Its time to grow up and pay off the mortgage

abouttimetoo

Hi OS QS & Welcome to the board :hello:

As the others have said, I wished I'd started this lark at your age and it will definately become addictive

Your sentiments around 'where does the money' go will strike a chord with many here and it's a funny feeling to be making the Op's and really wonder what you used to spend the money on

As already suggested some form of spending diary is a good idea as is the 'demotivator' tool on the MSE site, it's amazing how those odd coffees & magazines can add up

Getting your OH on board will be a big help but don't worry if it doesn't happen immediately or ever as there are plenty on here who are going it alone (and sometimes in secret lol) from their other half

I would recommend you have a good old look around at various bank accounts available and then you can start and think how to generate money, e.g. the Halifax rewards account pays you £5 per month for putting £1000 in, it doesn't have to stay there so you can take it straight out and you can use the 'same' money again e.g. if you transfer £500 into Halifax, then back to your main acount, then back to Halifax and back to you then you have paid £1000 in and earned a fiver, if you set up monthly s/o's it's all pain free. There are several out there like this it's just a case of getting smarter. After you'be got your fiver you can then OP or put it into whatever account you want

Do you use casback sites? Topcashback.com seems to be the fave on here, have a look, it's free to join and you can get cashback on everything from getting a credit card, opening a bank account, booking airport parking, buying a second hand book on ebay etc etc
I have a colleague at work who reckons she makes £2k a year like this and it can soon add up re car, house etc insurance renewals

Gosh, this is getting a bit wordy now Good luck with your plans, I'll look forward to your updates

Regards
ATT

Jock_Tight

OS_QS wrote: »

Dont worry - I took Jock's comment in the light hearted manner it was meant (I'm scottish too and we are very sarcastic by nature)

It was meant as a joke

With regards to your ISA, you should be able to transfer to another provider to get a better rate. If you dont need the money then consider a fixed rate for a couple of years to get a better rate, like Halifax 3.7% for 2 years (might go higher in next 4-6 weeks when the better rates come out).

You dont say what the interest rate is on your mortgage, if this higher then it makes sense to overpay once you have built up a ~6 month buffer for emergencies.

All the best,
Jock

OS_QS

Our mortgage has recently reverted to the SVR which tracks at 2% over BoE base rate. So its a good deal, considering now we can make unlimited overpayments.:j

Just back from visiting family/friends. With doing my investigations into our spending, we spend a lot of money on petrol, and considering our jaunts 'back home' take almost a tank of petrol each way, and a tank costs £65, its an expensive trip!

Anyone else a bit confused with the halifax's list of occupations within the rewards application - quite a limited list, and nothing seemed to sit with what I am

OS_QS

Woo hoo!

Insurance Renewal quote came in £50 cheaper than my comparison quotes I've been getting. :j
Everything is up for renewal at this time of year so I did a full analysis on our broadband, Line rental, call package, sky, love film, etc.

Found that B/band and lovefilm had same/better packages for less/same money we were paying, so changed our packages to get more/same for less.

Called phone provider and got a good deal on our phone package - also paid line rental up front, so got a saving there.

Already on cheapest package for sky, but is kind of essential, as we receive apalling 'free' signal.

Managed to half the breakdown renewal cost.

So for a days research, phonecalls and work, I saved us £377 over the year.

Need to wait til my deal is up for Gas/Electricity in April and do another check, then everything will be complete

OS_QS

Well just the banking aspect to overhaul, but everytime I try and do that I come across an obstacle, that due to time/uncertainty I never actually complete the process!

OH has no interest in my 'boring' conversations, so I never follow through as I'd prefer support with online stuff. However, he's away for a few days on soon, so I will make it my mission to get all the accounts sorted and Isa's transferred by the end of the week (well my ones anyways)

jaysb

OS_QS wrote: »

Woo hoo!

Insurance Renewal quote came in £50 cheaper than my comparison quotes I've been getting. :j
Everything is up for renewal at this time of year so I did a full analysis on our broadband, Line rental, call package, sky, love film, etc.

Sneakily found that B/band and lovefilm had same/better packages for less/same money we were paying, so changed our packages to get more/same for less.

Called phone provider and got a good deal on our phone package - also paid line rental up front, so got a saving there.

Already on cheapest package for sky, but is kind of essential, as we receive apalling 'free' signal.

Managed to half the breakdown renewal cost.

So for a days research, phonecalls and work, I saved us £377 over the year.

I was well pleased, but my OH said he'd rather have had his sunday to himself, than waste it researching/calling companies. Total Lost cause :mad:

Need to wait til my deal is up for Gas/Electricity in April and do another check, then everything will be complete

try freesat - even cheaper than sky, you used to be able to get a sky 'freesat' card for £10. Either way you can use the same dish, pointing the same way. Recommednd Humax HD boxes

OS_QS

:j our second overpayment of the year has been made :j

£600 total overpayments made in 2012

OS_QS

Someone left yesterdays Sun with the £5 off a £40 spend on the train seat this morning! (I was half way through it until I realised it was yesterdays news!)

This ties in beautifully with me doing the shop this evening

Managed 7 NSDs so far in Feb. Hoping I can beat January's amount of 18

Still to do banking overhaul....I dont know why I'm procrastinating so much :mad:

OS_QS

Oh and was looking up topcashback, when a colleague mentioned my work has a 'portal' that offers similar cashback, and some rates are better than quidco/TCB. Checked it out and will be a handy thing to click through

Also offers reloadable gift cards which you pay for upfront and get a percentage off. So I've loaded up a card for my frequent supermarket and will hopefully save £150/ year (if I remember to top up before a shop!)

jimmyhillsfanclub

Hi. It seems to me you could make way more progress on reducing your mortgage that you are currently doing by offsetting.
Get rid of all you little savings pots, close your ISas & all other accounts & put ALL your money including jonit accounts etc. into an offset mortgage account & accounts that can be linked to it ....
...that way, you continue to save for your car, wedding, etc. but you also save by not paying any interest on the equivalent amount of the loan.
The more your savings grow in the offset linked accounts, the less mortgage interest is charged which effectively translates into extra overpayments......and to top it all, as you'll receive no interest on your savings, you'll pay not tax.
I bought my latest house in 2008 & have already halved the mortgage debt by utilising offsetting to its maximum. Go for it....these record low interest rates won't last forever.....get it paid down ASAP.