My Long Term Dream

Hello,

I've reached double figures with my blogging  friends, welcome Anglesey Allsorts! 


 We all have a dream/aspiration/reason for living frugally/becoming debt/mortgage free.


My long term dream is to foster.

I turn 40 this year! 
My job is in the public sector and we are all under constant pressure to work harder, for less whilst contributing more to our pension. I'm certain that I don't want to continue until I'm 60 in the same job and I want to pursue my dream to foster, luckily Mr M is supportive as otherwise it would be a non-starter!!

So, here's the plan!

We  have been blessed with one son, he's bright, funny, charming, inquisitive and loving, I couldn't be any prouder. He wants to go university ( like his father) and has his sights on Cambridge,he's only 9 !!
It goes without saying we will fully support him to university and beyond,I wouldn't want to do anything prior to university ( or after)  that might jeopardise his future, he is the priority.

However once he has gone then I can look to  Foster!  : - )

Ideally I would like us to be mortgage free, fostering can be erratic and being mortgage free would mean we wouldn't have to worry if we had a few months without anyone. I went on a mortgage calculator (thank you Martin Lewis) and it told me this:

 Overpaying would save you

£61,296 in interest alone,
and mean you pay it off in full
11 years and 1 month earlier.  

To be mortgage free in 10 years  I would need to find another £700 a month! My first thought was that it couldn't be done so that would be that! However, following advice on other blogs I've snowballed my debts. I started looking at the numbers and I realised that once I have cleared the debt that would be the extra £700 and this could actually happen.
At the start of June my snowball predictor thingy said I would clear the debt in 73 months, I've followed Mrs SFT's advice and started to see it as a game that I'm going to WIN! By making extra this month through eBay sales and overtime I have managed to take 3 months off that time and I fully intend to do more next month.I'm saving in a sealed pot as well as my £2 coins.

So at the moment it will still take me 6 years to pay off the debts before I can start on the mortgage.
 I'm determined to get this down, the sooner it's down the sooner I can pay off the millstone around our neck and look to my new career.
I'm conscious of still living in the moment and budgeting for treats including a cheeky little girls trip to Dublin in October ; - ) and not forgetting the lovely Betty ( who will also help my losing weight/fitness regime!)

Right now I'm going  back to my snowball spreadsheet to see how much more I would need to make to bring it down quicker ( obsessive? Moi?!)

What are your hopes and dreams for your future? x

Mortgage Shock!

Having read so many great blogs and seeing that the move to mortgage  freedom is the way forward, I contacted my mortgage provider to see what the oustanding balance on our account is.

Well, it was a shock, we still owe £180,861.32!!!

We moved into our home 6 years ago. Whilst probably not to everyone's  taste, I fell in love with the large 1970's windows, the  driveway, the knocked through lounge, the cul de sac location  and the lovely pensioners in their  bungalows across the way (although at the time we weren't aware of their penchant for cutting their lawns early on Sunday mornings!)
I gave Mr M a list of reasons why we should move and he agreed (admittedly I had plied him with a nice meal and plenty of wine prior to presenting him with the pros and cons, heavily weighted to the pros!) And 6 years on we're still here working our  way through the place making improvements when we can afford them.
 We really over-stretched ourselves to buy the house and whilst we don't regret it it has taken us until now to nearly clear the loans  and credit cards we took out to finance the move. We had many months were we were living off credit cards, using one to pay for food and another for nursery fees, I look back and wonder how I slept at night! But we're nearly there now, only 2 credit cards and 2 loans. One loan finishes in August and then we can concentrate on the credit cards and then the mortgage.

I 've been so inspired by the blogs I've read, they've really given me the push and ideas to try and get rid of the ball and chain that is our mortgage as quickly as possible. Thank you x