New MFW :)

pammyj74

well done on the OP. its a shame they charge each time, i would say see how much interest you would save each month and whether its better to pay higher amounts less often to avoid that daft charge or whether if you pay sooner the interest you would save is more than the fee?
is it a daily interest charge? or one monthly interest charge?

Tabbitha

Hey, wow re-reading my posts and shocked 2 years have elapsed since I last posted....
Have made a little progress since then with small overpayments as we have been improving the house as the kitchen was basically falling apart. Pleased to say we did it with savings so no further debt.
Really want to readdress lowering the amounts and have been playing around with figures:

Loan £14456 and Mortgage £133124 (Total Secured = £147,580), house price probably £190,000 - £210,000 says £214,000 on the Nationwide estimater, but being conservative.
DH has the mortgage in his sole name, so I'm wondering if I should move the joint Loan as it's secured on the property to me as unsecured then the LTV would be correct for a remortgage? DH earns £30,800 per annum plus bi annual bonus of £1250 and overtime, the bonuses aren't commission based, they are for a specific skill set. I earn £20300.

Any advice as my current plan is to attack the Kensington Loan first or move it then DH to apply for offset mortgage.

Tabbitha

This I may have researched the answer to my above question, because we have since married from when the mortgage was taken out, I will have to either be joint or waiver my right as I'm spouse, if owning spouse defaults on mortgage the lender can go after that persons share of the family home for any shortfall.

The FHP Act 1976 means that I will have to be involved in any sale.

Tabbitha

Ok New Year, so been reflecting lots over the last......

This year I really must remove the 2nd mortgage (secured loan) as it seems to be an obstacle to getting a better mortgage as it's adding to the LTV, my aim is to OP every month £1000 plus (with admin fee (£75) on top).

It's going to be really tough some months as we are a family of 6 plus 2 guinea pigs!

So far have £100 towards Jan as I sold a power plate on eBay that never got used !!!!

To do List:
List more items on eBay
Have agree with DH that he will get £50 a week for fuel and his pocket money, much easier as he's not totally on board MSE wise!
£10 a day groceries

Tabbitha

Just been looking into if OPing monthly is a good idea due to the hefty admin charge.
I found this calculator http://www.thismuchiknow.co.uk/?p=42 and played around, seems that I should spread out the payments make them larger so £6600 (plus £75 fee) in June 2012 then £7307.15 (plus £75 fee) in Dec 2012 then it's all paid off, providing the interest rate stays the same..

katsu

Hi Tabbitha, I'd definitely avoid paying monthly. If you paid monthly for 12 months as opposed to just making two payments, you give Kensington an extra £750. I can't believe any interest savings would equate to £750, so I'd make the lump sum payments - or just put it all in a savings account and make one payment in December and save an additional £75.

Spiggle

Hi Tabbitha,

It wasn't until I got to post No.13 that I realised your diary started in 2009.

I totally agree with your summation of paying larger OPs only once or twice per year to keep admin fees at a minimum. Have you searched for the best savings account to put your monthly accruels into? I am horrified at the interest rate you're being charged, quite despicable and an admin charge on top to OP! :eek::mad:

If it was me, and obviously it isn't, I would be tempted to have a look for a cheaper alternative loan and get rid of that 2nd mortgage pronto. Depending upon the interest rate and conditions attaching to any new product this would allow you to reduce the amount owed over a much shorter period. You will of course have to do the necessary calculations on rates, term, savings rates available, etc but it could be worthwhile.

Good luck with your journey to MF.

All the best,
Spigs

Tabbitha

Thanks Spiggle

I remembered I have a derelict Santander ISA with £50.84 made into this years contributions so can put in up to £5289.16.
I've transferred £150, from a cheque given at Xmas, it's just cleared. So thats £200 it the ISA overpaying pot

Been doing well with my grocery challenge too,
NSD Monday (PIL tea time)
Tuesday walked to Aldi and got half a leg of lamb, plus veggies for tea £9.63
Today spent £8.42 in Lidl on the way home from work (took in my lunch), got milk, cheese and ham (for sandwiches), broccoli to top up tea (HM Cottage Pie), lard for pastry making and Lidl's famous cherry jam The kids love jam tarts, I made 24 yesterday, all gone today!!! Need to hide half next bake.

Feeling motivated at the moment as I'm concentrating on a daily amount rather than the huge OP!

Tabbitha

So far for Jan I've saved £378 into the ISA and I'm hoping to add a bigger OP at the end of the month, so adding money that I wouldn't normally of had until then, eg eBay sales. This will be the same most months, doing well feeding the family 2 adults 3 teenagers (that eat for England and can usually be found hanging of the fridge door!) and 6 yr old DS on less than £10 per day, getting more organised at cooking faster too. Still motivated

Tabbitha

Hi, had a very busy start to this year and still determined. Have some brilliant news to report in that family have paid off the Kensington Loan leaving us free to hammer down the mortgage, already used the savings in the ISA to OP £1500 this month I felt amazing to do that. :D

Spend time giving the finances a check up and have shaved £180 per month off the outgoing too, pretty much changed everything and spent hours on price comparison sites following the MSE guides for each.

Bought seed potatoes, and planters for the patio, got the kids today to dig out an older tree and we replaced it with an Aldi £3.99 Apple tree, got hanging planters for strawberries and tomatoes and carrot seeds ready for later this year, all produce is in 'movable' containers as having 3 raring boys I need to protect the plants!!!

Wrote to UCB to arrange a fixed payment to be taken each month, we can always change it back if we need too, so if we maintain £2G a month (this includes the monthly contractual amount) then a spreadsheet tells me we'll be mortgage free by Aug 2018 over 10 years early!!

From reading other diaries I need to get more organised with meal planning, forgot to set the bread maker off the other night as it's half term and I'm off work (out of my routine), but luckily had a 9p baguette stashed in freezer for hubbies lunch, phew!!

eBay all the clutter we have, mainly clothes, bags of them and if they don't sell give to charity shop.

Finally need to rethink a few meal choices too as were all putting on weight since Jan, sure it's the baking I'm doing and substitute a healthier, but an equally nice alternative, think I may try the SW Malteaser ice-cream, but my daughter used the spare tub to sieve old paint through tights to paint the hallway!! (love the fact she's got into scrimping too)