Diary of our £230,000 mission

chelseablue

Paid off my credit card in full today!!!

freedomby30

Thats amazing well done!

EatingTheElephant

Congratulations :T

chelseablue

Currently £65 in credit with our energy supplier, tempted to request them to pay it out to us but I think I will leave it there to go against our bills in the winter.


Also £100 in credit with the water company but when I spoke to them today they don't pay out credits, when they read the meter in July they will use the £100 against our monthly payments.


Now that I've paid off my credit card I can start overpaying again, but the mortgage rate is 1.49% and am getting 3% on my savings so not sure what to do


Current mortgage balance now £228,900

MallyGirl

I would keep the money in savings and then use to overpay once the mortgage rate exceeds the rate of savings returns

McTaggus

Congratulations on your journey! I'm in a very similar boat - I'm 34, bought a house in the South East in April (an even more terrifying mortgage than yours, believe me, and a much higher interest rate), and torn between making OP's and spending money trying to renovate our victorian house back to some semblance of its former glory!!! Three months in, and it's definitely a difficult balancing act.

I found it easier to commit to an additional direct debit to the Halifax for a sum I knew I could afford each month, and then to put any other funds left over into a higher interest account when / if I have free cash that doesn't need to immediately go into one of many house projects and so it's earning interest. At least that way I know I'm always making an OP contribution, but also creating almost an offset fund that could go towards either OPing the mortgage in a lump sum in the future or be reinvested into "surprises" we hadn't anticipated in our renovation (like the state of the plaster in most of the older half of the house!!)

The key kicker for me was realising how much of our monthly repayment actually went towards reducing our capital, and how much interest per day our debt was accruing - 64 quid a day!!!! That re-galvanised some of my focus, I have to admit!!!

I did also have a similar quandary about interest earned on savings versus the interest I was paying on the mortgage, but as my interest rate is higher than yours (4.99%) the difference was negligible between the two. As my immediate priority is to get below the next LTV threshold before my fixed rate ends and I have annual limits on what I can repay per annum, which would prevent me from paying the lump sum I need to get the balance cleared down to the next tier within the fixed rate period, I decided to go with the regular OP's.

Wishing you the best of luck on your journey

chelseablue

McTaggus wrote: »

Congratulations on your journey! I'm in a very similar boat - I'm 34, bought a house in the South East in April (an even more terrifying mortgage than yours, believe me, and a much higher interest rate), and torn between making OP's and spending money trying to renovate our victorian house back to some semblance of its former glory!!! Three months in, and it's definitely a difficult balancing act.

I found it easier to commit to an additional direct debit to the Halifax for a sum I knew I could afford each month, and then to put any other funds left over into a higher interest account when / if I have free cash that doesn't need to immediately go into one of many house projects and so it's earning interest. At least that way I know I'm always making an OP contribution, but also creating almost an offset fund that could go towards either OPing the mortgage in a lump sum in the future or be reinvested into "surprises" we hadn't anticipated in our renovation (like the state of the plaster in most of the older half of the house!!)

The key kicker for me was realising how much of our monthly repayment actually went towards reducing our capital, and how much interest per day our debt was accruing - 64 quid a day!!!! That re-galvanised some of my focus, I have to admit!!!

I did also have a similar quandary about interest earned on savings versus the interest I was paying on the mortgage, but as my interest rate is higher than yours (4.99%) the difference was negligible between the two. As my immediate priority is to get below the next LTV threshold before my fixed rate ends and I have annual limits on what I can repay per annum, which would prevent me from paying the lump sum I need to get the balance cleared down to the next tier within the fixed rate period, I decided to go with the regular OP's.

Wishing you the best of luck on your journey

Hi McTaggus, only just seen this.


64 quid a day interest?! That's nearly 2 grand a month, I hope you just made a typo :rotfl:


Our monthly interest is around £274 a month.


At the moment I just have the one savings account, the Santander 123 account, where I earn 3% on anything up to £20,000


Currently got £11,000 in there, so want to build it back up to £20k (where it was before we bought this bl!!dy house!)


In 2 minds what to do;


Plan A is chuck everything spare each month into savings until it reaches 20k, then start overpaying


Plan B is to overpay the mortgage £300 a month and then whats left put into the savings until we get to 20k

chelseablue

Hi All


The water company read the meter, received new bill in the post and we are to carry on paying £23 a month.
Really pleased with that as in our old property we paid £44 a month (and that was a flat!)


My mobile contract ends in a couple of months and my phone is fine so planning on going onto a SIM only deal.
I currently pay £35 a month and looking to drop that to £15 a month


Really need a new driveway, ours is concrete and uneven and has horrendous weeds growing up through it :-/
I'd hazard a guess of at least £4,000 for a new block paved drive so saving for that now, its probably a job for 2018.


Dining room was painted over the weekend and OH says he's doing the conservatory tonight and tomorrow night (we'll see!)


Need a dining table and chairs before Christmas so that's another few hundred quid to spend :-/ we currently eat off our laps in the living room.
And Mr CB has helpfully invited our families for Christmas dinner round at ours so I cant put off buying one


Credit card bill is up to £1,088 again, but £900 of that is for our car insurance, WILL be paying off in full from savings when the bill arrives next week.


I think that's all for now. I am determined to start overpaying again from next month, even if its just 50 quid!

CathT

Hi, just spotted your diary. Life can get in the way of making overpayments, making Tilly tidies can help with the motivation. Even if you pay £50 that's £50 you never have to pay interest on again.

vicsmiles

Hi I just spotted your diary as our mortgages are really similar, well yours is about 40k less than mine (also in the SE) but we made the move like you from a 2 bed to 3 bed semi, this is our forever home so I feel we should crack on with getting rid of the mortgage from the get go, but like you we have a whole house to decorate re carpet refurnish etc as well as working full time and 2 young children!
What I have done is budgeted for items we need and anything I can save I have paid the difference straight off the mortgage. Gumtree/ ebay is your friend for furniture especially tables and chairs we got a solid oak table and 6 chairs 2nd hand, it needs a clean up but for £50 I was happy to do that, the same table is 7 years old and still looks great even after 2 children and a house move.