Cottage Countdown

gallygirl · 9 March 2019 at 10:30AM

You're going great, a like how you are using the amortization chart to monitor progress. There's always a milestone lurking, whether it's capital exceeding interest, balance dropping below x, daily interest dropping below y etc.

I completely understand why you're prioritising the mortgage over retirement plans, a paid for roof over your head is so important!

Kat78MFW · 9 March 2019 at 11:15AM

Hi Leigh - I found your diary and it answered my question about your retirement plan v mortgage payments. Seems you have the same mindset as I do about that. You are making such fab progress, well done.

LeighofMar · 9 March 2019 at 2:14PM

We are self-employed and have an employer provided retirement set up for us. Our company pays 25% of our income into the account. It sounds impressive but since we pay ourselves modestly in order to keep investing in the business, its not a huge amount. However, I am able to max it out these days and as long as one or both of us still have our faculties, we will always have our business to provide some income even during retirement. So at least we have that and then of course being mortgage free is the icing on the cake. Can't wait.

LeighofMar · 14 March 2019 at 7:44PM

OP of 81.40 today. Balance is now 49,200.00. We are now 8 years ahead of where we should be. It looks good for us to be at 49,000.00 by the end of March.

I was right that this month is shaping up to be expensive. Parents anniversary present is a patio set for 425.00. We want to take our little travel trailer out for the first trip of the year. 4 nights are reasonable to be right on the river at only 42.00 a night. But of course the expenses come with exploring the area. We are going to the pinball museum nonnegotiable :j and thats 15.00 each but you can play for 1.5 hours all the pinball machines. Heaven! After that I hope to do cheap and free things like just checking out downtown or hanging out in the campground. Food is not an issue as I have to make my own food anyway and the little travel trailer has a kitchenette.

Forgot we will need a bike rack though :mad: Definitely an expensive month but I hope to have everything paid with April's 3 check month.

This is what it looks like to OP the mortgage, buy presents for special occasions and travel/live life while we can. Its expensive but worth it.

ShineALight · 15 March 2019 at 11:32AM

Congrats on the OP!
Your camping trip sounds wonderful. Am absolutely with you on the pinball museum, we've got a retro games arcade nearby, £30 entry for the four of us and you can Pac-man, Mario or Donkey Kong to your heart's content. Our two devoted little gamers love it!

LeighofMar · 16 March 2019 at 1:09AM

Ooh that arcade sounds like heaven. Id definitely be playing Pacman and Donkey Kong until my savings account was empty, lol. We are looking forward to the trip. Itll be a great way to start the traveling season. Until then, I guess we'll keep working so we can afford to go:p

LeighofMar · 21 March 2019 at 3:58PM

It's the last payday of the month so off the mortgage payment went with an additional $110.00 as an OP. My goal was to be at $49,000 by the end of this month, and we beat that with the balance being $48,946.19 and still one week left in this month to overpay. Needless to say, I'm stoked!

Getting ready for vacation. Bike rack came and is already paid off. Parents' present hasn't come yet, but I should be able to pay that off in the next two weeks so not too bad there. I have a little spending cash for the trip but will mainly use the cc for ease of use and points. I have now started adding back to the other savings accounts now that the big debt has been paid off. House fund received $100.00 today. Long-term savings received $32.50 and emergency savings received $200.00. We also received a reimbursement check from husband's health care plan for over $1000.00, but if any of you know how screwy healthcare is here in the States, we put it in savings and are forgetting about it in case sometime this year, they want it back. We are not even counting on it.

When we get back, I'll need to pay the business taxes, $3900.00, but should be able to pay that from the business account without having to dip too much into the business savings. Then there needs to be a work van repair and a contribution to our retirement accounts for this month. Lord, money is flying all over the place this month both professionally and personally, but I'm sure once we get back, it'll all be settled.

[Deleted User] · 21 March 2019 at 5:07PM

You're doing brilliantly!! :T Hope you have a fabulous holiday!!

LeighofMar · 2 April 2019 at 3:06PM

Going back to work after vacation is the pits. But it was fantastic even though our departure kept getting interrupted. We had to stop to adjust the sway bar of our travel trailer, then a back brake started burning and we had to unhitch and take off the tire in a parking lot to adjust it, but it was all worth it. The town was beautiful. The pinball museum is our new Mecca now. We had a blast. Did some sightseeing, bike riding, and window shopping downtown. And the best part is, it didn't cost an arm and a leg.
Campsite for 4 nights - $200.00.
Pinball museum - $30.00
Arboretum - $14.00
Dining out - $25.00
Gasoline - $141.00 but that was paid by the gas card of our company so not too bad.

Managed to pay $45.65 to the mortgage while we were gone so balance is now $48,900.00. Now to get back in the swing of things. Came back to the chaos of an office when you leave for a week. Had to pay for business taxes $3000.00 :eek: and still need to pay $800.00 more to state. Then deal with payroll, retirement contributions, and more repair into the work van :mad: but I suppose it's the cost of doing business. Besides, it allows us the flexibility of schedule to go away when we want even if we have to work a little on the road, so I guess I can't complain too much. Can't wait to plan our next trip already.

LeighofMar · 5 April 2019 at 3:41PM

A nice OP day today. 318.60 went to the mortgage. New balance is 48, 581.40. We are on payment 140/360 and are 8 years and 3 months ahead of where we should be. Without OPs, we would be on payment 41 and owe 60,833.00. Hubby was looking over my shoulder as I marked the amortization schedule and he was impressed so I'm in a good motivated mood today.

In other news, I paid off my parents present of patio furniture 425.00 and now just have to put it together and deliver it to them 100 miles away, :cool: no pressure lol. I would like to surprise them so I might see how to coax them out of the house so I can get in there and set it up. Havent worked out those details yet. :think:

Everything else is just boring bills, but at least I was able to add 100.00 to the house fund and 80.00 to the savings so making progress on those pots for future projects. Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Cottage Countdown

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