Any single mortgage free wannabes?

A question about : Any single mortgage free wannabes?

Hi there

I know that it shouldn't make any difference and I have been reading a few of your diaries and picking up hints and tips but I was wondering if any of you were single with no kids?

Would be nice to see how you are coping with only one wage coming in and no one else to rely on. It would be good to follow those I can relate to and have something in common with.

Look forward to reading your stories and when I'm brave and organised enough I may just start my own!

Roll Call for ease of reference:

Southernman
Southend1
beachie
VoucherMan
ultrarunner
Hell1
BaconandEggs
Luv2Budget
Danni-R
youknowwho
Bigmoney2
downsizer3
bodmil
originalmiscellany
Sue Donim
michelle2008
rising from the ashes
SandC
molit
inigma
katejo
Simon11
Sandstone
black taxi
Scrabo

Please let me know if you would like me to add your name to the list.

Best answers:

• I'm single in the sense my mortgage is my own and my boyfriend doesn't live with me.
  I was actually talking to a friend about this today who was asking me how i managed a single person mortgage with one income.
  I do rent a room out and this helps me MASSIVELY. I don't think i'd afford it without my flatmate!
  Without him i would have Ј320 disposable income (food clothes etc) there would be zero chance i could save/go on holiday/overpay. Realistically i don't think i should have been given the mortgage amount based on my salary at the time (it was less back then).
  ANYWAY i'm blabbing, i cope quite easily now but i think a pay cut/no lodger would screw me over (although i do have emergency funds in case that ever happened)
• Hi, I am single and definitely want to be MF! My salary is just over Ј26.5k (but will drop to Ј23k in 2014 so trying to get the budget in order now so I don't struggle with the drop). I moved into my house last November and the mortgage is Ј115k. To date I have made a one off overpayment of Ј200 and am also overpaying every month Ј22 as I rounded the regular payment up to Ј600. I want to bump this up to Ј650 ASAP but have had to buy a lot of stuff for the house (decorating materials, new carpet etc) so this probably won't happen until the middle of next year. But if I can do it any sooner I will. Would love to be MF before I am 50 (currently age 31) but it is hard to find spare cash with only one salary coming in. Who knows maybe I will find a partner if I can find time in between all the decorating and DIY for a social life!!
  Good luck OP on your MF journey!
• I'm single with no kids.
  Currently my mortgage is 87k but I am looking into the possibility of getting a larger mortgage and property so I can rent one of the rooms out however a 2nd time move seems alot harder than the 1st.
  I overpay by Ј400 a month which is about 25% of my pay. Seems reasonably easy so far.
  In reality I should have purchased a property where I could rent out a room in the first place as could have earnt alot more but thats life. We are all learning. I have two bedrooms but the 2nd is quite small and so not really rentable.
  I have a touch decision to make - a flat in town or a large 3 bedroom semi-detached house close to work but in a slightly rougher area or somewhere further out of town in a new build.
  Think I will take a week off work to think about it!
• Another single with no kids.
  Fortunately house prices in the north west are a lot cheaper than down south so I've got a comparatively small mortgage to many on here.
  It was still about 95% LTV when I got it and about 40% of my salary went on the main mortgage payment.
• Yep, single here, with no kids. Good to know I'm not the only one.
  Mortgage is approx 4.5 times my income, I have a 2 bedroom place and will soon start overpaying once I rent out the second room. Just need to get some furniture for the 2nd bedroom then I'm able to do this.
  Currently just overpaying Ј50 to the part with the highest %. Bought at 70% LTV and owe about 129k so some way to go still
  Once I get settled and have a lodger plus no more purchases to make for the house I should be able to make overpayments of Ј400-Ј500 per month which will help a lot.
• Hi there!
  Another single wage MFW, three kids, big mortgage, paying off and plodding as fast as I can!
  I do think it is sometimes more difficult being on your own, - no-one to motivate you, or to discuss things with. However, the upside of being on your own is that you make all the decisions - for example New kitchen or OP mortgage? In my case its Op all the way, and then doing up my house, but if I had a partner, it may have been a different story,
  Good luck with paying your mortgages off everyone!
  Hell
• Hi - soon to be in the situaion of "only one wage coming in and no one else to rely on". Expecting first child - so wife will not be earning. Very scary, but hope to keep up the overpaying (albeit much less).
• I'm another one single with no kids. In fact, I started a thread like this a couple of years ago.
  My mortgage is down to Ј58k and I'm hoping to be mortgage free in around 2 years. I have been overpaying since I've had the mortgage. It is not easy on your own, especially with the increasing costs of food and energy bills
• Hi, Another one to join the list.
  I've found it really hard. I look at how excited my friends are that have done it with their OH and I wish I'd had that. I have a flat and they have houses. Saying that though the difference in cost is only about Ј15k.
  It sucks. Its all on 1 persons head, no job no house. house no money.
  I do have a flatmate but I seriously messed up on the budget and way under charged him. I feel I support him sometimes and the only person I have to blame is myself as there is only myself. and there is the end of the rant!
  Glad its not just me though!
• Hi all,
  I am about to buy in the next 18months or so. I am single, and being in the military it is pretty hard to find a BF due to moving around. So, I am planning my house purchase on my own, it's actually quite refreshing to know I don't need anyone else to make my dream come true (owning my own house). Saying that, I am also quite scared that if things do mess up, I don't have anyone else to rely on... so i suppose it's half a dozen of one.....
  Anyway, I live in a cheap area, I can get a 3 bed for 100k which is modern andwill need little doing to it. I am planning on buying slightly bigger than I need so I can rent a room if i need to. I am 25, should be on the ladder by 27 and I would like to be MF asap, but also believe that you have to be happy on the way to being MF, so not every penny I earn will be going to overpay. Happiness should be a way of life, not a destination.
  Would love to hear how any other singleys have managed :-)
• Evening everyone and great to see that there are some others out there!
  Thought it only fair to add a bit about me
  I live in a one bed flat with around 93k left to pay. I would love to overpay but there seems to be so many bills and so much I want to do that my money doesn't stretch very far.
  I look at friends with partners and see, for the most part, how easy they seem to have it and how much "play" money they have and it makes me feel so tired sometimes
  Occasionally in the past I have been so overwhelmed by making decisions on my own and scared of making a mistake that I froze and didn't do anything which meant I ended up paying more for my indecision. I'm getting better but it still worries me.
  Anyway I shouldn't complain as, as Hell1 said I have my own place which is more than some
  I hope that our merry band can support each other and share tips or advice
• I did it
  My house, up north (so cheaper) paid back in 11 years
  I was mortgage free for 12 days and then sold my house and moved in with the BF
  Sold his house 2 weeks ago so now homeless, hoping to complete on our together house in the next 2 weeks so can start again
• Having been in a couple with someone who was most definitely NOT MFW material I can safely say I find this easier!!!
  Offloaded the gambling / unemployed ex about 2.5 years ago and downsized with daughter. Now OPing but only in a small way.
  Thankfully I had quite a lot of equity in my last place so on a small mortgage my piddly wee OPs seem to make a difference.
  It does look easier for couples but believe me - its not always the case!!! ( lets focus on the worst to make ourselves feel better )
  I find the MF OP calculator is a massive help - even on our own and only managing a small amount - its still nice to see what an impact that makes.
• I havent started to OP yet.
  I know I should but I just dont seem to have the dough to do it. And my bank (NW) dont seem to have an easy way to pay money off.
  Does everyone on here have a will yet?
  I really need to get my a$$ in gear and sort that out. I just never know whats for the best.
• I've just bought my first place on my own and although I'm jealous of my friends having someone to do it all with, it's such an achievement for it to be all mine. Even seeing the documents from the vendors with one of their Mum's names on the deeds made me extra proud to think that it really is just me. Of course that's a bit terrifying too but it'll be amazing to think that by the time I am ready to move in with someone I have such an asset to bring to the table.
• I did some of it by myself, and through having lodgers from work...
  However, I sleep walked through the first few years of my mortgage, and didn't address the overpayments concept as I thought it was something I just didn't need to do.
  In hindsight, I saved lodgers money so it means I could overpay but think it would have been quicker to just overpay from the word go.
  Bodmill, it's a great characteristic to have in terms of bringing something to the table when you are married, where even if it's just 1/4 of a house paid off, it's still a great position to be in.
• Another single MFW here, although I do have kids. My experience is similar to Downsizer's - it's actually much easier alone! If I want to eat beans on toast all month to make a bigger OP on my mortgage I can and don't have to please anyone else! Apart from the kids, who I don't just give beans on toast to!
  It is a huge feeling of achievement doing this all on my own.