£99,963.74

A_Frayed_Knot

Welcome, food always seems to be a pricey problem. I was always sure that batch cooking was not for me - until I tried it - and I love it, not only does it save money but also time cooking too.

My biggest and most satisfying way (obsession) I reduced my mortgage was to look at the balance, once the monthly mortgage payment was made, then reduced the "odds" to 00.00. eg - say your mortgage balance was £102,539.21, then I would either pay £9.21 or if feeling flush £39.21. Just saying what worked for me.

Good Luck.

Bored

Payday is finally here.

My emergency fund is now up to £1500, but I'm planning to top it up a bit more once I get back some expenses I've claimed from work. My current account balance is looking healthy with money set aside for this month's bills and I'm also on track with saving for with all my non-monthly bills.

I haven't decided how much I want to save up in my emergency fund yet. My monthly expenses come in at around £1300 so 6 months would be £7800, but I don't know if I can reach that goal AND overpay the mortgage before my fixed rate deal is up. I think I may have to start diverting money to the mortgage once my emergency fund reaches around £4000. I guess I'll see how long that takes!

Bought a few bits and pieces for the flat from Ikea. I'm replacing the dining table and chairs which I inherited from the previous owner. The table takes up too much space and doesn't really match my style but I'm glad I've been able to use them since I've moved in. I've chucked it up on freegle so I'll see if I get any takers. Not sure how I'm going to get rid of it if no one else wants it!

Bored

Forgot to mention, spending was much better last month. Managed to stick within my allocated budget despite one or two spendy weekends. I'm reducing my spending money allowance this month to see if I can squeeze any more cash out of the budget.

jaydeejay

Could you round up your mortgage payment now to an even number, is £700 too big a step, that's roughly and extra £10 a week to find by reducing exp or inc income? Just a thought as it would start you off on the overpayments.
JDJ x

Bored

jaydeejay wrote: »

Could you round up your mortgage payment now to an even number, is £700 too big a step, that's roughly and extra £10 a week to find by reducing exp or inc income? Just a thought as it would start you off on the overpayments.
JDJ x

That's a good idea but I use a zero based budgeting system (my own excel spreadsheet based on the YNAB method) so finding 'spare' money is very tricky! :rotfl: I do have a save the change feature enabled for all my spending but that money gets diverted into a virtual savings pot to pay for Christmas.

I've been using Top Cashback a lot recently so maybe I should divert that extra income to the mortgage. :j

Bored

Quick update - work expenses have been refunded so the emergency fund now sits at £2000.

My spending money account balance has been decreasing a bit too rapidly for my liking since payday so will have to think about how to ease up for the rest of the month. Quite a few friends' birthdays coming up that could potentially be quite expensive with presents and going out to celebrate.

Bored

Didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted. As I predicted August was an expensive month. So much so that my emergency fund balance has not changed since I last posted.

I've made the decision this month to stop building up my emergency fund and instead to divert my cash towards mortgage overpayments. I have extra money saved in sinking funds so the total amount of cash on hand is actually higher than the emergency fund balance and can be diverted if necessary.

So my current mortgage balance is £134,671.56 and my daily interest charge is £14.92. The goal is to get the balance below £127,000 by October 2020, and the first overpayment will be made on next payday!

Bored

Decided I couldn't wait until payday. I moved around some money and made my first ever overpayment of £500. Feels good to finally make a start and hopefully it will be the first of many.

Current mortgage balance: £134,231.18. :j

teapot2

Well done on the over payment - its a very goof feeling :cool:

savingholmes

Congrats on over-paying and building up your EF