Diary of a Property Dreamer

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  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    I haven't checked in for a while, so here's the lowdown. We decided to pay off family in full whether they like it or not!

    Also decided just to completely pay off our PCP as that means come remortgage time is September we will be clean as a whistle.

    Well, we totted all this up and realised we were £50,000 in debt (unofficial family loans + car loan). Well, we raided our savings and have funnelled every spare penny into repayment and we've managed to pay off £20,000 so far this year :eek:

    kqshj5jzfdgh.png

    I'm hoping spring next year we will be completely done. At which point we're going to split our excess money between mortgage overpayment and low risk long term investments. The fun never ends :rotfl:

    Our family fun has consisted off £1.50 Sunday morning movies with snacks snuck in.

    Grocery shopping hasn't exceeded £45 a week (incl. toiletries, cleaning and cat food) for a few months now. This takes a lot of planning and requires being a Lidl devotee (love that place).

    I've also stopped saving for a holiday next year. We will have enough to pay for a holiday with one months discretionary pay, once we are debt free. The only thing I am saving for is Christmas, as I won't deprive DD of a little festive fun. But our budget will be fairly modest.
  • zcrat41
    zcrat41 Posts: 1,728
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    That's amazing. How do you do screen shots like that?
  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    zcrat41 wrote: »
    That's amazing. How do you do screen shots like that?

    I used a budgeting programme called YNAB and the Chrome extension lets me do reports :) I then create a URL using a website like tinypic (or in this take the URL from where I've posted my progress on a more sophisticated forum!)

    I love the reports. I keep starting lovingly at them. I'll love them even more when we have a positive net worth (though of course I've left my house off - that would make me feel better but wouldn't be so easy to see progress!)
  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    A lot has changed since I last checked in!

    - We finished paying off our debts. It felt like it would never happen, but seemed to snowball once we got going.
    - We both have had income increases. I'm in a job I love, OH is still in financial services which he doesn't love but finds interesting and they're now paying him more money than we've ever seen as a couple.
    - Emergency fund is now up to £10k, with extra pots for the next car, holiday, home maintenance, teeth etc ticking away
    - We went on holiday three times last year and didn't even blink
    - We remortgaged at 1.8% so are now only paying £714 a month.
    - I've started investing and have £4k sitting in Vanguard.
    - We've upped our pension contributions.
    - We've been paying off £1.5k extra a month on the mortgage (and will try and match that in investments) so hoping to have a mortgage for under £100k at the end of the 5 year fix. We currently owe £208,200

    In general life is very good. I just need to remember to be patient and occasionally stop to smell the roses!
  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    Small update:

    - Currently owe £201,925.30, which means we've paid £6,275 since I last posted
    - We've also replaced the front and back doors and the two windows are the front of the house (with handmade wooden sash ones!). Due to have the front and side of the house relandscaped and fenced next month. Managed to cashflow it all and borrow nada!
    - DH has got a new job with an £8k pay rise
    - I've had a small £1k pay rise
    - Once renovations are finished we're hoping to overpay/tuck away £2k per month, which should see the mortgage finished in our early thirties. Woohoo!
  • Moneyfordreams
    Moneyfordreams Posts: 2,442
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    fabulous , are you still using YNAB ?
    Mortgage restart June 2018 £119950Re mortgage August 19 £110470, … Mortgage November 22 £85600 final 0% CC 3300Home renovations - £65000, mid 2018 - mid 2022
  • Well done on your journey so far, its impressive!
    "Never underestimate the power of small amounts"
    New Mortgage started March 17 £236,000 (28 years) NOW £231,500 March 3 18. 68% LTV. £221,100 Aug 19 £210,000 Jan 2020 £206000 April 2020 £204000 May £202,997, Aug 20 £199,554, Dec 20 £196,629 June 21 £185,200
  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    Lots has changed since I started this diary. We're now earning more than double what we were earning when we started. As a result, last year we managed to overpay £21,000 of the mortgage. The balance now stands at £181,500. All very exciting. We've also considerably improved the house - new windows, doors, fireplaces, decoration throughout - and Zoopla unreliably informs me that it's worth circa £320k, which means we should hit 50% LTV this year.

    If we overpay/save £3,000 - doable providing we both remain well and in gainful employment the whole time - we should be mortgage free some time before our 32nd birthdays.

    This year I would like to:
    - Overpay/save £36,000. We can overpay about £18k penalty free. The rest will go into ISAs with a view to paying the balance at the end of our mortgage deal.
    - Continue using YNAB as a tool to do this
    - Start a 'side hustle' business with DH for fun. We're still hashing out the details. He is thinking of taking a course to become an IFA which will pay for itself even if he can only advise himself :D
    - Capitalise more on 'free money' by being bank account tarts.
    - Go on all our scheduled holibobs (Stag/hen dos in April, Ireland in May for a wedding, Spain at a family members villa in July) and also budget for a minibreak in Belfast - DH is working there at the moment and I have enough airmiles to fly for free-ish, and perhaps a cycling/camping holiday in France
    - Update the kitchen and/or bathroom. They both look fairly modern despite being 10+ years old, but flooring is manky. I'm thinking more door/worktop updates and layout tweaks than ripping out and starting again.
    - Get a loft hatch widened and a ladder installed (exciting, eh?)

    By the end of the year I'm hoping that our mortgage will be at about £158,000 and that we will have a further £18,000 tucked away towards freeing us one day.

    It's a really aggressive goal. I'm confident we can do the overpayment and travel, not so sure about the renovations.

    Short term goals:
    No drinking in January apart from scheduled events (book club and a party at our house). We could do with drying out a bit after Christmas. Hate to think how much money DH drank in Bourbon just sitting in our own front room :rotfl:
    Keep on top of YNAB - reconcile daily
    Grocery spending under £180 for the month
    Don't take anything else on...I already have a full time job, a 10 year old daughter, weekly French class (paid for), 3Xweekly CrossFit membership (budgeted for), a sewing machine with a heap of fabric to use, a library membership and access to the Chiltern Hills for running. I've also started volunteering as a befriender for elderly/isolated people. That should keep me occupied.

    Bring on 2019!!
  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    Chatted with DH last night. As our mortgage rate is only 1.8, we've decided instead to divert £3000 p/m into our stocks and shares ISAs. First I will open and fill as many 5% accounts as I can get my hands on (currently only Nationwide gives us that rate) so we have some liquid accounts for emergencies.

    If something changes that makes us think that paying down the mortgage is a better idea, we can still do that. But at least we will have options.
  • MandM90
    MandM90 Posts: 2,246
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    edited 2 May 2019 at 10:08AM
    Balance now at £175,570 with £1,760 waiting in my YNAB category to overpay. Am leaving it in the bank account for now because it's sitting in a 5% account - will pay it off at the end of the month when I can top that account back up to full with my salary.

    Balance at end of month should be £173,810 - down from £218,200 in 2015. Woohoo!

    We're currently filling my S+S ISA yearly (so £1,666.66 a month), plus investing £330 in a SIPP for DH (he is a high rate tax payer so topped up nicely) and then doing employer match. I keep flip flopping between mortgage overpayment/investing and other strategies but as long as I'm not spending it on wine and chocolate I think we'll be OK!
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