MF Quest

house_help

My advice keep trying as best you can to overpay, to see the difference between what the balance would have been and what it is after the OPs is good to see. I think also OP'ing at the start has the biggest impact (over the long run) and also will give more options when come to re-mortgage (in terms of lower LTVs etc..)

house_help

Target for 2013 has been set at continuing the max OP allowed without penalty i.e. £6k or £500 per month. I sent the January OP over on the 2nd

I am also considering OP'ing my student loan as credit interest rates for cash sat in the bank are so low it makes some sense. I will see where I am at the end of January.

We plan a holiday to Canada this year that will be cost more that we have saved in the holidays fund, not sure of exactly how much more yet. Will see how that goes before OP the SL.

Over quite period in the holiday I change our electricity provider so wating for that to complete. Will get £50 cashback when it does and the price will be a little lower than current provider.

gecko

Hi house_help

Just caught up with your news, well done with the bathroom, we are currently getting ours done but I have only had the nerve to knock down a wall (non-load bearing) and clear the place of tiles, wallpaper, etc. Getting a plumber in to do all the pipe moving and putting in the new sanitary ware.

Glad your OP's have gone well, we are in the same boat, 7.5k (£500 a month since the start) has been wiped off the mortgage, so down to 120k now. I'm not sure about paying down the student loan, I thought the interest rate on it was still quite low (less than a regular saver) so maybe double check beforehand.

Had some good news earlier in the year, my wife is expecting a baby (our first) in Feb so the overpayments may go on hold for a while, until we see how much spare money we have. I have seen so many inspirational posts from people who are still managing to pay off bits, i'm hoping we'll be fine!

Hope you enjoyed Canada (I don't expect you'll read this until your back!)

Gecko

house_help

Hi Gecko, congrats on your news. I'm sure it will take a bit of getting used to in the first few months but things will settle.

Canada will not be until the summer so not there yet Still planning and organising as we will book everything ourselves and drive around few places staying at different hotels. Will be in western canada around Banff/ Calgary and hopefully get across to Vancouver too. We will see!

The plumbing for bathroom was not difficult as we didn't move toilet / sink from where they were just replaced them, the only exception was the new bath which has the taps and plug in the middle where as other was at the end, that was a bit fiddly. I had a workman in for the tiling, laying the floor and certainly worth it for the finish and also the wall was not straight or level so a lot of diffilcult tile cutting needed!

The current DIY job is my home office. Biggest job has been sanding back a ceiling beam the previous owners had painted a very bright red using some very thick outdoor masonary paint (!). I have been sanding it every now and then for ages and getting no where fast. I bit the bullet and got a dremel from amazon on their boxing week deals (had some vouchers from topcashback to us ) and that finished the job in one night! Next job is tidying the plaster around the window which is falling off, then paint walls, celing and wax the beams. We have some new carpet bought in sales ready to go in once that is donw and then finally I can put all the office furniture bought in auction into its new home. I am looking forward to it as after each uni module I have an essay to write and a good room with desk to do it in will help.

I am also not sure on the SL OP, I pay higher rate tax so need to get 2.5%+ credit interest to stop it being the better option (SL rate is 1.5%). There are a few reg savers paying more than that but I already have 4 of them, two of them end next month, one I will open the same again but the other is no longer available so thinking I will divert the funds from that into the SL, will see what interest rates are at end of the month.

house_help

Office nearly done now, weekend of painting and the carpet fitter coming today. Just need to tidy the plaster around the window, wax the beam and find some curtains and will be complete

Have decided with the SL to OP £4k next month via £3k from maturing reg saver and £1k from stoozed money from int free cc not due to be paid back for another 12 months. The SL will then be paid in December of this year by my reg monthly payments from salary My current instant saver bonus interest ends next month and best I can find is an old account I have open which is paying 2.36% therefore may aswell pay it off and drip feed reg savers using some remainder left in the stooze fund and then the extra monthly pay from Jan next year

For me I will be glad to see it gone off the payslip each month, probably a bigger pyschological benefit that true monetary but will be worthy of extra christmas celebration at the end of the year.

Big expense this month as oil tank needs filling up, that will be over £600. It has been a year since last fill so running at about £50 a month on average which is not too bad for 4 bed house. Getting the front door replaced this year which will make a big difference as current one is drafty. I have also bought a new electric shower for downstairs bathroom (was on amazon warehouse for £40), girlfriends birthday present, the dremel and case for our tablet. The rest of the month will be low spend however as have essay to finish to weekend at home and then back to uni for final week so expenses paid for the week

I am also trying to eat healthier, suprised to have taken 5lbs off in first couple weeks and looking to get probably about a stone / may be 2 stone off in total. Will be harded to shift the next lot im sure. It is also saving me money, soup in work canteen only 40p a day, salad £1 or basic sandwich free versus £2+ for usual hot meal I have been getting. No chocolate from supermarket on Friday run also but fruit snacks are just as expensive though I think.

Finally we are also having a clear out of stuff stored in spare room (as likely decorate in there next) so lots of DVDs, games etc.. for Music Magpie and text books for Fat Brain. I reckon we will have about £50 worth in total as a lot of the text books are recent for current uni course, will add that to SL OP lump sum.

house_help

Got payment in for a job I did recently that will help with this months budget

I forgot to pay my council tax last month (pay via CC to get cashback) so had to double up on this months CC bill due end of the month, I also have over £500 of work expenses on there that not got back yet, my boss has been away so not approved yet. Hopefully they be approved and paid before CC bill goes out.

Oil has been delivered and was just over £600, so little bit cheaper that last year. Hopefully will last as long. Using a lot at the moment given the cold weather. Also the new bigger bath will probably mean more used but the new electric shower (with more power) should bring it back down. The current shower has very little power so not used a lot.

I have lost another 2lb, so about half a stone off since start of year.

New carpet in office looks great, real good job by the fitters. Just the curtains to find now and will be done

house_help

I have finally got around to applying for FD current account to get the £125 and also was looking to move as had few bad experiences with current bank (Santander). Also one of the reg savers coming to end next month was a reward one with them that required the current accounts. I will open a FD reg saver when that account is open.

Im at uni this week so will be limited spending and food etc.. paid for. Also means no petrol costs during the week

Have booked a weekend away in Feb, good deal with a new hotel so hope its OK.

house_help

Had seen posted in the savings forum that FD are suspending applications for the reg saver from start of month, managed to get my online banking details from them for the 1st account I applied for last week and opened the reg saver whilst its still at 8%. Lucky timing and good job i spotted the thread otherwise would have waited until after I cam back from uni and the reg saver either gone or with reduced interest.

HelenDaveKids

I need to review our accounts too, perhaps need to also take a look.

Sounds like its all going well.

house_help

£500 OP for Feb sent across this morning . Balance getting close to being < £150k now, will probably dip under after next months reg payment I think

Had a nice weekend after coming back from busy week at Uni last week. Even managed a little bit of time in the garden on Saturday. Sawed down a few bushes that we wanted rid of and dug out the main roots. Took a while but the garden looks better for it and more light coming into the house. Still plently of chopping and tidying to do, hopefully the weather will stay dry and let us get out and do it.

Booked appointment in the BS for next monday to get reg saver money out - will then send that to the student loan. I also have more cash stoozed I may use to pay it off completely. Will see.

Aiming for a low spend month in Feb, I have already paid for the hotel for our break next weekend (will be some spending around it but already booked and paid for dinner), no council tax and other than curtains for the office we don't need any thing for house DIY currently (all work is simply preparing and needs time not any money spent). We will see how it goes.

The healthy eating continues. Now 10 pounds off, pushing to get to a stone before the end of the month. Finding healthy options last week whilst away was difficult. The only problem is some of my jeans are becoming loose, will need to invest in some belts and dont fancy buying whole new wardrobe, it will however give some incentive as when I buy new stuff it will be a size down so will need to keep it off in order to fit in new cloths