A MF day begins at midnight

midnight_child

Thanks for the encouragement.

Thinking that by next year I will hopefully be at 65-70% LTV and i'd really start to feel I actually own the place, rather than simply renting it off the bank. This is the arguement I make if a friend says I am "lucky to own property". I point out I technically only own maybe 1 bedroom and the downstairs loo, with the rest having been bought on credit. The bank could in theory at least ask for their money back at any time with very little notice.

MC

midnight_child

Overdue for another update here:

Been very active recently with work and have spent last few weekends generally enjoying myself with friends. Also booked hols so i've not got much cash left till payday at end of month. Should be able to eek it out without dipping into savings, but we shall see.

Hopefully will have better MFW news to report soon.

MC

Dobbibill

finger's crossed for you until the end of the month..........nice to have a holiday to look forward to though :j


I'll be looking forward to the MFW updates to follow


DB

midnight_child

Firstly, apologies. Not been around so much as been covering for colleagues who were in holiday, result was a lack of time to generally browse the web while at work, and being knackered when I got home and needed time away from a computer screen.

Now its time for a proper update..... here goes.

Managed to get my money to last till the end of the month -cheers for the concern dobbibill, though had to put a couple of food shops onto the cc (standing order to pay off in full every month of course :money:).

Been paid now , although I have earmarked all of this already . Managed to stick another £440 OP in today so that brings me down to just under 98K.
Progress is going really well here, and I am keen to keep these OPs up if I can till January. I think I will be looking at a remortgage rate at 70%LTV even if I can convince bank/valuer that house value has gone up by just a conservative 10K, which should be easy given recent local sales plus the modernisation I have done. Not sure I can get it to 60%LTV which is probably pushing it. Note that H$BC dont do 5% brackets so if I stay with them 65%LTV is no extra saving. Plan is to approach them to see what they will offer, as they seem very competitve and also have some products that have no fees. I really like the fact that the account is on my online banking, so I would like to stay here unless it is a poor deal. Obviously, if they dont want my custom then I will move elsewhere. Dont think the new MMR will be an issue with moving as I will be borrowing well under 3x salary by then and have demonstrated that I can afford a rate rise due to my current overpaying level.

On to other money matters. Got some large spends this month
1: A large bill for a plasterer, who I have booked to come and skim off some walls/ceilings.
2: Trip away later in the month, need some spends so that will use up all of the rest and probably some more.
3: Paint/carpets/furniture once plasterer has been and done his thing.

I will move something from my emergency fund to cover all of this, but I want to keep it to the absolute minimum. Will try to put some spends on cc (and particularly use it after the monthly statement date) so I can spread this out over nearly 3 months. Subsequent months should be less spendy so hopefully not a problem.

I also get a pay rise as of today, but I wont see it next payday at end of month, so dont know what this will do to my take home. No doubt half will be lost as tax/NI/pension/student loan.

Think that covers it for now.

MC

giblet1979

Hey MC,

Great progress with the overpaying - it's really good to see how it all adds up, and that lower LTV will most definitely make a difference. Probably the best time to do it as well, and fix on a low deal. My fixed term ends Nov/Dec next year, so hoping rates don't rise too much before then!

Gib x

Dobbibill

Hey MC,


no apology needed, understandably you have lots going on with the house renovation alone without any other social/work things going on.


Well done on the budget lasting until payday :T and I do love a bit of MSE with the c/c being paid off 'IN FULL'


£440 OP is brilliant :j and that's over £10k from original mortgage amount, celebration of the milestone :beer:


yay for the pay rise :j


keep up the good work


DB

catriona79

What an inspiring read, MC!
Subscribed:)

You're so well organised, I feel I want to ask you to marry me!!!

midnight_child

Hi Catriona & welcome to my diary :wave:

That comment is very flattering, but I only talk about my positive traits on here. Perhaps we should get MSE to get add a MFW matchmaking section to the site

Wanted to report that I popped into S@ins for a loaf of bread and some sandwich filler on way home last night. Timed it just right as the yellow sticker fairy had been round and I got:
loaf of bread - 24p
pack of ham -29p
pack of 2 luxury Fish cakes -74p
Tea sorted, plus sarnies/toast for several days, and I also claimed my nectar point at the till :rotfl:

MC

midnight_child

giblet1979 wrote: »

Hey MC,

Great progress with the overpaying - it's really good to see how it all adds up, and that lower LTV will most definitely make a difference. Probably the best time to do it as well, and fix on a low deal. My fixed term ends Nov/Dec next year, so hoping rates don't rise too much before then!

Gib x

Lowering my APR next year will be very welcome, but i'm undecided yet if I want to fix it or go with a tracker. My mortgage is comparatively small (compared to some), and so not paying an application fee is more important to me.

Im not sure the rates will rise as quickly as predicted in the media, as people have got accustomed to the low rates, and with low wage increases many are living hand to mouth as it is. Even a small rise could hurt the economy in reduced consumer spending and increased defaults. This would make it difficult to make any subsequent rate rises until that had settled down.
Also, the government would have to pay more to service the national debt, which is currently being slowly eroded by inflation, so there will be little political incentive to put pressure on B of E to raise rates.
Europe seems to still be in a mess, and then there are the ongoing issues with Russia. So I can see the first rate rise getting pushed back again well into next year.

I reckon we will only see 0.75-1% increase over the next 3 years, time will tell if I am correct or not, and obviously things could change in the coming months depending on many factors.

At least we can reassure ourselves that whatever deal fix or variable it will be significantly better than what we are on now, and even if rates do go up by more than I expect, it may be a mute point in that by paying down now will leave oneself far less a hostage of whatever future interest rates may be.

Time to play with some spreadsheets and I will get back to you with my decision in about 5 months.

MC

giblet1979

I think that's a very well reasoned out argument MC - it does make me think that it would make sense to refocus my plan and try and overpay more sooner rather than later (currently I'm focusing on the last of the non-mortgage debt and getting the house 'livable').

I hope you're right about the small raises x

I will