Paying off mortgage before 55 when single

Ali-OK

Followed you over from Thistle's thread and de-lurking to say hi.

Similarly in my 40's, a singleton and a chunky mortgage that I hope to be shot of in 7-8 years and not the 12 left - which would make me 59 :eek:

Shall be following

Dalradian

Thanks ali, glad to see another singleton delurking!

Dalradian

Odine, so glad to hear from you. Being single my focus can be a bit laser like! It sounds like you might be the same. My total debt started off near yours, so it can be done. Every diary record is a great reinforcement for me to keep counting the small victories, as they add up to winning the war.

So raising complaints, getting refunds, using quidco, saving small spends all adds up during to the month that allows me to overpay. Plus a lot of psychology - i like keeping money aside as emergency fund, but could dip deeper into it as it would mean i a) work harder to bring my emergency fund back up and b) have satisfaction of meeting a target early.

Dalradian

Must also mention - i have been using my pay increases to fund pension, isa and overpayments to mortgage. One of the best ways to easily overpay - just make sure you save up for emergency fund before paying off mortgage. And better for cummulative interest to start saving as well as op'ing. Don't just overpay and leave the pension to later as the cummulative interest and tax breaks make a huge impact.

Dalradian

Just got my sharesave redemption form through, so am going to ask for the share certificate so i can trade them in myself - rather than paying the 1% fee of the preferred partner with no guarentee of when they will pay out.
Looking at the share price today i should make around £3k towards overpayments. Good investment overall for 3 years of payments

Ali-OK

Good plan and a nice chunky OP from that.

I keep thinking about throwing some of my current EF at the mortgage too - same rationale, I'd work harder to build the EF back up. One to ponder on

Dalradian

£48.89 cashback from quidco. Nice!

Dalradian

Also reduced my mobile cost by £13 per month by getting handset free. Kept large data allowance, otherwise it would be lower but my phone is my lifeline when travelling, so need it.

A_Frayed_Knot

Dalradian wrote: »

Also reduced my mobile cost by £13 per month by getting handset free. Kept large data allowance, otherwise it would be lower but my phone is my lifeline when travelling, so need it.

Great news from quidco.

About to cancel my monthly internet allowance as my Free internet and phone line was installed today, thanks to MSE code:D. So that's a saving of around £20.00 plus a month.:money:

Dalradian

I use virgin broadband and tv as i am bought into tivo recording everything i need when i am away. Sad, but true. I did have a recorder, but setting it when i went away, plus limitations on numbers of channels and storage just makes it unworkable.
Need to organise pac code for transfer of phone number and all done.

I have over a hundred pounds still waiting for payment on quidco - it just takes a few months to pay out - getting better at putting these through to get cashback.

Still waiting for my shares certificate, but the share price, which has been steaming forward after a dip in august with the china scare, has dropped back. Hope it is just people cashing in their share automatically and depressing the price. Otherwise might have to wait a few months to cash in.