Home Forever? Maybe Mortgage Forever? No Way!!

Jackop · 29 July 2013 at 9:50AM

Hi All,

This is going to be a long initial post so stop now if your likely to get bored! I thought I would start my own diary after moving into what could be our forever home in early June.

I didnt post until now as our 1st mortgage payment hadnt come out until today, it was a double payment (near enough) as we missed the 1st payment date by 2 days! So a lovely £1400 came out of the account today!

My girlfriend (Now Fiancee!) and I have bought a lovely 3 bed semi in a nice area, we skipped the 1st step of the ladder and saved for 3 years to get the £17000 deposit and £5k fees/decorating/furniture. This is potentially a forever home with another bed up in the converted attic, although not technically a room it bumps it up to 4 bedrooms. I am 27 and my fiancee 24, no kids yet but who knows and now we have to save for a wedding too!). She is well on board with the MSE style which is the most important aspect I think and part of the reason I asked her to marry me. Although I wouldnt care either way!

Apart from painting and carpeting every single room (and plastering of 1 ceiling) there wasnt much work to be done so its pretty much finished now! :beer:

A bit of background on the mortgage:

House Purchase Price - £165000
Amount Borrowed - £148000
Term - 25 Years Repayment
Details - 3 Year fix at 4.2% with Nationwide, can overpay by up to £500 per month until the fix ends.
Payment - £825.14 per month

We take in approx £2570 per month and ill list our fixed outgoings below. I cant do a proper budget yet as were still finding our feet but am doing the best I can.

Mortgage - £825
Council Tax - £136
Gas & Electric - £100
Water - £62
Virgin Home Phone, Broadband and TV - £39 (soon to be £62)
2 Mobiles - £35.00
Diesel - £120.00
Food Budget - £250 (more on this later)
Home & Contents Insurance - £17.00
Life Insurance - £12.00
Car Insurance - £70.00 (put into savings account and paid annually)

Thats all I can think of for now fixed costs wise but will add more as I think of them.

Food wise I know its a huge amont for 2 people, we have been shopping at Aldi for the past month and we have been spending on average about £40 a week (this is including long lasting staples which build the stock cupboard) so Ill hopefully be able to get this down to £30-£35 a week soon which will cut that initial budget in half.

I do all the cooking in the house from scratch and have started a little herb garden already. I wanted to know if anybody could help me keep away pests from my basil plants? Everything else is fine but these are subjected to nightime raids and are only very young plants, any ideas? Other than basil I have Chives, Parsley, Lavender, Mint and a fully matured Bay tree the previous owners left (Nice!).

I have applied for an allotment at some plots directly behind my estate (3 mins walk) but there is a waiting list of 3-4 years for that plot, im happy to wait.

Overpayment plans are in the background at the moment but im going to throw a couple of quid in there just to check it all works out ok for future refence.

Im hoping to get rid of the mortgage for fiancee's 40th birthday (16 years) I think my 13 years might be a bit of a stretch but we shall see.

Any tips appreciated I just wanted to get something down in writing to help me stay motivated.

Thanks for reading

jackieblack · 29 July 2013 at 9:53AM

Jackop wrote: »

I do all the cooking in the house from scratch and have started a little herb garden already. I wanted to know if anybody could help me keep away pests from my basil plants? Everything else is fine but these are subjected to nightime raids and are only very young plants, any ideas?

Plant the basil in pots and bring indoors overnight?

Beckyy · 29 July 2013 at 10:01AM

Hi, welcome!

If it's any consolation I usually end up in the £300's per month for groceries for 2, so you're doing pretty well!

Jackop · 29 July 2013 at 10:06AM

jackieblack wrote: »

Plant the basil in pots and bring indoors overnight?

I did think that but surely everyone who grows Basil doesnt do this?

I do have a couple of plants inside at the moment from cuttings that will hopefully survive the winter on the windowsill.

Jackop · 29 July 2013 at 10:14AM

Beckyy wrote: »

Hi, welcome!

If it's any consolation I usually end up in the £300's per month for groceries for 2, so you're doing pretty well!

Thanks Becky, its good to know im not the only one struggling with it. I suspect it probabgly costs about the same to feed 4 as it does 2!

FloppyDisk · 29 July 2013 at 11:40AM

Hi Jackop, well done on the new house and the engagement! I'm the same age but very much not in the forever home as I have expensive taste, oops! We also only manage about £300 between us for food so don't beat yourself up there. The Old Style board has lots of inspiration for cheap home cooked food.

My gas and electricity is about half yours though (and I have singled paned sash windows, brrr), is that an estimated figure? It might be worth draught proofing the place before winter? I'm planning on borrowing a sewing machine and making up some thick curtain linings to velcro onto the curtains for winter.

Best of luck with your journey!

Floppy x

Jackop · 29 July 2013 at 12:17PM

Thanks Floppy, the old style board is great. Its given us some thought provoking tips to say the least!

The bill is an estimate having only just moved in, all they asked was how big the house was. Not how many people live there, insulation etc. They originally wanted £150 for both but I told them where to go. Hopefully we will see the damage after the 1st quarter meter readings.

FloppyDisk · 29 July 2013 at 12:47PM

Yeah, I think everyone finds their own balance! Good luck getting the direct debit down, I do meter readings once a month so I have a good idea about useage and if there is a problem I can get on top of it pretty quickly. My provider have been very good and revised down my DD after 6 months.

Jackop · 30 July 2013 at 12:38PM

Overpaid my first £1!! The long road starts here everyone. Wish me luck

I'm going to call next week to make sure it went through and then get cracking.

I spoke to nationwide and they said anything up to £499.99 takes time off the term. If its £500 dead they reduce your payments. What Do you guys think is best?

I'm edging towards reduced payments as I can overpay the amount saved aswell.

Thoughts?

Lois_E · 30 July 2013 at 12:58PM

Hi Jackop.

Welcome to MFW :wave: and congratulations on your very first OP :T

Jackop · 30 July 2013 at 1:15PM

Hi Lois. Thanks very much!

I couldn't leave it at £1 and threw another £9 in. Can't stand odd numbers!!

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Home Forever? Maybe Mortgage Forever? No Way!!

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