What an eye opener - what do you do extra?

uzubairu

Good progress so far.

Definitely focus on the overpayments. Our initial finish date was July 2031. It is now at May 2019 and hopefully we want to get it down to Jul 2016 when the fixed rate ends.

£50 a month of our overpayments come from packed lunch savings. Every little helps.
I use Quidco and a few other cashback sites and I've received £565 so far this year.

You should always try and factor in some treats during the journey to being mortgage free. Balance is the key.
A nice holiday to relax and refresh after a year of working hard is just what you deserve.

tsharp

We overpay our nationwide mortgage by £150 each month, with the agreement to reduce the term. When I log in to look at the account online, the redemption date is the same as it was. Does this date only change at the end of the financial year (april I'm guessing), or do I need to chase them on it?

I was expecting to see the date adjust each time I overpay, but maybe this is not the case.

uzubairu

tsharp wrote: »

We overpay our nationwide mortgage by £150 each month, with the agreement to reduce the term. When I log in to look at the account online, the redemption date is the same as it was. Does this date only change at the end of the financial year (april I'm guessing), or do I need to chase them on it?

I was expecting to see the date adjust each time I overpay, but maybe this is not the case.

We overpay by the £500 allowed every month and even then we only get letter of notification (with new redemption date) 3 or 4 times a year, and the end date stays the same online until we get the letter.

I suppose with the number of people overpaying (with the low interest rates too), it would use up a lot of admin time and paper to notify every customer after each overpayment.

If you are overpaying every month, you will naturally bring forward your end date.

tsharp

Cheers. I'm not unduly worried, but it would be good to see the date changing. I'll have a look at the statement next time it comes through.

PhoneGuru

OMG, just signed up to Quidco. If I put all my hotel bookings and flights for work through that, I'll earn a small fortune back. Why didn't I do this earlier!

freebiequennie

Quidco is great isnt it, only found it end last year myself but use it almost every time now i shop online- do forget sometimes!!

we took out a mortgage over 35yrs in june 2007 not quite as much as yours but not far off we have over paid £500-£1,000 a month during the 2yr tracker deal we had and when that ended we have overpaid as much as poss can inc savings to get it down to less than 75% ltv ratio - unfortunately banks seem to value house at repossesion value for mortgage rather than current market value!!

we are waiting approval at the mo of our new mortgage as the bank mortgage advisor is concerned we are setting our payment too high - higher monthly payment means we can pay it off quicker and we certainly arent over stretching ourselves. this is a 3yr fixed term and we know we can manage the payments even if one of us loses our job (highly unlikely but never know) and we have proved to them from mortgage statements we can more than manage the new amount

anyway going to see the bank manager next sat for final decision if not will go elsewhere but it seems pretty ok as we have the proof

so our mortgage term all being well will be down to 10yrs!!!

so those early repayments are def worth it keep at it

PhoneGuru

Its been a while since I posted, but as I'm in the MFIT-T2 challenge I thought I had better add an update.

I've managed to budget paying an extra £400 off the mortgage this month. Which is alot for me. But every little helps. I couldn't overpay last month because of Christmas. Now we have a bit of a problem as my wife and I are travelling to Australia in October (nice problem to have I know) so lots of saving to do for that as well. Very determined to keep up the overpayments, and will have to see how things go.

dimbo61

Had a great holiday in OZ with my lovely wife and 2 teenagers last year.
Visited my sister in sydney and wow what a city.
If you get the chance get the train to milson point and walk across the harbour bridge ( its free) and a great little cake/pie shop near the train station!
Visit the zoo and gardens behind the opera house ( did the tour and saw a show).
Use Martin to get best value travel insurance and have a great time

TallGirl

Phoeguru don't feel guilty about holidays and other things you have to live too. We have managed to pay our mortgage off 10 years early but have also extended our house, bought a new car, got married, new bathrooms, holidays you name it. I do a lot of Mystery Shopping you don't get paid but get free meals and sometimes good from shops.

Good luck with your challenge

PhoneGuru

thanks guys. Its actually my 4th trip to Aus, but I've had 1 holiday there before. The other visits where on business which kind of killed the excitement a bit. We're really looking forward to going, may be the last big holiday we have as there are so many other things we want to do.

Thanks for all your support!