Four and a half years until the money stops!

Floxxie · 21 June 2015 at 12:13PM

Ok, so I am back. Perhaps a little too early as the new mortgage doesn't start until the end of July, but there is nothing like being prepared before the challenge starts!

So a little about me and my situation. Years ago I was on the MFi3 challenge and was on target to complete it when my husband decided he would much rather go off and start a new life.

Fast forward almost 5 years, and minus the gory details, and the situation is that I have just completed a remortgage on my old house to convert it into a buy to let. New mortgage amount £143,000.

And I am about to purchase a home in Northern Ireland, with a mortgage of £90,000.

All clear so far? Anyway now we get to the nitty gritty of finances - well an outline of them anyway at this stage:

I have just started on the self-employed route (mystery shopping, surveys etc) and claim CTC and WTC. I also receive CB.

I receive child maintenance.

I receive rent from the tenanted house.

I HAVE MORTGAGE DEBTS OF £233000!!!

Ok so that is the scary stuff out of the way. Now the plan..

The buy to let property will remain on interest only until I decide to sell it in 5 years or so.

Child maintenance at its current level stops in 4 1/2 years. In that time I plan to save £20k a year to clear the NI mortgage. The only issue at present is that I do not get £20k, let alone am able to save it, so that is the challenge.

The mortgage is fixed for two years below 3% so as a non-taxpayer, I shall use various current and savings accounts to make more interest than I am playing. This bit I am a little worried about as I may be tempted to spend any money so I shall reassess this regularly.

So there it is. A brief background and the challenge

happydays_70 · 21 June 2015 at 12:49PM

I would love to be mortgage free by the time my child maintenance stops..which is 8 years for me.

Floxxie · 21 June 2015 at 2:37PM

Thanks for popping by!

Well I definitely won't be achieving mortgage-free status through child maintenance alone but at least I know the end date. I use the CM to cover the mortgage payments - previously on the house in England, currently for rent and next month, for the new mortgage.

I must read your posts again happydays: I was reading a diary of another single parent and saw you had posted there.

happydays_70 · 21 June 2015 at 4:21PM

God, no, me neither!
There are a few of us on here. I find it reassuring to know I'm not the only one with a six figure mortgage and a single income.

beanielou · 25 June 2015 at 11:07AM

Shiny new diary

Floxxie · 26 June 2015 at 9:56AM

Hello beanielou, thanks for stopping by!

I realised last night that in my attempt to reduce information overload, I have not put my MSE password onto the iPad with the result that I can't instantly reply: I have to wait until I sign on the laptop. So sorry for the delay in acknowledging you!

Not much to report here. I am still surrounded by piles of items that should be on eBay but they are mostly out of sight and out of mind as the washing and ironing piles are hiding them.

The children finish for their summer holidays on Monday and I am the least prepared ever. It has taken me by surprise. So this weekend, I shall be working out a plan of action to keep them off their consoles and out in the fresh air...for little money.

Off to do a mystery shop now, before meeting a friend for lunch. Good job the fee will cover the cost of the food

happydays_70 · 27 June 2015 at 9:07PM

Floxxie wrote: »

Not much to report here. I am still surrounded by piles of items that should be on eBay but they are mostly out of sight and out of mind as the washing and ironing piles are hiding them.

Sounds like my house! I have done all my washing but doing the ironing tomorrow along with a packed lunch shop. Hopefully the weather stays nice tomorrow, I will be lounging in the garden.

Floxxie · 27 June 2015 at 10:03PM

Oh I am so jealous that you have a garden. The house that I am renting has a utility room but no garden and the sun doesn't seem to be able to make its way through the buildings around us, so the house is cold and dark. It is not an uncommon sight to see me walk out of the door in winter regalia to find that it is a hot 15 degrees celsius (warm by Northern Irish standards).

Tomorrow I have a plan to free some eBay stuff from under the ironing piles. That could mean that I either get distracted by the ironing and actual do some or realise how much pre-listing work has to be done before I can put the stuff onto eBay and get nothing done. As you can tell I am the Queen of Excuses and Procrastination. In contrast you shall have managed three jobs in a weekend, that I am most likely going to fail on!

Floxxie · 30 June 2015 at 9:07PM

The solicitor has been in contact to let me know that it will be unlikely that I shall be completing on the new house until August. I have taken this as a sign as I failed to get any of the carp onto eBay at the weekend. I did however get a bag of clothes to the CS and have a pile of books to bring down when I have the energy to carry them. Must do better!

I had a check of the bank accounts following the remortgage on the BTL house. There is £7k sitting in two accounts but out of this has to come legal fees and furniture - I sold everything to get over here. I have however added it as a savings amount as I would like to focus on keeping it at that level.

The new house is very small so I shall buy as little as possible. Unfortunately the options over here are not the same as they were in England and they seem to justify adding extra £ onto items because we are not on the mainland

My initial purchases will be window blinds, a double bed, a settee, a TV cabinet and 'fitted' wardrobes (checking out the Ikea options as a solution) and as there is no garage, a small shed for storage.

So plan until the end of the week:
- job payments and account interest to be transferred over to the Santander a/c
- list 25 items on eBay
- clear two boxes of books, DVDs etc by selling or CS.

newgirly · 30 June 2015 at 9:34PM

Hi floxxie, welcome and best of luck with the new diary. Just a thought but have you considered second hand for some of the furniture if costs are inflated there? I've been bidding for reto stuff for my living room on flea bay , there are some good pieces out there if you sift through the toot

Floxxie · 30 June 2015 at 9:48PM

newgirly wrote: »

Hi floxxie, welcome and best of luck with the new diary. Just a thought but have you considered second hand for some of the furniture if costs are inflated there? I've been bidding for reto stuff for my living room on flea bay , there are some good pieces out there if you sift through the toot

Hi newgirly, thanks for popping by!

Northern Ireland is different in lots of ways, including the second hand market which is very small, overpriced and given the distance between places, expensive to collect. It is much better towards Belfast but I am nowhere near there. I remember buying a bed off Gumtree and being very upset at paying £200 for it. I figured they would have been lucky with £50 on eBay if sold in England. I guess though that is the difference in markets: we are not attached to the mainland and many people buy items which they hold onto until death - hence the reason why if you are into serious retro, you can pick up furniture here but at a price

As for eBay, many companies will not courier to NI and those that do charge ridiculous costs. The issues I have had mean that so far I have bought very little for our rented house. We must look very poor as there are no lampshades or curtains here :rotfl:

I have promised a friend however that I shall get the essentials sorted as soon as I move in. I just think I may either have trouble spending money on overpriced stuff.

Four and a half years until the money stops!

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