regularsaver MFW journey - Achieving a dream.

Grogged

Our regular OP is going into central savings at the mo.
I'm "down" to weekly TT payments for my fix, I just round the bank balance to the nearest £5 multiple.
Some weeks I get lucky and others like this week its 20p! 😆
Sometimes saving up your OP can be beneficial, for our NW mortgage £500+ is either instant monthly lower repayments or a shortened mortgage term.
If yours offers something similar then that might help your thought process.
Whether you save it or OP, both are an investment in you and your future.
ATB, G.

regularsaver

Hello all, I hope you all had a nice time over Christmas. I haven't checked in for a while as I haven't been feeling great in myself, mental health wise. 

I have just made a little OP for December of £29.42 which levels the current mortgage balance to £110,100. Again like November I couldn't help myself and its only a tiny little amount but hopefully it will all help. I have asked to join the 2021 MFW challenge so I am looking forward to that and have set my target for the year. 

As I said I would do for November and December I have saved a decent amount into my home improvement pot, ready for when I can get the relevant people in to do the jobs I need. I have just got to decide now if I need to top that up a bit more or divert what I was putting in there into OP to the mortgage and savings again. So many decisions.

I need to have a look into my banking too as my money is not earning any interest, however its all setup how I like it with pots for all the things I save into each month, so in terms of organisation its working but in terms of the money working for me its not. Although it sort of feels fruitless even worrying about any interest as no where is paying much anyway and I sort of feel still that I am far better making the OP on my mortgage and saving against the 2+% I am being charged there. 

I will check in again soon, sorry I have been a little quiet, I just had to take some time for me away from a lot of things. 

regularsaver

Grogged said:

Our regular OP is going into central savings at the mo.
I'm "down" to weekly TT payments for my fix, I just round the bank balance to the nearest £5 multiple.
Some weeks I get lucky and others like this week its 20p! 😆
Sometimes saving up your OP can be beneficial, for our NW mortgage £500+ is either instant monthly lower repayments or a shortened mortgage term.
If yours offers something similar then that might help your thought process.
Whether you save it or OP, both are an investment in you and your future.
ATB, G.

Hi Grogged, 

Thats interesting, as I have been focussing purely on making the OP this year, as its the first year I have done it. I don't really know or understand yet how its affecting things in terms of lower monthly payments, or, as I would prefer, to shorten the term. I am on a 5 year fix so I presume I will only get to see these options come renewal time? I am not sure though.

Grogged

We took out a 5 year fix too with NW.
At the time we didn't want any Brexit surprises and the interest rates were low.
If we OP (even if it's only TT) our annual statement always reduces our monthly payments to keep the end date the same.
For a large single OP we get a letter telling us that the monthly payment will reduce next month, unless we ask them to reduce the term.
I'd expect your annual statement to be similar and your monthly repayments to reduce.
You'd need to check the T&C to confirm, and also about if can reduce the term instead.

Glad you've been able to top up your pots.
I've not found a good place interest wise where I can have them separated, so I just go with a single savings account and keep track in my spreadsheet.
I hope your OK and getting the time you need to recharge.
It's a strange end to the year, which is saying something given what's happened throughout it...
Take care, ATB, G.

South_coast

I sacrificed interest to keep my money all in separate pots with the same bank. Not the best choice financially, but much better for me mentally (even though I knew how much was in each account with other banks and what it was set aside for, I found myself constantly logging on to them all to "check"). Now I can just log on once and the money is all there and all seperated out into named accounts, which I find very calming. Unless you've got a fair bit of money, the interest rate differences won't really add up to very much x

coldcazzie

Grogged said:

We took out a 5 year fix too with NW.
At the time we didn't want any Brexit surprises and the interest rates were low.
If we OP (even if it's only TT) our annual statement always reduces our monthly payments to keep the end date the same.
For a large single OP we get a letter telling us that the monthly payment will reduce next month, unless we ask them to reduce the term.
I'd expect your annual statement to be similar and your monthly repayments to reduce.
You'd need to check the T&C to confirm, and also about if can reduce the term instead.

Another 5 year Nw fix here. I rang them up and said I wanted to set it so that ANY overpayments I made reduced the term and nothing else, and they were quite happy to do that for me. Thus far it's worked, although I don't suppose they will officially tell me how it has changed until I get the new mortgage statement at the end of this month.

South_coast said:

I sacrificed interest to keep my money all in separate pots with the same bank. Not the best choice financially, but much better for me mentally (even though I knew how much was in each account with other banks and what it was set aside for, I found myself constantly logging on to them all to "check"). Now I can just log on once and the money is all there and all seperated out into named accounts, which I find very calming. Unless you've got a fair bit of money, the interest rate differences won't really add up to very much x

We have done the same, and for the same reason. The only thing I haven't done is name them because FD don't have that function (very annoying!). None of them earn interest until they've more than about £600 in them, and because they're all just holding pots they never have that much in them. If I was saving for the interest rate I would have made different choices, but that's not the purpose of them.

caeler

@coldcazzie I'm with NW all my overpayments reduce term.  Every time I make an overpayment I get a letter confirming my new term.

Sistergold

Hello @regularsaver
Happy new year! Welldone with the OP and every little helps! 

I get what you mean by the mental health challenges being brought up by the pandemic and to be honest I am in the same bought. Being single has its advantages of cause but I guess being with someone if working well together will be better in this lockdown. For me it’s up and down as sometimes I have the children and sometimes they go to their dad and so am on my own and this brings more challenges as I can not be set to one routine! I am trying to hang in there and hope for the best mental health wise! 

Just wanted to say hello and cheer you own.
I have also taken not of the energy club for when next I need to change tariffs. 

💋 

regularsaver

Good evening everyone and happy new year. I hope you are all well and enjoyed Christmas as best as you could. 

As @Sistergold just said, and I totally agree, its very much up and down mental health wise. Some days I feel really happy and like I am achieving things, others not so much but I am seeking a little help which is a positive thing. 

I have just made January 2021's OP of £113.05, taking me down to £109,777. I feel pleased to make a solid start to the years OP and I'd like to try and keep it going to I not only achieve this years target, but also manage some more as in year one of my house I did not OP at all, so if I can manage over the next 3 years to OP to make it as if I did OP in my first year that would be great. I think I can do it, I just need to juggle some things around etc etc. 

I had my birthday this month, it was weird celebrating without anyone else and buying myself a cake, but I tried to make it as normal as possible, just like I did at Christmas when I took the time to make a full dinner etc again to make it just like it would have been if spending it with family/friends. 

I cant believe its the end of January already, I have no idea where the month has gone, but I am liking the fact the nights are starting to get lighter again. Not loving so much how wet its been but I have enjoyed the snow recently which has been nice. 

I would just like to say I really appreciate all the support, cheering on, kind comments, and all comments really. I havent been as active as of late on here but I am going to try hard to get a little better at that, time and mental health allowing. I really hope you are doing doing well in your journeys. 

caeler

Well done for making an effort @regularsaver It would have been easy not to.  I was alone at Christmas but also made an effort and I'm really glad I did because I did enjoy myself!  Happy Birthday!