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Mortgage freedom/FIRE diary
After several years of reading diaries on here I have decided to write my own. I bought my forever home in January this year. I got a fixed rate mortgage at 1.99% for 5 years. I am allowed to overpay by 10% each year in this period. It was £124,499 at the start. I am a single Mum to two lovely boys aged 16 and 11. I have a…
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Here we go! Single Income mfw
Single parent here, determined to pay down my mortgage alone. Posting for accountability. My daughter is a teenager. I work from home as an online teacher. I paid off all my other debts and also have six months of savings incase of the worst. With potential interest rates looming and the end of my fixed deal in 13 months,…
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Eating a Vegetarian Elephant
I've been reading threads for ages and decided to jump in myself with a diary. About the mortgage: bought this house in 2014 for £359k, with a £165,000 mortgage. In 2015 took a second charge £20k because the kitchen needed replacing and the floor in the extension was collapsing. In 2016, fixed the first mortgage for 10…
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The whimsical tale of the Waterbed of Debt
Ooooh so close....so very close. So I've decided it is time to move on to the next chapter. The whimsical tale of the waterbed of debt is a metaphor for my debts. In a few days time (when I'm back from Milan - how appropriate!) I shall start detailing how my debts have gone down a little and my mortgage is doing quite…
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Twenty-something's aim to be mortgage free
Hi all! I've been lurking around this forum for quite some time but have put off creating a diary of my own because I wasn't feeling confident enough to do it. But here we go anyway! I'm a 28 year old on the south coast, my partner and I bought our first home (a lovely 3 bed flat) in December 2019 with a mortgage of…
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Just over one week's time *Mortgage Free*
Well, I've been waiting 11 years & 5 months to write this post but in just over a weeks time I will no longer have a mortgage. Feel super lucky and privileged to be in this position at a relatively early age (40). Whilst only on a modest place 2 bedroom terrace, it gives an immense sense of security more so in the current…
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Receiving money from a relative - how to avoid tax/charges?
My MIL plans to gift £100k to my Wife and I to pay in to our mortgage. We took her in a couple of years ago when my FIL passed away. She has paid no rent up to this point and has inherited money from her Mothers estate. She wants to give us £100k to pay towards our mortgage. I plan to stick the £100k in an easy-access…
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Should I fully pay off or keep some in mortgage?
Hi all, We have £60k outstanding on our mortgage and the current 3 year fixed is ending imminently - early January 2023. We are in the fortunate position of being able to pay off this £60k and to still have some healthy savings left. However a friend has suggested that there may be some advantages of not actually fully…
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Should I almost pay my mortgage off?
Hi all, I have 180k left on my mortgage and my house is worth 280k. We have just come in to some money from a family bereavement and it’s 150k. I have been thinking of remortgaging and taking my mortgage right down to 30k, but I’m after some advice on options please? I have been thinking of doing an interest only mortgage…
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Benefits of paying off mortgage
I am going to start by saying that I know I am in a very fortunate position but could use some advice from somebody who can see a wider picture than I can! I have a rare thing called an offset mortgage that is due to run for about another 10 yrs - basically whatever I have in savings is offset against what I owe on the…
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Overpay mortgage every month or put money in savings
What is everyone’s thoughts about the best way to ‘overpay mortgage. I’m in a fixed rate of 1.64% until May 2026 & determined to clear the mortgage off on this date. i have been making overpayments taking full advantage of my overpayment allowance of £11,600 every year. i bank with Virgin money & have a M plus saving…
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Prosperous soul embraces creativity & mortgage neutrality
Today I completed on my biggest ever mortgage - £202K and switched from interest only between 2 of us to repayment on my own. I took the term for as long as I could - so 22 years - which means I would be 73.5 by the time I was actually free. There has to be a better way! Financial info: * Currently have c£1479 left to…
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How does it all work?
Hi everyone, I have a simple question which I’m sure someone will be able to help me with. We’ve already been overpaying the mortgage for a couple of years but it’s only now that I’m going all-in with being mortgage-free that I check my mortgage balance regularly. However, although we’ve told our lender that we’d like our…
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Why I shouldn't pay off my mortgage??
Hi I'm hoping to pick the brains of the MSE collective! I am lucky to fi d myself in the current situation: -40k savings (premium bonds at present) -After bills approx £1250 left over each month - mortgage of around 100k on property - my partner is currently on maternity leave with our first child, it's unlikely she will…
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Bramble Cottage Diaries
Hi all, 2022 has been a whirlwind of a year for us. After saving like mad for over five years, in September we finally had an offer accepted on a house and four weeks later we completed the sale. Our new home is in Co Mayo, Ireland and we were cash buyers, as unable to get a mortgage over there. Currently we are still…
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Mortgage free by 2025
I have been lurking on MFW for a few years. I go through phases of being really good at
overpaying and then life gets in the way! There is just me and DH (plus fur baby Franklin)
in our household. I am 46 and DH is 57
in a few months. My goal is to pay off our mortgage by the time DH is 60 so in 3
yrs and 4 months. Our…
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What have been your biggest successes in your MFW Journey?
Hi all As a complete newbie to the mortgage free journey, I wondered what has had the biggest impact (or been the lightbulb moment) for you with your mortgage-free challenge? With thanks to South_Coast, LadyWithAPlan and Karmacat for their help with my own journey, I have found the following to be really helpful * Decide…
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Mortgage Overpayments
We moved into our home in 2018 with a £115,000 mortgage. In July this year we fixed onto a new 5 year term, thankfully avoiding the chaos that occurred with the mortgage markets. Our fix is 2.4%, paying £444 per month. Since this fix started we have been overpaying £400 per month in order to make a big dent into our…
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Operation Mortgage Free
Hello, I used to post on this forum when my career was first starting out after university, saddled with debt - it was really helpful. Looking back I managed to clear debt fairly quickly but I remember it being very hard as we pushed ourselves with a mortgage of £1100 a month on a house we bought off plan for £182k….then…
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Year into mortgage, surprise windfall
Hi I'm looking for some guidance as what to do. I purchased my first house a year ago £105k with 5% deposit over 25 years, 2 years fixed at 3.78%, not great but all I could get. My partner and I have around £17k of credit card debt that's mostly on interest free for another 12 months. Pretty much out the blue, today I've…
