Hello everyone, please help AuntieMabel on her mortgage free mission!

Iris_Blue

Oh I really can't wait to see your kitchen. It's money well spent. Every home needs a good kitchen ..I can say that because mine is so small and my workspace is non existent.

Well done on the OP's.:j:j

Ayeshalush

Hi AuntieMabel

Thank you for posting on my diary. I have just read yours from the start and you are doing so well. I will be following your progress .

Your kitchen sounds like it will be fab when it's finished. Please post pictures so I can drool. What I would give for a new kitchen!!!

I agree too with the comments about managing mortgage accounts on line. Mine is with the Woolwich, which is now owned by Barclays, and has been for some time now. Barclays mortgage customers can see their mortgage accounts online but Woolwich one can't!! It's just not fair!!!:mad:

A
xx

Radish72

Halifax customers can see their mortgage on line but can't make OP's on line from a Halifax current account :mad::mad::mad: How annoying is that

Its my top complaint every time I make an OP either in the bank or over the phone. I'm on a one woman mission to change it

AuntieMabel

Our mortgage is with Bristol & West (recently bought out by Bank of Ireland), it's flexible as we can make OP at any time without penalty but only over the phone with a debit card .

I can see that if I could make OP online I WOULD be far more likely to shift money over in small amounts whenever I've made a saving, but having to phone up, wait in a queue, press buttons to get the correct dept etc is so much of a faff so I tend to just do it at the end of the month with what's left in the current account. I am generally good at not dipping into the OP money even though it's in the current account and therefore available, but it would be much better if it was safely out of my reach in the mortgage account (and paying mortgage off that bit quicker).

AuntieMabel

Today the kitchen looks like one you might find in a squat (think of the one in The Young Ones)

I have no units except the one holding the sink, and the hob is marooned temporarily in the middle of the kitchen floor - still usable though . Half the floor boards are up, plaster hacked off the walls and wires sticking out for new switches and sockets.

The kitchen table is now being used for storage, preparation and eating, so is rapidly disappearing under a pile of general 'stuff'. I've cooked loads of stuff in advance and frozen it, so we're now starting on that. Haven't had to resort to Pot Noodles - yet

Smile and breeaaaathe. Will all be worth it in the end :j

newgirly

It will all be worth it in the end, its just so stressful having your house turned upside down, 20 years is a long time , bet you can't wait!

cha97michelle

I feel for you auntie mabel. I did about 7 weeks without a kitchen last November/December, made worse because i also had a week with no progress because of the horrendous snow. It was so stressful trying to cook for us all, but i managed to do it without resorting to takeaways every night like some would. I hope yours progresses much quicker than mine did. I could not go through that again for a long time.

gallygirl

AuntieMabel wrote: »

Our mortgage is with Bristol & West (recently bought out by Bank of Ireland), it's flexible as we can make OP at any time without penalty but only over the phone with a debit card .

I can see that if I could make OP online I WOULD be far more likely to shift money over in small amounts whenever I've made a saving, but having to phone up, wait in a queue, press buttons to get the correct dept etc is so much of a faff so I tend to just do it at the end of the month with what's left in the current account. I am generally good at not dipping into the OP money even though it's in the current account and therefore available, but it would be much better if it was safely out of my reach in the mortgage account (and paying mortgage off that bit quicker).

Is there not another way? I'm assuming you do online banking - can you not just ask BofI for the mortgage account no & sort code and make OP's that way without going through the phone process? I have a mortgage with Stafford Railway BS which is not accessible on line but I make OP's that way (£4.57 yesterday :rotfl:). I have a spreadsheet which I record everything on, along with the daily interest etc, so I can keep a record then tick it off when the statement comes.

Good luck with the kitchen. I had a new one a year ago (though yours sounds swisher ) & I still love it. It's important not to lose sight that we still need to have a nice life even although we're hell bent on paying off the mortgage (that's what I tell myself anyway :rotfl:).

CathT

Hope the kitchen work isn't too chaotic, sounds like you made a good saving shopping around though. I would love a new kitchen but we need an extension first so it is not going to happen anytime soon!

never_too_old

gallygirl wrote: »

Is there not another way? I'm assuming you do online banking - can you not just ask BofI for the mortgage account no & sort code and make OP's that way without going through the phone process? I have a mortgage with Stafford Railway BS which is not accessible on line but I make OP's that way (£4.57 yesterday :rotfl:). I have a spreadsheet which I record everything on, along with the daily interest etc, so I can keep a record then tick it off when the statement comes.

Good luck with the kitchen. I had a new one a year ago (though yours sounds swisher ) & I still love it. It's important not to lose sight that we still need to have a nice life even although we're hell bent on paying off the mortgage (that's what I tell myself anyway :rotfl:).

I do the same with the woolwich, i either go into Barclays or go it online because i have the sortcode, account number etc.

because i PAD i sometimes send very small amounts , I phoned to check my balance and he said you have been paying some ridiculously small amounts, i asked if that was a problem he said no.
so i do it all the more now:D