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It's a marathon not a sprint.....
nookey_bear
Posts: 60 Forumite
Hi all! 
Been lurking for a while, just reading people’s diaries up until now so thought it was about time I started my own thread.
Here is my situation - I am married with 3 kids (6,4 & 2), both OH and I work in fairly comfortably-paid jobs (OH works part time) We took out a £152,500 mortgage with Nottingham BS in Mar 07, fixed at 5.2% for 5yrs, monthly payments £910. After fixed period, rate moves to SVR 7.4% (but of course we will look for a better deal then)
I like to think I am pretty good with money already – as well as our joint account for wages, bills etc, we have 3 ISAs (one is for our big trip to Oz next April to visit my brother and his family) and a Nationwide savings account to cover immediate emergencies. At the moment, there is about £1200 in there and we pay in £20/mth. With this account, and one of the 2 ‘non-Oz’ ISA’s, we have our 2 mths ‘what if one of us loses our job’ back-up income. The other ISA is our long term savings fund, into which we put £150/mth.
We put all our daily spends (food, fuel, other essentials, family trips out etc) on a cash- back CC and earn about £10 a month from that (just thought, that can go down as an OP – up until now it just gets swallowed up!) and pay the balance off in full each month. I have recently started a detailed budget check to see where we spend our money and how we do each month against our budget. There are a number of areas where we have and still can save money (for eg OH mobile, should save £10 per mth which can go as an OP) but all in all I think we do pretty well (but can do better!)
So…..…I have managed to get the OH to start considering OP’s – the sooner we start the better in my opinion. We both agree that we need the right balance between good budgeting, OPing where possible but as importantly, enjoying ourselves and our family. Obviously the kids need to do their things (football, ballet, school trips etc) and OH and I have our own interests and hobbies – so we don’t intend to become hermits and not venture out until the mortgage is paid off, but the balance needs to be right.
At the moment, our youngest goes to (a very good) nursery and that knocks us back £550 per mth. He is due to finish next July (yippeeee!) so at the moment we are planning on diverting most of that towards OP’s. I have discovered a truly fantastic spreadsheet that shows the impact of OP’s and how much our term can be reduced by. By OPing £400 per month from next July (and assuming we switch to a similar rated mortgage in 2012), our term reduces from 25 to 16 years, and we save £41k in interest!!! Cant wait till July 2010!!!
There are other factors to consider that will no doubt get in the way of my plan above. The house needs new windows in the next 2 years, we still have some rooms to decorate and the garden needs a damn good overhaul. But I intend to include these in our yearly budgets so there shouldn’t be too many surprises (hopefully!) I also need to start thinking about long term savings for the kids (uni, cars, wedding etc) – they each have their own building society account already into which we contribute each month, and they are building up nicely. I think that will be next year’s task, once we start seriously OPing.
I would welcome anyone’s comments/opinions/suggestions etc. Looks like there are some really enthusiastic and encouraging people out there and would be great to get your views if you feel we are heading in the right (or wrong) direction.
xxx :rotfl:
Been lurking for a while, just reading people’s diaries up until now so thought it was about time I started my own thread.
Here is my situation - I am married with 3 kids (6,4 & 2), both OH and I work in fairly comfortably-paid jobs (OH works part time) We took out a £152,500 mortgage with Nottingham BS in Mar 07, fixed at 5.2% for 5yrs, monthly payments £910. After fixed period, rate moves to SVR 7.4% (but of course we will look for a better deal then)
I like to think I am pretty good with money already – as well as our joint account for wages, bills etc, we have 3 ISAs (one is for our big trip to Oz next April to visit my brother and his family) and a Nationwide savings account to cover immediate emergencies. At the moment, there is about £1200 in there and we pay in £20/mth. With this account, and one of the 2 ‘non-Oz’ ISA’s, we have our 2 mths ‘what if one of us loses our job’ back-up income. The other ISA is our long term savings fund, into which we put £150/mth.
We put all our daily spends (food, fuel, other essentials, family trips out etc) on a cash- back CC and earn about £10 a month from that (just thought, that can go down as an OP – up until now it just gets swallowed up!) and pay the balance off in full each month. I have recently started a detailed budget check to see where we spend our money and how we do each month against our budget. There are a number of areas where we have and still can save money (for eg OH mobile, should save £10 per mth which can go as an OP) but all in all I think we do pretty well (but can do better!)
So…..…I have managed to get the OH to start considering OP’s – the sooner we start the better in my opinion. We both agree that we need the right balance between good budgeting, OPing where possible but as importantly, enjoying ourselves and our family. Obviously the kids need to do their things (football, ballet, school trips etc) and OH and I have our own interests and hobbies – so we don’t intend to become hermits and not venture out until the mortgage is paid off, but the balance needs to be right.
At the moment, our youngest goes to (a very good) nursery and that knocks us back £550 per mth. He is due to finish next July (yippeeee!) so at the moment we are planning on diverting most of that towards OP’s. I have discovered a truly fantastic spreadsheet that shows the impact of OP’s and how much our term can be reduced by. By OPing £400 per month from next July (and assuming we switch to a similar rated mortgage in 2012), our term reduces from 25 to 16 years, and we save £41k in interest!!! Cant wait till July 2010!!!
There are other factors to consider that will no doubt get in the way of my plan above. The house needs new windows in the next 2 years, we still have some rooms to decorate and the garden needs a damn good overhaul. But I intend to include these in our yearly budgets so there shouldn’t be too many surprises (hopefully!) I also need to start thinking about long term savings for the kids (uni, cars, wedding etc) – they each have their own building society account already into which we contribute each month, and they are building up nicely. I think that will be next year’s task, once we start seriously OPing.
I would welcome anyone’s comments/opinions/suggestions etc. Looks like there are some really enthusiastic and encouraging people out there and would be great to get your views if you feel we are heading in the right (or wrong) direction.
xxx :rotfl:
Start Date 28/04/2007
Original amount outstanding = 152,500 Current amount outstanding = 103,000
Original LTV = 61.86% Current LTV = 33.22%
Original Pay Off Date = Apr 32 New Pay Off date = July 2024
Total OP = £15980 since Feb 2012
Original amount outstanding = 152,500 Current amount outstanding = 103,000
Original LTV = 61.86% Current LTV = 33.22%
Original Pay Off Date = Apr 32 New Pay Off date = July 2024
Total OP = £15980 since Feb 2012
0
Comments
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Looks like you're doing everything right to me there, Welcome!
Have you done a Statement of Affairs at all whilst on moneysavingexpert? its something people have to do when in debt and going bankrupt but everyone finds it useful, it puts into perspective your income/outgoings and if you post it up you can find out the general opinion on what you're paying too much for.
I did and found out my £40 mobile phone bill could quickly become £15! i also sold the phone i was using for £140 and picked up a £20 cheapy that does the same job. This place is helpful for little nuggets of info like that so the more we know the more we can help.
Welcome and enjoy the motivation :beer:MFW - <£90kAll other debts cleared thanks to the knowledge gained from this wonderful website and its users!0 -
hi bufger - i have indeed done a SOA, will post it here shortly to get other views. thanks for your comments and encouragment, nice to know at least 1 person thinks I'm heading in the right direction!!
now I need to get a signature sorted out....Start Date 28/04/2007
Original amount outstanding = 152,500 Current amount outstanding = 103,000
Original LTV = 61.86% Current LTV = 33.22%
Original Pay Off Date = Apr 32 New Pay Off date = July 2024
Total OP = £15980 since Feb 20120 -
your SVR will not go onto 7.4% as we dont know what the lenders SVR will be at the end of your 5 year fix !0
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I believe you are doing an excellent job so far, with some suberb plans in the pipeline !
Get that Mortgage changed to a better rate ASAP, whilst you are waiting to do that try starting on some simple things like your (1) gas / (2) electric bills etc. we use NPower and they provide a yearly discount that helps with the bills, also if you have an "on-line" tariff's for bills you can save even more...
(3) Mobile Phones (4) Life insurances can they be bettered?
(5) Phone (6) TV (7) Broadband, are these in a package deal etc etc....
You get my drift....ORIGINAL MORTGAGE AMOUNT £106,454.00 (Started Sept 2007)
NOV 2021 O/S AMOUNT £1,694.41 OUR DEBT REDUCED BY £104,759.59 by std regular, over-payments & off-setting.
BofE +0.19% Tracker Repayment Offset Mortgage Discounted Sept 07-10 then increased to BofE +0.62% until 20270 -
your SVR will not go onto 7.4% as we dont know what the lenders SVR will be at the end of your 5 year fix !
dimbo 61 - yes, I realise my SVR wont be 7.4% at the end of my 5yrs. That was the rate quoted when I took the mortgage out, so I guess I'll have to wait to see what happens over ther next 2 yrs. thanks for your commentsI believe you are doing an excellent job so far, with some suberb plans in the pipeline !
Get that Mortgage changed to a better rate ASAP, whilst you are waiting to do that try starting on some simple things like your (1) gas / (2) electric bills etc. we use NPower and they provide a yearly discount that helps with the bills, also if you have an "on-line" tariff's for bills you can save even more...
(3) Mobile Phones (4) Life insurances can they be bettered?
(5) Phone (6) TV (7) Broadband, are these in a package deal etc etc....
You get my drift....
hillcats - cheers for the encouragement. Re mortgage, we have looked at a lower rate whilst in this fixed period but I worked out last year that with the redemption fee involved, we need a certain rate that currently isnt around (cant remember what it was though! - note to self, re-check this...)
Re gas and electricity, we use EON for both, but havent switched for a few years. The last time we switched, the previous suppliers completely messed up the transfer (something to do with the fact it was new property and they got the meter reg. numbers mixed up - 4 months of hell!!) so I am a bit reluctant to risk that again. But I guess I could look at possible savings and that my give me the incentive?
OH has just changed her mobile tariff so that should save £10/mth - mine is a work mobile so no costs there. Start Date 28/04/2007
Original amount outstanding = 152,500 Current amount outstanding = 103,000
Original LTV = 61.86% Current LTV = 33.22%
Original Pay Off Date = Apr 32 New Pay Off date = July 2024
Total OP = £15980 since Feb 20120 -
Check out the Eon online website we have been with them for a few years but change deals online to get the best offers ( no changing suppliers).0
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and Good Luck0 -
Check out the Eon online website we have been with them for a few years but change deals online to get the best offers ( no changing suppliers).
good thinking dimbo61, will do it this weekend :beer:Start Date 28/04/2007
Original amount outstanding = 152,500 Current amount outstanding = 103,000
Original LTV = 61.86% Current LTV = 33.22%
Original Pay Off Date = Apr 32 New Pay Off date = July 2024
Total OP = £15980 since Feb 20120 -
Welcome, you seem to be fairly sorted in your plans so good luck with your journey. Ev0
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Welcome, you seem to be fairly sorted in your plans so good luck with your journey. Ev
thanks evab... I see your a runner judging by your signature? not ventured on a marathon yet? its well worth the training, honestly!!:pStart Date 28/04/2007
Original amount outstanding = 152,500 Current amount outstanding = 103,000
Original LTV = 61.86% Current LTV = 33.22%
Original Pay Off Date = Apr 32 New Pay Off date = July 2024
Total OP = £15980 since Feb 20120
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