I have a dream...to be a money magnet!

Miss_Money_Magnet

Hi Eating the Elephant, thanks for the encouragement. Its good to know people have similar sized mortgages! It does seem huge at the mo but I am thrilled with the house. I want to start overpaying more aggressively soon but cant just yet!

We have booked next years holiday and its under budget so Im happy about that. I have kept the food budget on track so far this month which is a good start. I also made myself cancel an Amazon order for gardening stuff as we've got so much to pay for indoors!

I am conscious of cutbacks and redundancies and am determined to get us in a strong position before my fixed rate expires in 5 years.

BiBi

Great info here.... I hope all remains well.

Miss_Money_Magnet

Haven't posted for a while. Plodding on with refurbishments! I am managing a few tilly tidies and am trying to do a regular overpayment of £100 a month just as a starter. Nothing else is possible until all the renovations are paid for.

I can't find the calculation for daily mortgage interest. I used to have it written down. Any help with this would be appreciated.

I ordered 2 dresses today for a night out, planning to keep one. However, do feel a bit guilty and may return both. We will see how strong my willpower is when I try them on in a minute!

Miss_Money_Magnet

Our mortgage is now down to the £234000's (frightening!!!)
I scraped together another £80 to overpay to round the outstanding balance down.

I read somewhere the other day that most people massively overestimate how much they can overpay in one year and massively underestimate the amount they can overpay in five years.

As my main goal is to make sure we are in a really good position in five years when our fixed rate is up I found this reassuring and keep making little overpayments when I can.

I returned one of the dresses. The other one I love and will wear lots.

Viking_mfw

[QUOTE

I read somewhere the other day that most people massively overestimate how much they can overpay in one year and massively underestimate the amount they can overpay in five years.
[/QUOTE]

That is incredibly comforting

Miss_Money_Magnet

Hi Viking, I am hoping all my little overpayments will add up over time!

I have managed our standard overpayment of £115 this month, plus amazingly another £140 in bits and bobs. I scraped together an extra £40 by rounding down bits of different accounts to meet my year 1 target.

I had an update on my stocks and shares ISA and it has done so well that Ive had to rethink things. As I go forward I want to put some money there and some into overpaying the mortgage.

According to my calculations actually Id be better off putting everything into my s & s Isa but I like overpaying the mortgage so I am going to do a bit of both.

Hopefully a nsd as I plan to paint the living room at the new house today. Quite excited to see how it looks! Cleared a big pile of post and found a fiver co-op voucher so thats a bonus! (Sad I know)

I am going to set myself some kind of strict no spend challenge in Sept... will give it some thought.

Miss_Money_Magnet

Ok, as of now I am going to try not to spend anything unless it is absolutely essential, until 27th Sept. I am going to try to update on here daily to keep myself on track.

Feefeefalloo

Really enjoying reading everyone's posts. We have around £80k left on our mortgage but have just increased payments by £100 a month - couldn't actually add to current rate so set up a standing order instead. Also means if we are struggling one month we can cancel without too much trouble.

Miss_Money_Magnet

Thanks for posting Feefaloo!!! I hadnt updated since so only just saw your post. I love reading other peoples diaries!!
We have been in our new (“dream”) house a few months now and I completely love it although we still need to do lots of bits, I do feel back in control.
I am back on the overpaying mission, in a very small way at the mo but hope to increase as soon as I can. Ive done a few Tilly tidies. I am due to replace my car shortly and hope I can free up some monthly cash for regular overpayments.
I read somewhere about finances that it was about saving ‘one pound at a time’. I find that a helpful mentality. I did this before..i.e. if I couldnt resist eating out or something I would but Id go for a cheaper option, for example having a nice prawn sandwich for £2.10 instead of a McDonalds for £5.99.

I have also kept up my £200 a month to my stocks and shares ISA because it seemed to do so well last year (I go through an advisor I trust, I don't pretend to be an expert-I have a basic grasp!!)

My aims for 2018 are:
-use up leftovers/reduce food waste, stay in grocery budget
-try to use what Ive got instead of buying where possible
-start to make regular overpayments
-rebuild pots including emergency fund

Miss_Money_Magnet

I am going to try to watch every penny this month. Need to go food shopping shortly but have gone through cupboards and made a list to use up freezer bits.

I have done a little tilly tidy.

I have checked all accounts including mortgage. We now have an ltv of 70% which is nice to know.

Hope to be in a position to set up a regular overpayment at the end of this month.. hopefully of at least a few hundred.

I am keen to reduce mortgage before this deal ends in 2022 in case interest rates have increased.

Happy New Year to you all.