Taking Control and Making It Happen

MissLemon

Couldsavemore wrote: »

Just read your whole thread and now thinking I should be doung a lot better

What is this ynab, of which you speak?

I think any amount is better than nothing, even if it's a few extra pounds!

YNAB (You Need a Budget) is a budgeting app that has made a huge difference to my finances! It is a subscription app so you pay a monthly fee but I'd really recommend it.

It allows you to set a budget each month, record your spending and most importantly adjust your budget if you have to spend more in one area than you expected. It means I'm more focused on what I spend.

You could do this using a spreadsheet or pen and paper but having the app on my phone means I can refer to it and make an informed decision when I'm thinking about buying something.

To give you an idea of how this has changed my spending and budgeting - when I first got the app 18 months ago at the end of every month I would be lucky to have £50 in my bank account before pay day. Now I have more than a months pay still in my bank at the end of the month. :j I no longer have that 'where is my money going' feeling and don't have to worry if I get an unexpected bill.

Plus, it allows me to move things around and make even more over payments!

The website is https://ynab.com/ and you can sign up for a 34 day trial to test it out.

But if you would like to sign up with my referral we both get a free month - https://ynab.com/referral/?ref=IW7_RIyZxswvnizT&utm_source=customer_referral

MissLemon

EatingTheElephant wrote: »

Well done on your new mortgage deal and fantastic OPs last year :T

Thank you! I'm really pleased with the OPs

MissLemon

End of the month OP of £710.17 taking our outstanding balance down to £74,500! Woo!

MissLemon

A whole year has gone by since I updated this diary. But that doesn't mean we've not been progressing  
At the end of January our mortgage balance fell below £60k! Which was amazing and means we are on target for our MF date of December 2022.
However, it also means we are moving towards going over our 10% overpayment per year with no fee. So I've got to keep an eye on how close we get to that 10% and work out what to do with our OP money once we get to that point. I think it will end up going into a separate savings account to build up so we have a lump sum once our mortgage fix has finished to pay without penalty.
What have other people done?

South_coast

Hi MissLemon (love a a bit of Poirot ), it might be worth working out how much you would be charged if you went over the allowance, as it might not be as much as you think. With the balance coming down quicker, the monthly interest will come down faster too. I am OP'ing more than the allowance and paying the charge, as when I crunched the numbers I came out MF several years earlier this way - the break-even point between the fee and the interest savings could be sooner than you think . Worth working it out

MissLemon

South_coast said:

Hi MissLemon (love a a bit of Poirot ), it might be worth working out how much you would be charged if you went over the allowance, as it might not be as much as you think. 

A fellow Christie fan
Thanks for the tip, I didn't really think of that. I've checked and we'd pay 1% of any amount over our 10% OP allowance. Which doesn't seem like much, so I am going to crunch the numbers and see what happens. Seeing as savings rate don't seem to be much more than 1% at the moment it might be worthwhile just paying the charge.

I've been doing a little bit of decluttering and have ebayed a few items, giving me a £31.02 extra OP this week
And I've taken @A_Frayed_Knot 's  advice and added a little bit more to get the balance down to .00. I plan to do a bit more decluttering and see what more I can sell as it all helps!

MissLemon

Final OP made for the month bringing the balance down to £58,300
I'll be hunting out a few more things to go on ebay for March to see if we can declutter and OP at the same time.

Jessy103

Well done MissLemon!

MissLemon

Jessy103 said:

Well done MissLemon!

Thank you

MissLemon

The regular mortgage payment for March has come out and I made a little OP to get it down to .00
But what made me very happy was the interest payment for February was under £100. Now I know this is because February is a short month and next month it will be just over £100 again BUT.... it made me really feel like good progress is being made seeing that monthly interest payment dip under £100 for the first time