I want to be mortgage free in 12 years!

vb1986

Hello all!

I completed on my first house last week! There's so much work to do to make my house a home, but I'm so very excited!

I really resent having to pay so much interest, I hate the idea of being in debt and I don't want it hanging over me for such a long time. I think it might have something to do with the fact that as a child and teenager we were not very well off, so I have already started thinking about getting rid of my one week old mortgage

You could say my mortgage free journey started before I completed on the house I was going to go for a 25 year mortgage because I thought that was the done thing, and was pretty depressed to see that for every pound I borrowed I would have to pay back 1.53. This site gave me the idea of cutting down on the interest payments by reducing the term, so just before I signed the papers, I reduced the term to 18 years saving me over 25,000! :j

I was also planning on overpaying as much as possible without hitting the ERC limit. That's also something I wasn't aware of or had considered until I started reading through this site. I logged into my online banking a few days ago and when I saw a massive minus figure on my laptop I nearly fell off my chair :eek: Of course I know I am in debt, just seeing it like this on the online portal just made it more real (and scary). I haven't had details yet on how my first mortgage payment will be calculated before my regular payments start, but I have already made an overpayment and it makes me feel so much better that I am tackling it!

I reckon I can pay it all off in 10 years assuming interest rates don't go crazy, I don't move house and take on a bigger mortgage, the house will need no work, and I don't get married and have children. I do want to enjoy life though and give myself some slack (and some of my assumptions might turn out not to be true) so I'm aiming for 12 years.

So here is the beginning of my diary. I hope it will keep me on track, and that perhaps some of the things I learn along the way might help others too.

boltneck123

Hey .

Sounds like you are very focused. In a similar situation my self, I completed on my house in October this year and even before I had the keys I was running numbers through the over payment calculator. The amount I would pay in interest if I made no over payments would be astronomical that is assuming interest rates stay reasonably stable as they are - which they wont.

I have five years till my fixed rate goes on to a variable rate, so I aiming to pay off as much as I can, I hope to average £2k a year extra (but I accept plans do not always go to plan).

At the moment I am focused on clearing some CC debt and an overdraft, my mortgage will get my full attention by hopefully mid next year when I consider my self to be 'bad debt' free.

Good Luck .

vb1986

Hello boltneck (and anyone else reading this)

I'm sorry I have neglected my diary so didn't respond sooner. Christmas preparation took over, then work became super busy, and time passed so quickly that I didn't notice it had been four months since I posted my first entry!


I'm pleased to say though that I haven't neglected my overpayments in the same way It really is amazing how every little adds up. So far I have been using cashback sites to boost my income, which means I can overpay more, and whenever I am tempted to buy something I don't really need I think about my mortgage, which is often enough to make me walk away! I have just paid off my student loan and the extra cash that I have is going into my overpayments rather than spending it on things I probably don't need.


Boltneck, I hope you are making good progress in being "bad debt" free

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

Hi vb, I was looking at how much we can overpay while we were looking for the house. Think the banks have had enough of our hard earned cash.

I know etat you mean about the mortgage putting you off buying things. I look forward to reading your diary.

Anna_Glypta

Well done on setting out on the road with the right frame of mind. I wish I had the foresight at the start BUT I got there in the end and am now mortgage free, with a lot of thanks to this board and the calculators.

Good luck and you will get there, AG :-)