Frazzmunch's MFW Journey begins!!

frazzmunch

Hi all....have been lurking on this forum over the past couple of weeks and have recently got myself into a position where i can start to bite chunks off my mortgage:j .....

a bit of background...i recently had a car accident and am going to receive a payout which will clear the two debts i have which charge interest...freeing up a reasonable amount of cash each month...

i got into a lot of debt previously due to a drastic cut in salary when dh was ill but negotiated with my creditors and am paying them back on an interest free basis.

So, rather than increase the amount i am paying to these interest free debts, i want to throw everything i can at the mortgage so that i minimise the amount of interest i pay...once i have paid my mortgage off, i will do the same to the other debts. (hope that makes sense!!!)

on monday, i am changing my mortgage from interest only to repayment and am hoping to be able to throw about £200 per month onto overpayments :T

i am soooooo excited at the prospect of being mortgage free before i turn old(er!!) and grey (er!!)...i will update my sig once i have worked out all the figures....

the interest on my mortgage is calculated daily so i think i need to put all spare cash into it as soon as poss...i'm not really sure how i make overpayments (assuming that i set up a standing order or something...any advice would be welcome!!)

i have a mortgage pig which is almost full ...i have wanted to start this for the past six months but haven't had the opportunity as trying to get the 'interest debts' out of the way first...so will pay the fee for changing the mortgage out of this and put the rest down as my first overpayment:j

i will post here regularly to keep me focused and so that i have something to remind me how far i have come.....feel free to make any comments / critisisms you feel necassary...i have broad shoulders..i can take it!!:rotfl:

EssexHebridean

Well done to you for firstly focusing on your debts and looking to sort them out, and also for having an eye on the bigger, longer term picture and looking to deal with that also.

How you make OP's depends on your mortgage provider and their rules. Check with them that you can make OP's at all, and if so, at what level (some have a 10% restriction). We're with Northern Rock and with the situation they find themselves in, they can't afford to be choosy, so we're able to make whatever OP's me want - we do it via an additional chunk added on to our monthly payment as this works the best for us. Others find it better to amass a chunk of cash on a savings account and then when they have a certain amount pay that into the mortgage account - it's really a case of finding what suits you and your individual circumstances the best.

However you do it, they key thing is that you ARE doing it - so the very best of luck. I shall look forward to reading about your progress!

frazzmunch

thanks EssexHebridean...i am with Chelsea and as far as i am aware (will check this out for definate on monday!!) i can make as many op's as i want without any penalty or limit..woohoo!!

this week, in anticipation, i have changed my phone provider which will save me about £20 per month, done an inventory of all my food in the house so that i can drastically reduce my grocery bill, looked at changing my house insurance (due for renewal in november) which should save me about £150 per annum (plus i will go through quidco and get cashback) and have dug out a load of books to sell on amazon!! I have also clawed my way through five foot of weeds etc and revitalised my veggie beds so that i can grow as much stuff as possible.

my babies are no longer babies (17 & 20) :rolleyes: so my financial responsibility for them has reduced quite considerably...plus the eldest is starting work in the next couple of weeks and will start to contribute some pennies to the household which i will put straight to the op....i have a horrible feeling i am becoming obsessed already...:rotfl:

Optimisticpair

frazzmunch wrote: »

i am soooooo excited at the prospect of being mortgage free

Ha ha, me too, and we haven't started our new one yet. Sad or what eh!

Looks like you know the ropes already so you are off to a flying start. I think the Diary thread is excellent if you ever need reminding where you are going and it shows you what progress you made. On mine I sort of blether to myself a bit leaving myself reminders.

We've planned on doing much the same as yourself sorting out debts first so that we can throw the folding stuff at the mortgage. We did a good declutter and e-bay to save moving stuff. I plan to do something with the garden too, I'm not quite sure what yet.

EssexHebridean

Our OP's at the moment are fairly limited - as I said on my thread we're trying to get this car loan shifted initially. We are managing 16% overpayments per month though, and this is purely by way of throwing cash that we would not otherwise have had at it. Tax changes, money saved on utilities (We've managed to reduce our monthly electricity DD down from £89 to £70 per month, and it's about to go down again to £57), the £10 each additional in our pay packets thanks to Mr Brown correcting his 10p tax fiasco, all those little odds and ends have been added into the payment on the basis that we wouldn't miss what we hadn't had previously. Seems to work for us anyway.

abouttimetoo

Hi Frazzmunch:hello:

Welcome to the MFW'er gang! Great to see you are almost as obsessed as the rest of us:D Sounds like you have done loads already, it's a great feeling isn't it to take control.

Don't be shy in joining the 2008 MFW'er thread - it's usually on the front page and Bellsbells kindly runs it for us - if you want to join you can just PM her with the amount you want to pay by the end of the year and then send her monthly updates

Best wishes

abouttimetoo

oops, just been across to the 2008 thread myself and noticed you've already joined:o don't forget to add how much per month you want to pay/year end target etc

StuartGMC

Frazzmunch, great to hear that you are up and running having addressed the debts first. I assume you have the emergency funds already saved, and are now looking to OP with this cushion behind you?

Regarding insurance (buildings and contents together is usually cheaper), please do look very carefully at the policies to check you are getting at least the same cover as presently; I have just done this and it hurt to wade through the PDFs but in one case there was no legal family protection for the first 6months of the cover! Catch my thread for the detail, but we did save £204 this year, and have I think better cover than before.

Have you got a spreadsheet up and running for your household expenditure etc? I found this really helps to see your total picture in terms of income, annual/monthly costs, the monies you need to save (e.g. replacement car, holiday etc) and then to go forward with a feeling of having control.

Keep up this thread and you'll get help along the way which is really good when you hit a low point or feel you aren't achieving quite what you would like.

I look forward to hearing of your progress.

frazzmunch

wow...all these replies already!!! Thank you everyone, it's great to be able to share with other people of a like mind....my family are getting to the point where they think i need treatment...and its only been a few days!!:rotfl:

StuartGMC- thanks for the heads up on the insurance...i will make sure i check it out thoroughly before i change...i do have an emergency savings fund so that would see me through if the worst should happen...and yes, everything is spreadsheeted to death!!!:D I will check out your thread later and see what other tips i can 'borrow'!!

abouttimetoo - thanks for the MFW'ers thread info...yes, i was a bit quick off the mark!!...as you said, it certainly feels excellent to be in control...must admit though, i have a feeling i am going to become a financial control freak,:eek: but probably not a bad idea if i consider what a complete mess i was in only a couple of years ago ....just have to sit the babies down tonight and tell them what i am doing and why...youngest does seem to view me as her personal taxi service so i'm knocking that one on the head now!!

EssexHebridean- excellent work on the utilities...i have been trying to change provider for ages, its been a major saga:mad: I had arrears on the account due to them messing up my billing and setting up a dd for £1 per month:eek: even when i phoned them and insisted that they increased it they took two months to do so and then only changed it to £5!!! Anyway, looooong story short, have paid the arrears off now but once i had done i called the new company and they applied...my supplier refused because the money hadn't cleared and two months later i am still with old supplier....now waiting for my next bill (due thursday) to pay that off and then switch!! What a nightmare:mad:
My bills are enormous...i have oil fired central heating/hot water as we have no gas where i live so i have been really hit badly with the increases in oil...never mind, just have to snuggle up to my puppies more!!:rotfl:

Right, today i have just called and asked for my mortgage to be changed to repayment, it may not take effect until my november payment unfortunately, but i will not be too sad...i will just make sure that i make the op a bigger one by putting as much into the mortgage pig as possible!! There are no charges or penalties for ops, i can make as many as i want and there are no minimums or maximums either...plus, i can pay by debit card :T so my odd few quid will go on as soon as i have it...less interest that way as it's charged daily...:rotfl:

also called tax credits and as my daughter is about to start college, i should get that for a further 20 weeks!! Happy girl, another few quid to the MFW fund!!

Anyway, excuse the long rambling....just needed to get it all down so that i can find an outlet for this mental amount of enthusiasm i seem to have at the moment!!

have a great day, and thanks once again for all your support...its really a pleasure to talk to you all!!

evab_2

Just wanted to say Hi and welcome, good luck with your journey you sound really organized and focused.

Ev

frazzmunch

thanks evab ...just got to make sure it stays this way.:rolleyes: ..i have a horrible track history of going off the rails quite spectacularly.:o :eek:

..that's one of the reasons i've decided to keep this diary!!! won't feel its as easy to get away with when i have the MFW'ers casting their collective eyes over my misdeeds!!:p :rotfl: