Mortgage-Freeeeee by fifteeee

FunLovinCriminal

Hi all
I am a lapsed user of this forum, and due to finding myself in a job I dislike very much, I am challenging myself to rid myself of the burden of mortgage, to free up money to go an do something I enjoy with my life.
So, the details;
I'm 38 this year, and have 12 years to pay off approx 90k of mortgage
OH earns alot more than me, and enjoys her work, but not 100% behind my challenge - she would love to be mf, but not prepared to live off bread n water to do this - so there will be compromising being made.
Where is my starting point, and can you experienced bloggers offer me any words of wisdom.
12 years and 8 months to save £90,000 starts ......NOW!!! :eek:

pavlovs_dog

lots of us have diaries here where we document the little changes we make to free up money to OP.

A sensible place to start would be by writing a statement of affairs (SOA). You can find a template on the debt free wannabe boards. This should give you an indication of how much money you have coming in and how much money you should have going out. If this figure balances with the sum left in your bank at the end of the month then you can start thinking about how much you can afford to overpay (OP) each month.

Whilst you are looking at your finances, are you getting the best deal for all your utilities etc? Can you switch to free up some extra cash? Lots of us at the mo have joined the lunch for work challenge and the grocery challenge to save money where we can.

There are lots of challenges you can join to keep you motivated on your journey. Good luck and welcome aboard!

Mortgagefreeby50

Good luck! We've got a similar goal in mind! I've been on here for just over a year documenting our progress and it really helps to keep your thoughts MSE.

FunLovinCriminal

Hi Pavlovs Dog and MortgageFreeBy50
Thanks for your comments.
I have just been scribbling a SOA down, and about to post it.
FLC

FunLovinCriminal

Scary to see it on paper...

Household Information
Number of adults in household 2
Number of children in household 0
Number of cars owned 2

ISA Savings £10,100.00

Combined Wages £2,500.00

Mortgage £630.00
Savings £60.00
Council Tax £189.00
TV Licence £12.12
Life & Critical Illness Cover £66.19
Sky £73.64
Eon £92.00
OH Car Loan £182.14
Gym £78.00
Phones (including insurance) £56.00
My Car Loan £154.66
Fuel for commuting etc £300.00
Food £200.00

edinburgher

Good afternoon FLC

Your Sky and Eon costs look pretty high - have you looked at switching/cutting back your costs/usage?

FunLovinCriminal

Hi Edinburgher, thanks for your advice
Sky has the sports package for me, thats what is driving the costs up.
EON, I'm a fixed package with them, and its been brutally cold in bonny scotland this year, thats why its looking so high.
I do try and keep running costs down, and try and switch, using TopCashBack when ever I can.
I suppose I "should" pay off the car loans with the ISA, but am reluctant to do this.
The Car loans are
Mine £6k approx with 3 years left to run
OH £8k approx with 4.5 years left to run

FLC

pavlovs_dog

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Mortgage £630.00

What interest rate? Are you tied into a product for a set amount of time? Can you make unlimited OPs, or only up to a certain amount? Is there a limit on number of OPs you can make in a year?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Council Tax £189.00

Over 10 months or 12?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Life & Critical Illness Cover £66.19

recent changes in sex equality legislation has had a knock on effect on these kind of policies. Worth getting a new quote. Your premium may not change but you may get better level of cover for a similar price. We are doing this currently through London and Country, who are fee free whole of market brokers recommended by this site. We used them for our mortgage application and initial Life assurance policy. Cannot fault the service.

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Sky £73.64

Are you in contract? Any scope to negotiate on this? downgrade package/threaten to leave to get discount etc?

Does this also include broadband and phone?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Eon £92.00

ouch that seems high for a 2 person household. I assume this is duel fuel? We pay £63 a month duel fuel, there are 2 of us in a 4 bed house. That £63 is sufficient to build up a surplus for the winter months when usage is higher.

Are your appliances modern and energy efficient? Do you turn things off at the mains when not in use?

I would definitely run a price comparison here, you may even be able to get cashback for switching to a better deal.

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

OH Car Loan £182.14
My Car Loan £154.66

What %? how long left? May save you money to OP this before the mortgage if it is a more expensive debt.

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Gym £78.00

ouch! is this for both of you? Do you use it? Is it worth the money? Could you get a discount as a couple instead of 2 x individual membership? Is there a cheaper alternative (e.g. council gym) available nearby? Or free exercise (e.g. running)?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Phones (including insurance) £56.00

Are you on the best package? Do you actually need all the minutes etc that you pay for? Do you have any old handsets you could recycle for a bit of cash?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Fuel for commuting etc £300.00

can either of you car share? Use public transport occasionally?

Also, what about maintenance costs? Mot? Tax? Insurance?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

Food £200.00

Can you cut this back? Downgrade a level (e.g. premium to ownbrand, ownbrand to value) on some items? How much of this do you actually use and how much gets wasted? Does it include toiletries and cleaning products? pet food?

FunLovinCriminal

Pavlovs Dog. Thanks so much. Your help is very very much appreciated. Right, here we go:

• Mortgage is 3.59% till Sept 14. I can make a max of 10% overpayments, by DD only though, not lump sum - thinking of making £50 per month, but unsure whether this will make significant difference.
• Council tax is over ten months, so zero payments feb & mar
  
• Everytime I get a new quote, l&c insurance seems to higher, I assumed coz we are getting older lol
• Sky is high,but its a package, tv, broadband and phone - I shall look for alternatives on broadband and phone, thanks
• Eon is high, i agree, I think i am tied in til june, but shall check. It is duel fuel.
• Gym is used, mainly by OH, she loves it. So no negotiation there. Its a couple deal, unlimited access for the both of us. More of a chore for me, but we get our money's worth
• My Car Loan has three yrs in august, her's four years in sept. Not sure of %, was done through dealerships finance people
• Phones - yup we are on best package, and best deal for us
• Fuel - unfortunately again, nothing we can do, we work polar opposite to each other
• Food is a high estimation. OH is a fitness fanatic (see above) and loves her fresh fruit etc. But I am ever trying to downgrade. £200 does seem excessive for two, and it rarely his £150 these days.

So thats it I think.
I "know" I should pay off the loans with the ISA, but I have a nice comforting feeling gazing up on the £10k in it. It took a lot of hard work to save that, but I "know" it makes more financial sense to spend £6k to pay off loan, and save th £150+ per month I am paying to loan company....
FLC

pavlovs_dog

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

*Mortgage is 3.59% till Sept 14. I can make a max of 10% overpayments, by DD only though, not lump sum - thinking of making £50 per month, but unsure whether this will make significant difference.

every little helps. £50 to me is 3.5 days of interest. Lots of us start small, and for many of us long haulers small and steady is the best we'll ever be able to manage. Better in our pocket than theirs

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

*Council tax is over ten months, so zero payments feb & mar

If you need leeway in your monthly budget, your council may let you pay over 12 months. If that isn't an option/necessity, what do you do with the money on the two free months? Many of us here are VERY excited about the free boost to our OPs

I pay my council tax over the phone with my Tesco Clubcard credit card, meaning I get clubcard points for paying it Do you have any kind of cashback credit card you could use as a debit card, clearing the balance in full each month?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

*Everytime I get a new quote, l&c insurance seems to higher, I assumed coz we are getting older lol

yes that is true, but on the flip side your mortgage balance should be reducing. There's no obligation when you get a quote, you can always walk away if it won't benefit you.

Is there anything that makes you high risk? I'm late 20s, OH early 30s, £121k and 23 years left on the mortgage but our life and critical illness cover is less than £40.

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

*Sky is high,but its a package, tv, broadband and phone - I shall look for alternatives on broadband and phone

if you're using it, it offers you good value for money and you can afford it then it isn't a problem. We all have our non- negotiables (mine is internet).

Could you pay as you go on any aspect for the package and still save overall? If you have films for example, do you watch enough of them to make it value for money? Or would a basic lovefilm subscription be more apt for your needs and save £sss? Or pay per view?

If you are out of contract but happy with the service, try phoning them to enquire about how much notice you need to cancel your contract as you 'just can't afford it any more'. I'm sure they'd be able to offer you some kind of discount to retain your custom... I used the very same trick with O2 yesterday and halved the price of our internet bill for the year.

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

*Fuel - unfortunately again, nothing we can do

not true! Again this is a where a cashback credit card treated like a debit card is your friend. If you can't avoid the spend, get the best bang for your bucks. Plan your refuels to take advantage of cheaper petrol (e.g. supermarket garages cheaper than esso). Take any unnecessary weight out of the car to save fuel. Drive defensively, reading the road ahead to avoid harsh breaking and accelerating which does nothing for your fuel consumption.

Can you run errands on the way to/from work, to avoid short drives on weekend which are bad for the engine?

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

*Food is a high estimation. OH is a fitness fanatic (see above) and loves her fresh fruit etc. But I am ever trying to downgrade. £200 does seem excessive for two, and it rarely his £150 these days.

get a handle on it. You can't decide whether it is fair or excessive if you don't know for certain how much you are spending.

We've been in this boat with food and petrol. The answer? At the start of the year I put two envelopes in the coffee cupboard. One for food, one for fuel. Receipts go in the appropriate envelope. Once we KNOW what we're spending, we can begin to make savings.

On the food front, our cupboards and freezers were very well stocked at the start of January. We've menu planned, bought only what we needed and have stuck to the plan. We've almost halved our monthly spend on food, which is a huge help in a tight month. If going forward we can learn to maintain the menu planning and rotation of food stocks we have the potential to make significant savings on groceries, freeing up money for OPs, savings, holidays etc

FunLovinCriminal wrote: »

So thats it I think.
I "know" I should pay off the loans with the ISA, but I have a nice comforting feeling gazing up on the £10k in it. It took a lot of hard work to save that, but I "know" it makes more financial sense to spend £6k to pay off loan, and save th £150+ per month I am paying to loan company....
FLC

if the peace of mind means you sleep easy at night it isn't necessarily a bad thing. On the flip side, have you thought how quickly you could build savings back up if you pay yourself the money? Or what you could do with the money you were spending once the debt is cleared?

would paying a lump sum (e.g. £1k) off of each be a workable compromise? Especially if it had the effect of lowering your monthly payments. This would give you flexibility and the option to pay it off quicker without making too significant a dent in your savings

FunLovinCriminal

Cheers Pavlogs Dog
I shall check these out tomorrow, and report my findings.
I always felt we were doing "alright" - but shall endeavour to push our findings harder.
Thanks again all, and if anyone knows of any decent calculators or spreadsheets that I can use to figure out how much I need to overpay to be MF in 12yrs, please let me know
FLC