Mortgage free by 50

southerndave

That's true enough. Shame such drastic financial measures, but yes better debt free and start over and enjoy your time with little 'un.

Mortgagefreeby50

It's been a long time since I last posted, but I have still been plugging away at the old mortgage and today we had some great news!

Our initial 3 year fixed rate of 3.99% is due to end in Nov. I spoke to someone from our mortgage provider today and he advised me that we are at a LTV of 75.8% at the moment. If we can find the £2200 to take us down to 75% LTV then a whole new world of lower rates opens up to us! Here's the math:

2 year fixed at 90% LTV 3.79% OR 75% LTV 2.49% Save £653 over 2 years by finding the £2200 now
3 year fixed at 90% LTV 3.99% OR 75% LTV 3.09% Save £840 over 3 years by finding the £2200 now
5 year fixed at 90% LTV 4.59% OR 75% LTV 3.59% Save £3619 over 5 years by finding the £2200 now.

The most amazing thing is that the £2200 isn't even a fee, it's a payment off the mortgage!

I'm so pleased that we have been overpaying £50-£100 per month for the entire life of the mortgage as we wouldn't have been anywhere near the 75% LTV after the first 3 years and therefore stuck at higher rates.

Keep on plugging, guys!

edinburgher

Are you in England? Quick Google search suggests you can get a 2 year fix with 75% LTV for less than 2.0% APR with no product fee! Might be worth speaking to a whole of market broker :beer:

Mortgagefreeby50

Hmmm, tricky decision! Yes, we are in England. I am thinking the 2 year fixed are at such low rates as they know the rates are going up soon so I was leaning towards the 5 year fix. I would be interested in any opinions though!

Mortgagefreeby50

I mean, they are trying to lure us into a short fix so that they can land us with a massive rate hike sooner rather than later.

edinburgher

Mortgagefreeby50 wrote: »

I mean, they are trying to lure us into a short fix so that they can land us with a massive rate hike sooner rather than later.

I don't think that's how mortgage financing/money markets work. Yes, they will pass on rate increases to you sooner rather than later, but you will always pay a premium for fixing for longer. I'd rather fix for 2 years, be suspicious and keep back a little cash in the event of a rise than assume a rise and fix for 5 years. Chances are it won't happen any time soon, the press have been singularly bad at predicting rate rises because the economy is still playing silly !!!!!!s

Mortgagefreeby50

Right, I had a bit of a major life changing event in the last six months whereby I decided to run the London Marathon! I started running when mini-mse was about 1 I think, then set myself several goals last year, all of which I achieved. Run 10k, run sub 30 min 5k, run sub 60 min 10k, run half marathon. I felt strangely underwhelmed after the half as I felt I hadn't been pushed to my limit. Unfortunately I didn't get a ballot place for the marathon, but I just couldn't let it go, so I applied for a charity place.
The last six months have been spent raising £1600 for the charity and training for the marathon. I wanted to do it under 5 hours and managed it in 4 hours 59 mins and 21 seconds!!

Consequently, I have such massive self-belief and need to turn my attention to something else that is within my control but also a challenge. Our mortgage.

We already overpay regularly but I would like to find some extra cash in our monthly expenditure without us suffering too much.

Our grocery bill is huge and although we meal plan and weekly shop, I'm sure we can cut costs somewhere.

So, my challenge is to allocate £100 a week, preferably in cash, then save whatever we end up under budget. I'd like to use this thread as a record of how much extra we can squeeze out.

Questions and bullet points:

What would you consider to be best price for chicken, mince, meat joints, fish, pence/kg or lb? I'd like to draw up a quick reference guide so I can instantly see if it is a good price for meat.

Load up on reduced meat that I know we'll use up such as joints, mince, chicken.

Where is the best place to get fresh fruit and veg?

Is it worth buying in bulk at Costco and portioning it ourselves?


Feeling super motivated!

choccielover

Mortgagefreeby50 wrote: »

Ok, I am trying to get back on the wagon after nearly a year off work on maternity leave.
The financials have took a hit. Despite careful budgeting beforehand, I seem to have managed to accumulate nearly £9000 debt. A big chunk of this is car payments which have been coming out all year but are due to stop in December. I had counted on still receiving my car allowance from work, but a loop hole meant that they didn't have to carry on paying it. Apparently if I had a company car then I could keep that, but seeing as I receive car allowance instead of a company car, they don't have to keep paying that during maternity leave, despite it being one of my benefits. grrrr.

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Are you sure this is correct? Did you get advice?
I only ask as I was advised by my payroll head to take the benefit over the car precisely because it continued to be payable when on mat leave, thereby supplementing my income. Which it duly did....

Not sure who you can talk to about this, perhaps CAB, but your benefits should remain the same when off on Mat and this is a benefit, why should you suffer when someone with a co car doesn't....

Honestly I would look into this, you could get it back paid.

Chocs

Mortgagefreeby50

Thanks for your reply, I got really angry about it at the time! It was a long time ago now and I'm pretty sure there was a loop hole in my contract. I changed jobs after my maternity leave to one where there are no perks but at least I know where I stand!

Mortgagefreeby50

I emailed my bosses yesterday to ask for a pay review. If you don't ask, you don't get, eh!

I haven't had a pay review since I started 18 months ago although my role has changed quite a bit, I was always too polite to mention it and waited for them to bring it up. Which they never have, funnily enough!

No response so far to my email, I'm not holding my breath but you never know

Any rise will get squirrelled away via an increase in our overpayment direct debit.

Fingers crossed!