Being Roar-some at OP'ing the Mortgage

t-rexcellent

Hi All,

After lurking for a couple of years I've decided to finally bite the bullet and start a diary of my own! I love reading everyone else's diaries to pick up little money saving tips and for motivation to keep on trucking so wanted to join all you lovely lot in documenting my own journey.

A little bit about me then. My husband and I are both 27 - we married in September and had a lovely village hall wedding where we did lots ourselves to keep costs down without having to scrimp on quality. We had a lovely honeymoon too and so now 2014 is the year of knuckling back down and OP'ing the mortgage!

We bought our house in March 2012 with a mortgage of 135k and are on a really good rate as we saved like mad to get a decent deposit and we had help from our lovely families. I'm no stranger to doing the 5pm supermarket dash for reductions and going through Quidco for everything! We've been OP'ing right from the start and our mortgage now stands at 97k. We both work in well-paid jobs but the hours are long and it's usually very stressful.

So...we've decided to make 2014 the year of mortgage bashing and have set ourselves a target of paying as much of our capital off as we can. If we can do this throughout 2014 and 2015 then it should give us some breathing space when we start thinking about mini t-rexs and maybe a career change!

I'll post some more money-saving details and goals a little later but I've plucked up the courage to post so I'm well and truly on track now! :T

T-rex x

RunningGirl

Welcome t-rex! Good luck on your journey - sounds like you've made a good start already!

Bufger

Hi and welcome. You're in a really good position to get that mortgage hammered down early on. Before you start a family have you thought about renting a room out to a friend/family member? You could do even more damage to the mortgage this way and you'd have an end in sight so it wouldnt be forever.

I'm at the point where I have no spare rooms so there is no extra income option that way.

Good luck on your journey

edinburgher

Welcome to MFW, love a punny title

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi, welcome to the MF madhouse:):)

Tilly

t-rexcellent

Thanks for your welcomes everyone!

Bufger - we have thought about renting out a room but I don't think we've sat down and seriously weighed it up so thanks for the push, it's definitely something worth considering.

Had a lovely weekend and managed some money-saving activities:

• Dried the washing outside on Sunday (a bit of sun finally!)
• [FONT=&quot]Stocked up on store cupboard things at ASD* - had 10 pound vouchers from the 5 pound Bespoke offer so effectively made everything half price.
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• [FONT=&quot]Had bargainous Lamb and Roast potatoes for family dinner on Saturday - yum!
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]OP'd 1p today - a Tilly Tidy special![/FONT]

Today should be a NSD too so things are on track. Had to change my mortgage payment date this morning too and the montly payments have gone down ever so slightly again as we've OP'd what we can from January's pay.


Keep think MSE thoughts everyone - hope you have a good start to the week

t-rexcellent

Hi Everyone,

Posting again to keep me on track - coming onto here keeps me from looking at lovely beauty products and jewellery!

Yesterday was a successful NSD. really busy at work meant a quiet night in front of the TV. Yummy thai curry for dinner last night (thanks to weekend reductions at Waitr0se - living across the road from one has its benefits and dangers!) Dinner tonight is pork with roasties and veg, need a yummy comfort dinner in this icy weather!

Find out tomorrow if I get a pay rise this year so I'm itching to know whether I can up my overpayments! The thrills of being a MFW, eh?

Lots of paperwork to sort through tonight, we've let it build up as it's come through in the post and it's stressing me out! I saw someone posted on their diary that clutter-free personal affairs contribute to a clutter-free mind....I need that with all the mania of work right now!

Hope you're all well, only 10 days of dreary January left

Mrs_Rachel_Trelfa

Hi, welcome and fingers crossed for you to get the pay rise. I look forward to following your diary with interest.

edinburgher

Find out tomorrow if I get a pay rise this year so I'm itching to know whether I can up my overpayments! The thrills of being a MFW, eh?

I'm getting 1%, which is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as we used to say

glitterjunkie

Hi t-Rexcellent, nice to see you have taken the plunge and started a diary! keeping all my fingers crossed for a pay rise for you are you going to put it straight to OP if you do? Thats what I plan to do if I get a pay rise this year, I figure I won't miss the extra if I've never had it!

Liking the sound of your bargain ous meals, I too love a yellow sticker but never seem to get to the shops at the right time.

I shall subscribe if I can work out how to

t-rexcellent

edinburgher wrote: »

I'm getting 1%, which is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as we used to say

I got 1.5% which is indeed better than a poke in the eye/kick in the teeth/some other form of abuse!

Glitter - whatever that is each month is going straight into the mortgage, never had it so won't miss it! :rotfl:

Thought we should have some sort of treat though so managed to get DH and I train tickets to London for £10 return each so that will make a nice day out next month! I LOVE Wahaca so think we'll treat ourselves to a postponed valentine's dinner there.

Trashy dinner tonight - fish, chips and beans! Not in the mood to cook tonight so think it'll be a TV dinner Off to check the TV guide to see what carpy telly we can watch tonight! Going to sign up to some more survey sites too...got paid £2 for a Quidco survey yesterday so trying to keep up the good work.