The light.... I hope it's not a train

Roger_Red_Hat
Roger_Red_Hat Posts: 3
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edited 2 May 2020 at 7:11PM in Mortgage-free wannabe
The year was 2004, a fresh faced Roger Red Hat in his very early 20's placed a shaky foot onto the property ladder along with the 19 year old Ruby Red Hat. Our mortgage was £90,000 and for a couple earning £22k (COMBINED!!!!) the thought of having this paid off seemed a long way off. Well, it seems we were right. 16 years later we now owe £80,157.77p. how have we not progressed i hear you ask?
- Roger, we need some work done on the house. no worries love, we'll remortgage.
- Ruby, will you marry me? don't worry about the money, we'll remortgage
- 2 little Red hats running around when money is tight, we'll remortgage.... etc etc etc. you get the picture

In truth, as our careers progressed the mortgage payments always seemed manageable, so its never really been a priority to pay it off. But of late I have had a bit of a scare (as have a lot of people). I have been with my company 18 years now, its always been a safe job. Never any threat the company wouldn't last and I have been happy plodding on over the years making mortgage payments. Due to current circumstances there is now a threat to the company, along with many other companies. Its dawned on me that maybe my world isn't so secure and I could kick myself that had i started this journey earlier the worry of keeping a roof over my family of red hats could have been avoided.

Alas, I have seen the light, I just hope i haven't left this too late and the light is not a train heading my way. I'll post a few details and add to my diary as I go. My thinking is if I start off a thread then I am more likely to follow up on my promise of getting this clear.

RRH

Comments

  • longway2go
    longway2go Posts: 1,006
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    Welcome, I think your story resonates with many of us and many of us also kick ourselves that we didn't do anything sooner or have the 'lightbulb' moment any quicker. Try not to kick yourself for it, you have seen the light and starting a diary really helps to keep me and many others focused so hopefully it will be the same for you.
    I have found reading other diaries and looking at the mortgage calculator helps for motivation and now that I have started to make OPs I can feel myself getting addictive (there are worse things in life).
    Lot of luck to you and your family, I will follow your diary. 
    Mortgage Aug 2019 161,000 :eek::eek::eek:Nov 2019 156,500:T Jan 2020 153,122:T, Apr 2020 149,500, Apr2021 139, 675, Oct 2021 136,823, Dec 2021 136,120🙂EF 0/12,000 (0%)😕 (5062.44 was ERC), Jan 2023 128,650. Our Mortgage is never going to be as high as it is today. :jOnwards and downwards to a better life for our family. :jJust keep swimming
  • South_coast
    South_coast Posts: 4,860
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    Good luck! I don't think it is ever too late, you'll make much more of an impact starting late than someone who never overpays at all 😀
    Mortgage start: £65,495 (March 2016)
    Cleared 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️!!! In 5 years, 1 month and 29 days
    Total amount repaid: £72,307.03. £1.10 repaid for every £1.00 borrowed

    Finally earning interest instead of paying it!!!
  • V8D
    V8D Posts: 62
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    Good luck, Roger. 🙂 

    I'm definitely finding my diary is keeping me accountable and more likely to record my spending and consider my budget. 🙂
  • Roger_Red_Hat
    Roger_Red_Hat Posts: 3
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    edited 2 May 2020 at 7:12PM
    Cheers guys, in-between looking after the kids, working from home (well, attempting to) and opening the snack cupboard every 10 minutes, I found some time to flick through a few of the diaries on here. Lots of very good ways of doing this, I suppose I just need to find what works best for me. Do I want a set target? overpay what I can and see where i end up? I saw one that OP's to round everything down to a '000 remaining balance, maybe this is the way to go?

    1st things 1st, I need to take an initial step to start this journey. Each Saturday I normally watch a very rubbish football team, to be able to do this I often need alcohol. I normally spend around £50 at the football, as that wont be happening and my mortgage is due to come out on the 1st May I have quickly set up an OP of £50. Its a small start, but a start nonetheless.

    I'm off to the snack cupboard to see if anything has miraculously appeared, it still amazes me that i feel disappointed new food doesn't get added to the cupboard by the snack fairy.

    RRH
  • Roger_Red_Hat
    Roger_Red_Hat Posts: 3
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    edited 2 May 2020 at 7:11PM
    so, todays mortgage payment has come out, including my 1st £50 overpayment. This has taken the balance under £80k (£79,750.71 to be exact). feeling pleased that I have made a start, also a tad confused of the way forward. Although, feeling confused is normally how I function on a daily basis.

    I was playing around with the OP calculator, that once off OP of £50 will save me £31 in interest over the course of the mortgage. That's insane! If i make that £50 into a regular OP I will save £2,472 in interest and will pay the mortgage off 1 year and 8 months early. This opens up a whole new world to me.

    RRH
  • icklehelen
    icklehelen Posts: 355
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    Good luck RRR!
    No matter how you go about it, you'll always be glad you had your lightbulb moment. There is a wealth of amazing and supportive people and groups on here to help you and I found the motivation of my own spreadsheets and using the OP calculator very helpful (although sometimes a bit addictive!)
    Total OPs 2012 - 2019 £39744.75
    Target 2020 £18500/£18500
    01/05/2020 MORTGAGE FREE
    MFiT-T4 #03 MFW2019 #3
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