1 brick at a time

longway2go

Oh is now not working so can help with the kids when I work from home but should get the 80%. He has just had a payrise before things changed so won't be 2 much of a drop for us. I do worry about 1 or both of us being made redundant in these uncertain times and hope that won't happen but I am going to take further steps to reduce outgoings temporarily.
Our Mortgage term is currently just over 17 years and our committed payment each month was 935 but after getting it recalculated to take account of our ops its dropped to 900. Our DD was 1050 but I have put it back down to 900.  I have a phone apt to lengthen the term, we can (just) due to ages take it to 600pm and because we can make the 10% OP I am comfortable that we can still OP by the desired amount and the difference between what our DD was 1050 and 600 (450).  We will be much more comfortable knowing we are only committed to the 600pm. Thus will mean in the next few months the 450 plus any extra OPs can be put aside to make a payment when hopefully the world becomes more normal again. We will then increase the DD back to a min of 1050 with the assurance that if needed we can drop it back. My intention is not to have our mortgage for longer but by doing this it gives us the flexibility. If I find we are reaching the max OP and have more funds to throw at the mortgage we will either save ready for the new mortgage year or reduce the term (this is subject to financial checks but should be no issue if we have the ability to OP this much).
This month the OD has been cleared and will stay cleared. Next month we will go under 150k and have 5k in savings. I know we are extremely fortunate and I am so pleased that we started when we did (always going to kick myself it wasn't sooner).
In other news, I hurt my back working in the wrong position but have now got a more suitable desk set up. We are enjoying the time with our boys and hopefully OH will now be more on board with the Ops. 
Hope everyone is doing well. 

V8D

Just wanted to pop in to say Hi! Nothing more to add other than well done on the OPs so far. 😀

longway2go

Thanks V8D lovely to see someone is reading my rambling

longway2go

The first part of my mini target is currently to get my mortgage balance under 150k, tomorrow we will do this... I am very excited and can start to see the progress. Hubby and I will have a few drinks to celebrate that and I think he is now getting on board with the OPs more as he can see the progress and the benefit of derisking our situation by reducing the mortgage esp with the current situation. He questionned if we wanted to extend the mortgage and undo what we had achieved so far which is not like him. I have told him the physical term won't change if we keep up OPs but just gives us a buffer should the shtf.

 I have been thinking about my next mini target and it is going to be:
1-save 5000 in interest by the OPs made (so far we have saved 3561)
2-increase EF to 6000
Onwards and downwards. 

longway2go

We did it, we got to under 150k!!
The balance is now 149,606.21..will update signature later. 
I have sent a payment to round down to 149,500 which should show tomorrow and has increased my interest saved figure to 3601. I don't use the difference between my original payment of 935.19 and new payment of 898.59 (36.60) to calculated interest saved as that was my original agreed payment.
Onwards and downwards, a few drinks tomorrow night 😊

V8D

Congratulations! 🍾🥂

Under £150k is fantastic and to have saved over 9 payments in interest too, well done. 😀

twinklie

And there was me excited that my daily interest reduction is nearly £1 less than what it was at the start of the mortgage! But below £150K is super exciting. Congratulations!

longway2go

Ahh thanks 😊
Twinklie, that's great news. I have to get down to 146,500 for that but is definitely a goal I am looking forward to.
Onwards and downwards 

longway2go

Yesterday I was put on furlough and hubby has been for a few weeks now. Financially I am obviously greatful that I am being paid to stay at home with my family but it does make me feel nervy at long term job prospects although I am being told it shouldn't.
I am greatful that we started to get ourselves together financially last August and have got rid of ODs, have an EF (although I am wishing it was a bit higher at this time) and cleared a bit of the mortgage. 
I feel like I'm just finding my flow and the level of Ops etc and as much as I would love to continue seeing the balance go down now is a time for financial protection and really building the EF.
I have a mortgage Apt on Thursday to increase my term, my initial intention was to still pay the original contract amount of 935pm (estimated new payment around 600pm) but with us bith on furlough the money will be directed to savings with the idea that we can OP when things are more stable.
Thank you for everyone's support which has helped us to get into this position which I am fortunate for at such a strange time. 

longway2go

Today I have arranged to extend the term of my Mortgage to 30 years and if we get the paperwork in time it will be from our next payment. What this means in reality is our commited amount is 600.32 pm, although we will for now continue to pay as if our term remains at 17 years and 3 months so our actual payment will remain at 935 pm but if we hit a problem we can reduce it.
Other than that, we have been home and enjoying the sunshine with the boys in the garden. We walked to deliver an Easter Egg for my nephew today, was a bit odd talking to them from a distance. 
I am going through finances and think we pay a massive amount for cat ins but our cats are getting old now so will be the time we are likely to use it. I did look at quotes and could save about 20 a month over the 2 policies but our cover would go down so going to have a little think about that. The other thing I'm going to look into is our gas and electricity bills.