SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

Friday1989

Hi @SecondStar and @fantasyvsreality Lovely to have new people on this thread 

I've not been good with money recently but I went on a holiday of a lifetime and have spent lots on gigs which I don't feel is a waste. I should probably spend less in the pub though  £7 a pint in London now!!!

I got the NHS backdated payment. It's not huge but definitely appreciated. I plan to over pay £1000 then put my monthly payments up to what 6% would be in anticipation of the increased rates. I'm not remortgaging until 2025 but if I do it now I'll get it in my head that I have less to spend and I'll also increase my overpayments to around £350 a month. 

Sistergold

That’s a good plan @Friday1989, increasing your payments to the expected higher monthly payments. It means you will get used to this higher payment and be overpaying for now meaning you will owe less when the time to review comes. £350 op a months is a good amount! 

Sistergold

Mortgage update. I started my new product on the 1st of July. 

The old stats are

The new stats are 

I used £80k to reduce monthly payment to £1945

I then went on to overpay £20k to reduce term from 19yrs to 16years 8 months. My new monthly payment was going to go up from £2298 to £2500 on the new deal. When my mortgage started I was paying £2200 I managed to bring it down to below £2000 with over payments before the rates started going up. I was just annoyed that my new payment will be so much higher than my original payment so really wanted to bring it down. After the £80k op brought down to under £2k monthly’s I felt more comfortable reducing the term.

I am hoping that at the time this new product expires in 2yrs I will have another chunk to reduce monthly payments and use a small part of it to again reduce the term. 

I have also gone on and reduced my automatic OPs from £1k to around £45 only per month. Just need to bump up my savings a bit since I have overpayed so much. 

I am really keen to pay off this mortgage. If all works well I hope to overpay massively again in two years time at the end of this product. My original target was to pay the mortgage off in just over 10yrs but I am not that hopeful now but let’s see how it goes I will try my best. 

For now I have kept back some money just incase I need it as who knows where this financial crisis will take us? 🤷‍♀️ I hope that in two years the market/country will have stabilised. 

Friday1989

That's incredible progress @Sistergold and such a good idea with the interest rate rises. Good luck building up those savings again! 

Sistergold

thank you @Friday1989

Friday1989

I overpaid £1000 yesterday and with this month's payment coming out I'm now down to £163,797. With the increased overpayment (now £335 a month) I'm on track to be under three times my income when I mortgage in just over a year and a half 🥳 I hope to be able to keep the same term (17 years by then) because I'll be used to having the same amount to spend now I've upped the overpayments. It really depends on interest rates though...

In less good news, I think I've found a leak in the bathroom so need to find a plumber. I have some sort of home cover so hoping that will pay out, but I expect it's "wear and tear" and will be fully on me to pay... I need to ring them tomorrow and find out how claiming works. Not sure if I find someone then they pay me back or if I have to use someone on their list. I'm happy that I have a stable home but the costs of homeownership definitely add up! 

Sistergold

Oh under 3x your salary on next remortgage is a great achievement and you should be able to get a “good deal”(if at present there can be any such thing?) either way overpayments do help and you are really making very good progress! Down to £163k wow very soon you will be under £100k! 👯‍♀️

Springfield1970

HI

I am happy to see this thread as I am to a SL with a LM.  I thought about starting my own thread, but its too much responsibility!  🤣 and I  don't need any more because I have a £172017 mortgage to slay!  It started off as £254,000 and I can't believe I managed to get it, though I remember at the time I was in a very high energy survival mode.  Home ownership and security has always been incredibly important to me, and I never want to be a renter again, watching the prices rises and panicking. Ive been poor/average most of my life until about 10 years ago when I started a business.

I worked so hard to get the mortgage, and I'm self employed too (had to show eye watering profits on my books for 3 years), so I faced a lot of problems and limits because I am a single mum and I was 43 when I applied.  My bank were very helpful to me, I have to say.  But my books looked very good, and I have been with them for a long time and been a good customer.  I did this all on my own, with no help from anyone, no handouts and a very low child maintenance payment.  I saved the deposit over many years.  I am independent.

I added an extension, and have spend in total about £100k (including new bathroom, new kitchen, and gorgeous patio)
which I paid in cash.  I love my home, and I hope to always be here.  Great neighbours, neighbourhood, safe, sociable area, quiet, 30 minutes cycle to work in Central London. Im really pleased. I have learned how to manage boilers, plumbing, dealing with architects, builders, home improvements, its hard at first then its ok! Ive dealt with a bit of sexism from the odd person but deal with it accordingly.  All of this has armed me with life skills that transfer over to my job/vocation and I feel very empowered and successful in this area.  

I have recently jumped on to a 4.53% for 2 years and have decided to knock the final 7 years off my mortgage, so I am mortgage free by age 59.

It means finding £500 per month and by not using any money in the higher tax bracket (that goes to personal pension). No more big holidays, pricey clothes, meals out, but still enough money to feel like we are having a nice life. I am on very strict budgets in every department but that's nothing new. I have always been select with how I spend money. Ie cycling everywhere and packed lunches, equals trip to Thailand.  Im ok to defer extra luxuries for a few years. I don't feel like Im missing out.  

I just can't stand the stress, vulnerability and responsibility for much longer. The fear of repossession, unemployment, lack of power.  So I am going with this plan!

It is very stress relieving to see that I will be free in 6 years and 11 months.  Then I will have £25000 per year (this includes income insurance,)  more to play with (and take more time off work to travel).  I am going to use 25% of my pension and pay the ERC too. It's my reward to myself! Then Im going to FO to South America and Asia for a bit.

I am feeling very happy about my future, life after 50 isn't the dreary lonely menopausal world I feared it would be.

I am glad to meet you and thank you Sistergold for starting this club!

Sistergold

Oh hello @Springfield1970 and wellcome to this thread. Oh what a refreshing read your account there of how you have really worked so hard, still working hard, showing great discipline and have a great plan on how you are securing your future. Your account there is so similar to so many I have read here including myself, how you have had to push through and now you can feel that you have things under control. Mortgage free by 59 is a good target and plans to travel well, you really deserve it once you have secured the roof over your head.

You are so right renting can be unsettling the older you get! I can not imagine how I would have felt in this present climate where rentals are going up! I know mortgages have also been going up but like you are saying one can overpay and reduce monthly outgoings. I have also just started a 2 year deal after overpaying to reduce my monthly outgoings. It is my dream too to pay off by 60 but so far I have only managed to reduce it from 70 to 67 😔 as for a while the focus has been to reduce outgoings! 

It was nice hearing from you please keep posting and updating on your journey! 🌺

Springfield1970

Dear @Sistergold

Thank you so much for your reply. I can't tell you how nice it is to have found you and see that your struggles and goals are similar to mine, (except you have 300% more children than I and and even bigger mortgage 😂).
So you are the queen bee in my mind and a great big inspiration for when I have moments of doubt and isolation, as no one I know has the same kind of responsibilities and circumstances.

To read how you have tackled some really big skills like welding, and making your own furniture, is very heartening, as I sometimes wonder if I am some kind of man woman! Ive only become like this through necessity but I really enjoy it. I think my friends get pretty alarmed, particularly the ones that are 'safely' married and in a set role. It's difficult to change any time let alone when you are in midlife.

67 from 70 is a big win!! I'm looking forward to both our numbers gradually getting 'younger' 😊
I'm still 67 in MF years. Here's to being 59!