Six Years To Freedom

Alan_Brown · 12 March 2017 at 5:59PM

This is my freedom blog.

A few years ago I was in a safe and relatively stress free job and had a low mortgage on a small home. I decided to take advantage of low cost mortgages and buy a larger home. Fast forward a few years and I'm in a better paid but massively stressful job that I can literally feel killing me. I can't leave the job because I need the large salary to pay my mortgage and I can't sell the house because we would lose everything (long story). I feel trapped under the crushing weight of a house that I used to love and which I am now beginning to hate.

I want to dig myself free, so step 1 is to pay off a home improvement loan that I took out to try and get the house a little bit warmer (it's a freezing cold pile of stone). The house soaked up that money (and much more besides) like a sponge with very little positive results. We are just as cold, and now a little more in debt. The outstanding balance of the loan is £20,000, while the mortgage on the house is £209k.

I want to leave my job and do something more interesting and less stressful, however as this will entail a large pay cut, I first need to reduce my outgoings which are large not only due to the mortgage but also the massive utility bills for this cold storage locker we call home.

I hit 55 in 6 years time and I want to get rid of my loan and have my mortgage down to £150k by then so that I can get a different job and hopefully live long enough to actually retire at some point.

I got myself into this mess and I'm going to get myself out of it. Every long and difficult journey starts with a single step, so this is mine.

[Deleted User] · 12 March 2017 at 6:12PM

Good luck!!

I'll cheer you on - I've had a number of job changes over the years and have jumped off the cliff at times to save my sanity so I know where you're coming from!

You'll get lots of support and some good advice here... plus its a great place to vent when you need to!

:rotfl:

katep23 · 12 March 2017 at 7:16PM

What a tough situation, will be cheering you on!

Jessy103 · 12 March 2017 at 7:46PM

Good luck with your journey and I have subscribed so I can cheer you on!

Alan_Brown · 12 March 2017 at 8:02PM

Thanks guys, it feels good to have people rooting for you when you're on a difficult journey.

I have done some rough calculations and I think our standard mortgage payments reduce the loan by £750 a month, so in 6 years it would be down by £54k to £156k anyway. This is the first time I've actually calculated how much I pay off the mortgage each month and I'm very pleasantly surprised.

The loan reduces by a measly £60 a month (its connected to the mortgage and so has a long term). I know I can repay much more than that each month, so that's cheered me up too.

I have reduced my work pension contributions, flex benefits and I've sold some of my annual leave (which I never find time to take anyway), so that will increase my take home pay by an extra £300 per month. All of that and hopefully more besides will go onto the loan. I'm allowed unlimited overpayments, so I can just drop as much as I like onto it.

EatingTheElephant · 13 March 2017 at 7:30AM

Good luck on your journey. I will be cheering you on as well.

DesignNotDefault · 13 March 2017 at 3:45PM

Welcome and good for you on starting your freedom journey

I can really relate as I'm in a similar situation to you myself; my job can be really stressful and the shifts gruelling. It's not as bad as my previous role, but it's starting to take a toll on me physically and mentally now.

I want to be mortgage free in a similar time frame to yourself, however work needs doing to the house, and I also need the income to meet current outgoings. The house seems like a never ending money pit, but it's my forever home and I have to remind myself of why I bought it.

Have you had all possible insulation put into your house to try to counteract heat loss? Just out of curiosity, what work did you have done to the house? Forgive the assumption, but it sounds like you're living in a stone cottage in the middle of nowhere!

freshcotton · 13 March 2017 at 10:10PM

Good plan. Taking control of my work life has always been the main motivation for paying my mortgage off.

I never want to stop working, but would also like something less stressful and certainly not full time.

Ps stone houses look beautiful (I'm trying to be positive)

dave23 · 13 March 2017 at 11:12PM

I would not have reduced pension contributions, instead you should consider increasing them again and then when you are 55 you could take the 25% tax free to reduce your loan. This makes even more sense if you are a higher rate tax payer.

Jo_Blogs · 14 March 2017 at 12:32AM

Sounds as though you have a plan Alan

The one area I'm dubious about is.........

Alan_Brown wrote: »

Thanks guys, ........I have reduced my work pension contributions, ...........

I find myself in agreement with dave23

Wishing you well with you mortgage free journey

confused_kid · 14 March 2017 at 2:42PM

all the best Alan, hope the plan works and good luck with doing something more enjoyable/less stressful when you are able!

Also, no expert, but regarding pensions may be worth speaking to some pension/financial advisor to see what is best for your situation.

Six Years To Freedom

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