Officially declaring myself as a mfw

A question about : Officially declaring myself as a mfw

Hello all,

Like many of you before me I have been lurking for some time and am now finally taking the plunge at starting my own diary as an extra push to reaching the elusive position of being mortgage free.

So a little bit about me first - I'm married with 4 children aged from 7 years old down to 9 months old and we also have two dogs. In contrast to all the people that did well out of the property market rising, DH and I were the losers! We had a property each when we met and we went off travelling for a while and rented out our properties. They dropped in value and we rented elsewhere. Earlier this year, some years on we managed to sell both the properties for a loss but somehow managed to pull together enough funds to buy a house in the right location and the right size for our family (at the moment, I suspect my children sharing a room might object when they get older).

So for the figures-we borrowed Ј176k over 20 years. I would like to get this paid off in 8 years, that's my aim but its aspirational rather than realistic! We are currently on a two year fixed deal so my first goal is to overpay to get that down to Ј143k at the end of the two years - again not sure how I'll manage that but I work better having something high to aim for. We have some credit card debt due to having to buy flooring for the whole house and to do the garden but fortunately it's all on 0% and I'm putting away savings each month to pay it off when the 0% comes to an end. I believe any overpayments can also be claimed back at any time so that's also my emergency fund.

I have made some overpayments already this year, some of my work bonus back in March and for the last couple of months I've paid in Ј20 a week. At this point you'll probably decide I'm a complete fruitcake! I decided I would like to employ a cleaner but I also wanted to overpay the mortgage and as I couldn't really afford to do both I decided to pay myself as a cleaner in my own house! So twice a week for an hour, I blitz the house and then pay myself Ј10 which goes straight towards the mortgage. I have never been so motivated to do my housework! I've also just recently decided to wash my own windows so I'll be overpaying what I normally paid the window cleaner and I'll be washing my own car and paying myself for that too.

In case anyone is still reading my other plans are-:
1. To increase my hours at work, I am currently part-time but with three children still at nursery I need to ensure it balances out with the extra fees.
2. I am also very keen to try matched betting but I need to spend more time getting my head around it. I thought I was quite clear until my DH asked me to explain it to him and I struggled to do so - more reading required!

My DH is very much on board with the idea of being mortgage free but not so much with making the sacrifices that go with that He occasionally has a light bulb flicker but has a more 'live for today' type attitude so together we are very well balanced. He ensures we keep some funds for fun whilst I do the scrimping and saving.

As at today our mortgage is Ј173,250 and we're off! If anyone is with me then enjoy the journey, and if not hopefully my dear diary will keep me on track!

Wish me luck!

Best answers:

• Welcome Supadupa
  You sound very motivated. I really like the idea of paying yourself to do work around the house. Might have to try that one myself.
  You're DH also sounds a little bit like mine. Up for the mortgage free thing as long as it doesn't impact his lifestyle too much. He's a willing passenger on this journey of mine... until we can't afford something he wants😀
  Getting a balance is really important though. It does get easier when the children are at school and the dreaded daycare fees fall to sensible figures too.
  Good luck on your journey.
• Good luck to you. I really like the idea of paying yourself to clean. I may give that a try.
• Best of luck!!
  Another one where DH is on board, but a very silent passenger for most of the journey!!
• I normally reward my cleaning with biscuits. I love that idea though of paying yourself!
  You sound very motivated and clearly full of energy so I'm sure you won't need it but I will wish you well on reaching your targets.
• Love the idea of paying yourself to clean. Suspect I'd forgo the payment though if I tried it on me
• Thank you for the warm welcomes - you really are a lovely lot and I'm so pleased you are on board with my paid cleaning job and haven't decided I'm just a crazy lady!
  I had quite a successful weekend. On Saturday we were invited to a barbecue in the afternoon so free food! We took the kiddies for a beach and woodland walk near home in the morning and the children were keen to pick some wild flowers to give to our friends who were hosting the barbecue. I found a spare vase, we added some nice pebbles from the beach, the wild flowers and created a rather nice freebie present for our hosts. I quite fancy some for myself so we'll need to go back soon. We also found some wild apples growing so I have some to turn into some apple pie like creation - that's a task for this week.
  On Sunday hubby was dispatched to pick up some slabs that someone was giving away for free that will help finish our garden off. We reckon we saved around Ј200 there so I'm very pleased with myself. I would have liked to overpay the mortgage with the saved Ј200 but unfortunately I don't have it to spare right now and if we'd had to pay for the slabs then that would have had to wait. Then another free afternoon with children and dogs at the beach. I did manage to transfer over Ј11 last night to the mortgage from my housework and window cleaning job
  My baby is on the move - help! I really need to get stairgates now - I think I could get away with just one at the top at the moment as he doesn't seem to be attempting to climb just yet. Here presents a minor dilemma - I have some vouchers for Toyrus so could get a 'free' stairgate but I have also seen a second hand one advertised for half the price. Do I use my vouchers now and get a free one or fork out the money for the secondhand one and then get the 'free' one when I need to get it for the bottom of the stairs? Decisions decisions......
  I've brought my lunch into work today so another small saving there but I couldn't resist buying some porridge when I arrived in, its not a huge spend but if I was more organised I could have made it at home - must do better!
  Have a great day all.
• Well, it would appear my stairgate dilemma is no longer and I will need to buy two gates immediately. I swear I turned away for thirty seconds this morning and my baby boy managed to crawl out of the living room and was eyeing up the stairs like he was about to conquer Everest
  Happier Me and Lulabelle-I am quite relieved that your OHs are the same as mine. We'll just have to support each other and drag them along with us!
  Happier Me - I am looking forward to the childcare fees coming to an end one day but I suspect I'll just end up spending somewhere else child-related. I do appreciate that my kids are quite happy to be entertained with a trip to the park and a picnic and they are blissfully unaware that Playstations exist! I also hear from my friends that teenage boys never stop eating so I won't be able to scrimp on the food budget forever. I may end up with three children at university all at once in the future so I'll be happy to get rid of the mortgage in plenty time to save up for that. Or we could send them out to work instead to give them time to save up for a nice nursing home for DH and I
  I suddenly remembered yesterday that I hadn't been paid for a mystery shop that I did ages ago. I logged into my paypal and lo and behold there was Ј21.34 waiting for me so I immediately paid that to the mortgage before I thought to spend it elsewhere
  So has anyone employed themselves as a cleaner yet? Amycool- I quite like the idea of rewarding myself with biscuits too!
  Right, I'm off to read some of your diaries for some ideas and inspiration.
• Well it's been a mixed day for money saving today.
  I sold two items on Ebay last night that came to Ј85 but that was spent today on DH's outstanding parking ticket-seems such a waste! I then discovered I had an Ј8 fine at the library-again totally unnecessary. I'm feeling very annoyed with us!
  On the upside I bought the stairgate with my vouchers so Ј17.99 saved there and today was my cleaning day so that's another Ј11 to the mortgage.
  I managed to entertain the kids all day spending only Ј2 on a bouncey castle, the ice-cream van drove away just as we got there. Disappointed family but we got some ice-cream at home instead free of charge
  Off out with the girls tomorrow night so we'll see how the spending goes!
• I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted!
  I think I've found a way to make my target overpayments a reality rather than an aspiration - I've been offered a new job! I've been thinking about increasing my hours for some time but it's tricky balancing this with childcare costs and as I have a long commute drop off and pick ups can be difficult too. My new job is full time but with compressed hours and as its field based I will no longer have a commute to the office - hurrah! My full time equivalent salary will be the same but as its more hours that makes a huge difference plus I'll get a company car so I can sell on mine and save on tax, insurance etc. I am a bit nervous about leaving my current job because I really like the work, the people and the company - I've been there a long time. My boss offered full time hours too but not with the flexibility of the new job so I've decided to jump ship and hope my new work, colleagues and company are just as nice!
  Not much more to add for overpayments - just two small housework payments. I'll rework my numbers for the new job soon and put a plan in place to increase the payments and get this mortgage free journey underway properly.
  Spending this week has been good for food shopping and entertainment but the fuel budget as gone completely out of the window with ad hoc days out to entertain the children. I am determined to keep things on track so we'll see where else I can steal money from the budget to survive until payday.
• Many congratulations on the new job! It sounds great, and will no doubt help you to achieve your mf ambitions. Good luck,
  Squirrel x
• Congrats on the new job, I'll be reading with interest. I love the idea of paying yourself to do the cleaning.
• Congrats on the new job, sounds like it will fit with the family really well, work life balance is so important and it's usually difficult to find it - so grab it with both hands, I hope that it works well for you.
  Will you still do the cleaning yourself or find someone else? I sometimes wonder if I should do the same...... I have a cleaner who is lovely and cleans some things really well, but I've just had to made a list because so many things haven't been getting cleaned.
  I've printed the list (I know, I'm a weirdo, I actually typed a list!) and I was ready to discuss it with her this morning but she hasn't arrived!!!! Maybe she knew there was a list waiting......
  Well done with your progress so far!
• Hi Everybody,
  Thanks for the well wishes with my new job. I have now handed in my notice but don't get released until the end of next month so I'm in a very strange limbo just now where a couple of my colleagues know but I can't tell any of my internal customers right now as that will create panic in them so I'm picking up new work in the knowledge that I won't be there to see it through. I don't have my new contract yet either and I'm desperate to find out about my company car so I can get my current car sold so I can make an overpayment!
  Lulabelle - I have been reading your diary, almost made it to the present day - on page 94. I find it very inspiring and only occasionally feel that I should be investing in expensive handbags - I hope I don't pick up this bad habit since I've never had it before!
  The overpayments are trundling on - this is an expensive month with some Edinburgh Festival Shows to go to, a hen party then the wedding. There is always something. I am continuing with my cleaning at least so that guarantees around 100 a month but not quite my 800 target! My fuel spends have been way over my budget - I've managed to entertain the children relatively cheaply through the holidays but unfortunately I've been driving the gas guzzling 7 seater to get them around.
  I very much doubt I'll employ a 'real cleaner' when I increase my income a bit. I did have one long ago pre-children and whilst it was lovely to arrive home from work to a nice smelling newly cleaned house I did find myself redoing things that I wasn't happy with. I guess everyone has their 'not so favourite' chores to do. Plus I'm too tight to pay for a cleaner again, I'd rather pay it to the mortgage. I may however give myself a payrise!
  I've just been outside to admire my new planter. I planted some seeds with the children and they are coming up great, the only problem is I can't remember what is planted where! Somewhere in there, there should be beetroot, broccoli, carrots and sunflowers. I also have no idea how long they take to grow. I'm a novice and the experts are my three year old twins who have taken responsibility for watering and talking to the plants cracking job they are doing too! If anyone can give me some pointers on what I should be checking for then please let me know!
• Welcome superdupa. I pay my kids to clean. We all work together on Sunday morning, they get a fresh list and in return a Ј5 each. I like it as I feel they have then learnt their pocket money as well as doing chores.
  Good luck on your mfw journey.
  Hdk
• Hey Supa,
  Congratulations on the new job.
  I love that you pay yourself to clean, I wonder if it would work with my hubby who sometimes wonders aloud why we pay someone else to clean our house. (Because husband darling, you are so much tidier these days, you don't leave plates in the living room, cups in the bathroom and dirty clothes on the stairs)
  You sound like you have a similar overpaying approach to me, a little bit as and when, it really does make a difference. I've been putting post it notes on the top edge of my computer screen showing the current mortgage balance and the difference since the last month. Keeps me motivated.
  Keep saving
  Wish
• Hello diary,
  Well it's been a wee while since my last update and a lot has happened so I think I'll post several times so it all makes sense and saves anyone reading a novel
  So I started to give some thought to what I would do when I was mortgage free, to help give me some focus and I decided that whilst our house is currently big enough, in time I think we will need an extra bedroom. We love the area where we live, it's right on the beach, close to family and there's nowhere else I would rather be location wise. There are houses near us with an extra bedroom but they are on the ground floor and I'd prefer us to have upstairs rooms so I've decided a nice loft conversion master bedroom with en-suite is the solution - not least because this would mean we would have lovely coastal views from our room, currently we don't but the children do and they just don't appreciate it!
  Now, the aim is to be mortgage free in eight years and quite frankly I'm too impatient to wait that long but I calculated if I stay on target with the overpayments then we could pay for the loft conversion in two years and be no worse off with the mortgage than if we had not overpaid at all i.e. the overpayments will pay for the conversion
  Hubby seemed on board with this idea and so the dreamy search of trussed loft conversions began - hurrah we have a shorter term aim.
• And then.....a few days of dreaming about loft conversions and then a nightmare!
  I came home one evening and my DH announces that the credit card he has that is on 0% until November 2015....well oops he made a mistake and its up in October! Also he's maxed it out due to no budgeting and is in a bit of a pickle having realized that he now has more coming out than he has coming in. Needless to say I was less than impressed, I don't really do angry but I was simmering for quite a few days. His only saving grace is that I know he hasn't been spending on himself, but those top up shops when he decides he should buy sweets for the kids, the odd toy for them as they've been well behaved etc all add up. Throw a few big bills that have come in, head in the sand and well you get the picture.
  So after much head scratching, we have finally sorted out DH's finances. Most of the credit card has been shuffled over to 0% elsewhere, DH has upped his contribution to the joint account whilst I take over his bills and he now has a set figure every month that he can spend and when its gone its gone, he has no cards to spend on. I think he got a big fright and has now had a reality check.
  Meanwhile for the first time in weeks I missed one of my paid cleaning sessions - there didn't seem much point when I couldn't afford to overpay.
• And so, I've just finished my cleaning - I will pay myself although I may need to pay it into a savings account to cover the credit card when it comes up. I need to pay it somewhere though or my house will become a tip!
  I took back my overpayments yesterday to pay a big bill, whilst it was a depressing thought I took some comfort in the fact that had I not made the overpayments in the first place then I would have frittered that money away and not had it to call on.
  I am back with renewed motivation, I may not be able to overpay as much this year due to covering unexpected credit card bills but I am determined to stay on track and increase my overpayments beyond that to catch up.
  I can do it - I have a loft conversion in my sights!
  P.S. I can't bear to update my signature with my backwards progress just yet.
• Hi
  Just read your diary. You sound a lot like me - a fruitcake!! I just LOVE that you pay yourself to clean. I am going to try that and see if it motivates me. Perhaps I will take it to a whole new level and pay myself to cook, iron, taxi driver etc - I will be rich!!
  Yay for the new job and boo to the 0% being up sooner than you thought.
  Look forward to reading your journey as we have a similar amount to pay Ј175k and I want to be done in 7 years Good luck.