2009 MF Wannabe's

blueberrypie

I have the money to make a good-sized overpayment. And I really want to make an overpayment - for the psychological boost, apart from anything else. But OH's work is a bit in limbo at the minute - they are a division of a larger company which has problems, and while it seems unlikely his division will be closed down, it's still a possibility - and it's also possible that it will remain open with redundancies. And our mortgage isn't an offset one, so I'm hanging onto the funds until we're more certain of the picture, because I'd hate to leave us without enough money to pay the electricity bill or fix the car or whatever because we'd used it to overpay the mortgage!

Argh! Frustrating!

zavarony

Hi Blueberry - it is frustrating isnt it, but Martin says you should have enough savings before you start OP'ing anyway, so you are doing the right thing - there would be nothing worse that that happening and you not having the savings when you need them x

katie_p_5

I'm in a similar position to blueberrypie. As month end approaches I'm looking good to make my £500 overpayment (and possibly a bit more), but I'm toying with the idea of just adding it to my savings instead. As I work for one of the banks that are in the news every day and knowing that redundancies are just around the corner I'm more inclined to hang on to my money rather than overpay ... at least until I feel a bit more secure.

Thoughts?

blueberrypie

zavarony wrote: »

Hi Blueberry - it is frustrating isnt it, but Martin says you should have enough savings before you start OP'ing anyway, so you are doing the right thing - there would be nothing worse that that happening and you not having the savings when you need them x

We do have a decent amount in savings, but I just wonder if it would be more sensible to increase that, or to overpay. And of course there's no right answer. If OH's job goes but he gets another one quickly, we won't need all the savings. If OH's job goes and he ends up unemployed for months, we might wish we'd saved more. Oh, for a crystal ball...!

belfastgirl23

katie_p wrote: »

I'm in a similar position to blueberrypie. As month end approaches I'm looking good to make my £500 overpayment (and possibly a bit more), but I'm toying with the idea of just adding it to my savings instead. As I work for one of the banks that are in the news every day and knowing that redundancies are just around the corner I'm more inclined to hang on to my money rather than overpay ... at least until I feel a bit more secure.

Thoughts?

I'm happy enough to throw extra money into the mortgage because my overpayment fund is really clearly marked - it currently stands at £48k. Which isn't as impressive as it sounds - instead of putting down all the £ from our previous house sale as a deposit I just paid the necessary 10% and added the rest as an overpayment so we had a reserve fund important for us because DH is self employed and I wanted a cushion we could draw on. So effectively our mortgage is an offset. It's with the Nationwide by the way. I'd be more worried about tying up all my savings in a mortgage where I couldn't draw it back in an emergency though.

The rule of thumb is that you should have 3-6 months worth of outgoings in an emergency 'rainy day' fund. I'd say I'm somewhere around the 4 as is DH. And we are working on getting to the 6. This is my ISA money. Although I am debating it at the minute since our ISA rates are c**p (2%) and our mortgage is fixed at 5.47%

zavarony

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

This is my ISA money. Although I am debating it at the minute since our ISA rates are c**p (2%) and our mortgage is fixed at 5.47%

I found out the other day that my ISA from the halifax was only getting 0.15% - :eek: safe to say they offered to change it to one that gets 2%

katiegizmo

once again i tried to make an overpayment today ( i still havent found my card reader or set up my pc at home so havent been able to online) so i called the halifax but they wont let me make an overpayment from any account other than a halifax account... which i dont have!

feel like i'm being thwarted at every turn here - they obv dont want me to pay anything extra off - lol! they suggest i open a current account with them (0.1% at the moment!) or go into the branch... but it seems silly to queue up as it really isnt a big overpayment!

i get paid on friday so i'm hoping i'll actually be able to put something extra on the mortgage. but like so many others here i am trying to boost my savings which are currently only at about .5 of a month, nothing like the 6 months recommended due to moving costs and urgent furniture buying last month!

fluffysox

Hello all,

To anyone who is feeling less than proud of even a small overpayment in January, don't forget its an achievement in budgeting to have any money left over just after the Christmas holidays:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: . Well done to everyone!:T :T :T :T .

My January overpayment total is £2028.25. A bizarre number which has resulted from 3 different overpayments. Basically, every time my current account goes above a level that earns interest I pay the excess into the mortgage. Because my wages, partner's contribution to bills and lodger's rent all go in on different days. This has ended up a wierd figure. But a pleasing one nonetheless.

Next month: our mortgage will be below £100,000:j . Still a huge figure but a milestone nevertheless;) . Keep up the good work everyone!!

co123456

katiegizmo wrote: »

they wont let me make an overpayment from any account other than a halifax account... which i dont have!

Same 'excuse' with their credit cards. Fortunately, I have a Halifax account. FYI Halifax account holders benefit from an additional 3 months 0% on Halifax credit cards at the moment (total 12 months) so if you plan to max out a credit card stoozing, it might be worth considering a Halifax account.

SmileyG_2

katiegizmo wrote: »

once again i tried to make an overpayment today ( i still havent found my card reader or set up my pc at home so havent been able to online) so i called the halifax but they wont let me make an overpayment from any account other than a halifax account... which i dont have!

feel like i'm being thwarted at every turn here - they obv dont want me to pay anything extra off - lol! they suggest i open a current account with them (0.1% at the moment!) or go into the branch... but it seems silly to queue up as it really isnt a big overpayment!

i get paid on friday so i'm hoping i'll actually be able to put something extra on the mortgage. but like so many others here i am trying to boost my savings which are currently only at about .5 of a month, nothing like the 6 months recommended due to moving costs and urgent furniture buying last month!

Hiya Katie


There is a list of FAQs on this site reference mortgage overpayments

http://www.halifax.co.uk/mortgages/Existingmortenquiries.asp

I would ring them again on the number given and try again.

I used to have a mortgage with the Halifax (a long time ago). Just write a cheque and put the Mortgage account number on it as in "Pay A/C No ********" next time you go anywhere near the branch, pay it over the counter.

Alternatively set up a variable web savwer account and fund it with the minimum amount (£1.00). When you want to overpay, just fund it online then transfer the money into the mortgage account when it clears.

Let us know how you get on. It doesn't matter how small it is, every little helps!

SmileyG