Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

mummalove

Thought I'd compare my gas and electric (both British Gas) to yours, although my last statement dates are earlier, 19th Aug - 27th Dec for both the total is £516.99. We live in a 3 bed terrace, with a loft room and a conservatory too. I think we probably have the same problem...there are always 3 tvs on, 2 laptops and both DH and DS play their PS3s or xboxs most nights. DH 'lives' in the conservatory (where his TV and PS3 is!!! ) and we also have a through lounge so I guess alot of heat escapes too. He also works alot from home and has the heating on all day :eek: despite my nagging him not too! So I guess there is my problem in black and white...however my nick name is the gas police now as I'm always turning it off or down. They are pretty well trained in turning off lights now...good boys!! :T I'm a bit embarrassed at my bills after reading how low many of yours all are

cha97michelle

I got a kindle at christmas and i honestly have not used it at all so far. I had great plans but i am always so busy doing something else, usually online and i mainly read in the bath. I don't think i dare take it in there, although someone suggested putting it in a ziplock bag.

gadget wise, would an owl inspire you to save money on the electric? My best gadget in all honesty is a kitchen timer. Makes me remember to do all kinds like go and empty the TD in the garage, go check if dinner is cooked.

I also love my stick blender for making lots of thick yummy soups. they are only about a tenner.

newgirly

Thanks Michelle, I'm now having doubts about the kindle, I think realistically I might not use it, I think I'll tell dh not to bother, knowing him though he will still get it as I don't have any other ideas! He's very generous but with the wrong things sometimes, at xmas I asked dd to get me a new mascara, so he gave her £50 to spend in superdrug, which she spent on sparkly nail pens, great if you are 13 though!:rotfl:

I have a MR t value stick blender which I use a lot, and I got an energy moitor free from Eon last year, which has not been set up for a while so i should do that again. Good ideas though.

I need clothes really, but I am not going up another size, I refuse, so unless I lose weight, I'm going to have scruffy old stuff forever.

Mummalove, our houses are the same except the loft room, but mine is still probably double yours, i can't believe it as i thought I was fairly mean with the heating, obviously not. At least there is room for improvement, and fingers crossed for an early summer.

Caroline73_2

I.fancied a kindle but not spending out so I have downloaded a kindle app to my phone. That was free and I only download free books. The advantage to having the kindle on my phone is that I always have it with me.

cha97michelle

sorry - didn't mean to put you off. I thought i would use it a lot. I might use mine more in the summer when we go on hols and the kids are playing out in the garden.

Do you fancy a remoska? People on OS swear by them and they are similar price to the kindle? Or one of my friends got a JML product that she was describing to me that sounded similar. Just whack everything in, set the timer and dinner is all cooked for when you want?

I know i need jeans, but like you want to lose the weight first. I kind of started weightwatchers again by myself this week using old books. I weighed again this morning and lost 2Ib over the last 2 days but then that is when i usually decide to give up. Must carry on, as i am not going to like the summer at all unless i buy new clothes. My trousers are all falling down all the time as they won't do up over my belly, and the T shirts aren't covering the gap that well. Thank heavens for long jumpers and coats is all i can say. Gross really. Must keep motivated. Shame you can't buy motivation isn't it. That would be a great present.

newgirly

Caroline, I didn't know that there was a kindle app. I'm not very technical though and my phone is a very old flip open one

Michelle, the remoska looks good, I just looked on lakelands website, but dh got us a cheap microwave the other day that (when I've read the manual) I can grill or oven cook in, so I'd probably use that instead. I'm very akward arn't I !
Its just when pennies are tight and family are going to buy presents anyway, its good to have stuff that you really need or want. When I was spending all the time there was always more stuff I wanted, now I can't think of anything.

One thing I fancied last year was a jam maker, but my mum got one for her birthday so I can just borrow that.

Anyway, I'm off to mr s with Mum and Nan, should'nt spend really as i have only got £93 left for everything until march. Might get long life milk and some chicken burgers for the kids as i have lots of buns in the freezer to use up.

newgirly

I've been reading through the re- mortgage paperwork, and the new rate is 4.79% then rising to 5.79%. Which is higher then the main part of the loan.

I did have what may be a daft thought , but I was thinking about getting an un-secured loan instead, for 25K then adding savings for the remaining 5k ish we will need. The cheapest loan rate (so far) I've found is 8.3%, and then switching to a 0% CC asap for as much of the balance as we can. We do have a lot of cc's we don't use and often get offers of cheap 0% balance transfers, with very high limits of £12K ish each, so I think we would be able to switch a fair chunk of the loan if not all. If we did'nt switch to 0% CC' s the loan would be £722 dearer than a remortgage (with the cost of fee etc. deducted)

Its tempting to do, and we could pay the loan off in 24 months if we keep the main part of the mortgage on IO.

Can anyone tell me if I'm missing something important in this idea, I'm guessing that if there was a problem i could always re-mortgage in the future to pay the loan off.

newgirly

Mmm, looks like the loan/0%cc will not be the best idea, I forgot to factor in the 58 days interest that has to be paid if you settle the loan early, together with a 3% ish transfer fee , it does not work out cheaper.

So will sort out what paperwork we have to hand, and order whatever bank statements are missing, unfortunatly since going online i don't tend to keep them , so will have to pay £5 each for copies.
Then it will be a big fingers crossed if we are allowed to borrow the extra, If we can I am going to be a mfw for a very long time!

newgirly

Right I'm sorting out the paperwork needed for the re-mortgage, however I have lost the quote I was sent a couple of weeks ago. So I rang chelsea and they said they can send out replacements, but the rate has risen :mad:. Its now 4.89% not 4.69%. I asked her to double check the rate as we won't be in the 75%or lower ltv any more, we will be just below 85% ltv.

I asked if there were any other rates available instead of the 2 year fix. I was told I could have a tracker at 3.19%. I said that sound fantastic is it suitable for 85%? She confirmed it was , so I said It seems to good to be true, so she put me on hold and checked with the manager. Definatly 3.19%.

I went out to the shops and when i got back checked chelsea's wesite which shows a tracker for 3.19 , but only up to 75% ltv. I've called them and they have said that I'm not eligable for that rate and that this mornings lady has already printed off and sent me paperwork for the 4.89% fixed rate. So i have had a little moan and said I understand that they can't offer me the rate but its not that great if i know more about their products than the staff do.

Anyway was polite and did'nt expect them to do anything, but apparently the manager is going to speak to head office and see if they can still do me the 3.19% rate. They are going to call me back later, I won't hold my breath, but you never know.

newgirly

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

Hooray! the chelsea have rung back and agreed to let me have the lower rate of 3.19% (tracker) instead of the 4.89% that I'm supposed to have, they are sending out the new paperwork today, now its just a matter of waiting to see of it will be approved on the payslips etc.

The IO payment will be £79.75 per month on the extra 30K, instead of the £122.25 that it would have been on the other rate.

I can't believe they have done this because one of their staff made a mistake. Now I'm worried that they will turn down the mortage application, something is bound to go wrong, this is too good to be true!