So annoyed at myself for not making overpayments :-(

rainbowcloudy

Ok so i took out a £120000 mortgage at fixed rate 5.6% over 6 years ago. It was a 35 year term and the fix was for 10 yrs. The last 6 years ive managed to accumulate £30000 of savings.
Not once has it occured to me to make overpayments, im so stupid. Because id resigned myself to being stuck in this rate for 10 years i guess i just accepted it. Only recently did i find out i could make overpayments up to 10%.
I feel gutted, whats more annoying is that im one of these people that like yo save where i can, i dont have credit cards etc and im always looking for bargains, coupons etc. All that seems silly now trying to save money with coupons when all this time ive squandered away the chance to save thousands and potentially pay off my mortgage quicker.

I feel like such an idiot, not to mention i regret getting a 10 yr fixed and now this aswell i dont know why ive been so stupid. My money has been sitting in premium bonds which makes it even worse as never won alot.

Arrggh this is grating on me so much im so frustrated :-(
I dont know why im posting really just need to vent :-(:-(:-(

edinburgher

We all make mistakes, don't beat yourself up about it

Do you have an emergency fund? If so, you can very quickly use the savings to beat up your mortgage.

A few things to consider:

• Are there early repayment charges for leaving your fix? It's not a good deal, you may save money switching
• What is your current mortgage amount (roughly)?
• Can you reduce the term? in general

But Premium Bonds? Come on

rainbowcloudy

I know :-( i kinda thought as savings rates were so low i may aswell try my luck with premium bonds, my motto was u gotta be in it to win it altho that didnt work out so good!

My ERC is about £2000. Ive saved about £45000 and looking to remortgage to a 2.99% fixed for 5 yrs with no fees. Im hoping to pay the ERC at the same time as remortgaging and paying lump sum of £45000 if tht makes sense. Current mortgage amount is £93000 arrgghh i could of paid so much off by now. So stupid i dont even know why it never occured to me....biggest regret ever.

Beckyy

Stupid people would blow £30,000+, not save it, so I think it's safe to say you're not an idiot for not OPing.

Do this calculator: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/fixed-mortgage-calculator

It will show you if you'd be better of ditching your fix and remortgaging with a lower interest rate.


ETA: by calculator anything below 5% interest will save you a fair bit! Just don't plough all of your savings into it. Keep back enough to live off for a couple of months at least, just incase.

rainbowcloudy

I try to save so much as i really want to be in a position to help my children out one day. I also want to move house and be settled somewhere. Ive been so focused on desperately wanting to save to put towards a better house i just never even thought about saving on my mortgage. Ive never had financial help either so anything ive had ive saved for. Wish id been more clued up as now all these small savings ive made elsewhere seem pointless now.
Thanks for the calculator, i think i would be worth switching. I guess better late than never i just know this is going to eat away at me even though i cant change it.
Thankd for the replies :-)

quicklee99

Don't feel stupid, you did what you thought was right at the time. Who knows whats next for interest rates, at least you have security of knowing how much your payments are for a certain amount of time.

You know you can make overpayments now so best of luck with it. This forum is a great source of inspiration. I know easier said than done but don't be so hard on yourself.

norabatty_2

I know you probably don't want to hear this right now but have you ever heard the expression "There is no point crying over spilt milk?"
I once found myself literally crying over spilt milk and when somebody told me there is was no point crying over spilt milk, I wanted to hit them! In hindsight, I can see the humour of that moment. I'm not suggesting that one day you will find this moment in time funny, but hopefully you will realise very soon, if not now, that you can't change the past and no matter how much you beat yourself up about it, you still won't change the past.

What you can change is the future. If you have done the calculations and you will save money over the next four or so years by switching mortgages, then get on the phone tomorrow morning to organise another mortgage and check with your current provider that your calculations for early repayment charges are correct. You will immediately feel better that you aren't wasting any more interest payments.

And all those small savings you made were not pointless. They are worth £30,000. That is a huge amount of money! That £30,000 means you will have a lower loan to value ratio and more preferential interest rates, but more importantly it means you will be paying less interest on your mortgage from now on which means you will be mortgage-free quicker!!

rainbowcloudy

Ive just been on the overpayments calculator and i could of had my mortgage down to £22000 by now eurrghh i feel sick. Im so upset about this. I do appreciate all the replies and im trying to tell myself theres no point crying over spilt milk i do have to keep drumming it in. Im so desperate to move and saved so hard and if id overpaid id be in such a good position now. I feel awful. That extra money saved on interest could of given my childreb such a better future.
I will phone the mortgage people tomorrow. Thank you.

inigma

I know it hurts, don't look back at what you have done it will only drive you insane, you can't change the past and if you could overpaying your mortgage wouldn't be the first thing you would change. I fixed at 5.04% for 5 years, regret doing that? Yes, do I have bigger regrets? Yes.

You now have a solid understanding and a goal of what you want, you want to be mortgage free, you want to spend money on your children not on the bankers, so don't dwell on it, draw up a plan of action and just go for it.

DON'T LOOK BACK

rainbowcloudy

I dont know how to not dwell on it. The more i think about it the worse i feel but i cant stop thinking about it. Im up in the middle of the night now. Ive let myself and everyone down and thid is totall consuming me now.

dktreesea

Look at this a different way. Maybe, when you refinance, you can get a much better rate by investing the £30k in the house at the time? This will push your equity in the property way up and should bring the interest rate for the next fix down.