uzubairu's Mortgage Free Journey

uzubairu

uzubairu wrote: »

My OH's mate has asked us to sell an old AV amplifier and speakers for him and says that we can have half of the net profit, so I'll list them ASAP and hope there is some interest in them.

I've done some research on the speakers and they are so old (at least 10 years) and cumbersome that I think I will have a lot of trouble shifting them for anything more than £20, because the shipping costs would be quite high.

After Paypal fees and either the faff to package and ship or the possibility of having undesirables visit our home to collect in person, I think I'll have wasted more time than I can spare.

OH will take them to work on Monday and leave them in the staff area, requesting that whoever wants them make a donation to a local charity.

The amp needs cleaning and will probably fetch £60/70, so I'll focus on selling that.

My dad also gave me a Tom Tom satnav last week that he bought 2 years ago and only used once (for a trip to London).
He doesn't want it (because it's too complicated - I know, he's 70 :rolleyes: ) so he said I could have it.
I already have my own V2 model so that will be listed at the weekend.

This time last year, I was doing a major clearout of the garage and sold quite a lot of things which helped with the overpayments/holidays at the beginning of the year.
I think I will set myself a challenge and do the same thing again this month.

I will try to raise £500 via eBay sales by the end of this month.

I won't be including the sale of the Xbox 360 because that is going towards the potentially free upgrade to the Xbox 360 Elite (OH's pressie) I purchased last month.

OH noticed the extra piece added to the magnetic jigsaw puzzle on the fridge.

uzubairu

eBay sales minus postage and fees so far = £283.
I'm going to list a few more DVD boxsets today.

I sold the old Xbox 360 console and Data transfer kit for a nett return of £153, so that has covered the upgrade and the cost of the game I bought for my OH.

He is visiting a relative in Northampton and won't be back until this evening, so I can get it packaged up without him knowing.

I'm going to try my hand at using a slow cooker to prepare meals.
I stumbled across a thread on the Old Style Money Saving forum and there were many mouth-watering dishes to be had, and prepared with ease.

I found one for £9.74 at Currys (used Quidco for 3.5% cashback), and will collect it today.
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/968582?source_id=aw&camp_id=HotUKDeals

uzubairu

I managed to sell a few more things on eBay over the weekend (nett return of £71).

Unfortunately, we ended up buying a new Sony Blu-Ray player (but it came with 3 films which we don't want) and a Panasonic 26" TV for the bedrooms.
That's what happens when you go on HotUkDeals just after Christmas.

The player was £99 and the TV was £218 (after Quidco).
I'll eBay the old TV and player and the 3 films this week and hope to get about £150 for them, so it won't feel so bad.

Christmas (for me) is nearly over as I'm back at work tomorrow. :sad:
The OH doesn't return until Wednesday.

Then it's 6 weeks until our free (courtesy of Tesco Clubcard points) holiday to Egypt. :j

StuartGMC

Hope you get those returns on the items and beyond that, just relax and enjoy the holiday.

pavlovs_dog

great bargains uzubairu! i have to avoid hotdeals as it's just too much temptation!

did OH like his new x box?

uzubairu

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

great bargains uzubairu! i have to avoid hotdeals as it's just too much temptation!

did OH like his new x box?

He loved it and was quite impressed with the way in which I acquired it and kept it secret until Christmas Day.

I've just checked my eBay account and all 3 films have now been sold.
After fees and postage I have clawed back £24.56.

Just need to sell the dvd player and the TV now.

RosieTiger

Congratulations on your progress and on hitting your 2009 target !

uzubairu

Overpayment in blue, Interest in red and Balance in green.

Year starting balance = £97,343.47
Overpayment Reserve = £8,914.07

December Year End Summary

Month / Payment / Overpay / Interest (per day) / Net reduction / Balance.
Jan / 765.79 / 665.29 / 392.56 (12.66) / 1,038.52 / 96,304.95
Feb / 891.31 / 740.00 / 349.22 (12.47) / 1,282.09 / 95,022.86
Mar / 891.31 / 700.00 / 382.07 (12.32) / 1,209.24 / 93,813.62
Apr / 891.31 / 700.00 / 364.89 (12.16) / 1,226.42 / 92,587.20
May / 891.31 / 660.00 / 372.21 (12.01) / 1,179.10 / 91,408.10
Jun / 891.31 / 950.00 / 355.69 (11.86) / 1,485.62 / 89,922.48
Jul / 937.16 / 888.88 / 360.72 (11.63) / 1,465.32 / 88,457.16
Aug / 937.16 / 700.00 / 367.12 (11.47) / 1,270.04 / 87,187.12
Sep / 937.16 / 645.00 / 327.71 (11.30) / 1,254.45 / 85,932.67
Oct / 937.16 / 650.00 / 345.62 (11.14) / 1,241.54 / 84,691.13
Nov / 937.16 / 905.00 / 328.77 (10.95) / 1,513.39 / 83,177.74
Dec / 937.16 / 850.00 / 333.03 (10.74) / 1,454.13 / 81,723.61

Year To Date Totals
Std Payment / Overpay / Interest / Net Reduction / OP Reserve / Balance
10,845.30/ 9,054.17 / 4,279.61 / 15,619.86 / 17,968.24 / 81,723.61

The current expected mortgage free date (as per the Nationwide website) is November 2018.
At the start of the year it was December 2023.


I made an online payment of £130 last week that hasn't arrived yet, so that will either be added later today, or it will be the first overpayment of 2010.

Target of reaching £88,000 was well and truly beaten, thanks to increased moneysaving and input from members on this forum.
I've had my eyes opened to the ways in which I can get more value for money and this has helped to increase my overpayments.

It has also helped that OH has started to show more interest, so it is easier to implement changes around the home (that's not to say that we don't have the odd domestic if he's being wasteful/not sticking to the new rules ).

The best thing about this year is that we have paid back more in the last year (and doubled the Overpayment Reserve), than we did in the previous 2.5 years and we've still had 4 hoildays (including 3 abroad).


Thanks to zavarony for organising the 2009 MFW.
I would like to thank all the posters who have shared their hints, tips and experiences throughout the year, because it has certainly helped to keep me motivated.

Roll on 2010!
Target is to get the mortgage down to £65,000.
I've joined the MFiT-T2 and 2010 MFW (thanks to Financialbliss / Maz123 and cake21 for organising them)

The first thing we plan to do is reduce the term so that we can increase the monthly mortgage payment from £937 to £1,050.
The second thing we plan to do is try to overpay at least £800 every month.

This is becoming more like an Oscar acceptance speech and I need to go to bed now because I'm in work for the next 3 days. :eek:
(There will be more for the January overpayments because of this).

I also sold another 2 boxsets and a mobile phone on eBay yesterday (nett return of £105) :T

wantabetterlife

Well done on the O/P :T:T. They are aamazing and very motivating. Goodluck in 2010

StuartGMC

Great summary and wonderful progress; 2010 looks like an even better one for you!:beer: