Quarter of a million reasons to be Mortgage Free!

coxj2901

This is my review of my financial goals for 2016.

1. "Overpay £23,000 on my mortgage". I have overpaid £23,687.25 in 2016 which means I hit my target. I had to deplete my cash savings a little but a win is a win.

2. "Increase emergency fund to £6,000". My ISA is now sitting at around £7.6k after some healthy gains over the last quarter, so because it isn't cash savings I have to count this one as a failure.

3. "Increase my pension pot to £33,000". My pension pot is sitting at just over £38k after some healthy gains through the last quarter. A definite big tick for this one.

4. "Increase my wife's pension pot to £5,000". My wife's pension is sitting at £6.8k so another tick for this one.

5. "Increase my personal share holding to £1,500". As mentioned previously I changed this goal through the year and won't be holding any individual shares anymore.

6. "Pay for a new drive". Again, as discussed in the quarter three review our drive was completed earlier in the year.

7. "Pay off my 0% credit card in full". This was repaid in full early in the year and remains at £0.

Conclusion

I think overall 2016 was a very successful financial year. I think we got the balance right in terms of spending money on fun things like holidays and putting ourselves in a stronger financial position.

I will post my 2017 goals shortly and hopefully learn from 2016 and use this to achieve success in 2017 :beer:

coxj2901

My goals for 2017 are as follows:-

1. Overpay £20,000 on my mortgage. This will again take me to 10% of my mortgage balance and averages out to £1,666 per month.

2. Increase savings to £11,000. This can be a mix of cash and money put into my ISA. I currently have around £7.6k in my S&S ISA so need this to grow by circa £3.4k.

3. Increase my pension pot to £47,500. My pension pot is sitting at £38k and I have an employer contributions of £650 per month going in.

4. Increase my wife's pension pot to £15,000. My wife's pension is sitting at £6.8k and she will have £650 per month going in.

5. Pay for a new patio. This really is the last job in the house to be done!

6. Remortgage in Dec 2017 when I am below 60% LTV and reduce rate to ~ 2%

7. Reduce my mortgage term in Dec 2017 when I remortgage and reduce it from 25 years to 15 years.

coxj2901

My normal payment for £1,045 has left my account by direct debit plus a standing order for an overpayment of £750. I should have some spare funds available once I update my financial spreadsheets so hopefully further overpayments to come this month.

Jan 2017 Target

Monthly overpayment target . . . . . £1,666.67
Actual monthly overpayments . . . . . £750.00
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . .. . . . . . (£916.67)

Cumulative Targets since Nov-15

Cumulative overpayment target . . . £26,1666.67
Cumulative actual overpayments . . . £28,087.25
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £1,920.58

coxj2901

I have made an overpayment of £1,000 today after going through my finances post Christmas period. I'm getting excited at the thought of getting below £200k but it may be a few months before I hit that figure!

Jan 2017 Target

Monthly overpayment target . . . . . £1,666.67
Actual monthly overpayments . . . . . £1,750.00
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . .. . . . . . £83.33

Cumulative Targets since Nov-15

Cumulative overpayment target . . . £26,166.67
Cumulative actual overpayments . . . £29,087.25
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £2,920.58

coxj2901

I have paid off another £1700 today in addition to a £100 overpayment on the 1st Feb which means I am getting closer and closer to the magical £200k figure. My mortgage balance now stands at £204,791 so should go below £200k in April at this rate

Feb 2017 Target

Monthly overpayment target . . . . . £1,666.67
Actual monthly overpayments . . . . . £1,800.00
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £133.33

2017 Target to date

2017 overpayment target to date . . . . £3,333.34
2017 actual overpayments . . . . . . . . . £3,550.00
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £216.66

Cumulative Targets since Nov-15

Cumulative overpayment target . . . £26,166.67
Cumulative actual overpayments . . . £30,887.25
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £4,720.58

Daily Interest Comparisons

Feb 2016 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £15.19
Feb 2017 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £13.14

coxj2901

My regular direct debit of £1,045 has been taken today plus a standing order for £100. I have also made an additional overpayment of £1,800 to hit the March target early.

We have booked a few holidays again for this year which we were saving for but have just added an extra one to Lanzarote in the Easter half term so I may have to scale back on overpayments for a couple of months to pay for this impromptu holiday!

Mar 2017 Target

Monthly overpayment target . . . . . £1,666.67
Actual monthly overpayments . . . . . £1,900.00
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £233.33

2017 Target to date

2017 overpayment target to date . . . . £5,000.01
2017 actual overpayments . . . . . . . . . £5,450.00
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £449.99

Cumulative Targets since Nov-15

Cumulative overpayment target . . . £29,500.01
Cumulative actual overpayments . . . £32,787.25
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £3,287.24

Daily Interest Comparisons

Mar 2016 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £14.87
Mar 2017 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £12.96

coxj2901

I have drawn down some of my ISA and paid this off against the mortgage as I couldn't wait any longer to get below £200k :rotfl: I have used the money to pay for the holiday aswell so normal service can resume with paying off the mortgage from April 2017 onwards.

Mar 2017 Target

Monthly overpayment target . . . . . £1,666.67
Actual monthly overpayments . . . . . £6,726.89
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £5,060.22

2017 Target to date

2017 overpayment target to date . . . . £5,000.01
2017 actual overpayments . . . . . . . . . £12,076.89
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £7,076.88

Cumulative Targets since Nov-15

Cumulative overpayment target . . . £29,500.01
Cumulative actual overpayments . . . £39,414.14
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £9,914.13

Daily Interest Comparisons

Mar 2016 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £14.87
Mar 2017 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £12.56

try_harder

Fantastic overpayments for the month and what a difference 16 months have made .Well done .

coxj2901

My April direct debit of £1,045.09 has left the account plus an overpayment by standing order of £100. This brings the mortgage down to £194,855 :T

coxj2901

I have made another overpayment today of £1,600. I'm feeling very focused at the moment and really want to hit the 10% overpayment limit as soon as I can so I can top up the ISA again.

We go on holiday next week to Lanzarote for 10 days and I can't wait as it's been a busy few months at work and I feel like I need a break.

Apr 2017 Target

Monthly overpayment target . . . . . £1,666.67
Actual monthly overpayments . . . . . £1,700.00
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £33.33

2017 Target to date

2017 overpayment target to date . . . . £6,666.68
2017 actual overpayments . . . . . . . . . £13,776.89
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £7,110.21

Cumulative Targets since Nov-15

Cumulative overpayment target . . . £31,166.68
Cumulative actual overpayments . . . £41,114.14
(Shortfall) / Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . £9,947.46

Daily Interest Comparisons

Apr 2016 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £14.76
Mar 2017 Daily Interest . . . . . . . . . . . £12.39