Starting on the mortgage...

Stardust77

Hi all,

I hope it's ok to join in here. Having recently cleared my debts I have decided to start on my mortgage in a bid to clear it in 5 years. It's tiny compared to most peoples and I feel a bit of a fraud really but our income is unstable (due to hubby's self-employed business in building) so we can't commit to much. Plus it's taken us this long to wise up to the idea of paying it all off early. Doh!

Anyway, I recently changed my mortgage to a 5 year fixed rate and reduced the term by 4 years (from 13 to 9). We owe £23500 and are making over-payments of £70-£100 at the moment, which will hopefully increase in a couple of months.

Having cleared £12000 of debt in 3 years, technically it should be easy but I'm still finding having spare money a novelty and finding other uses for it! So my plan is to start this diary in a bid to keep me focused!

So far...we changed the mortgage in May and have made ££240 in overpayments.

Thanks x

StuartGMC

Stardust, welcome; there's no fixed amount here to join, we are all in different situations but all are supportive. Our mortgage is a similar sum.

We have a wide range of approach on this board from the "completely cut everything to clear the mortgage in the absolute minimum time" to the "overpay/offset and still have holidays etc by being wise in our money use", no one is critical of either approach as one size does not fit all. However, our common focus is to ensure best use of money available and planning of clearing the mortgage alongside other aspirations or demands.

Well done on clearing the other debts, you already have the mind set to clear the mortgage debt too. :THopefully you also have your "rainy day" funds available also in consideration of variable income situation (6-9 months income is typically the recommendation)?

One thing you may want to do if your OP is variable is to download the spreadsheet referenced in another thread here so you can monitor progress (see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1013481)

Another idea others have posted is to keep a spreadsheet and show how much £100 has saved you in interest so you get an extra "buzz" from seeing the leverage of each OP no matter what size.

Let us know how you progress and feel free to post questions here, or comments on other threads.

Good luck with the quest

Stardust77

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for the welcome, much appreciated, and also for the tips. Will definitely download the spreadsheet as tracking things help me stay on course!

I'm in the 'pay off but still have holidays camp', mostly because my children are young, 4 & 8, and I feel I would be wasting opportunities for them if I was to give up absolutely everything.

As for the rainy day fund, I'm not quite there yet but have started an ISA in April and it's beginning to build up hence why the overpayments are currently a lot lower than the debt repayments were. When it's at a decent amount I will up the overpayments instead. Hubby will be 40 in 5 years time exactly so I'd love to clear it before then, how do I work out how much I need to overpay to clear it in 5 years?

Thanks again, look forward to spending more time here instead of doing housework/shopping/other boring things!

StuartGMC

For overpayments, try the Egg calculator:
http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,2388,3_...w_1028,00.html

My own thread is:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=944413

I'll PM you with my e-mail address so I can send you the budgeting spreadsheet we use at home (you can ignore the offset part as it won't apply to you) if this would be useful to look at?

Stardust77

Thanks again Stuart, I have emailed you.

poppyoscar_3

Hi Stardust:hello:

Welcome and good luck on your mortgage free quest.

I too only have a small mortgage but have a relatively low income so it's hard work. Even so I find the whole process addictive. I'm hoping to be MF by the end of 2012, but if I could do it by the beginning of 2011 it would be by the time I'm 50, so there are two targets, one more realistic then the other.

I look forward to following how you get on!

PO xx

StuartGMC

OpenOffice version sent :beer:

Nice to see another user of this open source software :T

Stardust77

Hey PO,

Thanks for your encouragement and good luck with your own quest, looks like you're doing well already.

Will try and update as and when I make progress. If you don't hear from me, you'll know i've fallen off the wagon already!!! :A

Stardust77

You're a star Stuart, thank you. At last an openoffice spreadsheet that I can work with!!

moominyak

Hi there Stardust77,

Just one MFW newbie wishing another one good luck on The Quest

Stardust77

Thanks Moominyak, it's a tad addictive isn't it?

Oh the temptation to overpay right now and leave myself short for the month just to make the spreadsheet and my online mortgage balance look better!!

Good luck to you too, have you got a diary? Off to have a look x