The Little Cottage - A Musical

CosmoCat

I've been reading these MFW diaries now for a little while and they are greatly inspiring and uplifting.

About 3 weeks ago we decided to sell our flat. We have a terrible managing company who charge us thousands per year and don't look after our building. We decided to get out of leasehold hell and own our own little parcel of earth down here in London town. So we booked the agent, had the pictures taken, immediately had loads of viewings. We also started looking for our home. In about a week and on exactly the same day, we received asking price for our flat and had our offer accepted on a cute, little period cottage.
We were very lucky.

We had our mortgage approved the next week and have filled in every single form known to man. We've sent every single bit of evidence we could gather. And now the wait begins.

So the numbers -
Both my partner and I are self-employed, so incomes can vary wildly. We now have a mortgage of £273 499, with our current mortgage being redeemed through the sale of the flat, which also provides our down-payment for the cottage. We are fixed at 1.8% for five years, after which we will try to remortgage to get a better deal. Our term is 26 years. We are both debt free, so this is all we'll be concentrating on.

I've never overpaid on my mortgage, as the numbers seemed so colossal, they were hard to fathom. And I couldn't see how overpaying by even a small amount could make a difference. So, now I'm looking forward to do it. Payments will vary but I'm aiming to do at least £300 a month. This means that I won't be paying off my mortgage in 3 years or even 10 but I'll be working hard to bring it all down. That's all there is really. Even this would bring my mortgage term down to 18 years. And that would be glorious.

So here we go.

BachSoon

Welcome! :beer:

What an exciting journey a period cottage sounds like my idea of heaven!

To see how every little payment helps, pop the details into the overpayment calculator and it will show you how much interest you will save on each payment, or pop in a reoccurring payment and it will show you the length of time you will cut off. It very motivating! https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-overpayment-calculator/

Good luck!

CosmoCat

Good morning :coffee: and thank you @BachSoon I'll go check it out. You are so right, it is very motivating to see the numbers dwindle.

I got a mortgage spreadsheet off of one of the users here (I can't remember who it is, but thank you, thank you, thank you!!) and I keep fiddling with the numbers just to see the balance go down. They're all dream numbers, I can't possibly overpay by £1500 a month :rotfl: but it is fun to dream.

I can't believe I've done this diary already and I haven't even moved. I guess I'm just very excited. I've opened up our joint account, so bills will come from that one and that way I can keep an eye on things. I change jobs in a couple weeks so my salary will take a hit for a couple months, but then things should settle down by then.

Right, off to have a lovely NSD and chase my solicitors!

Have a great day all.

Needhelpsaving

Welcome to the MFW boards, and congratulations on your new home!

There are some great tips (and very inspiring diaries on these boards), so you'll be addicted to OPing in no time at all. One of my fave's is the Tilly tidy - overpaying small amounts by tidying up your accounts (I op'd 6p the other day by rounding down an account ... it all adds up).

Do you have an emergency fund in place? It may be worth considering getting some savings in place as a buffer for life at the start of your journey.

Wishing you luck x

CosmoCat

Hey Needhelpsaving
Thanks for the tip about the Tilly Tidy. I hadn't heard of it. It's a pretty cool idea.

I do have a six month emergency fund in place to pay my bills and outgoings should something happen. Just need to top that up to include the increase in mortgage that I'll be taking on soon! Thank you for the reminder!

From your signature, you're doing brilliantly! Well done. I'll be watching closely.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

zcrat41

Welcome. Sounds like a great plan. Like mentioned already I find plugging in my figures to the op calculator on here really great when it shows how much interest I'll save.

Good luck & look forwards to reading

CosmoCat

Thanks Beanielou. Keeping myself accountable. It's worth it.

And thanks Zcrat41, the calculator and that spreadsheet are my new best friends. I haven't even started paying the mortgage yet, haven't even moved, and yet I'm dreaming of being mortgage free already!

NSD for me today. Although there are a couple big purchases in my future. I need to get a new ultrabook as I'm travelling for work in a month. I also am thinking of getting myself a bike. I'm moving further out from the centre of London than I've ever been. So thinking of cycling some of the way to make travel a little cheaper. And with some of the journey being by train, it will have to be a foldable. Not sure yet. Will have to see.

Anyway, a quiet day for me. The house sale and purchase are at the point where it's all with lawyers and I can do nothing but wait.

LeighofMar

Welcome with your new diary and congratulations on the period cottage. It sounds like a dream. Overpaying quickly becomes addictive and you will soon be amazed how much progress you can make.

VelvetFreak

Happy New Diary
Congrats on the purchase of your new home, it sounds lovely.

CosmoCat

Thank you LeighofMar and VelvetFreak (great name!)

Not much to report as I'm still in the process of buying. There was a little hiccup in our process. We had our lease extended a couple months ago, and got in touch with the old solicitor to have the application expedited due to the sale. Turns out he never actually lodged the application. So I've had to wait for them to get a new signed lease, and we're only now going to the Land Registry. What a palaver!!

I'm not getting stressed about it. It wasn't my error. So they're sorting it out now. And they know what I think, so they're getting their a**es in gear.

Other than that, I bought my new ultrabook today, via a cashback site, so I've got a few pounds back. I've made a couple quids on surveys. And they're all going to overpayment. I make great money now, but I'm getting into the habit of boosting my income. To quote a slogan, which quoted an oft used phrase, every little helps