Move mortgage mountain project

julliff

Hello all,

I have followed quite a lot of MFW diaries with great interest and admiration, and so have decided to take up the gauntlet, and start my own diary. It may ramble a lot, so apologies in advance

Some background:

I am a newly divorced 47 year old with two teenage daughters. Up until Jan of this year I had a joint offset mortgage, which I had managed to get under 50K with 8 years remaining. Fast forward to today, I have a mortgage of £120,000 with a term of 17 years (really scarey). This was as a result of buying out my OH.

Because I am a self employed IT contractor, with less than 1 years accounts (at the time), I had a severely limited choice of mortgage available. In the end I took out a 2 year Fixed rate mortgage with HSBC (4.19%).

I am allowed to make 20% overpayments, as a regular payment (no lump sums allowed), which I am already doing. So for the rest of the fixed term I will be concentrating on putting money away in savings accounts, so that I can make a lumpsum payment at the end of the fr.

So far, I have a regular savings account which is paying 8% ( this is not as great as it sounds as I have an HSBC Advance current account which takes the shine off abit). I am putting the max amount allowed into this, which is £250 per month.

I have a Nationwide e-ISA, but I am looking around for other good accounts.


So, I thought I would set myself the challenge to get the mortgage to under 100K in two years. Does this seem sensible? Fixed rate will end in Feb 2012, and then make a lump sum payment, and possibly remortgage at that point.

Thanks for reading if you got this far!!

evab_2

Good luck with your journey and welcome!

newgirly

Hi, welcome :hello:


Good luck with your new challenge,there are lots of people on here who will help you along the way, and lots of other mini challenges that you could join, such as the sealed pot challenge, setting yourself a grocery spending target.
I have only been doing this for a matter of weeks, but have got so many ideas from others threads, it soon becomes very addictive!

cha97michelle

That change in circumstances is one that could affect any of us. That has made life a lot tougher for you in more than one way i imagine.

I wish you the best of luck. It seems like a great target, and i am sure once you start you will end up like the rest of us and trying to beat all the targets.

dimbo61

The 4.19% rate is not bad and the 20% overpayment is very good so you are heading in the right direction.
We had the same size mortgage 5 years ago and have managed to cut in half so keep up the good work.
Consider offset mortgage when your fix ends!

SmlSave

Welcome to MFW

julliff

Hi

Many thanks for all of your lovely comments.

Wow, dimbo61, that is a really impressive achievement, it gives me inspiration.:T

So far, I have managed to list some stuff on ebay, and have had quite a lot of interest on a couple of those things, so hoping to get a good result when they finish tomorrow (counting bids so far, I am £20 up).

I am due to get £154 from quidco! Yippee.

However, on the bad side, my car is dying! It will cost me just under £1000 to get it fixed. I can't decide whether to just trade it in for something else, or bite the bullet. I have been dithering all week, but yesterday, smoke started coming from under the bonnet, so I can't really drive it any more. It is an 03 plate, and has only done 38K! BUT, part of me would like something with a bit more room in the back, now that DDs are bigger. Hmmm

Another worry is the cat. He has been under the Vet since Feb. the bill is £2000 and I STILL have not had confirmation from Sainsburys that they are going to pay out! It is such a worry. Also, the insurance is capped at £3000 so if they don't get to the bottom of it soon, I don't know what we will do.:eek:

I have set up two moneyboxes, and I am saving all non-round coins (50p & 20p). Is there a challenge for that?

The thing that is really not MFW is our holiday. We always go on a big holiday, and I don't want to change that. Does that make me a failure as a MFW? In my defence, my jon is intense, I don't smoke or drink, and my holiday is my reward to myself (or am I just justifying myself).

OK, better get on, loads of stuff to do. DD2 wants o sort out stuff for a carboot next week - she is getting in the swing of this (although she wants to sell her stuff to raise money for extra pocket money - fair play to her!)

julliff

Oh,yes. Should I start putting stuff in my signature? Targets etc? I also need a new quote for a new chapter of my life!!!

gallygirl

Welcome :wave:.

If having a holiday makes you a MF failure then there are a lot of us about . The thing to do is set out exactly how much it's costing you then decide if:
a) it's worth it (bearing in mind 1k on the mortgages saves 2k interest so you say the cost is double :eek:), and
b) you could compromise on luxury or length.

If your answers are yes & no then set yourself a target to get it cheaper, using tips on MSE. Maybe think latterly - if you have a 4* holiday in Spain would it be cheaper in Greece this year, is Turkey cheaper, could you go to Mexico instead of Caribbean etc? Would AI be cheaper than HB or FB etc.

I agree with Dimbo, your mortgage rate is v good considering your circumstances.

Challenges & targets are great ways to keep the momentum going. There is a 3yr challenge going which ends Dec 12 - link is HERE - if you PM Financial Bliss quickly you may get one of the 2 spare slots. You need to say what your starting balance is & what your target for Dec 12 is.

Good luck :T

Brighton_belle

Hi Julliffe: just popping over form your last thread to wish you well with your new challenge. It is so great to see you so upbeat and now looking forward.

I know the mtg figures look frightening, but at least you know that this time no one is going to be draining your finanacial resources without putting any thing compensatory back.

Can't offer any advice re cars/cats/ holidays as at this point are lives are too different but we know there will be plenty of great tips and advice from others on here.
And I have already spotted you giving support and encouragement to others who are in the same boat as you were this time last year:T:T
And I love the idea of a new sig quote for your new life:T.

January20

julliff wrote: »

Hi


The thing that is really not MFW is our holiday. We always go on a big holiday, and I don't want to change that. Does that make me a failure as a MFW? In my defence, my jon is intense, I don't smoke or drink, and my holiday is my reward to myself (or am I just justifying myself).

I am exactly the same age as you, and although we are by no means old, we are no spring chickens either. Anything could happen. I believe every opportunity is to be seized and savoured.

Also, you have 2 teenage daughters and you know how quickly they grow and soon they will want independance and holidays with their mates rather than mum. Make the most of it now. Have the holidays. The MFW date will only be delayed by a little.