Before I even look at the figures, I’m feeling a little more confident about this month. There were a few ‘cheats’ but I’ve mostly stuck to a £100 cash budget for everything. Let’s see what that tallies up to… Joint account expenditure Non-negotiable outgoings Mortgage: £412.97 Childcare: £222.00 Energy: £99.00 Internet: £11.49 Phone: £60.61

I figured that if we’re going to be serious about this mortgage free in 5 years thing, I should be looking at where our money is going before we look at how much we can start moving over in overpayments. This is made slightly more time-consuming by the fact I have the joint account AND… read full entry »

This week I was reading through Jax’s post on her new blog – The challenge – and my mortgage statement which, quite by coincidence arrived on the same day. Through Jax I also found Mortgage Free in Three. To say I was inspired is an understatement. I’ve decided that we should be aiming to pay… read full entry »

I hope. We are no closer to getting the keys, or so it seems. Both Karl and I spoke to the solicitor last week and everything appears to be done on their side, they’re waiting on the seller’s solicitors. We’ve both emphasised the fact that we have handed in our notice which probably won’t achieve… read full entry »

Where to bloody begin?! So it starts off completely unrelated to houses. I get a phone call at work, close to 4pm, from Karl. Sounds like he’s having a heart attack. Mumbles something about Isabel; my God the adrenaline shot through me. In that split second I thought of everything terrible that could happen in… read full entry »

Karl and I put in an offer on a house this evening…

Why did nobody warn me that this bloody house-hunting lark is hard work? When you’re looking at a rental property, there’s this little voice in the back of your mind reminding you that if the house or neighbourhood turns out to be a dump, then at least you can move again. It’s a pain in… read full entry »

I’ve been trying to convince Karl that renting is dead money and we should buy a place for … ooh, about as long as we’ve been renting. He is a tight bugger, and cynical about mortgages so resisted. Turns out, his cynicism has served a purpose because we are now at the perfect point to… read full entry »