New but not new - Year 1 of 5!

Betterthanever · 1 September 2017 at 1:17PM

Hi! I'm a re-joining member of old.....and whilst I'm reluctant to give up my previous 10,000 post count, I also don't fancy ex husband following my every move as I go into this next exciting chapter of life! I was a DFW stalwart for years, but am pleased to announce am on the MFW journey....with vigour

I've not been on the boards for a while but it's lovely to see some familiar names and it's comforting having made the decision to come back!

I'm mid 40s, kids are grown up and more or less independent (one just moved out and one still creating mess at home). I'm lucky enough to have met a fabulous man who was mad enough to marry me a couple of years ago, and life is just the best.

The house is mine as I bought ex-h out in the divorce, which means the mortgage is also mine. We have plans and desires to start reducing our working stresses in 5 years time and oh can start drawing his lump sum and his pension then if he wishes. As we both lost out dads at 55, we are mindful of the fact we are not here forever. On the other hand we are fit and healthy so would hope to have a good few years to enjoy life ahead of us.

We love to spend time together and travel and want to do more of this without being tied into 5 weeks annual leave allowance!

So....all this starts with the fact my fixed rate comes to an end soon. I can switch on 31st October. The remaining term should be 11 years but I've done my calculations and reckon if I take a 5 year fixed rate, I can finish it off when that comes to an end....taking me to 52 and OH to 56 so still plenty of years ahead of us for living!

My starting point is a current mortgage figure of £116,879.11. It's no small challenge but I'm no stranger to that and I'm going to enjoy this one an awful lot :cool:

I feel like I've come home.....:rotfl:

benbenandme · 1 September 2017 at 2:45PM

If you are who I think you are it has made my day seeing you back on here :j :j Welcome home!! :wave::grouphug::dance::dance:

Betterthanever · 1 September 2017 at 2:51PM

Haha.....yes ,it is me. And I'm stupidly quite excited about being back!!

I'll post some of my plans in due course....I'm still at the checking and double checking stages!!

Betterthanever · 1 September 2017 at 5:58PM

So....I've spent some time today doing the basics....a survival budget, looking at new mortgage deals, speaking to my current lender, looking at savings accounts and playing with the overpayment calculator.

I'm with Halifax who can switch me over on 1st November. No fees, no penalties and a 5 year deal I'm happy with. I know there's a chance of things changing in the next few weeks but I doubt it will be significant.

I can overpay by 10% pa without penalty but have budgeted to be able to allocate more so am looking at the options to save the balance over the same time frame to pay a lump sum to close at the end of the 5 years and also to have a decent level of savings to go towards the fun stuff in retirement/semi retirement.

OH and I will have a grown up conversation about it over the weekend. Our finances are separate as we both have children from our previous relationships that we need/want to protect, plus we've both worked hard for what we have and want to know we won't lose it if things go wrong. Not that they will, but once bitten and all that. But we are open about our finances and things are always discussed together because decisions do invariably affect us both.

So....a good start methinks.

wildesavings · 1 September 2017 at 6:21PM

:T:T:T Look forward to watching your journey unfold... I'm hoping for an 8 year journey so I should be here for the duration. :T:T:T

MichaelDH · 1 September 2017 at 6:37PM

Welcome.

Sounds like you've had a very organised day!

I'm a newbie, made my first monthly OP today. Looking forward to see how you manage to stay on track and hopefully picking up some pointers from you

Betterthanever · 1 September 2017 at 7:26PM

Warning.....I have been known to be a bit obsessive! Join me on my journey at your peril :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Betterthanever · 1 September 2017 at 10:31PM

So, thinking about breaking this down into manageable chunks and not getting overwhelmed and carried away, I need some aims, challenges and tasks for September. I've got a lot of things I am committed to already so it's a bit of a spendy month so it will be a slowish start.

- open cash ISA or similar cash account for emergency fund that can be used to OP in due course

- add £50 from "extra" sources to said account.

- make serious kick-!!! budgets for next 12 months with realistic monthly targets for OP and saving.

- make signature and add an avatar!

- don't buy any new clothes, shoes or handbags. Or make-up. Or expensive toiletries.

- take lunches and breakfasts to work from home every day.

- think before spending.

My aim is to be at £114k by the end of the year. This is basically just my normal monthly payment of £1016 plus a tiny bit more. My real ability to OP will start in January.

benbenandme · 1 September 2017 at 10:44PM

As I read each bulletpoint I was mentally thinking "check, she'll do that".... until I got to "Don't buy any shoes" :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Kittenkirst · 2 September 2017 at 5:22AM

Hi Betterlatethannever

You sound like you have a plan and are very determined- I'm looking forward to cheering you on

Betterthanever · 2 September 2017 at 8:29AM

benbenandme wrote: »

As I read each bulletpoint I was mentally thinking "check, she'll do that".... until I got to "Don't buy any shoes" :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

See....told you it would be a challenge!!!! :eek::eek:

Actually, I've fractured my hip so am in flats all the time while I am on crutches.....I didn't really *do* flats, so it's a real challenge not to buy more than I need!!

New but not new - Year 1 of 5!

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