Mortgage Free in Three Yrs

financialbliss

Hi regulars / newbies,

See that the 10th Oct chart update is producing a flurry of posts, so I hope you don't mind if I join in...

First the good news - a savings tax rebate we put in for mrs bliss back in June has just gave us a 119 refund. Cheque is still in the process of clearing, but I've withdrawn 100 from savings and overpaid on mortgage - will add back to savings when cheque clears.

Bad. Car bought in January was in a shunt / accident before we bought it. Both dealer and ourselves didn't know. Dealer offered like for like back in July. Explored all avenues, spoke to head office etc, not entitled to money back. Dealer has been extremely accommodating eg, we've had a courtesy car for 3 weeks, however best offer on table was a 2.2 diesel (136bhp) - replacing our 1.8 petrol (118bhp). As the diesel is at the very top of the range and a better spec than ours, we're required to pay a differential amount. As this has been dragging on for ages - we guessed as early as April / May that the car had some "history", we've decided to cut our losses and pay this differential amount / go with the diesel.

In reflection, ending up with a more expensive car, but should retain it's value a bit better, plus as it's diesel, should get better mpg. I've been in a real rut over this and I'm glad it's coming to a close, despite having to pay out. Get car on 1st October, serviced, valeted, taxed for a year and hopefully with some petrol, ahem diesel. Didn't have a jot when we test drove it.


Oh, I'll also not mention I've 1,000 Northern Rock shares! These were conversion shares, and I've had some good dividends from them, but I'd pencilled them in for use in chipping away a good part of my mortgage balance, once I got off my fixed rate in 2011, but I guess I can kick that idea into touch unless they recover big time.

@Dithering Dad. MS Money isn't so interesting to watch when it says "Your Northern Rock shares have lost 85% of their value since January" (2007).:eek:

Hopefully the company will remain sound, as I know a few people who work there!


Finally - I'll PM Tall Girl and update my sig after 1st October when my normal repayment is collected.

Thanks for listening,
FB.

biggywee

Hi all,

I've been desperate to scream this all day, but am kinda shy about it.

At 1.05pm today........... I PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!!!!! In eight years!

So am now 37, mortgage-free and feeling ....wierd.

REALLY, REALLY best wishes to everyone on here trying to pay off mortages, loans etc.

I lost my job 2 years ago and spent a really terrifying few months thinking I was going to lose everything. I got my present job and really saved.

Gave me a whole new perspective on how !!!!!! our Benefits system treat us honest hard working folk. They would have put me out of my house, forced a sale and put me into private accom. at TWICE the rate, rather than help out for the few months I was between jobs.

Best of luck everyone. Got all fingers and toes crossed for you.

Bless, Biggy xx

hughmungas1986

Hi , could you add me to your challenge please.

I re-mortgaged in January 2006 taking it to £71000. Currently down to £55674.61. I am just coming to the end of a 2 year deal ( last payment December ), so looking for some pointers on the latest deals about.

Looking to reduce my mortgage to around £20000 by April 2010.

Saving as much money as I can at the moment, having already overpaid by as much as the deal allowed us - 10% per year.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

congrats biggywee, it must be a lovely feeling

setmefree2

Congrats BiggyWee:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:


I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooo jealous:drool::laugh:

comping_cat

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE BIGGYWEE, its stories like yours that help keep me focussed on my goal, one day i will join you in being mortgage free!!!!

Maybe you could post how you achieved this on the mortgage free roll of honour thread?

Dithering_Dad

biggywee wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been desperate to scream this all day, but am kinda shy about it.

At 1.05pm today........... I PAID OFF MY MORTGAGE!!!!! In eight years!

Well done Biggy! It must be a great feeling to have got rid of the mortgage monkey. Make sure you post into the "Mortgage Free Roll of Honour" so that other MFW's can be inspired by you!

taka

Congrats biggywee! Well done!

Welcome to all the new faces too!!

sallyb17

Congratulations BiggyWee! That's absolutely fantastic news!! Well done, and at only 37 too. You're an inspriation to us all! :beer:

mountainlioness

Interesting all this talk about giving up work...

We don't have kids yet but I have to say even if we could afford it (we can't at the mo on DH's salary as it's largely commission) I would still work (although my ideal would be BOTH me and DH working 4 days/week) Before anyone jumps on me these are just my personal feelings based on my experience - and am only applying it to me!

My Mum is an academic and always worked when we were young and actually I think both she and we were better off for it - I was fiercely proud of what she did and she gave me a real role model and she was a better mum for being fulfilled at work, challenged intellectually and stimulated by all the things she did (I thought it was super-cool she was a Dr with her own name and always corrected the letters home from school - even though I'm a Mrs). We had long talks about all kinds of things that I am sure developed a lot of the skills I have today as a result... I also got a lot out of being at nursery and mixing with other kids.

No-one would ever criticise a man for still wanting to be challenged and achieve at work when he had kids but somehow if a woman wants that she's liable to be accused of all kinds of things. I am fully prepared to be proved wrong when Cub No 1 comes along but I honestly feel I'd be a happier person and a better mother for still working.

What's the point having any kids if you're going to work people say (not saying that's anyone here) but like I said, I think my Mum gave me everything I needed and we have a brilliant relationship. There was definitely a point!

So in short, getting the mortgage down will hopefully buy us reduced working hours but am hoping to keep working while making sure there's a good balance between working time and family time (I deliberately got a job out of london to help with this - there's a nursery on-site and when he/she's school-age I could walk kid to work then only be 15 miles away) Employers are getting pretty flexible with working arrangements too now so you can accommodate both (if you want to that is!!)