Closing the mortgage to Open opportunities

Emsky123

Cant believe its come to this time again so soon, Its been a good week, I got the rest of my bonus from last month, I have £49 in quidco which i got for changing banks so money for nothing which is always good, Part of the bank switch also includes another £100 when you switch your DD's , This completed this week so i should get the £100 at the end of the month.

I phoned the bank on Monday to find out how much more i could OP before i reach my limit, They said they would post me a letter confirming the amount but I still have not received the letter which is annoying as i want to try to hit the limit next month so need to know what the target is.

I still have lots of stuff for a car boots but just cant face it at the moment. I also have around 3 bin bags full of the kids clothes that no longer fit, need to get it sorted.

My laptop decided to start shutting down and overheating so i thought i would have to get a new one, I phoned the company that made it as it had already had to be fixed once and luckerly they said it was still in warranty so they are collecting it next week to repair. Phew no big bill for a new one.

Just need to work out how much i have left from last months budget and how much i need for the holiday in 4 weeks then i can make this months OP. I know i can send at least £800 but hoping to squeeze a bit more.

Emsky123

Op sent today £800, Current mortgage balance is now £75010.04. I also spoke to the Mortgage company again as i have not had the letter yet confirming how much of the 10% OP limit is left. The letter was done yesterday so i should get in next few days, The Mortgage people told me the figure over the phone which is totally confusing, apparently i can still OP by £5,000 before reaching my limit, I was only expecting the figure to be a max of £3500 so have no idea how they work out the figure. The guy said that as the figure was in writing i can pay that amount without any penalties.

He also told me the current daily interest which is £9.71 -depressing!

Looks like i will need to set a few new targets now that the amount i can OP this year has gone up, Car boot is a must and may have to start Ebaying again.

Emsky123

Yesterday was not a good day, I received the letter from the Mortgage company but it was not what i expected. When i phone up all i asked for was a letter confirming how much i had left on my 10% limit. The letter i received confirms this but was accompanied by another letter telling me that my payments have been recalculated down by £80 per month - Seriously confused!

So i call them up and spend the next half hour getting very stressed and even more confused. They told me that due to my overpayments the capital had gone done which means the original figure they base my monthly payment on has changed meaning less interest and therefore part of my monthly payment would now actually be an overpayment, They therefore reduced my monthly figure so that i would not go over my 10% limit.

I am confused as i still have over £5K to go to the limit and £80 per month for the next 6 months is not going to cause me to go over limit. I also dont understand why they did not tell me they were going to do this, Surely it is up to me to ensure i dont go over the limit. The figure they use to work out the 10% limit is confusing again, I always thought it was worked out from the value of the mortgage at the start of the rolling period but now they tell me its the value of the Mortgage at the start of the last product i signed up to which was my fix 2 years ago so around £20k more.

Im so confused now, I have been overpaying for the last 4 years but never had this issue before, I thought i had finally understood how mortgages work (well sort off) and overpaying but now im even more in the dark.

To top of my day i had put the dinner on and gone to sort out the kids, When i got back down the OH had thought the dinner was just for him (last few days i have not had dinner) so he ate it all leaving me nothing, Not really his fault as i did not tell him i was actually hungry.

Emsky123

Just checked my bank account and there is £100 added today which was the incentive for switching banks, Quidco payment of £55 also received this week so not doing too bad.

Have been saving the extra's this month for our holiday in 3 weeks time, I have managed to save around £600 but i doubt we will need that much as we are only going for 5 days and will be eating round MIL's so just the days out to pay for, We are going to Blackpool on one day and to a nearby beach another day.

Im still confused over the mortgage and received two further letters from the bank changing my payments because of my overpayments. Does anyone else have a halifax mortgage? Does your payments get changed without notice? Im not sure how to get back on track now.

Have a day off work tomorrow so going swimming with DS and might pop to Mcdonalds for lunch as i have a voucher for 2 meals for a £5 so a reasonably cheap treat.

My Mil also asked if i still wanted to do a car boot sale as she does too, We are going to one in 2 weeks time so hopefully more funds for the OP pot.

Emsky123

The day just got even better, Opened the post to find a £40 gift card from Mr S for taking out their home insurance a few months back, Thats the shopping fund sorted for this week! Will add the money i normally have allocated for shopping to the OP pot :-)

Emsky123

I phone Halifax up today as i received another letter changing my monthly payment, As the payment keeps changing so much i never know where i am with my overpayments and worry about hitting the limit so in a moment of inspiration (or madness) I asked what the payments would be if i reduced the term by a year, The payment would be £150 more per month and the new payment would not change as it has already taken in to account all the previous overpayments therefore i could get back to knowing exactly how much i can overpay. I went for it so as of today my remaining term is now 4 years and 4 months. And that is before overpayments so hopefully i can still be on target to pay off from savings on 01.02.2013 when my fixed rate has ended.

Cant believe what is happening in London at the moment some people have no morals at all. I just hope everything settles down so that people are not living in fear for much longer.

summerday

Hi Emsky, you're doing so well.

I'm with Halifax too, when I have made OP's they have asked if I want to reduce the monthly payments or the term, I always say the term.

Keep up the good work.x

stedwell

Does changing the term make any difference to the calculated interest? ie. not as much as you are not borrowing the money for as long? (here's hoping!)

Emsky123

Hi Summerday,
Thanks for stopping by, I think its because i send the payments from my internet banking i really should call up after i make the payment to ask for it to come off the term.

Emsky123

hi Steadwell

As interest is calculated on a daily basis if you are paying over a less term you will pay less interest.