MFW starting out and being inspired

Lurkingtoposting17

Hi all!

Bit of an odd one I guess as I am about to exchange on my first property on a 35 year mortgage!

I hadn't even considered overpaying on my mortgage until I met a mentor of mine today who said it was the best bit of advice he could give me. I said well first I need to save for some renovations I'm planning in 2/3 years and he pushed back and insisted I instead become a mortgage overpayer!

So now I'm reading threads here and trying to gather all the information I can!

My mortgage is going to be huge (£240k not counting the interest) and I'm single with no dependents so this is all on me!

I am hoping that after doing some basic renovations (painting and furnishing!) I can then save two months outgoings (~£3000) in an easy access bank account, then pay around £300-500 off the mortgage each month.

My questions : for those planning renovations on property, do you save separately or just overpay. My mentor suggested I could "take out" funds from the mortgage so wasn't worth making separate savings?

Does anyone have any spreadsheets to calculate how their mortgage is going down by overpaying or any calculators? I love visually seeing this stuff, if I can do that it will give me motivation. Plus I want to set a realistic Mortgage Free date!!

Finally any top tips on overpaying and funding your overpayment addiction :rotfl:

I think I'm going to enjoy the inspiration!!

:j:j:j

newgirly

Welcome and well done making the decision to overpay :T

Your mentor has given you some good advice in my opinion, especially with a 35 year term! There's is a calculator on mse, on the main site in e mortgage section, others may be able to link to some more detailed ones. The one I use is no longer available online I'm afraid.

Personally we have not done any work on our house since deciding to overpay except a loft conversion (quite a costly choice!) but that's was due to our twins that shared potentially killing each other if we didn't :rotfl: that was financed with a personal loan at the time as we couldn't up our massive mortgage any more, the loan was then top priority.

I would start with the overpayments straight away myself, If some months you need to do work on the house, then take some time out and maybe just pay a few token pounds so it's still in the he forefront of your mind.

The most helpful advice I can give is to keep up the diary and read plenty of other people's for inspiration, best of luck

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

mrspuddleduck

I found a google sheet here...just need to bear in mind the dates are Americanised....but as a new user it wouldn't let me post the link so google "mortgage amortization google sheet" and it is the top link that came up for me called Spreadsheet Gallery.

Good Luck!

louloubelle79

Good luck, I am only 6 months into my MFW journey. We need to do so much in our house but decided to overpay instead and the repairs and renovations are on standby.

I downloaded an app called Mortgage Calculator Plus on my iPad- its great and keeps me motivated with the OPs how much earlier it will be paid off.

Lurkingtoposting17

Thanks for the advice guys, I am just going to stick my current anticipated budget below!

Mortgage: £240,000
Current Repayment Date: 35 years
Mortgage: Fixed until 2022 (5 years) at 2.94%

SOA:

My salary - £2,968
Total - £2,968

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £919
Council Tax - £153
Gas - £25 (estimated)
Electric - £25 (estimated)
TV License - £12.25
Netflix - £6.00
Phone - £20.00
Food - £150.00
Car Insurance - £40.00
Petrol - £100
Building & Contents insurance: £25.00
Broadband: £30 (estimated)
Commuting: £268

Total Fixed Outgoings: £1,781.67

Remaining: £1187

Other debts: None

---

My aim from this, is to overpay £300 pcm. This would mean I would save £56,155 in interest alone, and pay the debt off 12 years and 5 months earlier! Wow:dance::dance:. Seeing that was incredible motivation.

I think the £300 pcm target is realistic as a net goal. I can pay up to 10% of the value off every year in overpayments.

The house needs no significant work though it is old, so I am planning to save an emergency fund first and foremost in which I will hold £3000 which should cover me for 2 months in the event of an emergency or to assist with any payments towards car repairs or home repairs.

I am aiming to do in ~4 years a significant home improvement project depending on finances and also what the property market is doing. I don't know if it is best to save towards this or consider a loan against the property in the future. Any advice here is warmly received!

How I will reduce my outgoings:
I am an avid gym goer, and just changed gyms, and pre paid for a year upfront to get the best deal possible so gone from £55 a month, to what would be equivalent to £33 a month. The drive is significantly shorter so hoping to reduce my petrol costs. In my new office, I no longer need to drive to the station to commute, so I am hoping I can get petrol costs down to around £60pcm.

I regularly work from home, so good broadband is pretty essential to me and I am happy to pay for the peace of mind of a good, fast provider. My parents live around the corner so I am going without sky and will just wander to visit them when I need to catch anything on Sky+ :rotfl: Netflix will be adequate for my own needs! The food covers weekly food spend (around £25 a week, plus one lunch out with a friend during work a week) I know there are probably cheaper ways to feed myself, but I count my macros and calories religiously to align with my gym training, and I have got a fairly standard rotation of meals that are cost effective and nutritionally balanced.

If anyone has any advice or tips on things in my budget, or how I can kick start with good deals I would be DELIGHTED to hear it.

Much love and hugs for all the insanely helpful advice you have offered so far. I think STARTING with this motivation and mindset, will help me be mindful as I decorate and furnish my home.

CouponClipper

Good luck on your journey, in December my girlfriend and I took out a mortgage for £212,000. Haven't started overpaying yet but will probably start this month as we're also on a long term (32 years 5 months remaining!).

One thing I would say is if you're not putting anything away for your pension I'd start now. Depending on your employer you don't want to miss out on free cash.

Apart from that good luck on your journey. I shall follow with interest!

greent

Just a quick post - your budget doesn't seem to have any lines in it for water, entertainment, clothes, gifts and car maintenance?