Starting the mortgage free path

bownyboy

Mortgage Update

Update for April as mortgage payment has just gone through:

• January 2013 - £118,289 / £418 / £13.95
• February 2013 - £117,302 / £393 / £13.11
• March 2013 - £116,372 / £390 / £13.00
• April 2013 - £115,439 / £386 / £12.90

So great to be under £13 a day interest finally. Total interest to-date will be £1,587 in April.

Ring fenced ISA savings are £2,000 which gives an effective balance of £113,439 outstanding

Holiday
Had a great chilled week in Normandy. Very cold! But no rain (or snow!) which was good.

Only spent about 100 euros in total as we cooked in most nights as well as making packed lunches during the day.

Was great to get away, no TV, no wifi, no iPad, just good books, pack of cards, fine wine and company.

bownyboy

So my girlfriend has entered us in our village open gardens in June, its for charity of your choosing (you charge a nominal entry fee and then have a donation box for teas / coffees).

Realise though that I need to get a lot done in just over 2 months! Spent 2 days at weekend trimming back hedges and trees (we have a C shaped garden around the house facing south, west and north).

We're lucky in that its a well established garden, but its showing its age with gaps appearing, some trees have died and the border plants needing replacing (not to mention a whole load of weeding).

Made a start, but have put an order in for 4 trees and a variety of flowering plants. Total spend about £150, which is the most I've ever spent on plants, however after 4 years the garden is needing some attention so I think its going to be worth it.

I'll put a photo up nearer the time to show before and after.

bownyboy

Got my buildings & contents renewal email through today from Policy Expert. For the first time ever I have been offered same price as last year, £184. Now being MSE I didn't actually pay that as I got £60 or thereabouts cash back from Quidco.

Will have to do some research tonight to see if I can get a better offer. If not the renewal deal is still pretty good (prior to this I was stupidly paying around £350 a year!)

bownyboy

Mid month blues, time for some stats to keep the motivation up:

Checking My Mortgage app on my ipad, shows me that since January 2011 I've made £24,267 in overpayments and saved £28,145 in interest and knocked off 5.3 years from my 25 year mortgage.

Phew.

bownyboy

Decided to start a separate thread on my open garden journey in the green fingered money saving forum here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4554091

We have 8 weeks to get our garden in order, so follow my journey as I try to figure out the names of everything in our garden!

michelle2008

bownyboy wrote: »

Mid month blues, time for some stats to keep the motivation up:

Checking My Mortgage app on my ipad, shows me that since January 2011 I've made £24,267 in overpayments and saved £28,145 in interest and knocked off 5.3 years from my 25 year mortgage.

Phew.

That is amazing - puts my more humble efforts to shame!!

Well done

bownyboy

michelle2008 wrote: »

That is amazing - puts my more humble efforts to shame!!

Well done

Hi Michelle,

Thanks, its a slog and I keep thinking of mini milestones to keep me motivated each month. My overpayment is a standing order same time every month, plus I don't have online access so I can't see the impact of my overpayments which is a drag.

bownyboy

Payday yesterday, 1st of the month which means my payment and overpayments have gone through. Stats below:

• January 2013 - £118,289 / £418 / £13.95
• February 2013 - £117,302 / £393 / £13.11
• March 2013 - £116,372 / £390 / £13.00
• April 2013 - £115,439 / £386 / £12.90
• May 2013 - £114,508 / £383 / £12.79

Ring fenced ISA savings are £2,000 which gives an effective balance of £112,508 outstanding

bownyboy

Got three MSE holiday weeks booked in for this year now.

1 - 4 days off at end of May to potter around the garden and allotment, maybe visit some national trust and royal palaces
2 - Invited to stay with family in southern spain in July. Managed to get two return flights for £300 with easyJet, just need spending money and contribution to food and we're all set
3 - Local friends invited us to stay with them, again in southern spain at the end of August for a week. Villa with a pool which is nice! Flights are looking much more expensive at around £400 each return (clobbering all those families trying to get back before school starts I imagine)

Good to have things to look forward to, so that life is not all about mortgage paying down!

bownyboy

Happy house moving in Anniversary to us today. 4 years ago today we got the keys and moved into our lovely house.

Can't quite believe its gone this quickly and only have 12 months left on the 5 year fix. Starting to wonder now what we will do this time next year. Considering I'll want to pay the mortgage off in 4 years from 2014 not sure what the best option will be.

Who knows what interest rates will be.