Five years for Spigs to be Mortgage Free!

Spiggle

Hi All,

I just thought I'd put an update on now as I've had to rethink my overpayments next month to the mortgage offset savings (MOS).

We're almost at the point of completing our bathroom refurb/redec which has set us back approx £900. This was budgetted for (well it was savings that could have gone on a holiday but after deep discussion we decided to spend on the home instead) but has left me with very little in terms of a safety net. (I do of course have my piggy bank accounts but don't want to raid them!) In all honesty I could think of the regular saver or MOS as a safety net but I won't as it's allocated to the mortgage.

Coupled with that, our wooden front gate fell off last week rotted through. So I have to pay £340 out to replace with steel gates. This has not been budgetted for. So I will have to reduce the amount of monthly payment to the MOS for the next couple of months to get myself back on track. Obviously any 'spare' money at the end of each of these months will go to topping the MOS up to the maximum level.

We're well on target for our overpayments this year so I'm trying to be cool about this. It does pain me but it is the sensible option.

I may get some extra money in at the end of September and if so that will put me straight and allow me to book a good long holiday for us for next Easter as we have promised ourselves. We shall see.

Right that's all but I needed to get this down in writing so I know where we are!

Take care all,
Spigs

Spiggle

Well smack my wrists I haven't updated on here since August!!! :eek:

So we had a month of minimal mortgage offset savings (MOS) paid but managed to put a bit more into it in the October payment. I also really screwed myself up with my spreadsheet - too many calculations and I just couldn't see where I was! I've now done a new one to run with my mortgage year and left out a lot of the stuff - back to basics I suppose.

My mortgage statements came earlier this month and so the stats as of 30th September were:

Mortgage one - £40,685.64 @ 0.19% above BoE = 0.69%
Mortgage two - £ 5268.12 @ 0.99% above BoE = 1.49%
Mortage Total - £45,953.76

Credit Card - £1087 @ 0% to October 2012 ish (being paid @ £95 pm)

Total Debt Outstanding £47,040.45

The October mortgage, cc and MOS payments went out earlier this month and so as of today we have the following debts:

Mortgage one - £40,311.64
Mortgage two - £ 5,176.12
Mortage Total - £45,487.76

Credit Card - £992

Total Debt Outstanding £46,479.45

But we also have in our MOS £4,400 leaving us with a net debt of £42,079.45.

And we have 10 years officially left to pay the mortgages off but they will be gone by the time I'm 55!

Spent all day today getting home insurance quotes, aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!! Tearing my hair out and if I have to input my details again I may well lose it! :rotfl:

OK, off to have some supper so I'll see you all again soon I hope.

Take care,
Spigs

Long_tall_sally

Nice to see an update Spiggle!

Spiggle

Thank LTS,

It's good to feel back in control again!

All the best,
Spigs

Spiggle

Hi everyone,

Time for a November update I think.

The November mortgage and MOS payments went out earlier this month and so as of today we have the following debts:

Mortgage one - £39,937.64
Mortgage two - £ 5,084.12
Mortage Total - £45,021.76

The credit card payment hasn't yet gone out for this month but will stand at £897 after tomorrow.

I'm really pleased that the main mortgage has gone below the £40k mark as that's a real milestone. :j

In addition to the actual balances, we also have £5200 in the MOS accounts and so for the first time the balance there completely covers the second mortgage. It's going to be so very good in March when the reg savers mature to pay the second mortgage off completely. Therefore our net amount outstanding as of tomorrow is £40,718.76. :T

All in all a good report for this month I think!

See you soon,
Spigs

Long_tall_sally

Looking good Spiggle!

Spiggle

Thanks LTS,

I am very pleased.

I know however that I will have to stop myself from paying off what will be left on the 0% cc when March comes. You see, I get that if I'm paying no interest on the card then I should not pay it off. But, and it's a big but for the other half of my head, :think: I just see that I pay £95 per month on that and it could instead be paid towards the main mortgage making us MF all the quicker.

It could be that this confusion arises every so often because we're so very lucky with the interest rates we have I suppose. And because we are maxing the reg saver every month and intend to continue this past March (provided the deal is still available), I can't help but feel I'm maximising interest while also continuously reducing the mortgage capital which really works for me and helps psychologically. As well as offsetting I have to see the capital reducing because that's my aim.

Perhaps when I get there I'll have fully absorbed the benefit of saving at far higher rates than I'm paying out. We'll see. But that's a few months down the line. I'll try and be good, I promise! :rotfl:

Anyway, I'm off now but thanks for stopping by LTS, your encouragement is very much appreciated. :beer:

Take care and see you soon,
Spigs

Spiggle

Morning All,

Well the first part of the December OP has gone out at £98. The remainder will go on the 8th but it will only be £600 rather than the £800 I had intended which would have brought us back to max in the reg saver. It's a bit disappointing tbh but needs must and all that. I will try and boost it back up in Jan or Feb.

I blame it on buying quite a few clothing things for both me and OH that were needed. While I piggy bank each month for this it's nowhere near enough to cover I now realise. _pale_

Later this month, probably when I'm off for the Christmas break, I need to thoroughly review the budget set for the year. :think: I use the one from the main site and then transfer it onto a spreadsheet in which I monitor all spends.

There have been some surprising results this year with my budget for petrol being hugely underspent. :dance: There are an awful lot more though that have turned red. :doh: The car maintenance budget took a massive hammering with not only the service and MOT which were budgetted for but also four new premium tyres, rear brake dics/pads and my flaming wing mirror falling off leaving me with a bill for £80+! :eek:

I set myself a miscellaneous budget of £500 for the year but it's been far exceeded so needs unpacking into separate budget headings for 2012 such as dry cleaning, bicycle costs (for OH), household furnishings and the like. And as said above, I really need to up my clothes piggy banking amount every month.

In other news, I'm glad to be one of originalmiscellany's little helpers for the MFW2011 and MFW2012 threads. The MFW2011 has been brilliant for me this year in monitoring and keeping on top of payments so I'm looking forward to the new year on there.

Right, I'll stop waffling now. Thanks for stopping by if you got this far!

Take care,
Spigs

Spiggle

Well here I am again.

The mortgage offset savings (MOS) went out today and so it's time for an update on my figures. This will be my last payment against the mortgage for 2011 and is therefore my year end final position.

We managed to substantially beat the target I set for the MFW2011 challenge where the target was £5700 and we succeeded in raising our actual payments to £7964, that's 139.72% of target! :T To be honest though this is attributable to changing the way I was making OPs in March and switching the largest proportion to the reg saver @ 8%. Because I wanted to max the accounts, this meant that I consciously increased the amount being paid each month in 'standard' OPs up to then. As I've said before, it doesn't matter that paying toward the mortgage is not the most effective way as I have to see the balance coming down as well as savings going up. It's all psychology! :rotfl:

I am looking forward to 2012 though as it will hopefully be the same each month making my calculations a lot easier! Still in a quandry as to how to deal with the 2nd mortgage come March though. :doh: My natural inclination is to immediately pay off the amount outstanding so that I can throw maximum monthly amounts at the main mortgage. The bit of me that has learned lessons from MSE though says take the money and fill up ISAs before anything else. I will try and come to a decision on this when I do the budget later this month - promise!

Anyway, the end of 2011 figures are:

Mortgage one - £39,563.64
Mortgage two - £ 4,992.12
Mortage Total - £44,555.76

The 0% CC debt stands at £801.69

Giving a total debt of £45,357.45

We also have MOS of £5,800 leaving a net debt of £39,557.45. Broken the £40k mark! :dance: Pretty damned pleased with that.:j

So, I've updated my signature but will be changing it soon to reflect the new targets of 2012 (and to make it briefer as it often gets chucked back at me for being too long!)

I'd like to say a huge thanks to all those who have helped, advised and supported me in 2011, thank you. :A

I'll probably be back before 2012 but just in case I don't, have a fab christmas and all the very best for a MSE new year.

Thanks and take care,
Spigs

Long_tall_sally

Interesting reading Spiggle. Your figures are looking good.

Merry christmas to you & yours too.

LTS