Mortgage Free in Three Yrs

AnW'sMum

For this update I have looked at the figures based on two main groupings.

There are three groups:

1. active members, those who have given an update since July 2008 update currently standing at 66

2. inactive members, those who have not updated since July 2008 currently standing at 8

3. dormant members, those who have no given an update for the last two charts. These members have had their figures removed from the calculations so that we have a true reflection of what is going on. Currently standing at 58

So.......

The results for Active members only:

Based on the info DD and TG have in their charts and by my reckoning the total of mortgages plus pension pots other savings of the 66 active participants is £6,441,831.69 with a collective aim to reduce this by £3,170,720.43 during the course of the challenge.

So far the total amount repaid is £1,710,739.19 or 53.95% of total pledged. To be bang on track at the end of month 18 (ie end of September) we should have repaid 50.00% so collectively we are ahead of target by £125,378.98 :j

The results for Active and Inactive members:

Based on the info DD and TG have in their charts and by my reckoning the total of mortgages plus pension pots other savings of the 74 active and inactive participants is £7,421,302.44 with a collective aim to reduce this by £3,418,710.18 during the course of the challenge.

So far the total amount repaid is £1,844,985.19 or 53.97% of total pledged. To be bang on track at the end of month 18 (ie end of September) we should have repaid 50.00% so collectively we are ahead of target by £135,630.10 :T

I am sure if we had had an update from the current 8 inactive members then we would collectively be even further ahead of target. So if you are one of the 8 please PM Tallgirl with your figures so we can keep track of how everyone is doing. The next update will be January 2009.

I shall report each time in the same style. So anyone who did not report in this time and does not report for the next chart will become dormant and everyone that does report will be classed as active. I hope this all makes sense!

33 people so far are ahead of target so an extra pat on the back to you all, currently 11 people are 100% or more of their targets.:j :T

Just for a bit of fun I have also looked at how many of these mortgages we would have paid off now if we started with the smallest active mortgage and worked towards the biggest! Those who would be MF now in this scenario would be: sparklymessygirl, Mushy61, freedomgirl, ailuro2, inkie, cazmanian_minx, jobbingmusician, ~daisy~, Pandora123, Desperate Housewife, amazamum, shazzany, lunasaver, tallgirl, savvykaz, superfast_Gran, minimoocow, bargain Rzl, Gallygirl, taka, hughmungas1986, LookAfterThePennies, Chickadee, MoneySavingNovice, Redbedhed, MarvinTheMartian, cupid_s, MissPink, financialbliss, OverlandLandy, catowen, CaroB and sachsaini

And finally the best news saved til last huge congratulations to sparklymessygirl and angelavdavis on becoming MORTGAGE FREE :money:

Well done to everyone, keep going 18 months down only 18 to go

Some people have taken on new mortgages since the last update. I do have a note of their new outstanding amounts but have not used them in the above so we maintain consistency in reporting.

Looking forward to the next update

Jonesy_Bonesy

Thanks for reposting the chart Tallgirl - the bigger text is much better as well.

Thanks for summarising AnW'sMum.

Very big well done to angeladavis and sparklymessygirl on becoming mortgage free. You could have picked a better time to do it! :money: Well done to everyone on here who has made a positive impact on there mortgage amount.


As for me, I'm one of the 11 people at 100% of original target. I am completely amazed. This was not an easy target when I set it, I was actually very doubtful I would reach it. I now aim to be mortgage free completely by the end of the challenge.

Finally, with 66 active members still plugging away, I think Martin should start planning an "It Pays to Watch" special on our achievement! This looks to be about the audience size of the programme and we could have a nice all expense paid trip to the studio and an aftershow party :beer:

Bonesy

StuartGMC

Jonesy_Bonesy wrote: »

Thanks for reposting the chart Tallgirl - the bigger text is much better as well.

If you use a browser like Firefox, Ctrl + will zoom the page for you; HTH

To all of you on here, well done on your achievements. I didn't join when I started my thread at the end of May because I thought I was still looking at June 2013.... now hoping for 100% offset Sept 2009 and pay off by end of 2010 (may even make it in May 2010).

Thanks for the inspiration.

minimoocow

Jonesy_Bonesy wrote: »

Finally, with 66 active members still plugging away, I think Martin should start planning an "It Pays to Watch" special on our achievement! This looks to be about the audience size of the programme and we could have a nice all expense paid trip to the studio and an aftershow party :beer:

Bonesy

I love that idea! Athough when I first read it I thought you were implying only 66 people watched the show not that that was the size of the studio audience :rotfl:

Also just wanted to say thanks again to TallGirl for posting the revised chart!

MMC

angelavdavis

Jonesy_Bonesy wrote: »

Very big well done to angeladavis and sparklymessygirl on becoming mortgage free. You could have picked a better time to do it! :money: Well done to everyone on here who has made a positive impact on there mortgage amount.

As for me, I'm one of the 11 people at 100% of original target. I am completely amazed. This was not an easy target when I set it, I was actually very doubtful I would reach it. I now aim to be mortgage free completely by the end of the challenge.

Finally, with 66 active members still plugging away, I think Martin should start planning an "It Pays to Watch" special on our achievement! This looks to be about the audience size of the programme and we could have a nice all expense paid trip to the studio and an aftershow party :beer:

Bonesy

Thanks for the kind words Bonesy and my congrats on your fabulous achievement:T :T (and everyone else too!!!!!). I think your idea for It pays to watch is smashing! Let's hope Martin is checking out the thread.

Over the last few weeks waking up every morning to more doom and gloom, it has heightened our awareness of what a great cause MFiT really is. Many people who poured scorn over our obsessive overpayments are very quiet now :cool:.

We returned from holiday to news that OH's work have axed an office - not affecting OH but it brings home the reality of redundancies all too close to home. In the meantime, my priorities are moving away from earning money to starting a family as we have minimised our outgoings to a comfortable level!!! It simply wouldn't have been an option with the mortgage payments.

All thanks for MSE and MFiT too!

StuartGMC

angelavdavis wrote: »

In the meantime, my priorities are moving away from earning money to starting a family as we have minimised our outgoings to a comfortable level!!! It simply wouldn't have been an option with the mortgage payments.

We did this too, although well before MSE was set up, and the reduction in disposable income really hits you when one chooses to have a child. However, you can still improve on many items of expenditure and have a lifestyle the family can enjoy too. My sincere best wishes to you both in fulfilling your dreams.

jobbingmusician

FreedomGirl wrote: »

Hi jobbingmusician,

I'm sorry to hear of your work troubles, and I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to pick your brains on something.

I am now a student, and my husband is unemployed (but not claiming JSA yet whilst he does some distance learning study at home). As you can see, we have a low mortgage balance, in an offset, and we'll be living off the savings in that account (it's going backwards by about a grand a month - thank goodness for my student grant which covers all my costs)

Do you know how the JSA people calculate what interest they should pay (is it interest) and, if you have an offset, how did they look at overpayment? I'm guessing that he will have to have been claiming JSA for six months (or is it nine?) before the protection kicks in.

Hope you don't mind my asking the question.

FG

Hi FG. No, I don't mind in the least, but don't think I can be much help (and, sadly, what I think I know will not come as good news if it is correct).

I don't know how they work out what interest they should pay, but I do know that many people have mortgages with banks who charge more interest than they pay, so it is still in theory possible to lose your house even when the mortgage repayments start kicking in They are extremely unhelpful at telling you useful information like this.......

The worse news is that AFAIK interest payments and most other benefits are means tested. So if you have more than £8000 (or it could even be £6000) in savings, you will not be eligible for mortgage payments. I think this includes offsets, sadly... I have a friend whose husband suddenly became extremely ill, and they couldn't get any money because they had an offset arrangement: the DWP considered that they had savings!

Martin, if you are reading by any chance, could we have an article on this or, better still, a campaign?

It's a real risk holding an offset arrangement if this is true (I do hope I am wrong) and it is also a risk stoozing, for the same reason! The DWP take savings into account but they couldn't care less about debt, so I fear that someone who is a big stoozer might make themselves ineligible for means-tested benefits, even though all their 'savings' are actually stoozed money which they owe. Rapid repayment of the debt could be seen as intentional deprivation of assets - it would be good to have a ruling on this. Does anyone know better than I do? :rolleyes: This is one of those times when I would love to be proved wrong!

PS One thing I DO know about how they calculate mortgage repayments is that they don't give you any until 9 months after you first sign on. I would encourage your husband to start signing ASAP in the current job market, if he can...... you may as well start the clock ticking!

FreedomGirl

Hi JobbingMusician,

Thanks ever so much for your reply.

Yeah, that's what I'd figured re savings and offsets. I think that the only way to play this (and it would be _very_ risky right now) would be to close down the mortgage (my savings just about cover the outstanding balance, and I'm expecting another 7K from an inheritance) so that, if we needed to do longer term JSA claims (more than six months so going from contribution based to income support) our savings will have run down by then.

However, I still have the sneaky suspicion that, even if we did that now, and hubby claimed JSA (thus by 2009 going onto income support JSA), we would still be in trouble for "depriving ourselves of assets"? Even though we would not be claiming mortgage interest

Anyway, we have a current account mortgage (with the max limit at 30K) and we're currently going backwards by 1k/month so there's a fair while before we run out of "savings cash".

Ah well, thanks again for the reply. Let's see if we can get an answer from the experts

FG

ailuro2

Start planning now for Christmas and our January 2009 update will be much better than it might be if we panic buy.

Anyone wanting a Wii would be better buying it now than waiting and paying for Argos reservation codes at the last minute.

Make a list of gifts and stick to it, just like a meal planning shopping list.

And yes, I do realise it's not Hallowe'en yet, but it pays to be prepared.:D

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

I agree, it pays to get in front with things like xmas. I have been buying bits throughout the year and have more or less got everything.

Another tip is to save enough to get yout through January as its a lean month too. I get the asda xmas savings cards. I save all year then just before the cut off date I charge the card up and they give you an extra £6. I do 3 cards (£432) and can spend £450, its nice to know that you have food shopping money when the moths are circling round my purse!!! I can see myself into Feb if I'm careful