Ultrarunner's aim to be mortgage-free

ultrarunner

A pretty good sporting weekend all in all :-) Rugby, cycling and now Andy Murray winning :j:j:j

Been pushing on with my Uni dissertation, it's about 85% finished, hoping to finish in time to sneak down to Wales next weekend for a mate's stag do... it will be touch and go however.

New phone arrived and working out fine, I get cashback on redemption so have made a note to send the relevant bills off at the given time. Mind you, when you get a new phone there's covers, car chargers and a spare charger for work to sort out as well! Done some ebaying for that.

Done a bit of work in the garden this weekend, and once my dissertation is over I plan to make a new bed and extend another one. Also bought a BBQ yesterday as it was half price, and my roommate suggested we do a BBQ to celebrate the end of my dissertation - she's worth her weight in gold sometimes! :T

Contemplating a late getaway this year to South Africa as my mate working there is about to move to Ghana or Nigeria and I'm not sure they're the safest places to visit... a bit cheeky having a 2nd holiday but there you are

I don't think I've made any overpayments so far this year... BUT I have made my garden usable and paid off a lot of debt so I'm happy from that perspective Plan for the 2nd half of the year is to do a few more home improvements - electrics and fitting a loft ladder.

Beckyy

Well done on paying off your debts! I'd be sorely tempted by the 2nd holiday too

ultrarunner

Yes, I'm looking forward to it! Going to skype with my buddy tomorrow to sort it out :j

Celebrations here as I have just submitted my dissertation! :beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

Now to crack on with a load of plans for the house and garden... and I have a lot of friends to go and visit who I haven't seen in ages! :j

I've got a big list of things I want to do, just to make my house a bit more homely over the next few months

For now though, beer and sunbathing in the garden

Not run all week, so tomorrow's priority is a nice long run in the sun

ultrarunner

Well it's been all year, but Thursday I finally made my first overpayment of the year, £500 against the element of the mortgage which is linked to base rate (as it's more than half the mortgage I'm worried about my exposure here). Not much but a start. Balance is still about 126k, I suppose my aim over the next few years is to just keep up the overpayments.

Credit card is finally paid off, and my new 0% card has arrived for next years season ticket.

South Africa holiday booked, my mate is kindly paying for car-hire and internal flights so that will make it a bit cheaper, plus he reckons it's fairly cheap spending wise over there. Looking forward to that, only 5 weeks to go!

Passed my degree, which is cause for celebration. Won't be going to graduation as it's £40 per guest ticket which I refuse to pay.

Jobwise I am looking at some new jobs, and have had a few interviews, didn't get the roles but they also didn't really grab me. Got another lined up with a major web retailer but from what I hear they work you very hard (though they pay you well). Work-life balance is my concern. Plenty of interesting things happening at work so I could always stay put, but I just find the commute tiring and a real pain!

What other news... won £70 in a raffle at a race I did last week, that covered the petrol there and back! Also been lining up my races for next year.

Haven't got as much done on the house as I wanted. Did get some shelves up, but still not got the loft access and consumer unit sorted. Have had a quote to fix my non-working extractor fan though so making some process. Still there's plenty of time and none of these are problems, just improvements!

toerag33

:T degree :T :beer: Congratulations :beer:. Well done. i think you should have spent the money to mark the occasion / achievement! Enjoy your hols as much as I enjoy reading your writings.
toerag33

ultrarunner

£400 overpayment made today ... payday tomorrow.

Graduation in one weeks time (I relented in the end), then I'm off on holiday straight afterwards!

Life is busy!

ultrarunner

Gosh no update for a few weeks

Been so busy. Well... graduation went well. Holiday to Sth Africa was amazing, very cheap out there despite me spending a lot of money on souvenirs. My buddy insisted on paying for all the hotels and car hire as I had paid to go out to see him (£900 flight!) so very cheap out there. Well worth the flight for the great times I had

Came back to a job interview - decent salary bump, closer to home, the logical next move - which I had a few hours after landing. Also got another interview lined up next week. My current work want me to move into an under-performing team and turn it around as well (but no extra pay for this) :cool: Think my time at my current job is coming to an end, at least it will when I find the right move.

Car passed it's MOT, good work car! :j It is nearly 15 years old and not worth much (though still in good order) so it is only one major repair from being replaced I guess. Luckily it hasn't yet done 100k miles so still going strong. I treated it to new breakdown cover as a present :j

Expenses coming up with cooker hood being fixed, also boiler being serviced. But I got some money for my birthday so that is covered.

Lodger still happy living here which is good news.

Time to assess what sort of overpayment to make this month.

ultrarunner

£400 overpayment made

Waiting on the guy to fix the cooker hood. Hoping he will turn up soon and be quick as I need to get into work.

Hoping to make a further overpayment this month once I have paid all this stuff up.

Off to Wales for the weekend to see my 94 yr old Nanna so that will be a bit of a spend on petrol

ultrarunner

Further £300 overpaid...

Cooker hood fixed

Long hours at work this week now I am in a new team. Having to train someone all day and then do my work after hours. Not enough time for running :-(

Looking forward to my weekend seeing Nanna and running on the beach

ultrarunner

Alas no run on the beach... car wouldn't start. By the time it going (just a bit cold) I got there too late to get out on the beach.

Anyway a decent visit, you never know when you'll see elderly relatives for the last time.

Payday tomorrow, and a £400 overpayment to be made to begin with.

Almost time to renew the annual season ticket via 0% credit card. Despite wanting to change jobs soon I think I'll still go for it in case I end up staying and I can get the refund if I leave.

Considering selling some units I have in an investment trust which aren't really doing anything - approx 2.5k in value, which I could put into the mortgage (better than my paltry Isa, one of those Natwest ones whose rate will drop soon!).

Any thoughts on this? Part of my mortgage rate is low - 2.5% at Base rate + 2% for 64k, and then 56k fixed until 2017 at 4.09%. I'm prioritising the variable element currently as I would be vulnerable to a base rate rise when it inevitably rises in a few years. Perhaps over-cautious, but it makes me sleep easier at night!