the time has come...to get the mortgage below £200k

thewalrussaid · 9 February 2017 at 4:12PM

Hi All,

Just been having a read of my favourite diaries and thinking that I really should update mine more often to keep me focussed. I am still going out too much and paying City prices for food and drink!

As my diary title suggests the aim is to get the mortgage below £200k.

As at 01.01.17 the mortgage balance was £219,314.30 meaning that we can over pay £21,931.43 in this calendar year. Our 2 yr fix is up on the 31st of October so in reality we just have to stay within this limit until then.

Hence my goal this year is to OP £21k by the end of October. Our monthly payments reduce the capital by about £1k a month so by the 1st of November I hope our balance will be circa £188k. Then I want to remortgage onto a 5 year fix hopefully with a lender who will allow unlimited OPs so that we can have the mortgage gone shortly after the fix ends.

My budget is proving to be a bit ambitious so far (I keep falling into the bad habit of saving and then stealing bits back) however I am really hoping that our bonuses will give us a bit of leeway. Obviously this is a risky strategy so I'd better work on cutting back the budget!

That's enough of my rambling for now, just wanted to write down my goals.

Have a good day all.

Firegirl · 5 April 2017 at 2:41AM

Looking forward to seeing your journey!!!! Sounds like you'll smash it!!!

thewalrussaid · 10 October 2017 at 5:49PM

So again I have been away forever but we have been saving and getting ready to reduce the mortgage after the end of the fix on the 31.10.17.

We have a new 5 year fix with FD lined up which I am happy about because even though we are reducing the term to 12 years and 9 months our payments will go down by £300.

I have to be completely honest at this point and admit that whilst we will have over paid about £14k this year ourselves, my parents have given me another £50k to throw at the mortgage, which obviously is going to make a massive difference. Believe me I know how lucky I am.

Will be back to update figures.

Moneyfordreams · 14 October 2017 at 1:48PM

wow what a gift :A

Firegirl · 16 October 2017 at 9:03PM

Wow so exciting your parents giving you 50k and isn’t it lovely for them to see you putting the money to good use and making a difference to your life!!! Yay!

thewalrussaid · 24 October 2017 at 8:55PM

Thank you for the positive replies. Believe me i know how lucky I/we are

We have now overpaid £10k ourselves so the mortgage is at £196k

Mission accomplished!!!!!!

Onto the next challenge, which I think would benefit from more regular posting.

Firegirl · 7 November 2017 at 9:58PM

We are very close in our amounts!!!! Race ya?!

thewalrussaid · 1 January 2018 at 3:47PM

Hello all,

Well we have our new 5 year fixed rate mortgage and the balance is sub £150k (Firegirl I didn't make it quite clear that the £50k was coming off the £196k balance sorry!)

The aim now is to build up savings while overpaying as and when.

Goal 1 - have £20k in savings by 31.12.18

Goal 2 - install new driveway and wall at the front of the house

I am not adding anything else for now, the antithesis of dream big! Personally I would rather have 2 simple goals that should be achievable if I stick to the budget.

Actually Goal 3 should be to post more often!

In January we have our Amex cashback coming so I am hoping that covers the food bill for the month. it totals about £300 so I am not sure if that means I should be spending less on food or the Amex or both probably!

Happy New Year all!

blocpartyfan · 1 January 2018 at 4:03PM

thewalrussaid wrote: »

Hello all,

Well we have our new 5 year fixed rate mortgage and the balance is sub £150k

Fantastic progress, well done thewalrussaid!

thewalrussaid · 14 January 2018 at 10:48PM

Well I have had my birthday and quite a tough start to the year. A close relative, like a parent to me, died last week and it has been very hard. Not only hard for me, but also seeing the effect on my parents and cousins has been awful. Unfortunately a funeral takes a long time to arrange at this time of the year,

I have realised that I must control my grocery spending, it really is the main leakage from our accounts.

At times like this you really have a wake up call and think what do I want to do with the rest of my life? For me I want to have the financial security not to work forever, which means I need to redouble my efforts here.

Our monthly interest is around £122, ideally I want to save and overpay by this amount so that our payments go entirely to capital.

Anyway, just checking in.

Have a good week everyone.

the time has come...to get the mortgage below £200k

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