Mr & MrsC Mortgage-free by 2015

SmlSave

Just popped in to say hello and welcome Mr&MrsC.

I've always been more money saving than my OH but since we set a date for our wedding he's started being much better! I think its great that you're both working together on this and its nice to hear from both of you.

I agree with Trying to be Good, plan your wedding as you want it and don't let anyone (not even the parents) muscle in. Also decide on your budget and keep to it just to be nosey - have you set a date yet?

MrC-117

Thanks again everyone. The wedding is in May this year. Mostly sorted out now but a few little bits to finish off!

I think it helps if you've got someone else interested in saving money. I'm lucky that MrsC is supportive and thinks paying off the mortgage is a good idea. Mortgage repayment is a bit of a long term effort, and it's good to have someone else to talk about it with. That's something I like a lot about this forum - you can always get a bit of advice and encouragement to keep you going.

Oh yes, and some good news. I'm getting a bonus soon. Like most companies, my employers didn't have their best time in the 2nd half of 2008. They did make a profit so that means everyone gets a bonus. I wasn't expecting that, and that's another few hundred to help. On the downside, no one is getting a pay rise this year. Could be a lot worse though so overall I'm very pleased.

setmefree2

well done on the bonus :T:T

MrC-117

First the bad news. There's a chance of redundancies where I work. Don't think it will affect me or the people I work with, but it'll be bad for some people

Now two bits of good news.

1) I've had the letter through about the mortgage confirming they're passing on the last rate cut. It's a tracker, so they always should, but it's nice to have it in writing. We're now paying 0.88% interest! Hopefully we'll have paid off a big bit of the mortgage before the rates go up again.

2) Had a £50 loyalty bonus from Barclaycard. There'd been an attempted fraudulant use of my card, which they successfully blocked. They now have a strange automated phone call which tells you there's been a problem. They left a message on my answerphone telling me about this card use. I rang up and got the card cancelled (where they were really vague about the card number that had been used so I wasn't sure if it was my card, MrsC's card or some sort of extra card that had been taken out in my name). Then I got another automated call (with the same message). Then another one. Spoke to them again to confirm it had been cancelled and complained that the automated system was annoying, and that I thought they should tell me what card had been used.

When I received the replacement card I rang the activation line and the advisor gave me the hard sell about fraud protection, claiming (falsely) that I might need to pay up to £50 for each fraudulant transaction. I got rid of him by saying I'd got a different card that didn't charge for that sort of thing so I should probably use that more.

I got the standard "you complained, but it's ok we've cancelled the card now" which wasn't really my point. So I rang them today saying I was thinking of cancelling the card. They then told me which card had been used, acknowledged the dodgy hard sell (don't know how worried they are about that sort of thing but perhaps they don't want to risk a fine/bad publicity) and offered me money to stay. :beer:

Bit of a long post there, but that's what I've been up to

gymfiend

Hiya :wave:

Good news on the Barclaycard £50 - I bl**dy detest Barclays (unfortunately still bank with them for a complex web of reasons), they gave me £50 once & some wine because they sent me a joint cheque book with my name & some other random blokes :eek: OH panicked thinking I was gonna do one!!!

Seems there are lots of weddings to be on these boards - congrats & good luck with the MFW quest.

setmefree2

nice mortgage rate

MrC-117

setmefree2 wrote: »

nice mortgage rate

You're not kidding! When I saw that one I kept thinking it was a misprint (part of me still does)

I've had that mortgage for about a year now. About 8 years ago when I first got a mortgage a good lifetime tracker was about +0.5% and an ok one was +1%. If it was a special rate for a few years you'd want something lower than base rate. Fixed rates would be somewhere around that rate, but a bit higher or lower depending on whether rates were supposed to go up or down. When I was getting this mortgage the fixed rates were generally high (around 5%) with fees of thousands of pounds. I was really lucky finding a lifetime tracker at such a good rate.

I still keep an eye to check if it's the best mortgage for me. Not found anything I like more yet.

Sorry, getting a bit carried away with the mortgage.

MrC-117

Thanks BTL and congratulations.

MrsC and I are mostly careful with money, so we think it's not too bad to splash out on a honeymoon or something you really want. It's not like you'll do it every year. If you think about something for a few weeks and you still really want it then it's probably worth doing. That's my theory anyway!

setmefree2

Thought you might enjoy this article from last night's London Evening Standard.
Got a good mortgage? Just don’t be so smug


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23664224-details/Got+a+good++mortgage+Just+dont+be+so+smug/article.do


Regards

From another "smug" tracker owner:D;)

mfwin2019

Great article which I could relate to.

I have some of mortgage on lifetime tracker of base + 0.18 & the rest on a 7 year fixed at 4.84 so I have a foot in both camps