Lulabelle's MFW Diary

lulabelle1

Lovely chat with friend from Oz.... sun still shining...... food shopping done.... sun still shining.....used the newspaper voucher to get £5 off at Aldi.... sun still shining....

Did I mention that it's sunny day?

ztan

We need the following threads:
"Spreadsheet Addicts Anon"
"Must Have A Project Anon"
"Keeping DOH/DOH on board"

Insert more here!

I love having projects, I go mad without them. Keep reminding DOH my next one could be planning our wedding...:rotfl:

lulabelle1

ztan wrote: »

We need the following threads:
"Spreadsheet Addicts Anon"
"Must Have A Project Anon"
"Keeping DOH/DOH on board"

Insert more here!

I love having projects, I go mad without them. Keep reminding DOH my next one could be planning our wedding...:rotfl:

I would definitely be members of those threads....

I would also join a thread which is:
"Spending to much at the supermarket"
"Far Too obsessed with pretty things"

Lula

lulabelle1

Right, been having a little think-a-thon......

Looks like DH and I agree that we should stay put for at least the next 2/3 years until the mortgage is reduced. And even then, we are trying to think along the lines of actually being mortgage free and enjoying it and using the spare money for fun and investments rather than saddling ourselves with a massive mortgage and extra rooms to clean.

So, with that in mind.....

At the moment, we have a fairly short mortgage term on each of our mortgages. Every time we OP, then the term reduces.

Our current mortgage is totally flexible and we can take back money when we want. it is on the BMR of 2% above base rate.

So, I'm thinking that it financially makes sense to extend the mortgage term to say 15/20 years in order to reduce the fixed payments each month. Continue to make as much in the way of OP's as can - meaning that our OP reserve will grow at a quicker rate.

I would also amend it so that the fixed monthly payment reduces rather than the mortgage term.

That way - if we decide that we want to either move down the line or perhaps purchase a B2L property - we will have access to all of the OP's that we have made - take those back and keep it on the 2.5% flexible mortgage rather than needing to borrow so much on a new mortgage.

Does it make sense or have I lost the plot??

Lula

ultimaforever

great thread, thanks for sharing

lulabelle1

ultimaforever wrote: »

great thread, thanks for sharing

Thanks for popping in.... Please allow me to give you your first "thank"!! :money:

ztan

Lula

I have re-read your thoughts a few times... and I have decided it makes sense to me and sounds like a good plan!

You have not lost it.

It gives you the flexibilty in the future which is good and reduces the payments now allowing you to OP more if you want to, and like you said you can get the OP's back in the future if you so chose.

I am not overly familar with an awful lot when it comes to extended/reducing terms and claiming back OP's.. but it makes sense to me!

lulabelle1

ztan wrote: »

Lula

I have re-read your thoughts a few times... and I have decided it makes sense to me and sounds like a good plan!

You have not lost it.

It gives you the flexibilty in the future which is good and reduces the payments now allowing you to OP more if you want to, and like you said you can get the OP's back in the future if you so chose.

I am not overly familar with an awful lot when it comes to extended/reducing terms and claiming back OP's.. but it makes sense to me!

Thanks Ztan, I was hoping it made sense! We will continue to OP as much as possible and will not spend what we save (on the reduced fixed payment) on magic beans......

It's nice knowing that we will have increased flexibility if we need it....

Lula

ajmoney

lulabelle1 wrote: »

Right, been having a little think-a-thon......

Looks like DH and I agree that we should stay put for at least the next 2/3 years until the mortgage is reduced. And even then, we are trying to think along the lines of actually being mortgage free and enjoying it and using the spare money for fun and investments rather than saddling ourselves with a massive mortgage and extra rooms to clean.

So, with that in mind.....

At the moment, we have a fairly short mortgage term on each of our mortgages. Every time we OP, then the term reduces.

Our current mortgage is totally flexible and we can take back money when we want. it is on the BMR of 2% above base rate.

So, I'm thinking that it financially makes sense to extend the mortgage term to say 15/20 years in order to reduce the fixed payments each month. Continue to make as much in the way of OP's as can - meaning that our OP reserve will grow at a quicker rate.

I would also amend it so that the fixed monthly payment reduces rather than the mortgage term.

That way - if we decide that we want to either move down the line or perhaps purchase a B2L property - we will have access to all of the OP's that we have made - take those back and keep it on the 2.5% flexible mortgage rather than needing to borrow so much on a new mortgage.

Does it make sense or have I lost the plot??

Lula

Lula, are we twins or something?

I have made the decision over the last 24 hours not to obsess about the mortgage so much. I think I am going into teaching when I leave my post in 9 and a half years so as long as I get a job after training then we will both be on fairly high wages (about the same as now). First and foremost we need to get our savings to a place we are happy with so I after this month I am going to suggest to DH that we pay £50 a month to the mortgage until our savings are back where we want them. Then start to pay more on the mortgage again but keep an eye on the savings to make sure we will have enough to stay in this house while I study for a year and have a year on the starting salary. However, I am going to try not to add any time onto the mortgage from where we have got it to now, and £100 a month will mean we reach our MFiT target even though we will miss the MFW one. Obviously all this is based on if the government are still funding the arts in schools in 9-10 years time! (I am going to cheat and copy and paste this in my thread!)

lulabelle1

ajmoney wrote: »

Lula, are we twins or something?

I have made the decision over the last 24 hours not to obsess about the mortgage so much. I think I am going into teaching when I leave my post in 9 and a half years so as long as I get a job after training then we will both be on fairly high wages (about the same as now). First and foremost we need to get our savings to a place we are happy with so I after this month I am going to suggest to DH that we pay £50 a month to the mortgage until our savings are back where we want them. Then start to pay more on the mortgage again but keep an eye on the savings to make sure we will have enough to stay in this house while I study for a year and have a year on the starting salary. However, I am going to try not to add any time onto the mortgage from where we have got it to now, and £100 a month will mean we reach our MFiT target even though we will miss the MFW one. Obviously all this is based on if the government are still funding the arts in schools in 9-10 years time! (I am going to cheat and copy and paste this in my thread!)

It makes perfect sense..... Paying off the mortgage early will be fantastic, but if we can do it in a way that means we will have a nice little savings pot to fall back on once the mortgage is paid, this will be even better.