A question about : A MF day begins at midnight
Like so many on here I am a long time lurker, but first timeposter. I felt time was right for me to start my MF diary so here goes.
My background
I am a lad in my early 30's, work in higher education, enjoy sports and am single. The last point is particularly relevant as I started out on my MF journey as a result of a rather nasty breakup. The long and short of it is I ended up moving at very short notice into a house share with a load ofundergrad students (whom I did not know), which made me realise I was far too old to be living their lifestyle!!
The houseshare was just a stopgap while I found somewhere more permanent,and while looking I realised a mortgage would be a possibility. I have always been fairly sensible with money and had already some money saved up, and had just about enough to scrape together for a deposit. Was surprised the bank would offer me 4.5x my salary (in 2012), but I am not that daft and did not want nearly that much. I completed in Dec 2012 and had a 10% deposit, leaving me with a mortgage for 108,000, which I took out at 3.94% variable over 25 years.The biggest joke is that the interest on my mortgage on my home is almost exactly what I had been paying to rent a single room in that shared house.
I chose my username for several reasons. 1) All the best ones where already taken. 2) Its not one I use elsewhere so I wont give away personal/financial details to people who know me. 3) I was born at midnight andI felt the parallels with a fresh start/new life after the last few years were quite apt. Perhaps think of me as a born again MFW.
The next month I start a new job (same salary but better prospects), and I get my outstanding balance under Ј100K for the first time, so I felt it was the perfect time to start a diary.
My place.
I fancied a house over a flat as hated the thought of payingan exorbitant service charge for some joker to just hoover the corridor once aweek, and I have also seen a few people get fingers burned with flats they then couldnt shift (well not without losing all their deposit). I now own a 1920s 3 bed semi in a decent suburb of a northern city.The previous owner was in her 90s and was moved to a care home, so the decor can best be described as dated, and it certainly needed a good airing, but this all meant there had not been much interest and I got it cheap.
Clearly not much had been done on the property in many years and so I see this as my project as well as my residence. There is a scary amount of work to do and apart from getting an electrician to rewire the place, I plan to do the vast majority myself. I amin no major rush and will use some rooms for living in while I refurbish others.
When I moved in I literally had nothing apart from clothes and some books/dvds etc, and have had to buy everything from scratch, except a few small bits of furniture off my parents. Still dont have much but it doesn't bother me as I have never needed the latest phone, trainers or whatever. It also helps decorating as I dont have bulky items to shift around. My colleagues think I am slightly mad I dont have a TV (saving me Ј145.50), but then they only ever watch TOWIE or similar such drivel and i'd probably rather spend an evening boiling my own head. I fully intend to have the last laugh once I have paid off my mortgage and they are still renting or are on an interest only.
My numbers
Take home pay is Ј1840 after tax/NI/pension/student loan. My mortgage I have been OPing since day 1 (As I said, long time lurker) though it was fairly small sums at first. I am currently paying Ј920per month towards the mortgage (an OP of Ј360), which I chose as it works out as 50% of my take home pay. At present rate I will clear it by June 2025, rather than Jan 2038 
. I am hoping I can get it cleared quicker though and would like to shave another 3-5 years off of that.
My monthly outgoings are very small CT Ј70, Elec approx Ј15,Gas approx Ј20, Water Ј50, phone/bb Ј16.20, home ins Ј20, mobile is PAYG approx Ј10. I dont drive and a bus pass for Ј12a week can get me virtually anywhere I need to go. I have investigated all ofthe above and dont think any savings to be made except perhaps on water. I am on water rates and I share a pipe with next door so can't go onto a meter. Will ring water comp and check my options.
Food bill is not that much, approx Ј20-25 per week. Though I should keep a diary to find out exactly what I spend. I take sandwiches to workand I always compare the prices per 100g in shops to work out the cheapest items. I only ever buy storable things like teabags when on offer and hunt out for stickered items that i could get a cheap meal from.
Other outgoings are minimal. Maybe Ј50-75 per month for two nights out or other entertainment, which I feel is needed to keep me sane. I make sure I get whatever I need to do for work on the house such as tools, paint etc but I dont go overboard. Whatever is left at end of each month goes towards my savings.
Savings wise I have Ј3,500 in an ISA as my emergency fund. I dont plan to use this unless I need a new boiler/roof repairs etc. I also have approx Ј5000 in shares, which I have researched & bought off my own back, and is a small hobby of mine to see how much I can beat cash savings rates by. I am my own fund manager, and only invest in companies I believe in, and there are no city wide boys skimming commission out of my money! The value fluctuates but I dont need to cash them in urgently. My plan is to monitor them and add to them as and when I can, but if a particular stock makes a significant profit then I am more than prepared to sell to invest elsewhere. The long term plan is to build up a pot and pay off decent chunks to the mortgage.
Any extra small OPs will come from extra cash I earn. I play a lotof sport and do a fair amount of coaching/refereeing. This mainly pays for me to play myself (i.e. covers my club training & match fees, new kit etc), but it can always helpOP if I do a lot. I have considered getting a lodger but I cant until ive got the place to a reasonable standard. I dont have much to sell on ebay/fb etc so that is a non-starter. Have looked into surveys but I dont have much free time and im not sure the money id get will be worth the effort. Have recently set up a new bank acc in case I register for cashback sites, but I would only buy stuff I would have bought anyway. Have considered stoozing but I dont really want to apply for any CC's at the present time. Any other money making ideas the wise people on here can help with are most welcome (just legal ones please
)
My goals
I still owe way over 3x my salary and this worries me if the rates begin to rise. Plan is to OP as much as I can (without becoming a hermit) until Jan 2015. At which point it should be worth me remortgaging onto a much better rate. I am aiming to be at around Ј90,000 by the turn of the year, which gives me a 25% deposit.
I will update as often as possible and I hope you enjoy reading how I get on.
Many thanks
Midnight child
Best answers:
- Welcome Midnight, and good luck.
- Welcome to MFW
- Hi, welcome to the madhouse
Tilly - Welcome midnight.
You sound very sensible, and it seems that you already have a lot of good strategies in place. Well done. - Thanks for the kind welcomes
I'll try not to make every post the length of my last one, promise. - Just realised that the personal tax allowance has changed with the new tax year. Wont get my payslip till end of month but I reckon I will be about Ј10pm better off and can add this to OP to save an extra 2 months and Ј377 in interest. I think an amendment to the OP standing order is required.
Thanks Mr Osbourne
Midnight child - Hi and welcome midnight child , you sound super organised if you are not keen on surveys , have you thought of matched betting? There is a thread on here that explains all in the "forum jump" drop down bar. I have not tried it myself as its a bit tricky to get your head around, but if you enjoy watching shares etc. it may interest you. Plus it's no risk and free money.
Best of luck with the house and the new diary - Welcome midnight to the crazy addictive MFW world. Your plan sounds great and ovwepaying since day 1 is deffo going to give you the last laugh. I will follow with interest.
- Welcome to the world of madness MC!
- Yes, being a MFW is very addictive. My friends/colleagues think im slightly odd that I have taken such an aggresive stance towards my mortgage, as most of my peers cant come close to finding a deposit or have taken on a 40 year term
I find that phrases like "would save you Ј30,000 in interest alone" really help to focus the mind.
Thanks for the tip on matched betting Newgirly. I am not familiar with it, and while the name sounds perhaps more high risk than I would be willing to consider, I will certainly research it and post my findings on here.
Thanks
Midnight - Don't be a hermit, still live for now as well...
We have been overpaying for years and it is very satisfying to watch the debt reduce every month - you'll be ok as you clearly have a level head !
Be lucky, clear the debt and enjoy ! - Thanks for the advice hillcats, will remember to venture out of my cave every once in a while.
Ok so basically matched betting is placing a bet while also accepting a bet (acting as bookmaker) for the identical outcome. You win on one and lose on the other but the net result is they cancel each other out (i.e. you "win" and "lose" the same amount). However, by claiming free bets from bookies as your bet stake you can gain an overall positive outcome whatever the result. It's clever, very clever, and sounds like you could make reasonable returns. Will mull it over but I would want to do a lot more research into the area before I put any of my hard earned cash towards it. My knowledge on gambling is pretty poor and I really dont think its something to get involved in without being very clued up. - Best of luck with your journey, will you have room for a lodger or two when you've done the place up? I got a mate in for half the market rent in return for helping to paint.
He didn't lift a finger and we're no longer friends but that's beside the point!! - Hi FloppyDisk,
I hear what you are saying, though I guess I didnt make clear it needs somewhat more than just a lick of paint. The previous owners took the easy option when it came to maintenance, and had a habit of righting holes in walls with newspaper and expanding foam. I have several layers of woodchip literally everywhere (that or polystyrene tiles), and they used these to obscure whatever bodge had been made. Until I remove them I dont know exactly what the delights are underneath.
Some of the things I have done so far include; having a rotten ceiling replaced (I got a pro in for this), repointing loose bricks and re-plastering large areas of crumbling walls, replacing many flooroards (due to cowboy radiator installer) and removing a small amount of asbestos
Midnight Child - On the plus side.....
Once its done it will be an amazing house. I obviously dont know how my circumstances may change in the future but I have room for a lodger or to use as a family home if I find a Mrs Midnight.
I am in an area popular with students & young professionals so once its done I would have little problems in renting it out if I moved on elsewhere. I have a lounge and dining room and the smallest bedroom fits a double bed, so I would probably be able to let it as a 4 bed house. - Welcome
You sound very switched on . If you think you can make money from shares then you are probably better off spending time researching those rather than the 10p surveys most of us do . As long as you spread the risk and don't gamble more than you can afford to lose, as it really is just a gamble. - Hi midnightchild,
It sounds like you're really focused - very impressed.
I feel your pain re: doing up a house. DH and I have recently purchased, and our house WILL be gorgeous, but atm it's a building site...well it was, we're nearly at the point where we can move in to one room
I will follow your journey if that's ok? I'm keeping a diary on the Debt free forum (we needed a loan to do the essentials to the house and we had only managed to save 10% for the deposit and fees when we bought our dream house at a bargain price, but about 6mths too early money wise). My eventual goal is to be MF, so I do lurk here
Good luck with everything and take care x - Hi Giblet
Its the more the merrier, and feel free to pop by any time. If I had known I would have put the hoover round and got some better biscuits in. No doubt you will see me turning up on you diary at some point.
Hi Gallygirl
I personally dont view investing in shares as gambling. It gets a bad name due to the short term trading done by the city boys that is essentially gambling, but thats a debate for another time.
Its a higher risk than a savings account, but its one you are prepared to take for a better return. But as you say spread the risk and do your homework, and hopefully it doesnt all go down the swanny. Its certainly not for the feinthearted, but way more exciting than doing a survey. - Hi MC and welcome. I feel your pain re ceiling tiles and woodchip! My house had both in every single room. It's finished now and although was really hard work it's paid off. Good luck.
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