1 brick at a time

savingholmes

How much is the overdraft? What's the rate? Should that be a priority? How much is it costing per month?

Just a thought.

I like the dividing the mortgage into rooms...

longway2go

Hi savingholmes,

The od is around 500 and not sure of the interest rate but it's not much. I completely understand why you are saying that should be priority but feel it will be cleared within the next few months anyway and for me I feel that if I don't keep the momentum going for the ops I may stop which will be worse long term if that makes sense.

Have just reduced ohine bill by a small amount so will up the DD to account for that.

longway2go

Hi Everyone,
OHs car cost us substantially more than we thought and I think mine is on its last legs so need to look for a new one tomorrow. We did not reach the point where we had enough in our car pot to pay for this so things are not in the best place right now. We do have other pots I can take money from for a new second hand car for me and have done an interest free thing with the garage for a few months to pay for my OHs car repairs. Although I am gutted we didn't have enough set aside to just pay for it and therefore it will impact things for a few months I am pleased that we paid a lump sum towards the work on OHs car and have money in pots I can move to change my car.

I saw a beautiful house for sale... I wasn't really looking but saw it and fell in love with it. We booked a mortgage apt to see how much extra our lender would give us as we would of needed to port and then top up. The house would have been another 100k ish so quite a bit but a forever home with everything I could want and more. We asked for a viewing but it had been sold... A good thing in one way but gutted in another. I have an apt Monday to see what the max we can borrow is.. I think now this is more out of interest and any idea of moving is left because it was only worth it for this house. It has been good in one way as made me more determined to clear down what I can to help open options for us further down the line.
I have been paid from my second job which will go towards an OP... I know I could use this elsewhere but for me in order to make the second job worth doing I want to see a mortgage reduction because of it. My larger DD has been taken so an OP of 115 made this month already.  Not loads but considering everything else going on I am quite pleased 😊

longway2go

183.29 op made. Balance now 151,199. 73.... Nearly at my mini goal of 150k. 
Mortgage apt went well and looks like we could borrow quite a bit more.... We could probably of afforded my dream forever home so I am feeling gutted we missed out. We are viewing something Monday but it's nothing in comparison although quite a bit cheaper. 

longway2go

So we had to pull out for a new car for me... Not brand new but new to us. We had the money set aside so it's not too bad but need to rebuild the savings. 

We viewed a house this week but it wasn't the one, we would loose downstairs space and don't really like the idea of a garden straight from the living room with 2 little ones.  The other house was worth increasing the mortgage for because it was perfect and then some but this is not worth it. So for now we have decided to do some work on our house... Nothing 2 expensive but starting with painting the living room which is long overdue. We will then get a new carpet. We were going to wait a while until the little ones grew more but the carpet is definitely past its best and we have hung on a bit 2 long. We figure that it will help with enjoyment of the property and make it more attractive if we do decide to sell. The painting started tonight and it looks better already so really happy that we have come to that decision.

Money does seem to be going out like water atm withy OHs expensive car bill and me needing a new car. 

We have had some great news that oh has had a small payrise. As this is money we never had before I  tempted to up our DD by this amount each month but what with all the car bills not sure if I should. On one hand it will help us regain savings quicker if I don't up the DD but I don't want it to just get lost and wasted as it could help us knock a few years off the mortgage.

Decisions Decisions 

longway2go

A little update from me
I have decided not to increase the DD for a few months until things settle down a little and my OHs car bill is cleared. 
This month we have OPd by the amount we increased our DD by (114.81). I have been paid 300 for my second job so will make a further OP for this amount on Monday which I am really pleased about.
It was our wedding anniversary yesterday and had our first night away from the smalls in a nice hotel with a meal and drinks which was lovely. 
So close to getting under 150k now but with all the car stuff going on I really don't think we can stretch to it until our next monthly payment. 
Onwards and Downwards. 

longway2go

Just been having a play around with figures.... When we remortgaged our term was 18 years.... If we OP by at least 730 a month (which averaging it out we have so far) we will litterally cut our term in half!!! My aim from May onwards is 750pm. Cutting the mortgage term in half would be incredible and to see it in that way has really helped heighten my motivation.

Onwards and downwards 

longway2go

Afternoon, 
I have just made my mortgage op... 300 paid over the phone and a small 3.44 to test making a payment directly via my bank. Although this is a small payment its quite significant that I can now start tilly tidies and making small payments here and there which in the long run all add up. My payment today has saved 175 in interest alone. Some other figures:
Total Ops 6060.58
Total interest saved 3561
Sum of Ops and interest saved 9621.58
Balance 150182.11 - so close.

I am really starting to feel like I can make a difference and excited to see our balance under 150k next payment.

Onwards and downwards. We will do this... Goes to hunt for things to sell on eBay 

longway2go

Well 24 hours that changed the UK!
It looks as though holiday may be cancelled, we go end of May but the destination is not on the no travel list. Tbh at the moment I would prefer it to be cancelled and refunded.
Now officially working from home... Very lucky I can do this but all feels a little surreal. Hubby is in retail and non essential so will have to see how things unfold there.
With the current uncertainty I have decided to stop our automatic OP each month bringing the payment back to the original amount of 935 instead of 1050. I have also asked them to recalculate the loan back to the original term which should further reduce the payment to around 900 but waiting confirmation of the amount as another team have to action it and I will get a letter. Another option available to us would be to restructure the loan over a longer period which could take it down to around 600 pm and would take a few months to put in place, atm I don't feel we need to take this action as we have savings but if we loose job(s) then I wouldn't hesitate and then just make Ops. All of the Ops I would normally make(plus the difference in mortgage payment due to restructuring it) I am going to direct towards savings for now and then when the economy is more stable will hopefully be able to make an OP but am also protecting us should the worst happen. 
I am considering cancelling the kids swimming lessons (which is 50pm) but will see if we get a communication about it in the next few days first. 
Tbh by not leaving the house it should save quite a bit.
Oldest still in school abut not sure how long it will last.
I am so glad that I have made Ops as I can reduce my contractual monthly payment in times of uncertainty and overall have a better understanding of the choices I am making. 

longway2go

Hope everyone is OK in this crazy world. I have had a day working from home when I can and looking after the 2 boys. It's lovely to spend time with them both and we are starting to find things that we can do to help homeschooling the oldest.
We have had swimming lessons cancelled and payments frozen for now which will save 48 a month for now.  I'm trying to work out if I should get my mortgage spread over more years in this time of uncertainty, I need to look at figures really as it would impact the max amount we could reduce capital by when things pick up but then I may be able to switch it back. Some more thinking and investigatin needed I think. 
Stay well everyone.