I’m taking control of my life, now.

Treadingonplaymobil · 18 March 2017 at 9:38AM

It's really interesting reading all these mortgage musings. I can't wait to be in a position to overpay ours (in, erm, about 9 years' time :rotfl: )

boxofpaws · 18 March 2017 at 2:11PM

Just dug out our mortgage stuff..

Our deal runs out in August 2018.
We borrowed £193470 over 22 years
5 years (59 payments) @ 4.59%. Then svr after that.

This means that next August, we will owe £165000.
House value on Zoopla is currently £259k.
Current project LTV = 63%
Anyone know how banks value when remortgaging?

ada-or-ardor · 18 March 2017 at 3:15PM

I think it depends on the lender. Ours (Sk1pton Building Society) use i think the Halifax index which is actually based on things like zoopla and a recent sales of similar properties in the area, if you just want the free valuation and you're happy with the result. But you can also pay £60 for a valuer to actually come round and do a proper inside and out valuation. It might be worth just giving them a ring and asking them their process :-)

Bobarella · 18 March 2017 at 7:08PM

Hi Paws

Our recent remortgage was a farce. We told our broker how much we thought the place was worth, they cocked it up and told the surveyor the figure from the last remortgage they handled for us, which was a huge amount different.
The mistake exposed we asked them to fix it, and the surveyor wouldn't, saying they just go off the paperwork supplied in the first instance!

So annoyingly we are in the 60% LTV bracket instead of the 50s.

On the budgeting thing, the way I'd do mine is look back over three months worth of spending diary entries and use that to set your budget. You can always improve on things like groceries if you want to. But it's a fairly accurate view on what you are spending month to month. Then I'd also make a list of all your annual coats and try and figure out how to save for them on a monthly basis.

I am not a YNAB budget person but i do keep a spending diary and also reconcile all my reciepts as they go out of the account. Roughly works.

Bob

armchairexpert · 19 March 2017 at 5:37AM

How To Budget 101:

A budget is a statement of priorities, just as much for a household as for a government. The money is finite: the budget tells you what's important to you. Make the decision first, and then stick to it: if you've decided to send more money to debts and less to clothes it doesn't matter if that coat is on sale - you don't have the money. If that starts feeling too restrictive, change the priorities next month. But you set the priority ahead of the spending - what you've got right now is a spending record, which is different.

You've already got a spreadsheet, so you've already got categories for things. Sort these into:

Fixed/Have To Pay - this is mortgage, taxes, utilities, minimum debt repayments, anything else that is a set cost* and you can't get rid of.

Variable/Nice to Have - this is the sub category of things that you do need if you're not to be miserable, but the amounts can be cut back on if your income went down: groceries, clothing, extra curriculars, things for the house

Getting Ahead - for me this is annual expenses such as Christmas, plus savings pots for things like, my eldest DD will need some sort of tablet next year, plus both DDs will need orthodontics in the future, etc. In your case it will be debt overpayments, basically.

If you already have a spending record via your spreadsheet, just change that to a forecast. Type in next month's income. Fill the first category first, then the second category, then look at what's left. Do you want to send all of that to CAT 3? Or add a bit more to clothing and home maintenance? Or split it between the two?

*Note re set costs: utilities vary over the year but are necessities. If you have records for a year, this is the one area in a budget where that history will really help you: add them up, divide by 12.

[Deleted User] · 19 March 2017 at 8:17AM

Great advice Armchair Expert

Suffolk_lass · 19 March 2017 at 7:06PM

My "budget" workbook divides things into monthly and annual lists. I started with just the obvious big things but now I have added things like "cattery" and "travel insurance" as well as an allowance for things like oil (no mains gas here).

I like Armchair Expert's suggested categories but I just look critically at each entry to work out how to reduce it a bit. The only thing I can't reduce is Council Tax so far...

boxofpaws · 19 March 2017 at 9:28PM

ada-or-ardor wrote: »

I think it depends on the lender. Ours (Sk1pton Building Society) use i think the Halifax index which is actually based on things like zoopla and a recent sales of similar properties in the area, if you just want the free valuation and you're happy with the result. But you can also pay £60 for a valuer to actually come round and do a proper inside and out valuation. It might be worth just giving them a ring and asking them their process :-)

The house right in the corner exchanged hands at Christmas fir less than half the market value. It wasn't marketed so it must have been a family deal. I hope it doesn't bring the value of ours down.:(

Not sure who we will mortgage with yet.

Bobarella wrote: »

Hi Paws

Our recent remortgage was a farce. We told our broker how much we thought the place was worth, they cocked it up and told the surveyor the figure from the last remortgage they handled for us, which was a huge amount different.
The mistake exposed we asked them to fix it, and the surveyor wouldn't, saying they just go off the paperwork supplied in the first instance!

So annoyingly we are in the 60% LTV bracket instead of the 50s.

On the budgeting thing, the way I'd do mine is look back over three months worth of spending diary entries and use that to set your budget. You can always improve on things like groceries if you want to. But it's a fairly accurate view on what you are spending month to month. Then I'd also make a list of all your annual coats and try and figure out how to save for them on a monthly basis.

I am not a YNAB budget person but i do keep a spending diary and also reconcile all my reciepts as they go out of the account. Roughly works.

Bob

I want to get at least into the 75% LTV ideally. What an annoying thing to happen to you - with the potential to lose you money :mad:

boxofpaws · 19 March 2017 at 9:33PM

armchairexpert wrote: »

How To Budget 101:

A budget is a statement of priorities, just as much for a household as for a government. The money is finite: the budget tells you what's important to you. Make the decision first, and then stick to it: if you've decided to send more money to debts and less to clothes it doesn't matter if that coat is on sale - you don't have the money. If that starts feeling too restrictive, change the priorities next month. But you set the priority ahead of the spending - what you've got right now is a spending record, which is different.

You've already got a spreadsheet, so you've already got categories for things. Sort these into:

Fixed/Have To Pay - this is mortgage, taxes, utilities, minimum debt repayments, anything else that is a set cost* and you can't get rid of.

Variable/Nice to Have - this is the sub category of things that you do need if you're not to be miserable, but the amounts can be cut back on if your income went down: groceries, clothing, extra curriculars, things for the house

Getting Ahead - for me this is annual expenses such as Christmas, plus savings pots for things like, my eldest DD will need some sort of tablet next year, plus both DDs will need orthodontics in the future, etc. In your case it will be debt overpayments, basically.

If you already have a spending record via your spreadsheet, just change that to a forecast. Type in next month's income. Fill the first category first, then the second category, then look at what's left. Do you want to send all of that to CAT 3? Or add a bit more to clothing and home maintenance? Or split it between the two?

*Note re set costs: utilities vary over the year but are necessities. If you have records for a year, this is the one area in a budget where that history will really help you: add them up, divide by 12.

Thanks for this :A. You are exactly right, all I have is a spending record, not a budget.

I am putting £300 aside a month for the annual bills, however I keep dipping into it:eek:

I need to change my mindset. At the minute, I would buy the coat:o.

Clearly the entertainment spends are out of control. What I will do is sit down with the husband and agree what we will spend on that for the month, and once that money is gone, we stay in.

boxofpaws · 19 March 2017 at 9:39PM

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

My "budget" workbook divides things into monthly and annual lists. I started with just the obvious big things but now I have added things like "cattery" and "travel insurance" as well as an allowance for things like oil (no mains gas here).

I like Armchair Expert's suggested categories but I just look critically at each entry to work out how to reduce it a bit. The only thing I can't reduce is Council Tax so far...

I need to be inventive to get the entertainment budget a bit further.

My council tax is going up by £9 a month. :cool:

I’m taking control of my life, now.

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