Mortgage Free ASAP

Queen-Bee_2

Given the PAYG handset I bought from Nokia was only ten quid (less than £5 using Topcashback), I'm really impressed with its functionality. However, I also discovered that my chosen price plan (Dolphin) needs to be topped up by £10 per month. This wasn't clear in the initial sales blurb and rather defeats the object of my only using it to buy cinema tickets on Orange Wednesdays...

So I rang Orange to talk through the options. It seems that the Racoon price plan (a flat 15p/minute and 10P texts) is what I'm looking for, as there's no minimum monthly top up. Sorted! I'm very pleased.
QB

Pea-pod

Just had a grand catch up and have subscribed to this thread - congratulations on all your overpayments. You've given me ideas for opening both Reward and Lloyds Vantage accounts, so thank you for that :T

Queen-Bee_2

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my frustration at having missed the December slot for renewing my buildings and contents insurance. Fortunately, when I contacted my insurance providers, they were happy for me to pay on a monthly basis until I could find an alternative. Given my renewal quote was a whopping £692, or £58 pcm (plus interest if this was not paid up-front) and Nationwide advised they were not open to negotiation, I was obviously keen to shop around.

Having explored the options - including just about every company on Topcashback - the cheapest turned out to be straightforward transaction with Halifax, who’ll charge £452.65 for the year, or around £38 pcm (reflecting the £50 cashback they’ll give me). There is also no extra charge for paying monthly.

This is a saving of around £240 per year, or £20 a month, so quite a result, even if it took a while to get there.
QB

setmefree2

Great Savings :T:T:T

Queen-Bee_2

Well my neighbour came round with the £50 call out fee I'd had to fork out when his builders swathed my boiler flue in plastic, which was very welcome :T

But my gas bill arrived in the post - a staggering £174 for just ONE month :eek::eek::eek: I've checked the meter (which was only changed two months ago) and the real reading is actually even higher. Can this possibly be right??
QB

setmefree2

Queen-Bee wrote: »

Well my neighbour came round with the £50 call out fee I'd had to fork out when his builders swathed my boiler flue in plastic, which was very welcome :T

Yay :T:T:T:T Nice neighbours :-)

But my gas bill arrived in the post - a staggering £174 for just ONE month :eek::eek::eek: I've checked the meter (which was only changed two months ago) and the real reading is actually even higher. Can this possibly be right??
QB

and :eek::eek::eek::eek:.We spread our bills over 12 months so I'm not actually sure what our bills are in any one month. It has been flippin cold though hasn't it?:snow_laug

THRIFTY_GIRL

Queen-Bee wrote: »

But my gas bill arrived in the post - a staggering £174 for just ONE month :eek::eek::eek: I've checked the meter (which was only changed two months ago) and the real reading is actually even higher. Can this possibly be right??
QB

I do hope it gets warmer soon.

Our actual for 3 months was £406:eek:; this was based on actual readings in Oct and Jan, and we live in the 'sunny' south.

Wonder if your previous reading was an estimate?

Queen-Bee_2

Hi Thrifty Girl,
The previous reading was an actual, because British Gas's estimates were so far out, I stopped trusting them!!!

I am at a loss to understand WHY the readings are so high. I have a combi boiler and the central heating is on from 7.30-9am and 6pm-11pm.

It's just me and my weekly lodger in a small victorian terraced house - which, like you is also in the 'sunny' south.

Not all my radiators have taps on them, so they are sometimes warming rooms in the house which don't necessarily need to be warmed when the heating is on. I've no idea how easy it is to fit a knob on these radiators to turn them off when not needed (if any knows the answer, please tell me!!)

Even so, it doesn't really account for the whopping bill...
Any ideas??
QB

mumoftwodaughters_2

Hi, I am new to this forum. I have read the web site for a couple of years but have never used the forum.But i love reading all the posts.
I have a repayment mortgage of £81000 at a rate of 2.5% (i know I can't believe that they haven't put it up) I have a lump sum available next month of £10000. Should i put this in a savings account or should i pay it into my mortgage? I am a basic rate tax payer and my husband is a higher rate tax payer. We have no other debts and have about £2200 in an isa.At the moment I overpay the mortgage by £200 each month. The mortgage is due to run for another 11 years but I would love to be mortgage free a lot lot sooner than that. I would love to know what anyone else would do.

Queen-Bee_2

Hi MOTD,
Thanks for your post, and wow, what a mortgage rate! Well done too on your regular £200 overpayments.

Now, I'm no financial whizz (unlike some other MFWs), so I suggest you start a new thread on this topic - it'll attract a far wider audience and probably a lot more replies. We're a friendly bunch on here, so don't be afraid!!

Ultimately, your way forward will be dictated by your own individual circumstances, but some of the things you might want to think about include (in no particular order):
1. Whether you can get a better return on your £10k than 2.5% you're paying on your mortgage. Taking into account tax considerations and the currently lousy interest rates, you may decide that you won't, in which case you might want to pay it off the mortgage.
2. However, are you satisfied that you have enough emergency savings to fall back on if you or your DH looses their job? A lot of MFWs try and keep up to 6 months' salary in savings to tide them over if the worst happens.
3. Also, if you only have £2.2k in an ISA at the moment then there's scope for you to squirrel away some more for each of you this year, and deposit a further lump next year. Interest rates aren't brilliant at the moment, but I seem to recall reading somewhere (probably on MSE) that new and more attractive ISA products may emerge as the end of the financial year approaches. Also, as the tax free status of an ISA lasts, if/when interest rates eventually do rise, funds in existing ISAs will benefit.
4. If you decide you still want to pay off some of your mortgage, you'll need to check the terms & conditions of your mortgage. Some providers charge you fees for paying chunks off, especially if you're in a fixed period.
5. If you do go ahead and make a lump sum payment, make sure you specify that you want to use it to reduce your capital/the term of the mortgage. I once made a payment and my provider somehow offset it against my interest and for some reason (I think there was a lot going on in my life at the time) I didn't pick up on this for some time.
6. Finally, if you haven't already, it is worth completely overhauling your finances and lifestyle to make your money go further. In the last six months, I have read a lot of diaries for inspiration and revisited everything from my house insurance and grocery bills, to my savings accounts (you might want to read back a few pages to see what I've done). I buy everything I can through Topcashback (unless I can negotiate a better deal over the phone or in person) and even just using it for the essentials, have now clocked up over £300 cashback. I've also done several focus groups, which must have netted me around £250 by now, and let a room in my house during the week. Cumulatively, these changes have resulted in huge savings all of which are directed at the mortgage pot.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, just a starter for six... I hope it's helpful!! Ah yes, you might even start your own diary thread. It's sort of addictive though, so be warned!
Best wishes
QB