Chipping away at large mortgage 8 December 2019 at 10:03PM in Mortgage-free wannabe 17 replies 2K views

PEK1

Hi everyone, feeling really inspired by all of the diaries although slightly overwhelmed as only seen 2 other large mortgage ones!
I'm doing this diary to try and hold myself accountable to chipping away at the debt. I set myself a goal at the start of this year to overpay £50 per week, but I often forgot to make the payment I've now set a reminder on my phone for a Monday evening to make the overpayment each week.

Bit of background on me - 35 years old (DH 45) DD 3 years old and currently pregnant with second child due end of Feb. What better time to make sure I'm overpaying the mortgage than when my income goes down to only £600 per month :rotfl: husband thinks I'm crazy but I'm already going to be on a tight budget so I might as well go the whole hog!

We have a London mortgage (huge against most on the board but really not bad for our area) 320k taken out initially, currently 280k. Initial 28 years, fixed 3.39% 2 years. Then fixed 1.83% for 5 years. 23 years 5 months left, but hoping to cut that as much as possible.
Here's the other issue - our house is tiny and we really need more space. I don't like the idea of moving as it's throwing money away on stamp duty etc and we'd be looking at needing another 200k to get the space we want so instead we want to add another 100k to the mortgage debt to build an extension :eek:

More detailed numbers to follow, just needed to start getting this down on paper!

MrsLovely

Good luck in reducing your London mortgage!! Any overpayment makes such a difference you'll be so pleased with yourself in your future life! It makes SUCH a difference, keep it up!

Socajam

Yes, it nice to have the funds to overpay on your mortgage, but being pregnant with your second child, I think it would be best to put the money in a separate bank account and wait until the child is born and there are no complications.
None of of have a crystal ball to know what can happen and it would sure make things so much easier for you if there are complications and you have to stay home far longer than you had planned, the funds are there to help.
Emergency fund and life happens fund are far more important than overpaying the mortgage now - in my opinion - once you have those in good standing, then you can concentrate on getting the monkey off your back.
The last thing you need is to have a household emergency and no money in the kitty to pay the bill.

PEK1

MrsLovely wrote: »

Good luck in reducing your London mortgage!! Any overpayment makes such a difference you'll be so pleased with yourself in your future life! It makes SUCH a difference, keep it up!

Thank you, I was hoping even the small amount I'm suggesting will make a difference!

PEK1

Socajam wrote: »

Yes, it nice to have the funds to overpay on your mortgage, but being pregnant with your second child, I think it would be best to put the money in a separate bank account and wait until the child is born and there are no complications.
None of of have a crystal ball to know what can happen and it would sure make things so much easier for you if there are complications and you have to stay home far longer than you had planned, the funds are there to help.
Emergency fund and life happens fund are far more important than overpaying the mortgage now - in my opinion - once you have those in good standing, then you can concentrate on getting the monkey off your back.
The last thing you need is to have a household emergency and no money in the kitty to pay the bill.

Thank you for your comments. I already really cut the spending some time ago and have been putting away £500 per Month into the emergency fund which stands at 15.5k. I have another 3 regular salaries before mat leave so this will be up to 17k which is why i feel I can manage the small overpayments of £50 if I'm careful with spending

dark^knight

Welcome and good luck on your mission

PEK1

So I'm a few weeks in and have managed 4 overpayments in a row, it's nice to see them on the statement! I've literally spent nothing this month so have some pennies left to hit the sales for baby stuff today, let's hope I can keep within budget and not overspend ��

jodles16

You sound very sensible! Amazing savings and a great mortgage overpayment plan! Best of luck! Will pop in again!


Jodles

Sandyra

Good luck, I’ll be keeping an eye on your diary. I too have a London mortgage on my own, 37, but live with boyfriend in a 2 bed flat, with £249,950 to go. I’ve been paying £280 a month, now opting to pay £500 a month. 28 years to go and this already feels like ages. I just love getting the letter from the lender that says you’ve knocked off a month off the term. We will probably need to get a bigger place sometime in the future. Get married etc. As far now, I’m going to do £6,000 in the Mortgage free 2020 wannabe, so by the time I come to the end of my 2year tracker @2.09%, I will have a better LTV.

Yellow_mango

Hi - just dropping in to say hello and cheer you on!

I think I have the largest mortgage I’ve seen on this board - £564k. It is quite overwhelming, but all we can do is keep chipping away!

Well done on getting your EF sorted - that’s first on my list to start building up!

savingholmes

Just popping along to wish you good luck on your MFW journey. Well done on the EF too!