Diary of a disappearing mortgage

El_Debster

Hi I have been working on reducing my mortgage since January 2014. So far it has come down from 62,000 to 57,300.
At the moment I am able to put in approx 1,000 a month but that doesn't always happen because of other calls on my salary. I am planning to be mortgage free in approx four years time.
Last month I put in 750.00 but this month I am having a short break by the sea and a holiday in Sicily with a friend and I bought some clothes for work.

Current Mortgage: 57,300
Interest rate 2.5% BMR

Hope to gain inspiration and encouragement from this forum - which I always get when reading it!

El Debster
"... the 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy." Alex Carey (1922-1988).

aliwali

Hi, and welcome. You look like you are moving along a great speed. Keep up the great work..

jezebel

Wow! That's good going Keep up the good work

El_Debster

Lol :rotfl:
Just found this!
Happy to report it is now 37,700
Just need to get over the line!
What are thoughts on using pension lump sums on paying off more of my mortgage?
I don't have any other debts but not working at the moment!

El_Debster

Doh!
I should have typed 31,700 :j

Silence101

You've done well these last few years!

El_Debster

I was able to add money from redundancy but now job searching and it will take a while to get a good salary again as I want to retrain.
Plans are:
1. Find a job
2. Rent out spare room at tax free max.
3. At 55 use a small pension pot (only making bare minimum for investment so not worth continuing after 55.
Am 55 in 2018 so will definitely make this the year I pay it off. :beer:

El_Debster

Good evening peeps
Today noticed that despite my BT account having 15GB internet usage I was being charged for anything over 12GB. Zoom forward i hour on the phone and still no-one at BT able to take this on. I do remember being sent an e-mail telling me I had been given an extra 3 GB for free, but I don't have that anymore. (anyone else had this?). Anyway,long story short, I rang rentention at BT and got my money back plus I updated my package. Now getting 15GB and Evening and Weekend calls for 29.79. My previous package was costing me 35.99 but I was also racking up GB and paying for unlimited calls on top of that when I didn't really use it. In all I have reduced the bill by approx 20 squid a month so a result for me. I did look at Plusnet but though cheaper I was concerned about the reviews I was reading. Had an absolutely dreadful experience with TalkTalk some years ago so prefer BT but you need get on the phone towards end of contract to get a better deal. This is my second switch this month, new bank account with no fee and 125.00 in account, must be this forum!

El_Debster

Thought I would post my SOA, I rounded up/down figures.
Monthly
Council Tax 39.00
Mortgage 324.00
Gas and Electricity 50.00 (just switched and on est DD,)
Water 29.00
Car ins 32.00
Car Tax 13.00
TV Licence 12.00
Service charge 32.00
Other costs on average:
Petrol 30.00
Public Transport 50.00
Food 120.00
Cat food 15.00
Clothes 0 (I have enough already)
Ents eating out 75.00 (varies but as I need to network it's an investment spend)
Total = 771.00

I have been making a lot more meals at home in the past week and will continue that so I am expecting to get the food bill down. I don't have any income at the moment but if I can get into a routine of not spending as much now I'll be saver ready when I get a job. :j

doingitanyway

You are doing great. Well done.

El_Debster

Looking through my SOA I searched for something to reduce and hey my mobile bill. I have been out of contract for a year and am now switching to a SIM only deal for 5.00 a month. Saves me 16.99 a month at least.
DIRECT DEBITS updated and some corrections:
Council Tax 42.38
Mortgage 322.27
Gas and Electricity 50.00 (just switched and on est DD,)
Water 29.00
Car ins 33.26
Car Tax 13.00
TV Licence 12.12
Service charge 32.46
Mobile phone 5.00
Pension 25.00
BT 25.99