Starting the mortgage free path

bownyboy

Morning all,

Payday today so time for monthly update:

January 2014 - £106,929 / £358 / £11.96
February 2014 - £105,967 / £355 / £11.85
March 2014 - £105,002 / £352 / £11.74

Savings & investments down slightly this month at £8,878 so effective mortgage of £96,124

bownyboy

So called up Santander today to enquire about Remortgaging onto the lifetime tracker of 2.39% fee free. Turns out this is only available for 'new' select customers and not existing select customers.

Very strange as the letter is worded as a thank you for existing customers loyalty! Will fire off an email to their complaints department (I was speaking with A&L mortgage department so maybe they didn't have all the info).

Anyway took the 2.49% fee free tracker rate, doesn't kick in until June when my 5 year fix ends, I thought when they said you could call 3-4 months before fix ends that it would be effective immediately, I've never remortgaged before so didn't realise this.

Only took 10 mins and means I will also be able to access account online at last.

Will keep an eye on interst rates and can always jump onto a fix if I need to.

bownyboy

Finally got round to upgrading my existing Santander current account into the 123 account.

I don't actual use the Satander current account, it was a requirement to set it up when we took out the mortgage (I have to have the direct debit come out of that account).

As my Tesco instant saver has now dropped to a miserly rate, I'll transfer that into the account, along with setting up direct debits on the account for my mortgage, the 123 site says I can earn £190 a year.

Beckyy

Have been meaning to check the 123 out, sounds like a really good account and a nice amount of cashback for you!

bownyboy

Beckyy wrote: »

Have been meaning to check the 123 out, sounds like a really good account and a nice amount of cashback for you!

I've been reading about it for a while and inertia has stopped me doing it. Applied online to convert my standard account into 123 yesterday and received email today saying its all done.

Logged in and saw its now set-up as 123 account.

Just spent 30 mins online moving Council Tax, Virgin Media, Water Direct Debits over to the 123 account. Annoyingly EDF you have to call up to do this due to 'security'.

Finally created a standing order from the account that my wages go into, over to the 123 account to cover the bills.

So, all-in-all, 45 minutes to earn £190 a year. Not bad at all.

bownyboy

Like many others I got a letter informing me that my cash ISA rate with Santander was dropping like a stone to 0.5% from next week.

So last night I decided to move it all into the 123 account so I earn 3%. Even though I loose the tax free status, I'm not bothered as a) I'm earning more than when it was in an ISA and b) its my emergency pot so it needs to accessible quickly.

The focus now is maxing out my S&S ISA from April with a £990 contribution per month to build up retirement pot / income for later life.

cb4fwh

bownyboy wrote: »

So called up Santander today to enquire about Remortgaging onto the lifetime tracker of 2.39% fee free. Turns out this is only available for 'new' select customers and not existing select customers.

Very strange as the letter is worded as a thank you for existing customers loyalty! Will fire off an email to their complaints department (I was speaking with A&L mortgage department so maybe they didn't have all the info).

Anyway took the 2.49% fee free tracker rate, doesn't kick in until June when my 5 year fix ends, I thought when they said you could call 3-4 months before fix ends that it would be effective immediately, I've never remortgaged before so didn't realise this.

Only took 10 mins and means I will also be able to access account online at last.

Will keep an eye on interst rates and can always jump onto a fix if I need to.

Bownyboy,

If I was you, I would ring the dedicated Santander Select phone number rather than the A&L remortgaging number - I bet that you will get a different answer!

I work for another major bank currently, and having worked closely with the customer facing sections of the business, have seen that training is poor & you'll usually just get fobbed off...

Also surprised about the the new rate not being immediate. Like you, thought that it would be! I have remortgaged before, but always after the previous deal has expired...

bownyboy

cb4fwh wrote: »

Bownyboy,

If I was you, I would ring the dedicated Santander Select phone number rather than the A&L remortgaging number - I bet that you will get a different answer!

I work for another major bank currently, and having worked closely with the customer facing sections of the business, have seen that training is poor & you'll usually just get fobbed off...

Also surprised about the the new rate not being immediate. Like you, thought that it would be! I have remortgaged before, but always after the previous deal has expired...

Yeah, I was too busy today to give Select a call, I will try tomorrow to see what they have to say. Apart from that (not so) special rate I fail to see what else the Select service actually offers?

bownyboy

Does anyone else track their net worth? Its something I vaguely knew about over the years but did nothing about. Over the last few months as I've been reading lots of blogs and trying to educate myself, I realised I should know my networth and be able to measure it month by month to track trends and progress.

I feel this will help me on my investment and mortgage free quest, but at a glance seeing where I can improve things.

So after reading a series of excellent net worth reviews online (the website escapes me) I then found a free template online here which I've started using the last 5 months right after payday.

I also added a sheet with some simple charts showing net worth vs liabilities vs assets by month.

I feel much more in control now!

gallygirl

In addition to that Bownyboy, try tracking where your income comes from. If you've read Rich Dad Poor Dad you'll be familiar with the concept but basically you analyse your income to see what % is in which sector. The aim is to get unearned income on the right hand side from owning a business (which you don't personally run but take profits from) and investments. I found it really interesting to break down into percentages like this:



The CASHFLOW Quadrant defines how different people generate their income or money. On the left side, the E (Employee) and S (Self-employed or Specialist) focus on earning income and greatly value a safe, secure job or career. On the right side, the B (Business owner) and I (Investor) focus on creating assets to provide their income source using other people's time and money. Above all, they value financial freedom.