Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

ourcornercottage · 19 March 2015 at 7:09PM

£10 a month or 120 this year from a hsbc advance account and a save together isa.

Car boot spring clean once a year £50 (maybe more)

Apply to Join Hasbro family and do their questionnaire $10 per month and it's fun for kids too!

Put all spends on a credit card that you clear monthly and make all purchases through Quidco and top cash back!

That's all I can think of!

shangaijimmy · 20 March 2015 at 12:25AM

Well reminded. I forgot 6% regular saver interest which will generate another £110 ish!

Just looked at hsbc and will be applying tomorrow! Joint account with 2 Isa's makes £240.

So I'm now £100 over!!

Spreadsheet readjustments beckon!

shangaijimmy · 20 March 2015 at 12:24PM

Spreadsheet adjustments and i'm 1 month short of target!!!!

That damn month, guess we could live on dust for 1 month!

lippy1923 · 20 March 2015 at 3:11PM

shangaijimmy wrote: »

Spreadsheet adjustments and i'm 1 month short of target!!!!

That damn month, guess we could live on dust for 1 month!

You will find it in 1 month, dont worry. Maybe a premium bond win/ lottery, or 50% off a purchase will see you through

Apart from the earlier suggested topcashback and quidco, things like tesco clubcard boost, cashback credit cards etc.... it all adds up and you won't even notice.

shangaijimmy · 20 March 2015 at 3:15PM

To be fair we're pretty good with the cashback things and get loads out of clubcard!

Overall the whole 10 year target is there, but really i'm just breaking it down into 2yr chunks, that way its not too daunting. So the current target is to reduce by 21k for our 2 year fix. My standard £423 overpayment will achieve this with a few quid to spare and anything else is a fabulous bonus, all the time as we try to live, holiday etc...

As you will all be aware it's so addictive and spreadsheets are amazing!

lippy1923 · 20 March 2015 at 3:27PM

I do love spreadsheets, although I'm not very good at creating them! Once it's all set up and I put my figures in though it's so addictive

lexington013 · 20 March 2015 at 3:45PM

Welcome along, im in a similar position, 133k mortgage remaining but term is 9 years and 10 months, i have just remortgaged to a 2 year fixed deal at 2.29% and intend to use the monthly saving to overpay. I have managed to knock 8 years off my term as i started out on a 25 year term 7 years ago. It hasnt been easy but since i had the LBM i have been focussed on my money working harder for me.
Keep going its definately worth it. My next goal is to clear it by the time i hit 55 (so 7 years to go!). This forum is very supportive, we are all at different stages but all have a common desire!👍

shangaijimmy · 20 March 2015 at 4:03PM

Thanks Lex for popping in. Support and inspiring i'd say!

Overall i'm hoping to knock 11 years off our original 30yr term. We stretched ourselves to the maximum we could in 2006 so that we effectively missed a tier of housing ladder out, and all we could get then was interest only (we wouldn't have met affordability with todays regs). It meant the first 4 years were tough going but slowly (with overpaying too) we got ourselves in a strong position to get our current fix of 1.99% and LTV of 61%. We've even managed some great holidays, a wedding (we paid a 1/3rd) and a conservatory without more debt, so i think we've got the balance between living and paying off.

I am going to post my version of a state of affairs hopefully this weekend.

lexington013 · 20 March 2015 at 6:49PM

Sounds like you are (both) very committed to managing a healthy balance towards your mortgage and finances. Best of luck, you have made an impressive start, you WILL reap the rewards later on.:beer:

shangaijimmy · 20 March 2015 at 9:05PM

I actually think we're starting to get the rewards now as we are so much more relaxed about the future, how much we owe and how much we are now actually committed too per month. At one stage we were paying £960 per month (some rate rises in the first year added) and that probably accounted for 50% of income. Now at £680 and about a 6th of income.

Quick update on HSBC accounts - we've opened the current account so next step is online banking and then open ISA each for the save together scheme. Great shout 'ourcorner'!!

Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free