Mortgage Free in Three Yrs

ailuro2

33 days until our first Annual update- has everyone got their figures ready?

That's over 4 weeks to get a hold of the numbers and PM Tallgirl with them.

No excuses!:p

Let's make this a really BIG update with as many people updating on it as possible!

setmefree2

Well Done Chickadee:j:j:j:T:T:T

dawnylou

Well done Chickadee!

Unfortunately things have gone from bad to worse for me!
Having been off work for 6 months now and only receiving basic wage I have struggled to put any money aside and what with Christmas have actually ended up with a credit card balance! I have about £400 on it.
I am back to work on Monday so have to be retrained and then hopefully I will start to receive some bonus again.
Anyway my plan is to get rid of the credit card before I concentrate on the nortgage so I probably won't make any overpayments for a while.
I am going to have a huge declutter today in order to find loads of things to pop on Ebay in a bid to get rid of my credit card though so wish me luck!

When do we have to have our next update in by again?

TallGirl

Update is going to show how we have all done in the first year so mid April should give everyone time to get their figures in. I will then post the chart on here so deadline is:

17th April

Feel free to PM me anytime so I can update as I go along.

Update from me, hoping I can still make it £23k to pay off but also a £15k bathroom refit to finance so we shall se.

Can't wait for the chart now please remember to update me and I am happy to add you back on if you have been deleted.

gallygirl

Just written to mortgage co as, despite several phone calls & letters, my offset is linked to my 'additional borrowing' (re a BTL house, not part of this challenge, but will be in the 'pay your mortgage off by 2015 one when 1st is dealt with ), instead of main account.

Surprise surprise, main account has a higher interest rate so I reckon its' costing me £2.27 a month in extra interest (was too embarassed to quote that in letter, just said several pounds ). OK, v small amount but will be compounded every month and they are already getting 30p an hour from me on main account, they're not getting any more .

Before I would have shrugged my shoulders & done nothing (if I'd even noticed :rolleyes: ).

Every little helps

mojo_jojo

What do people think about this? If you had £18k in shares would you keep it as shares or sell them off to pay a chunk off the mortgage?

AnW'sMum

mojo_jojo it would have to be entirely your decision but the are are several questions you could ask yourself to help you make that decision.

Are the shares worth more or less than when you bought them?
What is the current trend with them?
Do they pay a good dividend and how often?
Are they shares owned out right or are they subject to tax and NI if you dispose of them now (some employee scheme shares have to be held up to 5 years to be completely free of taxes etc)?
Why did you buy them in the first place?
Have they achieved what you set out for them to do?
Look at your personal tax position re CGT if you do decide to sell

Some people would say that now is the time to be considering investing rather than selling. Shares should generally be regarded as a long term investment and as we all know can go down as well as up.

It comes down to your attitude to risk and how quickly you want the mortgage gone. As some other members on here have said they prefer to see the mortgage coming down even though on a pure numbers front it might make more sense financially and tax efficiently to do other things.

OverlandLandy

mojo_jojo wrote: »

What do people think about this? If you had £18k in shares would you keep it as shares or sell them off to pay a chunk off the mortgage?

If you do sell them split it over 2 tax years as you may get hit with CGT!

I sold my shares and put them into the house, but I save every month via Share-save with the intention of selling the shares once I get them. And if the price drops you can always take the cash+ bonus.

Shares are always a gamble to some degree. I have made and lost £1000s on them over the years (mostly gains thank goodness). I have the view, now that I'm getting older, that I would rather have a roof over my head than the promise of some profit..... I guess it gives you a sense of security as you see the mortgage going down. I have been mortgage free a few times and it does give you a good feeling that you don't owe anything to anyone.

Dithering_Dad

I bought shares in an ISA because I listened to the advice of none MFi3ers who believe it's a waste of money to overpay your mortgage "because it's the lowest debt you'll ever have". I also held onto free Standard Life shares because "it's a waste to cash them in because they get dividends and will increase in value". Well, I lost thousands when the share prices went south.

I now just pay some money into my long-term investment (pension) and the rest goes into the house - either in the form of mortgage overpayments or in home improvements.

I smile now when I read the anti-MFW's go on about wasting your money by overpaying your mortgage. I even saw someone on the MFW board being advised to remove money from their mortgages and put it into shares/savings.

All I can say there is that if we do go into recession, the person with a much lower mortgage will be better placed to survive it than the person who has a high mortgage and investments.

Pop quiz, which way do share values go in an economic down-turn. Do they go up or down?

ailuro2

Just worked out I need to find £526 for April to halve my mortgage in one year!

Can anyone point me to the site that tells me how much repayment I will make in a particual month of my mortgage,compared to the interest payment.

I forgot what site it was. D'oh!!