Pammy's 5 Year MF Challenge - New Year New Target

CathT

I am about to transfer from Halifax to FD, so glad I am with this new rise which seems highly unfair. Pammy, your projected MF date is fab!

pammyj74

I have been looking into changing to FD. On looking at their site and with the figures I have, I can change to 7 years and pay about £720-£730. This would knock off another 5 months and I would be on a lower rate as well.
I need peoples opinion though please, there are so many options I cannot get my head around it all as to which one is the best. I know the tracker is a gamble but I am wondering if the BoE would go up tremendously more than 2%? but who knows, it is the best rate. I am more towards the 3 yr capped tracker but am wondering if the 'no fee' is an error as the other ltd ed ones have a huge fee. If it went to the top end it would 'only' be £758 a month which is still affordable.
This is based on £55k over 7 yrs.

There are options with or without fees -
2 yr fixed no fees - 3.19% - £731
2 yrs fixed standard - 2.89% - £724 - £499 fee
2 yr tracker no fee 2.69% - £719
2 yr tracker ltd edition - 1.99% - £702- £1499 fee
2 yr tracker standard - 2.39% -£712 - £499 fee
3 yr capped tracker - 2.88 capped at 4.28% - £724 - no fee
3 yr fixed no fee - 3.49% - £739
3 yr fixed ltd edition - 2.88% - £724 - £1499 fee


does a capped tracker mean that if the BoE goes over that they wont put it up more than 4.28%

What do people think is the best one to go for?

being on my own I dont have anyone to discuss it with really. thanks

pink_poppy

Hiya pammy, I'm thinking of moving to FD from the [EMAIL="H@lifax"]H@lifax[/EMAIL] as well, similar balance & timescale as you so I would imagine the deals would be the same.

Unfortunately I'm a remortgaging novice ~ we've been with the [EMAIL="H@lifax"]H@lifax[/EMAIL] since we bought our first house so not able to offer any advice on which is the better deal.

Have you thought about posting the question on the Mortgage & Endowment forum??

I'm going to be looking at the FD website over the next couple of days & will do some number crunching, so if I find out anything that might be useful to you I'll let you know.

Btw, congratulations on owning half your house!!

pammyj74

I think I am going to ring them tomorrow and see what advice they give me over the phone, it seems there cust serv is quite good.

Lois_E

pammyj74 wrote: »

I have been looking into changing to FD. On looking at their site and with the figures I have, I can change to 7 years and pay about £720-£730. This would knock off another 5 months and I would be on a lower rate as well.
I need peoples opinion though please, there are so many options I cannot get my head around it all as to which one is the best. I know the tracker is a gamble but I am wondering if the BoE would go up tremendously more than 2%? but who knows, it is the best rate. I am more towards the 3 yr capped tracker but am wondering if the 'no fee' is an error as the other ltd ed ones have a huge fee. If it went to the top end it would 'only' be £758 a month which is still affordable.
This is based on £55k over 7 yrs.

There are options with or without fees -
2 yr fixed no fees - 3.19% - £731
2 yrs fixed standard - 2.89% - £724 - £499 fee
2 yr tracker no fee 2.69% - £719
2 yr tracker ltd edition - 1.99% - £702- £1499 fee
2 yr tracker standard - 2.39% -£712 - £499 fee
3 yr capped tracker - 2.88 capped at 4.28% - £724 - no fee
3 yr fixed no fee - 3.49% - £739
3 yr fixed ltd edition - 2.88% - £724 - £1499 fee


does a capped tracker mean that if the BoE goes over that they wont put it up more than 4.28%

What do people think is the best one to go for?

being on my own I dont have anyone to discuss it with really. thanks

I'm no expert, but the fees look very high compared with the reduction in monthly payment. Why would you want to pay £499 upfront to save yourself £7 a month over 2 years - that's only £168 so you'd be £331 out of pocket! The other fees don't look much better.

So either I've misunderstood the numbers, or the fees are definitely not worth it. I'll be interested to hear what advice they give you when you talk to them, though.

pammyj74

I did think that and also you would have the interest rate on the extra fees as well so not worth it at all, I thought I was missing something there maybe I still am?

pammyj74

I feel like I havent really wrote anything on my diary for a long time as life is getting in the way.

Have been trying a new green smoothie breakfast. It is basically a fruit smoothie with either orange/apple juice, or milk. And then add some green leafy veg. I use baby spinach or kale. This is really good for you apparently lol and you cannot taste it in the smoothie at all. I dont eat much veg so this is a way of getting it into the kids and me. I am hoping that it gives me more energy and increases my iron intake as its been too low to give blood lately.
I have been having a smoothie for the last 9 days and I am not sure whether it has given me more energy but it has certainly helped my digestion lol.

The only thing is I am now buying loads of fruit as for three of us we use about 6 or 7 for the smoothie and then some in our lunch box. whereas before it was maybe one or two bits of fruit a day.
It does feel weird having a 'drink' for breakfast ad I dont feel like I have ate anything but it does fill me up.
I am still not drinking tea or coffee and I am STILL getting strange looks from friends and colleagues about it like I have two heads.

I am still volunteering for homestart and its quite challenging but great to do. I am now looking into helping a couple of people set up a timebanking here in my town. They are starting a not for profit company to help people with learning disabilities live independantly in the community and help sustain that. The timebanking is about giving an hour of your time with any skill you have such as giving a lift to an appt or putting up a shelf for someone. You give an hour and then you can spend an hour and get a member to do something for you in return. It really is such a great idea and gets the whole community together helping each other like they used to do years ago when neighbours actually knew each other. I could walk past people who live a few doors down and not know they did. I only know a handful of people in my street. When I was a kid everybody knew each other by name and went in for a cuppa etc.
There are 274 timebanks in the UK so maybe one near you lol.
It just means that you can give something and be rewarded yourself. Being a single parent there are a few things that I cannot do or need help with but I can type a letter or help someone with computer skills etc.
I did a mock newsletter for them too which I really enjoyed.

Hope everyone else is well.

ally18

Well done Pammy on your ops!

I love your house graph, can I ask where you got it from?

pammyj74

If you mean the house bricks I made it myself. I can do you one if you like, pm me your details and email addy.

pammyj74

Just rang FD and they would not take me on as I work part time and get WTC, they only base it on actual wages. grrrrrr. am really annoyed now.