Mortgage Free in Three Yrs

comping_cat

I have pmed you (so not to spoil it for anyone else!!!)

Karmacat

How nice to find the Harry discussion on here! I have to admit, I started reading yesterday - I read the previous one in about 3 days, but this one, I couldn't stop. When I realised I might read it in one day, I started my own version of speedreading, skipping quite a bit of descriptiveness. Cried and cried and cried........ but I managed it. Eyes are sore this morning, but I'm a happy bunny that they're not worse. No spoilers in that tho! Bit annoyed I could have got it in Asda for a fiver, but I like the security of knowing I have a reserved copy - £9 in Waterstone's, with some freebie book about wizards of the world thrown in, and most important of all a specially printed plastic bag!

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Hi Guys, glad to hear you are reading/have read HP. I stayed up till 2pm last night reading it and it was great! In true MSE style I reserved it from the library ages ago and went to collect it yesterday.

Just a note on stoozing, I have done it for years and made a few bob out of it all as I transferred the money into my Virgin one account (it has a visa card with it so I can do balance transfers) its a shame they have introduced a fee now for balance transfers but if you do a few calculations you can work out if its worth it. I go for the longest 0% interest period, lowest fee and highest BT amount. The one I have at the mo is capital one, I got 15k, 1.7% until May 2008 which is good for me. BTW you pay the monthly payment back to the company out of the money they've lent you!
My philosophy is an old one 'look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves'. Sometimes the amount of money you save on things doesn't seem worth it but its amazing how it all adds up. I'm not saying I'd walk ten miles to save 50p on bus fare (my parents might have as they were the original MSE experts!) it has to be worth it for you. With a combination of stoozing, mortgage piggin', scatch cooking, reusing everything and not throwing anything out, quidco, overtime and plugging the leaks in my spending, things are adding up fast.
A good read I found was the Amy Dacyzn book 'Tightwad Gazette' its American but she taught me a thing or two!
good luck everyone

Karmacat

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

Hi Guys, glad to hear you are reading/have read HP. I stayed up till 2pm last night reading it and it was great! In true MSE style I reserved it from the library ages ago and went to collect it yesterday.

Wow! :money: :money: Thing is, I do re-read them every so often, so I do think its worthwhile me buying this. But I am seriously impressed!

Sometimes the amount of money you save on things doesn't seem worth it but its amazing how it all adds up. I'm not saying I'd walk ten miles to save 50p on bus fare (my parents might have as they were the original MSE experts!) it has to be worth it for you. With a combination of stoozing, mortgage piggin', scatch cooking, reusing everything and not throwing anything out, quidco, overtime and plugging the leaks in my spending, things are adding up fast. Good luck everyone

I like that philosophy!:money: :money: as well!

freebird65

What have I started with my HP comment?

You'll all be pleased to hear that I didn't pay for mine at all - my mad Mum dashed out to Asda at midnight and queued up to get me one cos she thought I might like it. Bless her.

I went to a party last night so haven't started reading it yet - so thanks for not revealing anything!!

cazmanian_minx

Good news: it seems my ex-husband isn't going to try and claim half the equity in the flat - my solicitor got in touch to say that his solicitor had written to say since they couldn't get him to respond to their repeated requests for instructions, they were closing the file. :j

Bad news: My ex hasn't instructed them to file the decree absolute either, so I'm only half-divorced.

Good news: I can apply for it from September 10th and once it's through, get the matrimonial home rights order removed :T

Bad news: There's a small risk my ex gets the decree absolute, thinks '*&£*$, she's getting away with it scot-free' and launches ancillary relief proceedings. :rolleyes:

Good news: He'd be paying the court fees and I think one look at the Form E he'd have to fill in (he *hates* paperwork) would be enough to put him off

What relevance has all that got to the Mortgage-free in Three challenge? Well, as he's legally-aided and I'm not, I'd have needed up to £10,000 in solicitors and barristers fees (remind me why I live in London again...?) if a financial hearing went the full distance in court. Now that's a much more remote possibility, I've taken the decision to reduce my emergency fund to £5k, use the surplus to pay a chunk off the mortgage and in future put all my savings directly into the mortgage rather than in the offset account.

The result?

I'm down to under £30k :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j

Caz

Karmacat

Wish I was young enough to have a mum to do things like queue in Asda for me!

OTOH, back to the real stuff, thats great news, Cazmanian Minx.

freebird65

Karmacat - I'm 40!!!! My Mum's just mad.

Well done Caz-Minx.....just one thing that struck me....if you've just paid an extra chunk off the mortgage out of your emergency fund and you not-quite-ex decides to go after half the equity after all, wouldn't this mean you'd be liable to give him even more? Since you're not divorced yet, they might not take your separation into account when it comes to splitting finances.

Well done on getting a mortgage that low in London - that's some effort!

cazmanian_minx

freebird65 wrote: »

Well done Caz-Minx.....just one thing that struck me....if you've just paid an extra chunk off the mortgage out of your emergency fund and you not-quite-ex decides to go after half the equity after all, wouldn't this mean you'd be liable to give him even more? Since you're not divorced yet, they might not take your separation into account when it comes to splitting finances.

Well done on getting a mortgage that low in London - that's some effort!

I did think of that, but it's nearly 2 years since we split up now (the divorce has been dragging on that long due to him initially trying to defend it and then issuing a cross-petition) and I'm sick of having my life on hold! Since I can prove to the court, if required, that he's been the cause of all the delays, I think I'd probably be OK.

Of course, the temptation is to sell up once the home rights order is removed and blow the equity on a Cunard round the world cruise for me and my other half, but I'm going to be good!

No secret to the low mortgage - I was lucky enough to be able to buy in 1999 and I live somewhere that isn't seen as a desirable area, though the bit of it I'm in is lovely

Caz

Karmacat

freebird65 wrote: »

Karmacat - I'm 40!!!! My Mum's just mad.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Excellent!