Shouldi - Mfw 2009

SHOULDI

Hi all,

I just needed to share something with you all. I found a really useful tool on the First Direct website which allows you to see all of your accounts in one place.

I.e. Savings, ISA's, Mortgage, Current account etc from most bank accounts which give you a complete view of your financial status. It then shows you your total net worth by calculating all of your credits against all of your debits to give you an overall picture.

I've found it a great way of viewing all of my accounts with many different companies and allows me to really understand my net worth. (or should I say net deficit)

It's called Internet Banking plus and there is a link on the top right hand corner of the First Direct Website. http://www.firstdirect.com/.

Has anyone else tried using such a tool? I find it so useful and would recommend it to anyone.

SHOULDI

My Money Saving Journey is going well. We have filled up our Cash ISA's for this year (on the 6th of April 09 to gain the maximum) and are in the process of transferring OH ISA to the best paying ISA's on the market. Natwest 3.51%. My fixed rate does not run out until June so will wait until closer to the time to find the best ISA rate.

We are continuing to meet our overpayment targets every month but have not updated the MFW 2009 journey for a while. Need to sit down and actually work out how much we have overpayed YTD. (It's complicated due to remortgage in January, taking some of the overpayments to put into ISA due to higher rates of interest than our tracker rate and some extra overtime money which is still sitting in current account. (But luckily the current account is being offset against our mortgage).

I have also been toying with the idea of investing some of our cash into the stockmarket as cash is doing so poorly with interest rates so low. I have never been much of a risk taker but with stock prices so low, are there really many risks with stocks at the bottom of a cycle??? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Good luck to all in your Money Saving journeys and thanks for all the encouragement so far. It's so much easier knowing there are like minded people out there.

SmlSave

Well done on getting you ISA's filled up ShouldI and keeping up with your OP targets

I can't really advise about the stockmarket, although my Dad and Bro have started investing and have made their money back twice already! I'm not brave enough to do this...

setmefree2

SmlSave wrote: »

Well done on getting you ISA's filled up ShouldI and keeping up with your OP targets

I can't really advise about the stockmarket, although my Dad and Bro have started investing and have made their money back twice already! I'm not brave enough to do this...

on all of that. Well done on the ISAs and OPs :T:T

SHOULDI

Hi,

4 months have flown by...

Figures are looking better as we have been living relatively lean in the summer months. . .

Updated Signature. Nearly made my MFW target of hitting a Net deficit of 200k. £500 left. That is 4 months earlier than expected. . . :j

I have a few big spends coming up later on in the year. The yearly car insurance, the buildings & contents insurance, the car MOT & Service. But going on the last few years, we should be ok.

We have booked a holiday for my 30th in December to Singapore and Bali which we are really looking forward to. (Flights & accomodation already been paid for!!!)

Here's hoping it doesn't take me another four months until I update my diary... I still read the pages regularly to keep me motivated. . .

Thanks for all of your encouragement...

setmefree2

well done on all your progress :T:T

SHOULDI

Hi,

I wanted your advice on some savings rates after seeing SetmeFree's links to the Overpayment vs Savings article on MSE on various threads here. Has anyone actually done this as it seems rather cheecky but I like the idea!!

I have just seen the new rate with 3.3% interest with Citibank which I am contemplating opening.

I have an offset mortgage currently at 1.99% (1.49% + 0.5% BofE).

My thought was that I could withdraw my overpayments and monies offset against our mortgage and put it in the higher rate account.

For example:

10k @ 1.99% (No tax as it's offset) = £10,200 in one year
10k @ 3.3% (Higher Tax payer) = £10,198 in one year
10k @ 3.3% (Basic Rate taxpayer OH) = 10,264 in one year.

Does this sounds right as it hardly seems worth it?

I am using the calculator at: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest

For info, I have subscribed and maxed my and OH ISA allowance for this year.

Also, I am considering drip feeding new saving monies (saving for ISA allowance of £5100 in April 2010) using a regular saver. Does anyone recommend a good easy to use internet account with the best rates? (My preference would be not to commit to anything over one year).

Thanks for all your inspiration!!!

Shouldi

setmefree2

Hi ShouldI,

Posters on the savings board might give you advice about the CitiBank savings account specifically. Many posters on the MF board don't think it's worth it and would rather clear down their mortgage - it's up to you in the end. Maybe you could ask on the savings board if you can get better interest rate anywhere else?

Best Wishes

SMF2

SHOULDI

Hi all,

Christmas is fast approaching and I have already made my first resolution!!

What better way than to join the MFi3 T2 challenge.

My pledge is to pay off as much as possible in the next few years and get the mortgage as low as possible.

Pledge: By 12/12/12 get my mortgage from its current level of 222k to 129k.

This is a very ambitious target i've set for us but i'm confident and determined we can make it a reality.

This will mean our overall net debt will be under 100k (taking into account our savings and investments).

What a loving feeling that would be...

Looking forward to my 30th Bday in December and our trip away to Singapore and Bali.

Thanks for all the encouragement...

SHOULDI

Evening all,

Yes, it's been another 3 months since my last post... :eek:

All going ok, dh did not get made redundant in January which is great news

We have each opened up a regular savings account paying 5% on £300 per month which will be great once it's all tallied up after the year is up to chuck towards the mortgage. (£7200 combined by October/November 2010).

Also, went and got the American Express 5% cashback credit card deal and have made £100 on this for our normal spending which is great also.

Changed my gas/electricity to the best online dual fuel in my area.

Did a focus group study paying £140 in January which I really enjoyed.

I am still continuing to overpay but I never think it is quite enough... Always want to put more in, but to be fair more than 50% of our joint income is going into overpayments/regular savings so I shouldn't complain too much.

We had a great time in Singapore & Bali for my 30th birthday but did spend more than we should have!!! But I loved every second of it. A great life experience.

Enjoyed catching up with some of the posts on the MFW board and am trying my best to keep up with the MFi3 T2 challenge targets but I am not quite managing the figures I have pledged...

This year for me has to be about trying to look at our grocery food/eating out budget. Basically, we eat in/out, with friends, colleagues and lunches out without a care in the world. If we could curb some of this spending, I think we could easily put another 10% of earnings towards overpaying... I just don't know where to start... Any ideas???