The Final Countdown

**jess**

Oh what a nice feeling that must be. Think of the freedom you will have in your financial life. It makes all the overpaying seem worthwhile when I see posts like this

ElusiveLucy

dano17439 wrote: »

I dream of typing an email like this. I was all for overpaying until the death to have a £0 mortgage, but now thinking about it, I might stop the overpayments when the balance is say 10k owed our something, so I can start enjoying the overpayment saving sooner

I could have paid my mortgage off a couple of years ago if I used all my savings, but I wanted to keep my savings in case I needed them. I think I have done a reasonable job of OPing the mortgage but still saving as well. I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket. Keep at it, it really will be worth it in the longer term. Some months at the beginning my OPs were tiddly, but every penny does count!

ElusiveLucy

**jess** wrote: »

Oh what a nice feeling that must be. Think of the freedom you will have in your financial life. It makes all the overpaying seem worthwhile when I see posts like this

I have been OPing small amounts since I started my mortgage in 2001, but I started OPing seriously in Jan 2009 when my mortgage balance was 90k, so do stick at it. It became easier over time as I got used to the money going out each month and didn't miss it so much.

dano17439

ElusiveLucy wrote: »

I have been OPing small amounts since I started my mortgage in 2001, but I started OPing seriously in Jan 2009 when my mortgage balance was 90k, so do stick at it. It became easier over time as I got used to the money going out each month and didn't miss it so much.

That's the exact way to do it. We started a few years ago at £100 per month and gradually increased it when we could. We're now overpaying by £1200+ a month and still manage to have a nice life

ElusiveLucy

dano17439 wrote: »

That's the exact way to do it. We started a few years ago at £100 per month and gradually increased it when we could. We're now overpaying by £1200+ a month and still manage to have a nice life

Wow, £1200 a month is incredible! I managed mine at £500/month and arranged with Nationwide to reduce the term of my mortgage when the OPs took effect. They also give you a choice for you term to stay the same but the OPs to reduce your monthly payment, which may work better for some people

ElusiveLucy

Well my mortgage balance now sits at just over £500, so it will be paid off on 1st September:j


I can't believe I have reached the rainbow at the end of the mortgage road.


I haven't decided what I am going to do next, but I suspect it will either be an investment property here or a holiday home abroad (we had our eye on one, but the change in the exchange rates after the Brexit vote put that on hold). I do need to pull my finger out and get some work done on the house, so I now have no excuse really!


I would just say to all you MFWs don't give up, every little OP helps, and the time does seem to go quickly.


I will have paid off my 25-year mortgage in 15 years and 4 months, something I never planned or dreamed of when I first bought the house in 2001. I have saved money at the same time as OPing the mortgage because at times the savings rate has been better than my low rate lifetime tracker mortgage.


The two things that really motivated me were the challenges on here (MFW and MFiT) and the spreadsheet I got from here some time ago that showed each month per year, what the interest per month/day was and how much impact the OPs were having. In the beginning I spent a long time fiddling with different OP numbers to see the overall effect. and also tracked my estimated MF dates - what I had agreed to through reducing the term of my mortgage by OPing, and what I could achieve if I OPed by a planned amount for the next few months..

dark^knight

ElusiveLucy wrote: »

Well my mortgage balance now sits at just over £500, so it will be paid off on 1st September:j


I can't believe I have reached the rainbow at the end of the mortgage road.


I haven't decided what I am going to do next, but I suspect it will either be an investment property here or a holiday home abroad (we had our eye on one, but the change in the exchange rates after the Brexit vote put that on hold). I do need to pull my finger out and get some work done on the house, so I now have no excuse really!


I would just say to all you MFWs don't give up, every little OP helps, and the time does seem to go quickly.


I will have paid off my 25-year mortgage in 15 years and 4 months, something I never planned or dreamed of when I first bought the house in 2001. I have saved money at the same time as OPing the mortgage because at times the savings rate has been better than my low rate lifetime tracker mortgage.


The two things that really motivated me were the challenges on here (MFW and MFiT) and the spreadsheet I got from here some time ago that showed each month per year, what the interest per month/day was and how much impact the OPs were having. In the beginning I spent a long time fiddling with different OP numbers to see the overall effect. and also tracked my estimated MF dates - what I had agreed to through reducing the term of my mortgage by OPing, and what I could achieve if I OPed by a planned amount for the next few months..

Wow...well done!!!

ElusiveLucy

I've done it! No more mortgage.....woo hoo!!!!

chelseablue

Congratulations!!!!


I'll be joining you one day (but still got £228,000 to go!)

PrincessLou

Wow - what an incredible achievement - you must be over the moon!!:j:j:beer:
May I ask how much you paid off in total?

Also, do you have a link to the spreadsheet you used? I've been looking for a good one for a while