Make yourself a double-ended mortgage grid!

Gingham_Ribbon

Perfect for sticking to the wall above any mortgage pig!

Lola23

This is a good idea. I think when you can see something positive happening in front of you it spurs you on a bit.
I'm going to try this. Haven't started overpaying yet, but hope to start maybe October.

Thanks for this wee tip.

:j

Katgoddess

I've found a grid generator here. You've just got to work out the maths to print out enough boxes.

nellis10

I'm still a DFW but hoping to be clear by July 07 to start becoming a MFW!!

I have an interest only mortgage of £72000 over 5 years....will obviously be remortgaging after that!!! And will change to a totally flexible overpayment type one...at the mo I am fixed for 5yrs so can't even get out without about £2k of charges!!! But will do what is being suggested and stick it into a savings account as if I was overpaying, then will the extra money will reduce the amount remortgaged after the 5 yrs is up!!! Woohoo can't wait to be DF so I can start trying to be MF!!!!!:T

GardenMillie

Great idea, I'm about to start paying extra off my mortgage in £500 chunks, a visual reminder will certainly help me (especially when I fancy that take away!).

Thank you.:T

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

nellis10 wrote:

at the mo I am fixed for 5yrs so can't even get out without about £2k of charges!!! But will do what is being suggested and stick it into a savings account as if I was overpaying, then will the extra money will reduce the amount remortgaged after the 5 yrs is up!!! Woohoo can't wait to be DF so I can start trying to be MF!!!!!:T

I'm only allowed to make maximum overpayments of £500 a month at the. So, any extra money I have I'm saving like you are, ready for the end of the tie in period - I will pay it all in on 1st April 2008!

halloweenqueen_2

I may sound a bit thick here, but how do you factor in the interest?
Do you keep an eye on your mortgage statements and do it that way? I'm paying about £400 a month in interest but I'm paying an average of £1400 with payments and overpayments, so i guess I would be crossing off two boxes of 500 a month?
Three boxes forward and one back!

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

Hi Halloweenqueen - yes I've been including the interest in my calculations.

My mortgage payments are currently £522 a month with around £360 of it being interest). So even if I pay £830 in total one month I may not be able to colour a grid in as the total of that towards capital would only be around £470, if that makes sense?

Originally I was using the overpayment spreadsheet to caculate roughly how much capital I still owe but now I'm able to log into my mortgage balance whenever I like to see where its at. The interest does creep up every day though so for simplicities sake I think I will use the amount that I owe from when I make the payment / overpayment (on the 28th each month). Harder to calculate though if you're not able to find out from your mortgage company the specific amount you owe. Your calculations sound like a very good way of going about it.

halloweenqueen_2

Thanks, I get a mortgage statement every month which tells me how much I owe/paid off/interest etc. I think I will be another £1000 less his month with all the payments and interest so maybe 2 brightly coloured boxes to start!
At last I will be out of the 80's!! Which I've been in since the mortage started!

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

You are doing fantastic HQ! Since starting this I've really cut back my spending in effort to save as much as I can but still go out every week etc! My credit card bills were usually around £400 a month - this month they came to £21 in total!! I couldn't believe it!