Mortgage free by my own merit

OhtobeMortgageFree

Finally got round to setting up a way of overpaying the mortgage from my Nationwide account last week. I was super nervous making the first overpayment as the account that's overpaid is based solely on the reference added to the payment. It did go through though luckily and I overpaid £150 last week and then £30 today.
I've also handed my notice in for my paperround. It just wasn't practical anymore. I was only getting £60 for a 22 mile round each month which ended up taking forever as I had to do the round in small chunks around my husband's work. We've agreed that I'll just take on one extra nightshift each month (£100) to work all in one hit and come home with an extra £40 than I was earning with the paperround anyway.

OhtobeMortgageFree

Had a super money savvy holiday last week in the Isle of Wight. My Mother in Law has a caravan down there so we stayed free of charge for five days. We also used their owner pass to cross the ferry from the mainland for free.
While we were down there we did a £35 Tesco shop at the start of the week for food. This included a lot of luxury snacks and 'holiday food'.
We had a day out at Robin Hill which was expensive (£46 for the three of us, including my toddler's under three free entry!) but it turned out that our ticket price meant that we could return as many times as we wanted within the next seven days so we headed back for another day of fun later in the week. We also took advantage of the free swimming on the campsite, kids club and close access to the beach (even though it rained the whole time we were there!!!)
Lucky we were so money savvy as my car (which became our shared car back in June when my husband's car failed the MOT) made a horrible noise on our journey back. We took it into the garage on our return home who quoted up to £2000 to rebuild the engine amongst other things. We had a rush round for a new car and have put a £500 deposit down on a new car (£1500) provided it is put through the MOT before we collect it on Saturday.
No overpayments this week though. And I've asked for five extra overtime shifts at my night job next month to help pay for the new car.

beanielou

Glad that you had a good break v
Boo to the car.

OhtobeMortgageFree

Thanks Beanielou!
We've paid for the car on our Tesco credit card, meaning we don't need to pay it off until the end of September, by which point I will have added to our savings from overtime/extra freelance work and paying for a new car shouldn't take too much of a hit hopefully.
I overpaid the mortgage by another £20 this morning from the month's Tilly Tallies to take my August overpayment total to £350. Not as much as I would have liked for the month but I'm playing it safe until my pay for coursework moderation comes through. (This should hopefully cover the car in full but no sign of it yet.)

OhtobeMortgageFree

Our petrol money is now about to take a hit during football season though. The husband has a season ticket for the club he supports, who are 100 miles away! I'd never ask him to give the season ticket up as it's really important to him but at the same time it's the best part of a day every other weekend lost for family time, £500 cost upfront for the ticket and a big hit on petrol each time he heads back.

OhtobeMortgageFree

Is taking out credit cards on 0% still a thing? I have a decent savings account at the moment, or I could pay off chunks of the mortgage earlier
to save on interest and then pay back once the 0% was up.
Going to investigate now. Any advice welcome though...

WeeMidgie

Hi OhtobeMortgageFree, I've just read your diary from the start, and I'm in admiration of what you've achieved. So sorry for the miscarriage, and I hope you and your husband are both feeling the benefit after your lovely time away.

I agree with sarahevie, you never know the full reasons why others appear to have more "goodies" - holidays, clothes, cars, outings etc.. It could simply be they're not focused on reducing their mortgage term / it's a lifestyle bought on credit / they have well paid jobs / they have generous relatives / they had an inheritance etc etc.

Best thing is to do what you're doing - focus on the outcome you intend whilst having a good life with modest but enjoyable hols and outings, because such a balanced approach will get you there happy and enjoying your family life along the way. A path travelled successfully by myself and many other MSE MFWs! Persistence definitely pays off. Give yourself a pat on the back, you're doing great!

Moneyfordreams

Sorry to read about your miscarriage , I hope you are being kind to yourself. Don't take too much on whilst you are still recovering, mortgage OPs could take a back seat , for a short time Obvs

I've taken cash out on 0% CC . It's great at first to get your job done … but paying it back is always hard and disciplined

OhtobeMortgageFree

WeeMidgie wrote: »

Hi OhtobeMortgageFree, I've just read your diary from the start, and I'm in admiration of what you've achieved. So sorry for the miscarriage, and I hope you and your husband are both feeling the benefit after your lovely time away.

I agree with sarahevie, you never know the full reasons why others appear to have more "goodies" - holidays, clothes, cars, outings etc.. It could simply be they're not focused on reducing their mortgage term / it's a lifestyle bought on credit / they have well paid jobs / they have generous relatives / they had an inheritance etc etc.

Best thing is to do what you're doing - focus on the outcome you intend whilst having a good life with modest but enjoyable hols and outings, because such a balanced approach will get you there happy and enjoying your family life along the way. A path travelled successfully by myself and many other MSE MFWs! Persistence definitely pays off. Give yourself a pat on the back, you're doing great!

Thanks WeeMidgie. Some solid advice there. It is definitely about balance. I'm not usually one to compare to others but my husband and I were having a downer that week. Much more focused and determined now though. We have our mortgage-free goal in mind!

OhtobeMortgageFree

Moneyfordreams wrote: »

Sorry to read about your miscarriage , I hope you are being kind to yourself. Don't take too much on whilst you are still recovering, mortgage OPs could take a back seat , for a short time Obvs

I've taken cash out on 0% CC . It's great at first to get your job done … but paying it back is always hard and disciplined

Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, I worry that because we don't have vast amounts of money coming in, it would be too easy to use some of the money for 'emergencies' and then end up struggling to pay it all back when we needed to. I do like the idea of paying off chunks of the mortgage early and saving on interest that way though...