Did they pay off the mortgage in 2 years?

cazmanian_minx

Just found this on the BBC website - looks like they're finishing filming in a couple of days' time:

Did They Pay Off The Mortgage In Two Years?
Unplaced
Day and time to be confirmed BBC TWO (Title updated 22 December)

According to BBC research, 85 per cent of Britons believe that paying off their mortgage is the single most important factor that would allow them to live out their dreams. Two years ago, eight households from across the country stepped up to take on the challenge of paying off their mortgage in just 24 months. Their deadline is midnight on New Year's Eve 2006 and some of the contestants are now incredibly close.

This series is presented by international businessman and motivational speaker, Rene Carayol. "We started out trying to do the things that others said could not be done and our focus was mortgages, but these have proved to be stories about people, very courageous people," he says. "Some of the people on our programme have made the most unbelievable changes to their lives and they will never go back to where they were before."

Until a few years ago, Dan and his partner, Lucy, along with their two sons, Lanyon and Ewon, spent their time surfing and lived in a VW campervan. Lucy is a part-time yoga teacher and Dan a self-employed blacksmith. Then they bought a cottage in St Ives in Cornwall and, in order to afford their repayments on a joint income of just over £18,000, took out a mortgage with a 30-year term.

Rene took Dan and Lucy's accounts in hand and put them on a strict financial diet. He also identified a design made by Dan in his workshop which he thought had huge potential. By the end of year one, the couple had cleared all their debts and had a new target: within a year, they wanted to have made and sold 100 wood-burning stoves to Dan's unique, award-winning design, allowing them to pay off their mortgage. Their full story, told in the first of this new series, is truly inspiring.

In later programmes, the series catches up with Neil and Steph from Luton; Paddy and Mandy from Surrey; Andrew and Jean from Wakefield; Arthur and Mary from Essex; Anne-Marie and Sean from Coventry; Heather and Chloë from Cornwall; and Duncan from London.

I'm really hoping Dan & Lucy have done it, they were lovely.

Caz

cazmanian_minx

Ah-HA, looks like the first episode will be Thursday 11th January - I've just found a program guide for the second:

Did They Pay Off The Mortgage
In Two Years? Ep 2/6
Thursday 18 January (Updated 22 December)
Time to be confirmed BBC TWO

Business guru Rene Carayol brings his expertise and business contacts to the aid of the Casey-Poole family from Coventry, as they attempt to pay off their £108,000 debt. A story of triumph, fallibility and personal tragedy ensues as they embark upon a two-year rollercoaster ride to change their lives.

Anne-Marie and Sean Casey-Poole are one of the eight households who stepped up to the challenge of trying to pay off their mortgage in just two years. The deadline was midnight on New Year’s Eve 2006 and Rene is back to find out how well the family did.

Anne-Marie (34) and Sean Casey (41) and their two young children, three-year-old Mikey and eight-year-old Lauren, began the experiment in a poor financial position. Their mortgage was £85,000 and Rene has worked with them to ensure that they first paid off their credit card debts and loans, which amounted to £23,000.

During the two years, they suffer a family tragedy and Anne-Marie ceases to be the main earner in the household, as she struggles to come to terms with her loss. It is left up to Sean, whose previous job had earned him £10,000 per year, to take centre stage – literally – and become the family breadwinner. Sean begins the second year of the experiment by setting up his own business as a stage hypnotist.

Please note: This episode replaces that previously billed in Programme Information.

Caz

comping_cat

Ohhhhh, the reason this board was set up!!!! Will be interesting to finally see how they all did, personally it looked to me that nobody would do it, but judging by those reviews, maybe some of them have got close!!!!!

mrs_deadline

Thanks for the tip-off! Can't wait to find out how they all got on.

Satellite Week has it starting on Thursday 11th January at 7.30 pm on BBC2.
Also mentions wood-burning stoves so I think Dan and Lucy are first up!

tomstickland

Hopefully it'll be available on the bbc website for me to watch.

Lotta_Littlies

Looks like Dan and Lucy's programme is here (haven't played it all so don't know): http://www.wcsx.net/carayol/poym/poymdl.php

Lotta

tomstickland

I've just started watching this and about 10 minutes in I'm feeling all motivated.
I've got another car down the yard that needs breaking up into bits for Ebay. Must get on with it!

Looks like the first program to me.

jayne.doe

I found the programme interesting but not for me personally. I found what the presenter was expecting was an austere life and for two yrs I just couldnt do that. I want to pay my mortgage off early but life is also for living. I certainly did not fancy Lucy`s nettle soup.:) But hey good luck and well done if anyone of them did. Just a thought Rene was asked on breakfast time tv if he still has a mortgage........ He does mmmm wonder if he practices what he preaches:).

Slinky

Sean and Anne Marie are registered with MSE and were posting on here earlier in the year. I look forward to seeing how they got on.

cazmanian_minx

Well it looks like Lucy's got a thriving business now as well as Dan and his hot pods:

http://www.lucyaldridgeyoga.co.uk/

Really interested in seeing how everybody's got on (OK, so I'm seriously nosy!) - but am curious as to why the BBC have only scheduled 6 or 7 (depending on which press release you read) programmes when there were originally 8 couples.

Caz

caseya

jayne.doe wrote:

I found the programme interesting but not for me personally. I found what the presenter was expecting was an austere life and for two yrs I just couldnt do that. I want to pay my mortgage off early but life is also for living. I certainly did not fancy Lucy`s nettle soup.:) But hey good luck and well done if anyone of them did. Just a thought Rene was asked on breakfast time tv if he still has a mortgage........ He does mmmm wonder if he practices what he preaches:).

Just so you know we did not have an austere life for 2 years but have found smarter and cheaper ways to enjoy life like going to free cinema screenings and walks with the children. Hope you enjoy the episode - obviously I can't give anything away before it is aired but I do look forward to your views. All I can say is I have had highs and lows and it has been an experience I will never forget, it has changed our lives completely in so many ways. (I'll never pay full price for anything ever again!):T