Mortgage free ASAP

bubblycrazy

andy1886 wrote: »

Ha I am an early bird , don't see ten o'clock anymore , I have not worked out the penalty for coming of the fix early but I think it is 1% for each early year so at the moment that would be 3% . I would need to work out the new repayment figure , new overpayment figure and interest charged and saved and that is way above my financial ability .

Just worked out how to do multi quotes!
I'm most definitely a night owl.
It was way above my ability too andy but there's a calculator that works it out for you. If you search for ditch the fix and input your details it will tell you what rate you would need to get to make it worthwhile.

MatthewAinsworth wrote: »

Investing long term would get most people mortgage free a fair bit quicker than overpayments...
But you'll be tempted not to sell the investment to pay off the mortgage

Thanks Matthew. I have looked into investing, and if I had a higher income I would definitely do this. I agree with SSS, it's guaranteed money coming off the mortgage. I'm not adverse to risk but only when it's money I can afford to lose. I actually have some shares (the high risk kind, purchased years ago) which are doing well at the moment. I'm not ready to cash them in just yet as waiting for news which will hopefully increase their value. I haven't put them in my SOA as I know there's no guarantees.

SuperSecretSquirrel wrote: »

I can see this from both sides. I've seen you pop up on a few MFW threads pushing investment over voluntary overpayments. What you seem to be missing is the certainty an overpayment gives you. Far too easy to sell some shares to splurge, not quite so easy to withdraw from the average mortgage. Also, markets go up, markets go down, sure they tend to go up over the long term, but when starting out with a limited amount of slack in the budget it's good to know that your £100 is definitely working for you not against you. A guaranteed 4.79% risk free win is not to be sniffed at!

Precisely.

bubblycrazy

SuperSecretSquirrel wrote: »

Bubblycrazy, just want to add that the fact you are pulling this off on a single part time net income of under 1k per month - well, that's incredible!

Living smaller certainly has its benefits. Smaller mortgage, smaller bills, smaller financial commitments in general - gives you the flexibility to work part time, choose only work you enjoy, spend time with family, maintain minimal stress levels. Seems like the path to happiness to me

Thanks SSS. I fully agree with what you say. I live in the North of England which definitely helps! It's funny I don't really feel like I have a tiny income. The highest income I've ever had was just over £1400pm and I felt well off! I saved £400pm then and rarely dipped into it except for holidays and car insurance, thus the savings.

I think I just naturally have always been a saver. My mum never had any money when we were growing up, or just spent it on the wrong things, and had to borrow from me once I started working. She always had rent arrears and was constantly on the phone chasing court threats and stopping interest charges. I knew I didnt want to be like that and have always appreciated the value of money.

Took DS to the park yesterday, he's now at his dad's for the weekend. Been to the pics today with my mum and boyfriend to see A Dogs Purpose. Cried my eyes out at least 8 times, this is why I could never own a dog!
I got the cinema tickets free using my lloyds club benefit, then we went for lunch afterwards and my mum paid due to me getting the tickets, so a NSD :money:

bubblycrazy

Bank balance is looking healthy still, I'm so glad I've worked out a budget that I can stick to.
Spending diary is going well, it's really making me think before buying extras.

I have put £1500 of my savings into my new TSB account to get the 3% interest.
I checked quidco and there's £34.55 ready to cash out. I received 49p interest in my current account this month, so have rounded up and just made a £35 OP. :j

Today was almost a NSD but after voting, DS wanted to go to the newsagents. As I rarely take him into shops I didnt mind so asked him to choose what sweets he wanted. He chose a pack of tic tacs :rotfl: I treated myself to a pack of fruit gums, as they're one of my favourites and hard to find (why?!), total spend £1.02.

In not so MSE news, I've just booked not one, but two holidays :eek:
One is for 4 nights in November, and the other is a week in March next year.
I've used money from my savings and as I don't have any debt I shouldn't feel too bad about the expense, yet I do
I will probably not OP as much as I was going to, and any money left at the end of the month will now go back into savings.
The trip in March will be the most expensive one which I'm going to have to save all birthday and Xmas money for. At least my new budget has money topping up the holiday and EF.

PrincessLou

Bubbly, I spent my morning reading through your diary and got hooked I love your way of thinking in regards to money and I am seriously impressed that you spend so little. I have four year old twins and the lovely thing about this age is that they are happy with the simplest things in life.

bubblycrazy

PrincessLou wrote: »

Bubbly, I spent my morning reading through your diary and got hooked I love your way of thinking in regards to money and I am seriously impressed that you spend so little. I have four year old twins and the lovely thing about this age is that they are happy with the simplest things in life.

Thanks PrincessLou
Wow, four year old twins, I couldn't imagine having to handle 2 of my DS's :eek:
Although it must be lovely knowing they've always got someone to play with, I bet they have the funniest conversations!
You're right, we should all follow children's examples of finding joy in the little things. It's sad that adult life tends to dull the joy
My ex takes DS away nearly every weekend like it's some competition. He's just as happy going to the park 20mins away to walk in the woods and feed the squirrels

Not much to report in MSE news. Logged into NatWest and my LTV is currently 77%. Daily interest is £6.33 :eek:
Just waiting till the end of the month to see how much I've saved out of my budget. Although I could work it out weekly, as it's been a long 10 days since payday and waiting another 20 more feels like forever. I'm not very patient when it comes to money and getting rid of the mortgage :rotfl:

EatingTheElephant

Hi, I've just found your diary, you're doing an amazing job. Fingers crossed the rates stay low for a switch later on this year.

bubblycrazy

Thanks ETE, fingers crossed, although I don't think the country's in any fit state to cope with higher interest just now :eek:
I think I'll speak to a broker soon to work out figures and options.

The things in my budget I can work out weekly are food, entertainment and petrol, which in total are £60pw.
If I work out my weekly spend starting from 1st June, I came under budget by £17.23 :j
I wasn't sure whether to OP straight away or save it until the end of the month in case I spend more one week, but I've decided that if I go over in a week I'll just have less to spend the following week.
I think I'll OP £8.23 and put £9 back in the holiday savings.

So from now I'll work out food, entertainment and petrol weekly. The only monthly spends which fluctuate are mobile and home phone, so I will OP any excess from those monthly. This should stop me from feeling like nothings progressing for a month until the next pay day
Plus OP as soon as I have the money helps pay off more interest as it is calculated daily.

bubblycrazy

Well I spent my whole £60 budget last week so no OP. I would have come under budget but my brother won tickets to a gig on Monday night and asked me if I wanted to go with him. When we got there I bought us 2 cokes which came to...£6.90! :eek::eek::mad:

I have a spendy week this week with the fair in town, my brother's birthday and father's day, so will try to stick to the £60 budget.
My mortgage payment came out today so until the interest is added on the balance is below £48000 :j I estimate that once the interest is added, if I can find an extra £59 to OP then the balance will stay under £48000.
I have a few things to put on the local fbook selling page so will get them listed today.

I'm not sure if a weekly budget will work long term as some weeks I hardly spend anything in the entertainment budget and other times it's more. Doing it monthly will allow for bigger purchases such as concert tickets.

Does anyone else have trouble taking money back out of savings to spend on its allocated item? For example I'm putting £12 away per month for presents, but still trying to purchase them out of what's left from my weekly budget so that I don't touch the savings

bubblycrazy

I came under budget by £15.87 this week as I didn't have to put petrol in the car. The £27 I budget actually lasts me 8 days so there'll be some weeks I don't need to fill up. The rest of the money was spent on fathers day and my brothers birthday.

I switched broadband at the end of last month but they are still taking the full amount this month and I will get a refund in July. I hadn't factored this into the budget so have a shortfall of £9.64 which I will cover using the £15.87 excess. This leaves £6.23 available to OP, and any refunds I get next month can go straight to OP and holiday fund.

bubblycrazy

I have an appointment with a broker on Monday to see if it's worth paying the ERC to remortgage and to see what rate I can get :j

I have tonsillitis so have a 10 day course of antibiotics to take. This is the 3rd time since February and it feels like having the flu until the antibiotics kick in, not nice.
My phone died this week too :mad: its the processor which has fried so I need a new phone. Annoying as I'd only got a new sim deal this month. I only need a handset but don't want to spend loads. Its my birthday in 2 weeks so I'm wondering if I can hold off until then and borrow a handset from someone. Just thought, I might ask my dad if he minds giving me my birthday money early instead.

NSD yesterday and today should be too.