Hello! Brand new MFW...with the full 25 years ahead !!

SmlSave

I think ambitious is good!

I agree though free council tax months etc. are perfect time for overpayment

and totally agree with the above too

StuartGMC

JamTart
I think the best policy is just what you are doing; gather the data, review possibilities then wait a few months so you can be certain of estimates on bills etc any "unforeseen" cost and then, make the OP if it is viable. If not, just keep tracking your budgets etc so you'll know just as soon as it is sensible to then OP without impacting other things.

Good luck and hold on to the dream, it will soon become a reality!

scattymam1

good luck jamtart - nice to see young uns with their heads screwed on right.

Some great positive advice and motivation on here from others.

jamtart6

298 months to go no chance of overpaying at the moment. too much stuff in the house needs to be paid for. the second the house is done we're starting to OP, even just a tenner a month -ANYTHING! It is killing me having a loan!!! I HATE interest!!

SmlSave

Don't feel bad jamtart6

Fixing/doing up the house is an investment in itself, it took me a year to get organised.

Hope you feel more optimistic soon

jamtart6

:rotfl:Thanks smlsave - I am so impatient!

I tried to get my OH to agree to overpay but we really do need to spend it on getting the house liveable first.

It will all come in time

StuartGMC

Do indeed get things good now, and also plan what will need to be done in future years; new bathroom or whatever. Then plan for savings to meet these needs so you can be certain your OP will not leave you short of the funds required.

It will take a while to get "everything" to your liking, but thereafter you can start with modest OPs and build them up without overstretching. Treat this like a marathon not a sprint.

jamtart6

" A marathon not a sprint" is a good way of looking at it. Having never had any debt before, it is really an eyeopener into the murky world of interest As soon as I have the house sorted and decent savings (recession proofing as per MSE Martin suggests) I'm throwing everything at the mortgage. We're both on good money at the moment, which may not last forever, so need to do as much as we can while we have it, and before we get too used to having money

jamtart6

Hi Guys!
Me again! Had our annual mortgage report in, and I felt like crying to learn that 73% of what we pay each month is interest, and in the 5 months we have had our mortgage we've paid about £600 of the original loan off

My OH is against overpaying as he says that the extra money we have should be spent on doing the house up (which we are still renovating) or enjoying ourselves (to be fair we hardly ever go out/spend money on daft things so I don't want to reign this in).

However, when we originally were going for a mortgage, we had budgeted for an extra £200 to be spent on the mortgage, but due to rates etc. it is a lot lower, which is great as we can obviously have fun and spend the extra on renovating...

BUT when I saw the annual report, I felt like crying. SO... I am going to show OH the overpayment figures calculator. We would save 5 years and £15000 in interest if we overpaid as little as £50 extra a month for the next 25 years.

I know what he means as we dont have a safety net, but I just feel that even overpaying that small amount to start with is some way to reducing this horrible debt.

Anyone got any surefire ways to convince their OH's that it is a good idea?

pipo

jamtart6 wrote: »

BUT when I saw the annual report, I felt like crying. SO... I am going to show OH the overpayment figures calculator. We would save 5 years and £15000 in interest if we overpaid as little as £50 extra a month for the next 25 years.

I know what he means as we dont have a safety net, but I just feel that even overpaying that small amount to start with is some way to reducing this horrible debt.

Anyone got any surefire ways to convince their OH's that it is a good idea?

I think you're going to make a pretty good case already! When I told my OH how soon we can pay off our upcoming mortgage (we're in the same position you were in a few months ago ) if we pay off a certain amount she was ecstatic! Not saying that yours will have the same reaction, but as long as you ram home the fact that the mortgage IS a debt then the message should be read loud and clear.

Good luck.