Mortgage Free in Three Yrs

bails

Yeah, that was the one! They were a great family and really inspirational too as they were just v 'normal' and hadn't been v money savvy in the past. Just proves anyone can do it!

sarahe

Well my first big step today!
My car failed it's MOT - so instead of paying the £300-400 to get it through I have scrapped it. My insurance was only £14 a month ( paid annually) but car tax is about £9.50 a month - so £24 a month better off????
Shock was the £45 cancellation fee for my insurance - surely that's excessive!!!!
We still have the family car and I do cycle a couple of times a week to work - but it was a big step to say goodbye to it
BUT
£24 x 12 x 3 yrs = an extra £864 minus a few taxi's.

Cupid_s it's great that you are thinking of having someone stay at home when you want to - it's the best thing we did was not to become reliant on two wages - most of our friends are quite jealous of this and we may not live in such big houses etc but we are certainly happier because of it.

Flibbertigibbet - I tried hard to work out and understand the whole endowement thing - still not sure I did the right thing cashing it all in BUT it did make me look at my finances more thoroughly than ever before and join this group so that'sthe good thing.

Shazzany - pay off one mortgage so we can start again - is just what we will need to do - it maybe sooner than we thought as although our 4 and 6 year old are quite happy sharing a bedroom my daughter did comment on having her own room and having pink things on the wall! But at least a new mortgage will be less than if I hadn't start to pay it off iyswim.

plumduff55 - wow good on you - inspiration that we all need - I can't wait till I say that - just saying MFi3years is a feel good moment but MFi3months well done - what do you hope to save up for/ spend some money on next?

Dithering_Dad

djbd1973 wrote: »

The show you were talking about on TV was "Did They Pay Off Their Mortgage In Two Years?" which was the 2nd part of the series hosted by René Carayol

That's the TV program that inspired me to go contracting instead of staying in my nice n safe (but much lower paid) job so that I would be able to earn a lot more money and make a real dent in the mortgage.

I know the program has had it's share of flak (perhaps some of it was deserved), but for me, it was a real inspirationl. I always knew I could earn more as a contractor but was too afraid to do it - after watching this show, then finding you lot on MSE, I decided to go for it.

I'm sure I don't need to describe just how worried I was when I handed my notice in, right up until the point where I got my first invoice paid :eek: -especially with the student loans, sofa loans and credit card debt we had. I decided not to let fear control me and now a few month's later I've cleared all of the debt and (almost) paid off 25% of my mortgage

molit

Thanks to the great bit on the side thread, I've been toying with the idea of drop shipping, has anyone done this, and made a go of it - looking at the prices of things, and how much they go for on ebay, I cant work out how you could make money? Do you sign up for the ultimate package, and try and get the things with the biggest discounts, or just go for the basic package?

taka

I remember watching that prog too!

For me "paying off the mortgage asap" only kicked in when I realised when I bought my current flat that I could only afford to take out my mortgage by upping it to 25years again and basically starting again with the same mortgage level as I'd had 8.5 years previously. (I moved to a more expensive city).

I would have loved to have not had to start at 25 years again and struggled to afford this mortgage when I took it out, in fact ran up a bit of credit card debt. Luckily my salary has improved so things are now easier.

I had been thinking about overpaying my mortgage for a while and oddly came across MSE the month before I got rid of my credit card debt (run up in the early years of this mortgage) so I thought why not... I'll use the money I was putting towards the cc debt towards the mortgage instead... I'd never really miss it!!

Things are now a wee bit different ie took out a loan for house repairs rather than adding it to my mortgage, but I'm now on track to pay my mortgage off in 12 years time if I keep this rate up, hopefully less. That means I'll have paid it off just before the origional finishing date of my origional mortgage (IYSWIM:rotfl: ) :j :j

TallGirl

Nice to see everyone is still really keen on this challenge and lovely to see more tips. One I have found recently is to have a look at other cashback sites. I have been using Quidco for about 1 year now but Topcash and Greasy Palm sometimes have better offers. I got £37.50 back on my home insurance with Greasypalm which made it £100 cheaper than the renewal however on Quidco even with the cashback it could not beat the cheapest quote with confused.com. Being a true MSE and MFW does take a lot of time but I love saving money.

Finally got around to cancelling our multi room Sky Subscription. £8 a month saved and we can still use the box as a freeview box which is perfect. Only problem is I will have to swap the two boxes around as it is the main one in the lounge they are going to cancel. DH wants Setanta Sports now so the saving wont last long but he loves his sport so I might let him.

Sitting here waiting for someone on the techie board to answer my query regarding wireless. I really want to be able to use my new laptop (paid for by work) anywhere in the house it would just be so cool. Hope you are all having a lovely evening.

ailuro2

TallGirl- I think you're looking for a dongle for your laptop if it doesn't do wireless already,and to have a wireless transmitter for your broadband. However, you need to be aware that many people think wireless networks increase your exposure to EMF- the electro thingy waves, so you might decided to use a few plug-in points instead.?

molit

If you're feeling unmotivated about this challenge work out how much you have already saved in mortgage payments. Even if I stopped now - it comes to close on 10k and already reduced the term by 17 months - just thought I'd add in case anyones motivation is lacking. That equates to quite a nice sports car...

flibbertigibbet_2

Hi everyone,

Re. my earlier question of whether or not I should cash the endowment - I have offered it for sale via a website recommended on another thread. My thoughts are that if anyone is interested then there must be some mileage in sticking with it, even if I just use it as a savings scheme. Alternatively, if no-one wants it maybe that should be telling me something and its time to take the money and run. Either way I have a meeting with an IFA next week to review my finances and I'll see if she can shed any light on it for me.

I'll let you know what the answer is - if I understand it!:o

Flibertigibbet

ailuro2

Take a notepad with you and write it down- and ask him/her to explain anything you don't understand.