Little Mr T's Mortgage Free Journey

SmlSave

Hi Mr T i know your wedding will be lovely, perhaps you could choose two dates that you really like and see which one the most family can come to? tis hard to keep everyone happy but least you can say you tried.

And just think, after the wedding that £400 will be going innto the OP fund!

mrsdarbs

OMG! I have just read this post and I am very very impressed! I would love to be able to make savings like this each month to clear my debt never mind jus the mortgage!

I just don't know where to start?! Any tips?

Tesco_points_addict

You are doing brilliantly, well done, keep up the good work xxx

littlemrtinkle

Mrsdarbs take a look at all your bills. do energy comparison stuff like uswitch to find cheapest supplier. if you are in credit get the money back and pay off mortgage. In same way check insurance etc.

Consider water meter - if you have more bedrooms than people (12 months to switch back) Instead of paying £47 a month we are paying £20) We do shower/bath every day honest.

Use cashback sites like topcasback and quidco to get money back when you shop online. Use cashback maximiser on this site to find best cashback, but i find the best two (tcb and quidco).

Downshift shopping to lidls, aldi etc once in a while to save money.

do online surveys to earn extra money. One poll, pureprofile etc

Have a look at match betting (be sure to read online guides 3-4 times and don't be afraid to ask questions).

We look at sites like hotukdeals and here to find best place to buy stuff.

When going out for a meal have a look for half price vouchers on here, and keep a look out for vouchers in general when buying stuff. (Morrisons had £5 off vouchers in sun last week etc)

Get otherhalf onboard !! (Biggest challenge for me anyway)

Use the Mortgage Schedule Calculator v1.7.xls on here, fab way to keep you on track. Shows you knocking off months etc. Also great when comparing mortgage deals when the time comes.

Hope this is enough to start you off.

mrsdarbs

Thank you so much! Unfortunately most of this doesn't apply to me:

We live in Northern Ireland and there is only one supplier of electricity who charge a fortune per unit!

Our water rates are included in our rent.

We've already shifted from branded products to shops own brands and value items in quite a few areas!

We don't go out for meals or clubbing etc as we haven't got the money to!

I will definitely try and look at online surveys etc that you can do.

Thank you so much for the advice and this is what bugs me - we really have saved everywhere possible - I think!

littlemrtinkle

consider ebay (You will be surprised what rubbish people buy).

Match betting (take a look at gambling forum, this is risk free betting) and surveys.

Worth checking if you could get a lodger in depends if your rent allows it. It might give you a little bit of breathing space.

Not sure how ni works but here you can earn quite a bit by switching bank accounts here.
I switched to alliance and leicester and got £50 from quidco and another £100 for switching direct debits.
hsbc are giving £50 from topcashback and another £40 for switching direct debits.
halifax and bank of scotland give you £5 for each reward account every month, you can open a max of 6 (three in each bank). This will give you £30 a month but you have to pay in £1000 each month. you can take money straight back out. Or move money from 1st account to second to third etc

miemie

Wow can't believe how much you have paid off already, you have really got me motivated to fill my ISA and then start paying mortgage off,many thanks.

littlemrtinkle

you may be better off overpaying rather than saving depending who your mortgage is with. some companies like nationwide put the money into a pot that you can access if you need it. i believe to get the money back is quick and straightforward. Depends on interest rates as well. i have abandoned saving into my isa for the moment due to those reasons.

miemie

I understand what your saying just feel like i need to have a small amount of money saved and easily accessible in case car breaks down that sort of thing, maybe i will just have £1000 saved as would feel comfortable with that and then start over paying, need to look into how much i can overpay think i will ring abbey tommorrow.

littlemrtinkle

Good luck!! You sound like your on the right track anyway.