Pixelwife MFW - Overpayment Diary

EssexHebridean

Hello Pixelwife - sorry it's taken me a while to stop in and say hi!

You're doing well - and so motivated! It's odd you describing it as fun - I never thought or myself as the sort of person who could enjoy doing stuff like this but I've surprised myself - you're right, it IS fun, isn't it!

Rather than looking to "make" money (I take it you already use cashback CC's, Quidco for purchases, and maximise things like supermarket loyalty points?) have you tried to see where you might be able to save it? We've amazed ourselves with cutting down on expenditure while those around us have been telling us how much everything is going up....!

NoobySaver

Hi Pixelwife,

Just wanted to throw some ideas in your direction that may save you some money. To clarify, your first post indicates you have 2 BTLs, one of which in unencumbered and your family home that has a 15 year mortgage left on it.

Your BTLs generate income through rent (or at least I hope they do!) and any interest you pay on the BTLs can be offeset against the income they produce which then reduces the tax you pay. I don't know your overall tax status but for a HRT payer this offset can make quite a difference.

On the other hand you do not gain anything by having a mortgage on your main residence. I would therefore try to shift your mortgages around so that you had debt against your 2 BTL properties to reduce the income impact and pay off the residential property. I hope this makes sense - if you have an accountant looking after the BTL income he should be able to fill you in and reduce your tax bill with ease.

Good luck with being mortgage free on all properties

pixelwife

Thanks Nooby!

I am a HRT (lol, that acronym could be misconstrued!) and do have an accountant that looks after my tax affairs.

Mortgaging the unencumbered BTL isn't being done though as it's been used as security on a commercial purchase.

Latest RICS reports into commercial property prices going through the floor are really aiding my progress

Our main way of overpaying is definitely going to be the amount of pay we get which is within our control as self-employed peeps. We just need to buck this recession malarky!

Pixelwife

evab_2

Well done on the continued progress!

pixelwife

Thanks for your cheerleading evab - much appreciated.

I have today had an organise of my finances for the new year and have setup new fixed payments for 2 BTLs, mostly on the higher interest one with a little onto the second purely for my psychological benefit

Details in my sig but as you can see the terms have massively reduced but my overall MFD has only dropped by a year due to not overpaying on my own home. As that's on a below base rate IR, I'm not too worried about that for now.

I have a lot on in the new year so it feels great to know what our goals are financially and if we can get our latest property rented in the new year we might be able to increase overpayments still further.

Pixelwife

EssexHebridean

Your reorganisation seems sensible to me Pixelwife - it's only logical to pay most off on the higher interest rates after all. Do you have much work to do to get the latest BTL ready for renting or is it just the final bits of dressing etc? Fingers crossed for it all going to plan for you anyway.

pixelwife

Hi Essex

It's actually been some quite extensive works on the latest house including a complete new bathroom (done ourselves) etc. We have had a few viewings lately so I think if we're getting them this close to Chrimbo we should definitely get a tenant in the new year.

Closed my final property deal of the year on Friday - hence me going quiet for a bit - so now NO MORE BUYING (except if I see anything vaguely interesting at the auctions next year) and just paying down.

I'd just like to say a big thank you - to all of those who have posted on this thread, to all those who have shared their journeys on their own threads, to those who ask the needed questions, to those who have cheerleaded - A HUGE HUG AND A MASSIVE THANK YOU!

So many people here, myself included, push that little bit further, simply because of the energy generated here.

Merry Christmas one and all.

Pixelwife

pixelwife

Hello all

It's been a while since I posted but a lot of stuff has been happening.

Our latest BTL is now tenanted - phew so that's a lot of weight off my mind. I've today paid £999 off the mortgage on this property (they said over £1000 is a problem at C&G so paid £999 ) and paid £200 off 2 days ago which is a nice chunk of change.

Our final mortgage free date has come back a few more months which is good but want to make real inroads into that this year.

The overpayments I'd been making on hubby's loans however have all been returned. Abbey (awful - useless - so many problems) have said pay it all or you're stuck with your standard repayments so that's another thing to think about on our completely debt free quest. Hmmm...

Nice to see this forum so busy - it seems the current economic climate coupled with the low interest rates have given a lot of people the bug.

Pixelwife

Welshlassie

Great to hear BTL is now tennanted we have tenants in ours for another 18 months at least and hopefully they will want to stay on after that tenancy finishes as well, unless they are in a position to buy it.

You're making great inroads into the mortgages, how about saving up the amounts you'd pay off the loans and when you have a fair amount asking for a redemption figure and paying it off in one go??

EssexHebridean

Welshlassie wrote: »

Great to hear BTL is now tennanted we have tenants in ours for another 18 months at least and hopefully they will want to stay on after that tenancy finishes as well, unless they are in a position to buy it.

You're making great inroads into the mortgages, how about saving up the amounts you'd pay off the loans and when you have a fair amount asking for a redemption figure and paying it off in one go??

Thisz is exactly how I did it with my Northern Rock loan - stashed the money into an ISA and then paid off the entire final balance in one lump. The feeling of achievement was marvellous! :cool:

Good news on the tenants in the BTL (oops - nearly typed BLT by mistake - and frankly I don't think I EVER want to find something living in one of those! :rotfl: ) - that must be a relief to know that the payments on that one are now covered anyway.