I really really want to be........mortgage free!

ourcornercottage

New blog post up! Today we will mostly be talking about product testing :-)

ourcornercottage

Okay I've rang hsbc today for the best deals I can access.

I have a house valued at about 300000 - 320000.

I have 2 mortgages

1, about 36000 lifetime tracker on interest rate of 2.14% 13.5 years left
2, about 101000 lifetime tracker on interest rate of 2.69% 18.5 years left

There are a few options....

Pay £299 fee and put both on 1.99% lifetime tracker (savings in monthly payment will pay back the fee in 6 months in current rate)

Leave mortgage 1 as it is and put mortgage 2 on a free free tracker at 2.49% (will do this at the minimum as its a no brainer)

Leave mortgage 1 as it is and put mortgage 2 on a 2.49% fixed for 5 years with a fee of £299. Mortgage 2 can only be OPd by 20% per month but mortgage 1 will have unlimited OP's

I'm thinking the last one has benefits of some security. I am a little limited with other suppliers as I am a company director and it's a bit more difficult to access the better rates.

Opinions please....

shangaijimmy

Think I'd go for option 1 of the 1.99% lifetime tracker. I'd want to get all things in one place on same rate.

ourcornercottage

I'm currently heading towards the split variable and fixed as bf really wants some security against rate rises. Oh it's such a hard decision.

In other news my garmin Vivifit has arrived but I'm going to have to wait til after easter to pair with my work computer as iphone is too old! God a need a new phone!

This weekend I'll be step counting so that's great and I'll see how lazy I am!

ourcornercottage

Decided to go for the 5 year fix on the larger part of the mortgage. It gives us the security we need and I will tomorrow call to set up a regular OP of the maximum of 20% as part of our regular OP. I can the continue to OP the smaller part of the mortgage with unlimited OP's. This is the first time I have ever gone for a fix but the rate is lower than I currently have on the tracker and could only have got a maximum of a 0.5% improvement for being in a tracker. Had to pay a 299 fee (didn't add to mortgage) so that will limit my OP's a bit this month.

Went to norwich City training ground curtesy of Aviva. Little one had a lovely time although some of the kids were very competitive. Was very proud of little one he was very well behaved.

Walked 7717 steps today in a lazy day where I've spent most of the day sitting down watching little one.

ourcornercottage

Rang hsbc to set up regular OP to 20% on the new fixed mortgage. This will be an extra £55 off the capital every month to how I set it up before but I can't OP this one by one penny more. My regular OP on this part on the mortgage is £114 per month. The regular OP on the smaller mortgage is £44 per month. This makes my regular OP up to £158 per month. My aim is to OP £400 per month so need to try to add around £242 per month to my regular OP's which can go towards my flexible mortgage.

I've gotta comment here that hsbc were once again brilliant for the mortgage and sorting all the changes that I wanted. I could maybe have got an percentage point or 2 below my 2.49 5 year fix but I'd rather stay for the excellent service and also these rates for someone who is not employed in a traditional way are excellent.

All OP's from £co, tcb etc have been redirected to the flexible mortgage Which currently stands at 36k (ish) I wonder if I can get this paid off in the 5 years? That would be superb, also unlikely!

That's a lot of figures, I need to go for a lie down!

Steps today 14334!!! That's a normal day for me! Reading online the average is 3000-4000 what!

ourcornercottage

Good day today, went to Car boot sale to refill a bit of junk into the house! Then lunch at my mums which was okay, I take a few hours to relax around there but not too bad today!

Planned to to today

list some things on eBay - failed (as usual!)
Go to car boot and round mums - achieved
Clear up little ones craft stuff - failed
Walk 10000 steps - failed did 9000 but spend a good few hours lazing so not bad.
Write a blog post - achieved http://stretchyourpennies.blogspot.co.uk

Very happy with solar as its changed my average consumption from 14 units per day to 8.5! Very MSE.

Yesterday earned first ad pennies from blog. Didn't expect that so soon and have speeded past 500 views. It appears that my meandering into money saving are proving helpful :j

ourcornercottage

Plans for today

Walk 10K steps - currently at 8.6K - edited 9.5k!
Walk dogs - carbooot then the beach - DONE
Tidy up draft stuff - DONE
Cook some lovely potatoes to have JP's tea - in oven - DONE
put some things in ebay - Ermmmm
Add some adverts to blog - DONE - hope they aren't too annoying. Let me know what you think.

It's a pretty confusing month this month money wise as I'm waiting for all the changes to start. Im Going to need to keep a close check on the balances for the next few weeks but tbh I'm getting used to that!

Back to work for 1 day tomorrow then 2 days off and in Friday and Saturday! Funny old week!

gallygirl

A bit too late to make any difference but for what it's worth I think you've done the right thing with the mortgages even if slightly dearer.

Crikey, didn't realise 3-4,000 steps was the norm - neither wonder I'm cream crackered all the time :rotfl:

ourcornercottage

gallygirl wrote: »

A bit too late to make any difference but for what it's worth I think you've done the right thing with the mortgages even if slightly dearer.

Crikey, didn't realise 3-4,000 steps was the norm - neither wonder I'm cream crackered all the time :rotfl:

Thanks GG I'm glad I did the mortgage as it is. ITs a weight off to be honest.

I can't believe we must be a total nation of slobs to do 3-4000 steps. Today I drove to work and was mostly at my desk today and drove home and still did about 6000 in between. On a normal day I'll be nearer to 10-15000. I got the vitofit as I thought I was a bit of a couch potato, evidently not!