Freedom At 50!

A question about : Freedom At 50!

Hi! I turn 50 in 8 years time and I have decided along with my wife that we want to be mortgage free, debt free and free to choose what we want to do from there.

We have had a long journey house/work/finance wise to get were we are now, but need to consolidate and go on further and we may need advice/help/ideas to achieve this goal.

For some time I have been self-employed. This has meant a few really good years and a few bad, the last few, bad. I decided enough was enough last year and took a lower paid but full-time PAYE job which is tolerable and regular with a bit of overtime. My wife is still self-employed part time earning just under the taxable threshold (deliberately so). So far our yearly earnings are up and we are earning more than we spend, but not quite enough more.

We bought our house in 2005 and have since renovated everything from the loft down replacing the bathroom, kitchen, flat roof, fences, gardens, decorating throughout, new furniture throughout, new appliances throughout, etc. We have also got brand new car on finance as our old cars kept breaking down and causing no end of headaches.

Now we have about Ј85,000 outstanding balance on the mortgage, a loan, a car repayment plan and furniture on interest free payments. We need to be, according to our bank gadget online, paying about Ј1000 a month to be mortgage free in 8 years. This will be a struggle for us, hence advice appreciated on where we can save/find extra, etc., and if its worht consolidating debt onto the mortgage as well. We are with Virgin One (have been from the start on 2000 on our first house) and currently pay 4%. Sorry for rambling post....

Best answers:

• Good luck! I find it really helps having a diary on here. I make a note of all of the little bits of coupons, quidco cashback etc and transfer it into a separate account straight away. This way, it doesn't get lost in the current account. By doing this, I have managed to save Ј1100 without really noticing so far this year.
  Just make sure before you buy anything whether you can get it through Quidco, shop around and search for promotional codes that you can use at the checkout online.
  My supermarket is a good website for shopping around for expensive groceries such as washing powder etc. It is very annoying to buy something from one store, only to find out it is on offer elsewhere!
  Have you got any clutter you can ebay or books you can put on amazon?
  All of these small amounts really do add up, and help you find those extra pounds without having to cut back too drastically on lifestyle changes.
• By the way, have you seen the 0% cash transfer credit card? Once you take the transfer fee into account, it might work out cheaper than your car repayment plan or your loan if you have less than the credit limit left to pay. I think it has a 20 month 0% term, and you could always transfer the remaining balance at the end of the term onto another 0% card.
• Thanks for ideas and welcome! I plan to spend a portion of the weekend creating a spreadsheet and going through our finances with a fine tooth comb. We are pretty tight on things, but it is easy to take your eye off the ball, so will report back and perhaps this will make it easier for other suggestions.
• Well it's been a mixed weekend. Spent all day yesterday doing the MSE spreadsheet and fell off chair to see where our money was going and how much...
  Over the past couple of years of self-employment, coupled with the massive work on our house, we seriously overspent. Thankfully however, since taking regular employment and with the house now straight and needing minimal maintenance, we are starting to earn more than we spend, but not quite enough. Looking at our money again today, we have now drawn up a serious battle plan:
  1. We will live off my wife's earnings alone keeping a very tight reign on all spending.
  2. My wages will not be touched and will cover bills, debt servicing and paying off the mortgage.
  3. We have identified areas to make cuts, some to get better deals and others to lose altogether.
  4. We started on the minimalist approach a few months back and have enjoyed it - now is the time to ramp this up and dispose of unwanted possessions and make some money as well.
  So here we go then......the adventure's afoot!
• Well day one today. OH went shopping after checking out the prices on MySupermarket and managed to get it cheaper than the cheapest online quote! Excess saved put into bank, so this week is off on the right foot with kitchen filled, car filled and nothing else to spend. Also managed an hours overtime and got fuel coupons valid until next weekend, when car will need top-up so another plus.
  Actually starting to get your head round finances and seeing where stuff goes is quite liberating...
• Be careful, it's extremely addictive! I try not to think about all of the years I wasn't aware of things like Quidco etc, and how much MSE money I could have saved myself.
• That's true enough! I have been reading your diary amongst others...... ;-)
• We just overhauled our electricity supply. We were paying quarterly on a standard tarrif. We switched to online billing and direct debit and then signed up to a non-contracted fixed fee Blue tariff until end of 2014 and have halved our monthly bill based on best estimate!! That's a terrific saving and worked out cheaper than the best deal offered by switching supplier. You're right about being addictive, we are working on the other bills now!!
• Just wanted to say good luck on your quest to become Mortgage Free .
• Thanks! Looking at you're sig we are in a simlar boat...we started in 2001 although have had one move/mortgage extension in that time and same finish date. We alos have off-set with Virgin. You're way ahead though.....!
• The main thing is you have a plan-target
  There's knowns an unknowns out there
  Don't get despondent if you find your falling behind target date---look at the bigger picture-MF
  Im 2 years behind schedulale---but feel great about progress I've made
  If I never started on my journey I'd still hav a 48k mortgage with loans on top.
  Keep at it u will get there
  All the best
• Thanks again for the replies and inspiration/information. Sweetdaisy, your are almost exactly ten years behind me and as I said in a similar position it seems. We too have made it clear we will not live like monks and will still give as much fun and experience to our son as we can. We are making sure that we provide more experiences for him rather than toys, etc.
  No despondency here! Life's too short. At the end of the day, its only money and stuff and really not important, nice though they are.
  And I am firmly with John Lennon - Life is what happens while you're making other plans......!
• Well our first week ended and we managed to pay IN Ј100!! That money must have just been frittered before and perhaps it won't be like this every week but with just a little effort and keeping a tight reign on things, it just shows the possible! Will try and work out how best to show targets in a signature as this seems to be the done thing!
  Well pleased!
• Just testing sig....