The Mortgage Free in Three - Take 2 challenge (MFiT-T2)

curlygirl1971

I know, it took me a couple of nights to get my head round it! I really faffed about and missed out on the cheapest tariff when it was withdrawn last Friday.

I don't know if this helps anyone thinking of doing it (and they haven't done it before):-

With BG I was on a tariff that gave a discount off their Standard Rate. Their standard rate is set to increase 16/18% next month.

I checked with them and there were no exit or cancellation fees applicable to my account.

I had an online account so it was easy to get my Kwh for the past 12 months and use this on the comparison websites (Although this info will also be available on paper bills)

I only looked at fixed / capped tarrifs because most other providers have not yet put up their prices (but are expected to) and so their 'variable' tariffs look artifically low. I guess this is the gamble bit though - are they going to increase (probably) but will they increase as much as BG has?

Although BG's new prices don't come into effect until 18th August I found that the comparison sites were already reflecting the new charges - so this made the job easier.

All of the comparison websites were coming out with the same information - there were some differences in £ savings, but basically the same results in terms of who was cheapest. For me it was NPower's Price Protector.

(I think if I was doing it again I would probably only use one comparison website)

On average I am expected to save £142 in the next 12 months compared to what I would be paying with BG after August. I guess if there had been any cancellation fees with BG I would have had to deduct them from this expected saving to get an idea of whether switching was worth it for me.

If I cancel with NPower in the next 12 months I have to pay back some of the discount I have received. About £8.33 per month - so If I leave after 6 months this would be £50. So I also thought about this being offset against the £142 potential saving.

After I decided on the tariff I wanted with NPower, I deleted my cookies and went to the provider via Quidco. £70 cashback has tracked However there are smaller amounts of cashback available for different suppliers and also from the Comparison sites themselves but only via Martin's list.

black_taxi_2

i switched from NP to british gas mainly because they hav a brilliant website on-line.also a discount when u pay early on-line

i also keep to standard rate--so i know exactly what im paying quarterly

there putting up rates aug 20% but every company will follow

you need a lawyer to work out diff tariff costs---if you cant work it out easy something is wrong

cha97michelle

I got DH to sit and work it out with me when we changed last year. We are with ovo, who are about 15 months old as a company as far as I can tell. I find they are as good as anyone else. My DD at first was £80, and is now only £60 per month for dual fuel. I am in a 3 bed semi, and we are in all day every day.

It's not quite as cheap as it was last year, but it still is for us. If you see it on a price comparison site, I have had no problems with them myself and think they are ok.

shop-to-drop

I'm a little bit obsessed with paying off the mortgage at the moment. It's annoying because I'm just wasting time keep working out different scenarios of payments I can make and pretty much always coming up with the same answer. So I'm just repeating myself. I had to stop overpaying for 15 months last year as we bought a new car and had the loan to pay off. Since then we have been overpaying again, I've been doing what overtime I can too and so we are doing well but my impatience is spoiling it for me. Part of the problem I think is we'd dearly love a bigger place and have decided this may not be possible so now I'm thinking if we can't have that to look forward too at least we can look forward to being mortgage free.

I guess I'm motivated which is good but it's too much and spoiling it for me as I'm not getting the satisfaction I should. Any tips folks?

I do know I need to busy myself more when at home maybe fall in love with our home and give it the TLC it needs especially as we may be here for sometime and we are working hard to pay for it. Anyone else been through this?

Captain_Pie

I'm still waiting to be added to the list - guess that FB has forgotten all about me

Is FB the only person who can add new challengers to the list on page 1?

Thanks,

CP

gerbiljo

thanks for going through that for me, i really appreciate it...I really recently changed and got cashback, but i also got the BG email about the 18% rise, its annoying as i had all my yearly kwh worked out and I threw it all away as I didn't think I'd be switching for a bit, surely I can't get away with another cashback claim?? hmm I need to find some time to go through this!! I find it quite annoying but its a necessity!

shop-to-drop I also don't get all the satisfaction I should, having spread sheets is great but it makes it all so predictable and if u are already doing as much as u can that becomes what u expect and u only become disappointed if it goes wrong rather than really happy when it goes right. I try to focus on the big milestones especially and not look to much at the future as I do not have motivational issues just inpatient issues. We also want a bigger house in time but I've just shifted that from my mind as this has been tough for us all and I think we need a couple of years break!!

tattycath

gerbiljo wrote: »

thanks for going through that for me, i really appreciate it...I really recently changed and got cashback, but i also got the BG email about the 18% rise, its annoying as i had all my yearly kwh worked out and I threw it all away as I didn't think I'd be switching for a bit, surely I can't get away with another cashback claim?? hmm I need to find some time to go through this!! I find it quite annoying but its a necessity!

shop-to-drop I also don't get all the satisfaction I should, having spread sheets is great but it makes it all so predictable and if u are already doing as much as u can that becomes what u expect and u only become disappointed if it goes wrong rather than really happy when it goes right. I try to focus on the big milestones especially and not look to much at the future as I do not have motivational issues just inpatient issues. We also want a bigger house in time but I've just shifted that from my mind as this has been tough for us all and I think we need a couple of years break!!

We got a letter from BG but it only said 7% rise on electric and 7% on gas-not 18% - me confused!!

curlygirl1971

Dunno tattycath. Are you on a capped tarrif perhaps?

Blacktaxi is right, BG has a great website and I will miss it. I particularly liked the monthly usage comparison, this year against last year. I've found myself going on it regularly trying to see if I'm 'beating' last year. Don't get me wrong - I can't abide being cold!

If you go to the BG website and find their price change announcement, There was a link on it to a page that helps you find out how the price changes will affect you (although it groups users into low, average, high etc. Rather than it going off your exact personal usage.). The changes for me were the headline ones.

financialbliss

Captain_Pie wrote: »

I'm still waiting to be added to the list - guess that FB has forgotten all about me

Is FB the only person who can add new challengers to the list on page 1?

Thanks,

CP

Ahem, yes - that would be me. You can only edit your own posts and the first post belongs to me. I'll get things sorted out this evening (honest)...

FB.

glitterball

Had a bit of a shocker tonight, logged into my bank account and it was hundreds out from my trusty wee book. Turns out that my standing order for overpayments hadnt gone through???????? do they time expire?????? so have bank transferred for this month and reset standing orders for the future. Good grief do these banks not realise I am on a mortgage free mission.

Away to have a glass of wine to settle my nerves.