Start at the very beginning.

Brindlebabe

Oh, also, I forgot:
I've switched to paying off my student loan by direct debit rather than directly from my payslip. I didn't know much about this until I did it so I will elaborate in case it helps anyone... 
They sent me a letter last year to suggest I was within 24 months of paying of my loan. My calculations showed I was more like 30 months away so I filed it for a bit. Then last week I phoned them because I had a day off and I didn't want to get close to overpaying it and have to set it up in a hurry. 
The dealio is as follows:
They contact my employer and ask to stop taking student loan payment from my salary. In 3 month's time (eg August 1st) a monthly direct debit starts to come out of my account and continues until the loan is paid off. In my case its £267 for 16 months. However, my employer will take their time to stop the payments coming out, for example this month I've paid off £422. This, and any other payments that I make via my employer in the next 3 months will come off the term of the loan, so I won't be paying £267 for 16 months, it will be more like 14 months, fewer if my employer is slow to stop the payments. Which is fine. And apparently you can check your outstanding balance online, although I haven't tried it yet. And you can overpay at any time if you like, although the interest rate is very good, so, as Martin says, not much point in paying it off like that when I can be overpaying the mortgage.

So - it is worth ringing them when 1-2 years away from paying it off. Clearly it takes 3 months to set up so don't leave it later than that. In my case they've set the direct debit payments less than I have been paying lately so it *should* feel like a pay rise of about £150/month, which is exciting. Then when I pay it off next summer/autumn it will be another pay rise of £267. Although I haven't quite worked out how it affects pension payments so we will see...
Extra money planning on going on mortgage overpayments (obviously, that's always the plan). Which is great. Plus its a great boost to be *only* 12-18 months away from paying off my loan. I graduated nearly 9 years ago and have been working full time ever since so I feel like it will be a big (although probably cheap) celebration when it's finally paid off!

 Hope that's helpful to someone! 
Bb

Brindlebabe

Only £217 off the £200000 barrier now. Desperate to get below it but can't find the extra money just now it seems. 
Have managed the same £517 overpayment this month (trying to prove to ourselves we could afford to commit to £1250 per month rent whilst we're inbetween mortgages as it seems we will be next year. It seems £1250 is about the going rate for the sort of thing we want rent-wise. It just seems a lot, the last place we rented was about £850 tops I think, and it was lovely! But it was in rural Wales, so I shouldn't be comparing.. 
Not done brilliantly on not spending this month. Husband has bought a raspberry pi for £90 (I don't know what that is really) and some bits and pieces too, like computer things and instruction books. It seems to be making him happy and it isn't hundreds of pounds but can't help but think it could have gone on the mortgage. That being said, he has saved up the money we'd budgeted for 'individual luxuries' to buy it with so I can't really be cross as it was earmarked for luxuries. I spend £9.50 on lunch at work yesterday! A delicious warm roll, coffee, coke and crisps. It was a long and miserable shift so I felt as though I deserved it, but still... £9.50 on a posh packed lunch is a bit ridiculous. Will do better next week. 
Car expenses now sorted for the year (hopefully), and the doggie's tests and medication are all being paid directly from the insurer so that' ok. Its a new year in August so we'll need to pay £100 excess again then, I'm sure she needs ongoing medication for arthritis, but that's a bit away.
I have to pay about £650 for an exam I need to take (which makes me really cross! I'm sure in other jobs if you have to take an exam as part of your mandatory training then your employer pays for it? Surely?) It can wait til payday though but will make next month look a bit bleak moneywise. Can't decide whether to take in out of the savings account (which should be getting 2% interest) or the current account which doesn't accrue interest. Its only a few pennies interest wise and it leaves the current account looking healthier if I do it from the savings account, but I feel like I want the savings accounts to build up a bit instead of constantly raiding them. I'll probably just see how I feel at the time. Bottom line is - I'd like a bit more money in current and savings accounts, and a smaller mortgage... Oh well. Important thing is we're heading in the right direction. 
Hope all well with everyone.
Torrid times continue...
Bb x

Ellie78

Hi Bb, just caught up on your diary.   You're doing really well.  Even when you don't feel like you're making much progress, all those little steps add up quicker than you think.  Breaking it down into lots of smaller goals feels far more achievable. 
I hope your pup is ok!

Brindlebabe

Hi,

Thank you Ellie - pupster is definitely feeling a bit better with the metacam, joint tablets and sardines 3 times a week!
Mortgage is still stuck at that pesky £200217 Figure but almost payday so will get under £200000 then.
have just seen payslip for next month and they’ve stopped taking my student loan off it so it looks slightly better than usual. The direct debit arrangement doesn’t kick in til August so I’ve got a couple of bonus months which is nice.
I’ve decided to get some more counselling, hopefully will be able to access some for free via work but likely only a short course and it may be that I need ongoing sessions. It’s so expensive but when I had some before it really helped me, so money well spent really. Works been quite difficult lately (covid hasn’t helped, but also the usual non-covid related conditions have been particularly upsetting lately). Also I can’t access many of my usual coping mechanisms... pub, yoga, supermarket delivery service!). 

Additionally, I seem to have inadvertently cancelled quite a bit of leave, and it’s not really clear to me if/when I can get that back, which is annoying (and wouldn’t be the first time).

Anyway - must stop moaning. Some positives - yesterday added cinnamon, bay leaves, stock and turmeric to the rice and it came out as delicious pilau, amazing! Have a friend meeting me in the park with beer after work tomorrow, baby tomatoes on the tomato plants look promising. And clearly a lot of people a lot worse off than me just now! I do definitely have my health and a secure job. I really do have lots to be grateful for. 

Have a good day everyone, 
Bb x

Ellie78

Mmmmmm.... fishy dog kisses     
Good luck with the counselling.   I'm feeling very grateful for my garden at the moment as a place to de-stress.

Nichelette

Hope dog is still doing well . Info on student loan is useful. I graduated on 2008 and have lost track of exactly how much I have left, but think it will be a year or two before I'm in that situation because I was on rubbish pay for a good few years after that. It will be so nice once it is finally gone, sort of like a pay rise! There's something to look forward to . 

I think everyone is finding it hard at the moment. It's good to think about the positives, but I think it's okay to let it out and have a moan sometimes too. 

ruby_eskimo

Hi Brindlebabe, just caught up on the diary and it looks like you're doing really well with the mortgage.  I've just switched to direct debit for my student loan as I didn't realise that I would pay it off in November!  Now that's been pushed back to January with the three month break but I think I might end up paying it off sooner (my employer isn't that great at processing these things sometimes).  Well done on deciding to go back to counselling, it really helped me a couple of years ago and I've had to find some alternative coping mechanisms during lockdown when I've noticed that I've started to spiral again.  Re Yoga, have you checked to see if anywhere local to you is doing online classes?  I have a friend who's a yoga instructor and she's been hosting sessions over Zoom.  Not quite the same experience but better than nothing.  There's also the Youtube option and I've been doing a couple of yoga with adrienne sessions here and there to just help me relax in the evenings.

Brindlebabe

Thanks - my local yoga guy is doing zoom sessions, I’m doing as many as I can but i can only really make once a week tops, and have missed a few. I do think they’re so helpful to me, I really need to prioritise them but it’s hard to find all the time! Adrienne is such a great option but I just don’t seem to be able to get to the mat that way, for some reason I rely on the class to get me to do it, even though when I have done Adrienne before I’ve felt good for it. Weird.
Good news is we’ve broken the £200000 barrier! Hooray. Still a lot to go, but never going to be >£200000 again (I swear I’m never getting a bigger mortgage) so that’s definitely something to celebrate. 

Hope your all doing ok. 

Thanks for checking in.
Bb x

LeighofMar

Congrats on saying goodbye to the 200ks never to be seen again!

ruby_eskimo

Well done on being sub 200k!  I can't wait for that day but I know that it's a while off yet!