D'oh! Better get started... I wanna be Mortgage Free!!

Froggy-G

Queen-Bee wrote: »

Hi Froggy,
Hello and welcome to the MFW board - it's been said before, but the general flavour of everyone is supportive and helpful... It's a nice place to hang out!!
Re your PAYG plans, when my own contract came to an end, I went to Vodafone via Topcashback and managed to get a SIM only arrangement with a substantial cashback. Not sure if that's exactly what you have in mind, but might be worth having a look to see what's on there
QB

Thanks QB :j.. I don't know yet what I am going to do regarding PAYG... My wife is on Three, so it would make sense to be on the same newtwork to get preferential call & text tariff... My contract is up at the end of September, so I still have a while before I need to make a decision..

Froggy-G

Tesco_points_addict wrote: »

When I first met my hubby he was a spender not a saver, he spent almost all of what he earnt, although never got into debt, when I met him he was late 20's lived with his parents, had a good job but had only saved about 6k, dispite not having a mortgage or bills to pay:eek:
When we moved in together we were advised to get an offset mortgage, I cannot tell you the change this had on his attitude towards money. He is so excited to see the statements every month and see how much interest we have saved. We are hoping to be MF in time for my 40th birthday, just 24 months away:eek:. Our house cost us £177,500, which was partly paid from savings, equity from my previous property and a mortgage of £100,000:eek:. Since moving in 2005 we have done a far amount of re-firbishment, bought two 'new' (year old) cars and currently have £27,000 oustanding on the mortgage, the rest is offset, ready to pay off whenever we want. I am very proud of what we have achieved, espeacially as I dont have a fabulously paid job (working four days per week) and hubby earns just about an 'average' wage.

I do mystery shopping, some odd ebaying, weekend work (as it pays rather well) when I can get it I also do the 'free betting' on Quidco and Topcash back, the ones where you pay less in than they give you as cashback, however if you have any betting tenedences DO NOT do this as you will get sucked in. Every little bit adds up. Hubby and I don't tend to buy each other expensive presents, I have taught him I don't need these to know he loves me! The year before last we bought a Wii between us for out Christmas present, we have had far more use out of that then any expensive nik naks we would hav felt compelled to purchase otherwise. Thats not to say we dont have a blow out every now and again, we have just booked a holiday to Vegas for later in the year:rotfl:.

Good luck, keep up the good work, it is so much easier if you can get your OH on board.

TPAx

My wife & I used to be spenders, nothing too extravagant, but just living beyond our means, and the debt piled up very quickly.. When we met we probably had £20-25K worth of debt each... You might call it a match made in heaven :A
It took us a while to get our LBM but when it finally arrived, there was no stopping us.. My wife studied for a qualification and I changed jobs, and since then we earn much more than what we used to and are feeling much more in control...
I am the one that is motivated to get the mortgage paid off as this would mean I could retire early or work in job that I enjoy rather than a job that pays well but I don't enjoy IFSWIM
Once a few OP have been made and a new statement arrives showing what a difference that has made, am sure OH will get a bit more motivated... At the moment she feels like she deserves a break after 10 years of studies and hard work to get to the level she is now, and I can't blame her...

Back to to the Mortgage busting! Have a great weekend!

Froggy G

dexter_fan

Hi Froggy G and Welcome :j

I have a NR mortgage, (but not a Together type). I have online access and every OP,no matter how small, shows up after about 2/3 days. It is really inspiring and has become addictive.

Good luck on your MFW journey

DF

Froggy-G

dexter_fan wrote: »

Hi Froggy G and Welcome :j

I have a NR mortgage, (but not a Together type). I have online access and every OP,no matter how small, shows up after about 2/3 days. It is really inspiring and has become addictive.

Good luck on your MFW journey

DF

Morning DF! :j

Now I realised what I forgot to ask NR when I phoned them the other day.. I did ask about checking the balance online a few months back but it was not possible.. I assume this has now changed...
Does the online access show you all the transactions on the account or just a current balance?

Thanks for the tip

Froggy G

[Deleted User]

Hi Froggy G and welcome to MF!
as others have said it can get quite addictive once you start !
great that you have OH on board and sounds like you have both done brilliantly in clearing all those debts!! well done
I too am doing this to eventually be able to do a job I enjoy or go part time rather than having to work at a certain level to pay the mortgage..
this board provides some great ideas an motivation...so far I have attempted selling things on amazon (must to ebay but not quite got round to that) , cut down on all the outgoings I can looking for the best prices on elec/mobile phone etc.., been more careful and planned meals for the wk when shopping and tried going down a brand on some things to save money ... every little helps as they say!!

gallygirl

Hi Froggy and welcome :T.

Am not familiar with the Together product, but think I can work it out from the name . Are both the loan and mortgage at the same rate? I assume the loan is higher. Did you find out what they will do with your OP? Will it be used to shorten term (which is what you want) or to reduce monthly payments?

Try sticking your details into whatsthecost.com - you can 'snowball' your debts - i.e. it shows you the impact of continuing the same monthly payments even once a loan is paid off. You can save it and update it each month to show the impact of overpayments during the month.

Good luck :j

Froggy-G

Morning all! :j

Northern Rock cashed my first OP cheque last Friday, so at least I know that it has reached its destination...:p

I have just sent another OP this morning - £150 :beer: - which OH transferred to me from her account... so that's the loan part of it going down nicely... That has seriously brightened up my Monday morning!!

Quidco has confirmed that a payment of £9.27 is making its way to my account.. We tend to keep all cashback money & vouchers to fund birthdays & xmas...;)

Hope you all have a great day!

Froggy G :rotfl:

Froggy-G

gallygirl wrote: »

Hi Froggy and welcome :T.

Am not familiar with the Together product, but think I can work it out from the name . Are both the loan and mortgage at the same rate? I assume the loan is higher. Did you find out what they will do with your OP? Will it be used to shorten term (which is what you want) or to reduce monthly payments?

Try sticking your details into whatsthecost.com - you can 'snowball' your debts - i.e. it shows you the impact of continuing the same monthly payments even once a loan is paid off. You can save it and update it each month to show the impact of overpayments during the month.

Good luck :j

Morning Gally Girl :j

The mortgage & the unsecured loan are at the same rate... Should we sell the house now or move lender, Northern Rock would not have a say on the house, however the rate of the loan (if not settled at selling/remortgaging point) would shoot up to a much higher interest rate, hence why we want to get rid of it first..

I will have a look at the website you mentionned, thanks!

have a great day!

Froggy G:rotfl:

Froggy-G

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:j Just realised I got a GOLD Star next to my name!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!

Froggy G :T

LilacPixie

Welcome Froggy.

I am not familiar with the workings of product you have but I have heard of it. My understanding is the loan part is at a preferential interest rate but not as low as the mortgage part.

Do you pay yur council tax over 10 months?? If so remember and pay the feb and march payments to your mortgage instead. I did this earlier this year and it was an easy way to overpay without noticing it.