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

black_taxi_2

lucy i would stop o/p now---its always better to hav extra cash when you are unemployed

but if your confident of finding work before xmas fair enough

diadeb

ElusiveLucy wrote: »

#90 reporting in for Sep-11....

I was made redundant last month, but got a reasonable payoff, so I have decided that for the time being I will continue to make over-payments on my mortgage and I allowed my standing order for £500 to go out at the start of the month. If I am still unemployed after Christmas I will have to stop OPing.

Sorry to hear that.:( I can only echo black taxi and repeat that I would recommend not overpaying directly. I would simply open a savings acct if you don't have one already where you save what you had planned to overpay and then count that as offsetting the mortgage. At least you have access to the cash if things get really dire.

I have needed to boost our savings following significant spending on our house, so I stopped overpaying a sum to the mortgage but simply offset it instead.

I have just posted my update and have now reached the 20's. Yey! I bought a mortgage piggy bank which is fun and even hubby put a few pounds in this month! I made £165 on ebay and got £67 from Quidco this month just to help a little. So I am really pleased that I have stayed in the green at 61.15% when the minimum is 58.33% for chart 7.

Hope most of you are making similar positive progress now we are into the second half of the challenge.

someday_soon

The last 3 months of this challenge have been the hardest so far. There have been many excuses to weaken our efforts. However, we are still here fighting having re-assessed what mortgage freedom will do for us.
It was also very important for us to look at where we are now in relation to that first update, and the major truth is that should one of us loose our not particularly great jobs, we would be OK which was not the case then.
So, our update of 22,999.99 represents a fresh start point (and a return of the OCD) for the run downhill to the 12/12 line. Meals will be planned again, batches will be cooked, coupons will be sought, socks with holes will be darned (is that a word?) and the focus that this challenge has provided will be renewed.

Someday Soon

Trying_to_be_good

I've been doing the OCD thing with the mortgage planning, too. Maybe that's what happens just after halfway through?!

I've re-evaluated what I'm trying to achieve, how I can persude my OH to participate, when we seem able to spend money at least as fast as we're earning it, or even faster and eating into savings. It's definitely a time for conscious decisions on spending, but very tempting to go for some major home improvement spends. Watch this space...

cazmanian_minx

A newly-married number 6 reporting in

Currently concentrating on post-wedding debts rather than overpayments, but at least the outstanding balance is now below my starting point so although my original target of the interest-bearing amount being £88k is extremely unlikely to be hit, I'm at least better off than I was at the start of the challenge!

Jock_Tight

#165 just updated using the Google form.

With Septembers mortgage payment just off we are now sitting at £15,775 :cool:

At this chart update we needed to be below £16,628, we are pleased to report we have beat this by £853. We are doing much better than planned mainly due to some big OP's at the start of the year and increasing our fixed monthly OP. The current financial climate has not affected us, some items have increased in price like fuel and food however we have offset this by getting better deals on things like home insurance, car breakdown cover and gym membership.

At the next update Dec11 we are looking to be out of the teens.

Congrats to those who have stuck to the challenge and best wishes for the future

curlygirl1971

Many congratulations cazmanian


Balance as at 12/09/11 will be £31219.38
My estimated finish date which assumes continued OP's and some interest rate rises is now June 2021

(Had I not OP'd then my balance would currently be £42182 and I would be finishing my Mortgage in July 2027)

My original goal when we started was to reduce my mortgage from £45490.00 to £35490.00. Thanks largely to some bonus payments I've exceeded this and in my own mind I thought 'Let's see if I can get to £25490.00 by Dec 12' however I don't think I'm quite going to make it unless I use some savings which I'm not too fond of doing at the moment....my current projection for the end of the challenge is £26904....however it's a long time between now and then!

What am I upto financially at the moment? Well my MFW-mojo has disappeared. Hopefully it will come back. I am still sticking to my budgets, I'm still moving cash around to get best %, I'm still getting best deals/cashback, I have all my spending areas under control except Food. But I'm not really pushing things as I should be doing - I should be working harder on my food budget and cutting back socially. If this was a school report it would say 'Could do better'.

Kaz2904

Congratulations Cazmanianminx! I was looking at your bead site the other day, have you got a different one or was I being dense? I thought there was more on there last time?
Curlygirl, you're where I'm at at the moment.
Just been looking at holidays MIL is paying for all 9 of us to go to Florida next year and I said we had to get it booked asap before prices go up. Everyone agreed yes lets do it nice and early like January :eek: !!!!!!? So I've been trying to price it. I spent ages on it yesterday and MiL is coming round later today. The prices have risen by £900+ since yesterday. That's crazy.
Bil and his family are away until Saturday so we can't sit and discuss it with them until Sunday anyway which is madness. Can't see it happening next summer now. It might have to be delayed until the following year when we can afford it (and book it early and do it as a paying off our mortgage celebration like we had planned all along!)

financialbliss

Back from being missing in action. Too much drinking at the weekend... :beer:

Will look at all updates this evening with a view to getting the backlog cleared.

FB.

lvm

I love this thread and although I'm not part of it just now, I'm really hoping that there's a new MFiT or similar thread started when this ends as I'll really be starting to focus on my mortgage then (currently on IO but OPing by about £30 - rounded up from £189 to £220). At the moment I'm focussing on saving for a deposit for a B2L. I'll have £27k by end of 2012 but will reduce monthly savings so I'll have £35k by end of 2013 and overpay mortgage from Jan 2012.

Can't wait!