Tm's MFW ramblings

turtlemoose

I have an actual mortgage OP question for those wiser than me here

As offsetting is no longer an option, I'll be paying directly off my mortgage, but I have two parts to my mortgage and I'm not sure which part is better to pay the OP towards, or if it doesn't matter.

Both are fixed at 1.77% until March 2026. 20% overpayments allowed per year, and I won't be anywhere near that threshold so no worry about penalties.

Part 1: Balance £64775, remaining term 14 years 7 months, monthly payment £420.79
Part 2: Balance £26558, remaining term 29 years 1 month, monthly payment £97.79

Last time I remortgaged, I stayed with the same lender as I didn't meet affordability criteria to move elsewhere. Presuming I stay in the same job (hopefully!), I'll be able to shop around for deals and potentially change lender. I want to get the accounts in the best possible position to give me the most options.

Do I do....? 
Option 1: Split the overpayments between both parts, and if so - equally or proportionately
Option 2: OP part 1 only 
Option 3: OP part 2 only

I don't know whether it's better to OP part 1 because it's the highest balance. Or better to OP part 2 because it has a longer term. 

I'm probably leaning towards thinking I should OP part 2, but I know some lenders have a minimum mortgage amount and I'm wondering if that would negatively affect me in future if I look to move to another lender.... or would that not matter as a remortgage elsewhere would combine the two? 

turtlemoose

While MF early is always the goal, over the years I've realised that scrimping every penny leads to (for me) feeling stressed and overwhelmed. With that in mind, I've tried to move towards a better balance of saving and spending so that we actually have enjoyable experiences.  

For the last four or five years I've taken my kids to Tenby for a week in the summer - we went once and then they both equated "going on holiday" with "going to Tenby", and won't consider any other destination    Earlier this year when I looked at prices, accommodation that I'd typically paid £450-£500 for a week for was all £720+, tipping it in to being unaffordable this year. But last night I got an email from a!rbnb and amazingly a space has come up, at a time that suits me scheduling wise, for £552 for the week. As my work does discounted vouchers, I got it for £513 which is doable. We will have quite a lot of outdoorsy/beach time which is relatively cheap (packed lunches and drinks only) , and we'll certainly take advantage of Folly Farm doing a free return visit within a week to cover two days' of activity. I always book a place that has a kitchen so we will save on food by mostly eating at home, having space to prepare packed lunches for every day, with a few days of seaside fish and chips for a treat.

I've also spent some of my pocket money on tickets for some solo times out later in the year - an open air music gig in the summer, and a comedy show in November. It's nice to have things to look forward to, and in a way that better mood makes it easier to then be more 'on it' with regards to financial stuff the rest of the time. 


This does mean that the interest free CC balance has jumped up (hol only) but I'm pretty confident I can pay it off by December when the 0% ends, or worst case scenario there will be a small amount to balance transfer - it seems like those kinds of 0% offers have been consistently available again for a while so I'm not worried about it. 

South_coast

Ooh, Tenby is lovely, I'm sure you'll have a great time 😀

turtlemoose

Fixed saver matured, paid it off the mortgage, am excited to have made an actual OP! £772.03 (inc £27 interest) paid off, woohoo! 

South_coast

Cracking OP, well done 👍!

turtlemoose

School holidays upcoming, fully expecting to have to remortgage just to afford the food bill ::wink:

It was finally bonus from work time last payday, I took the week unpaid to maximise its value. It was a week well spent! lots of time with the kids, lots of progress made on the house, and even squeezed in some relaxation time (when the kids were at their dad's). Definitely worth more than the £120 or so it would have been in my pocket. 

Made a little (£25) mortgage op today. House pots (for annual costs) all on track. £300 debt sitting on interest free, on target to be paid off before interest free ends. Everything just ticking over money wise. Just holding out for the big lotto win of course!

My neighbour (I only have one joined-on one) has put their house up for sale, I'm pretty gutted as they're great neighbours (and the ones before them weren't very nice). It's only been up a couple of days and already has viewings, I'm sure someone will snap it up very quickly. I just wish I could have some say over who moves in! I don't do very well with uncertainty/change etc. Ah well, have to suck it up.... I'm working from home on the next viewing, so I'll definitely be rubbernecking out the window at them

On the plus side, it's up for £180 which bodes well for my house value (theirs is 3 bed, mine is 4), mine was last formally valued at c. £140 back in 2018. 

turtlemoose

Well the summer hols were even more expensive than anticipated - car repairs that couldn't have possibly hit at a worse time meant I had hire car costs of £225 (or lose our holiday last minute), and then the repairs themselves were £1408. OUCH. I did have a car costs pot set aside of course, but this has now been seriously depleted. There is enough in there to pay the insurance renewal in Dec, but that's it. Gah. On the plus side, the car drives beautifully now !!

Very small OPs occurring here and there, mostly focussing on making sure the cc is paid off before the 0% ends.

Work have accepted my flexible working request, which is excellent news. I'll no longer work mondays, but will still do full time hours over Tues-Fri. It will take a little juggling, but they're fine with working at hours that suit you as long as core hours are covered and the work gets done. I feel like it'll make a significant improvement for both me and the kids, with a small childcare cost saving too. 

Looking forward to 2025, I'm hoping to make a consistent OP of £100 every month, which feels like good progress. 

turtlemoose

Have paid off two lots of interest free things that were coming to an end. That leaves £740 on a third account, but that is 0% until March 2026 so not in any massive rush to target that just yet.

I finally pulled my finger out and put some stuff on V!nted... £31 for not really very much effort - it just FEELS like such a hassle doing it! To go towards the 0% pot I've decided to set myself a target of "make £10 extra every month" - whether that is second hand sales, or surveys, or cashback, anything counts. I'm going to try add a little extra motivation by saying if I don't hit it, it has to come out of my personal spends. Hopefully that'll keep me on track! 

Had a look at pensions, I'm sitting at 94k total. This is split between two previous employers, current employer, and a SIPP. I'm 39 and feel like this is a decent pot for this point in time. I'll never be jetsetting as a pensioner, nor is FIRE on the cards, but it feels like this is ok. I'm putting in 5% at the moment and employer does 10%, and I'd really like to stay in this place long term, so that's a decent amount being added each year.

I applied for and got a place on a 'career accelerator' course at work. There's limited spots so it feels good to have earned one. I'm not really particularly career driven at the moment (family and self are by far more important), but the course is well thought of within the organisation so it doesn't hurt to have it under my belt. They're pretty good on internal promotion, so it'll be a good one to have if I do decide to try for a step up. 

turtlemoose

I've realised that I started this thread in 2014! over 10 years ago! My life now, and even who I am as a person, is completely different to that early 2014 turtlemoose. If I bumped in to her, I'm not sure we'd even recognise each other. 

I hit £930 total mortgage OP for the year, achieving Pavlov's Dog's small challenge (pay 1% of the starting balance off each year). 

That career accelerator course I mentioned is actually pretty good - I was skeptical and thought it would be twee "build your brand" nonsense, but it's actually genuinely insightful and thought-provoking. I'm getting a lot out of it. 

I'm thinking about what 2025 has in store for work and finances. I think I might be ready to go for a more challenging role (ie higher paid!) .... I'd really like to stay at the same company though as I really like their values, so I'm going to keep an eye on internal vacancies and have committed to myself that if something comes up that I can do, then I will go for it. What's the worst that can happen?! They say no?! Doesn't matter  

And as for mortgage OPs... I'm aiming for £100 a month for 2025, which I think will be a little bit of a stretch, but achievable if I'm focussed. 

turtlemoose

Quick note, ending 2024 with a mortgage balance of 87528.76 (doesn't include 811.60 sitting earning interest ready to OP when my fix ends)