Trying to make the impossible possible one day at a time

MrsWW

Hi all,
After reading many diaries, I have decided that it's time to commit to accountability and really focus on paying off the huge mortgage!

I bought a property for £310,000 last March. My mortgage stood at £276,899! We took out the longest term that we could in order to make sure we could afford the monthly payments (£989) and, after a couple of months we found that we could and so we now make a regular over-payment of £211.

As of today, we have £272,430 outstanding - it seems like an impossible dream to pay this off as quickly as we would like!

Here is a list of things we are currently doing to add to the over-payment fund:
- Swagbucks turned into Paypal cash
- Selling lessons online (I teach)
- Saving all coins
- Hubby working overtime when available
- Ebay for odd and sods
- Cash for books

Our plan is to pay off as much as we can before January 2021 so that we can remortgage at the end of our fixed rate.

We bought this property really quickly as it came on the market unexpectedly and it has sentimental value for us and we had no clue about mortgages! We are so happy with the place but really afraid of the debt!

Any tips that anyone has will be really gratefully received and I will update this diary regularly to keep myself accountable and track the total!

BVic28

Hi, welcome to the MFW journey! I’ve only recently started my own journey so I’m not sure on long term tips but the two things that are keeping me motivated so far are the over payment calculator, so you can see how even small overpayments can shave off time/interest and weekly Tilly tidies of all my bank accounts (rounding down to the nearest £1/£5 each week and putting the excess into one of my saving/OP pots) - this becomes quite addictive and I find myself looking forward to my next tilly tidy haha.

MrsWW

Thanks for the tips! God luck on your journey - do you have a diary?

MrsWW

I've had a good MFW day today!

Managed to sell a couple of chests of drawers that the old tenants left behind for £50 so that will be paid off the mortgage as soon as I get home! I also made my daily target on Swagbucks and managed to sell a lesson for a couple of pennies - nearly at £10 so I can withdraw!

supersaver1000

Hello MrsWW

love your positive outlook and am going to tag along if you don't mind.

We are planning to take on a large mortgage too. It is so scary, especially as we are a bit older and so max term is currently 19 years.

We are looking at a five year fix, so are planning to do the same as you so we can get a good rate at the end of the fix.

We haven't even got the house yet, so fingers crossed it all goes through.

Supersaver

CosmoCat

Hello MrsWW, I'm now following your thread, as we have a very similar mortgage and I only started last week. All the best with your overpayments!

BVic28

I do have a diary - it’s night feed dreaming

MrsWW

Wow - I have replies!

Thank you all and the best of luck on your journeys - I'll be following you all!

We struck lucky tonight and managed to sell off another couple of pieces of furniture so that's another £50 to overpay tomorrow - every little helps!

MrsWW

Best of luck!

MrsWW

Well, another few pieces of furniture sold this week means that I have just been able to make another £100 over payment and have reduced my term by a month!!

Sat down with the hubby last night and took a serious look at what we are spending and we have both agreed that we need to make a few cutbacks. We want to overpay the mortgage as much as we can but we also want to enjoy life as well and so the little trips to McDoanlds and grabbing a coffee from Pret have to be sacrificed!

Hoping to be in a position to overpay another £50 by the end of this week when my eBay sales clear and TES money arrives.

Hope you're all doing well!

LeighofMar

Congratulations. You're doing wonderful already. I love the idea of selling furniture and other odds and ends. You are so right. Every little bit helps and makes a difference, even with a big mortgage.