on the house and replaced our flat roof on our garage the other weekend. Practically single-handed over two days, but he did have a little help from a friend one day, bless them both.
Mr L's cousin, step brother and Mum have been so kind with sourcing baby goods that (coupled with my bargain hunting for the rest of the things we need) we are almost set on things we need for the arrival of LO and in very good time - I still have 47 working days to go (again, not like I am counting or anything!)... :rotfl:
I have to sort thank you cards and some gifts for all of them this month.
Also on the to do list is to sell my old bike which will clear off (practically) the stoozing balance on the credit card and with this gorgeous weather, now is the best time to do it! Got to get advertising... A job for the weekend I think.
Carpet in the nursery is being fitting on Saturday, and then I will have no excuse to not wash all our second-hand baby clothes and put them away. We have a huge pile, however, so that will take at least a week!
All quite positive at the moment and looking forward to Easter (and apart from anything else, two weeks of 4 day weeks and long weekends... bonus) :easter_os
Lx
Current mortgage (May 2014): £152,927.10
Currently it reads:
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (March 2012): £171,400
Current term end date: April 2031 :eek:
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £160,850 (but plus stoozing cc = £166k) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance:
I am going to change that to:
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (April 2012): £170,700
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £156,020 (but plus stoozing cc = £162,620) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance:
I have taken out the mortgage end date as I don't think that matters so much anymore as we are (effectively) going down the offsetting route. I doubt that we will hit the original MF in 5 years date, especially with the bundle on the way and my plan to take a year's maternity leave, but I don't mind at all about that. I am just looking forward to being part of a "triple" as opposed to a "couple" :rotfl:.
The 0% credit card should be paid off with May's pay packets (fingers crossed) and then I will feel more on track. Even with maternity looming, I think Mr L and I should still be able to target maxing out our cash ISAs this tax year (our regular savers mature in the summer so that deals with the first and the start of the second ISA anyway) and the target of the mortgage vs savings is achievable. That doesn't take into account the fact my bike is now up for sale and in the best case scenario that will be bought for around £3.5k this month and will either go straight into a new cash ISA (or into another savings account until we build up the balance needed to pay the full £5340 into one of our cash ISAs this tax year - possibly go for a fixed rate) or off the 0% credit card depending on how I feel at the time!
Only 39 working days to go until maternity leave kicks in
Carpets have now been fitted, remaining nursery furniture bought (and everything that has been delivered has been assembled) and baby clothes washed (and when dried will be put away). No need to buy any more clothes - bargain bundles on ebay have definitely been the way to go (aside from bits and pieces from friends) and I certainly have enough to keep LO in lovely clothes for at least 6 months now! All the big ticket items are sorted and paid for on the baby front now and I have the promise of a few other bits and pieces from friends and family too. All good so far, but still plenty of odd bits and bobs to buy. It is so easy to slip into nesting mode!
Lx
Current mortgage (May 2014): £152,927.10
Currently it reads:
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (April 2012): £170,700
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £156,020 (but plus stoozing cc = £162,620) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance:
I am going to change that to:
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (April 2012): £170,700
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £156,020 (but plus stoozing cc = £159,763.84) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance:
Typically, every month we put all our monthly spends on credit cards and then pay them off at the end of every month so I don't term that as stoozing and wouldn't usually offset that against the mortgage balance. This month I am going to do that though as I still have a balance to clear and it will keep me focussed. The 0% credit card should now, however, be paid off with April's pay packets (fingers doubly crossed) which I am quite excited about. As you can work out from the figures above, it stands at £3743.84 at the moment :eek:.
Once that has gone, I can start our saving towards our new ISA allowances for the current year (which I noticed have gone up to £5640). If we hit that, then we will beat our target offset figure of £148,000. I am not going to push us too hard below that though as I want a holiday (or two) later in the year after the arrival of LO
Only 35 working days to go now until maternity leave kicks in... It doesn't feel scary this morning - I have a lot to do before leaving though so will be cracking on this morning.
Lx
Current mortgage (May 2014): £152,927.10
Currently it reads:
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (April 2012): £170,700
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £156,020 (but plus stoozing cc = £159,763.84) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance:
It will be updated to
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (April 2012): £170,000
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £154,820 (but plus stoozing cc = £157,410.08) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance:
So we have hit the £170k mark before sproglet arrives :T
I have kept reference to the "stooze" credit card for now as I am not sure I will pay that off this month as we are having some plastering done and I have to keep some money aside for that (it really should come out of next month's money, but it might be done early so I need to hold back just in case!). Either way that will be gone next month.
If I then focus on working towards maxing out the new ISA allowances for the current year we will more than hit our £148k target.
Only 25 working days to go before maternity leave kicks in! Woohoo :rotfl:
Current mortgage (May 2014): £152,927.10
Anyway, first thing's first, time to update my signature. It is currently:
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (April 2012): £170,000
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £154,820 (but plus stoozing cc = £157,410.08) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance:
and will, going forward, be:
Mortgage at largest: £250,000 _pale_ (March 2006)
Current mortgage (December 2012): £164,800
Current mortgage offset vs savings: £141,740 (but plus stoozing cc = £146,702.09) :think:
Target mortgage offset savings by end 2012: £148,000 :dance: DONE! :beer:
Pretty pleased with that considering I have been on maternity leave since the beginning of June :T
I can't believe it is December already. Crazy, but fun FUN times. Will update a bit another time and will have to think about targets for next year at a later date. Saving is not going to be a focus really - making what we have stretch is going to be the challenge as we will be living on a single wage until (if all goes well) July. I don't feel too daunted about that, though, as it is not as if we spend to the limit every month. We have also been pretty savvy on the baby front, supported by friends and family and buying a lot of secondhand stuff. As well as all of that, we have done some serious DIY at home. Hopefully that draws to an end before Christmas. The house won't be finished, but is certainly good enough for us as it is for a while and we need a breather from that sort of thing I think!
Off to update the signature and give goals and targets some thought!
Lx
Current mortgage (May 2014): £152,927.10