Mortgage free by 2030!

griffinsaver26

Made another couple of small overpayments since my last entry on here. My mortgage company will be wondering what’s going on with all of these little payments going in, but I’m getting the buzz back by doing it this way. 

Not spending much so these over payments aren’t feeling too intrusive on day to day life. But I know when (if?) things get back to some sort of normality, our spending will no doubt go up so I’ve been thinking of ways of making some extra money. Was reminded of surveys on another diary so have revived my YouGov account I started years ago - still only half way to pay out - and joined Prolific. Also have some good cash back in my TCB account. Not withdrawn yet because I’m dithering about converting to Avios instead of cash. 

Should make the £440 target this month, nearly there already. 

griffinsaver26

Been considering options again and have decided to keep some cash savings which can be used for home improvements and unplanned expenses, as well as being an emergency pot. I’m going to start some AVCs to my pension and then every month budget for over payments and a contribution to my S&S Isa. Then all those little extra payments throughout the month, rounding up balances and sweeping money from my various pots will be paid to the mortgage. Happy with that as a strategy. 

Have been looking for an over payments spreadsheet and found one on here that I’ve been able to adapt. Have got all regular payments plotted in there until the end of the 5 year fix and can see the impact every time I make a small payment. Very happy - although it’s getting me a bit obsessional checking it constantly! 

We’ve had some work started to the front of the house. Replacing the old (beautiful but damaged) Yorkshire stone flags. Nothing ever straightforward though, bigger job than we thought, so extra 2 days labour plus materials and a skip! Grrr 

Competsoph

@griffinsaver26 really interesting reading your diary!
Can I ask, is there any reason you pay off little bits straight away rather than gathering up amounts to say £100 and paying off a chunk?
I think I’m going to feel overwhelmed by £100 not being a lot compared to the huge mortgage amount. I’m worried that will make me lose my inspiration! 🤞🏽😩

griffinsaver26

Hi @Competsoph! It’s lovely to see someone new pop in I tend to pay a big amount at the start of the month, a regular over payment plus whatever I’ve got left from the previous pay day, then the smaller payments throughout the month. That worked well for me when paying my debts off so I’m following the same approach. 

I like making the regular small payments, I don’t really notice them week by week but they very soon add up. I’ve paid an extra £115 this month just with odds and sods, rounding up spends and what not. I think if I saved them all before making the payment I’d be inclined to keep a bit and put it into savings!! I withdrew £183 from my TopCashback account today and I’m having an internal battle with myself to throw it all into the mortgage! If I’d withdrawn several smaller amounts I wouldn’t have given it a second thought just paying it off.  The mind is a weird and wonderful thing isn’t it?! 

I think the best thing is to do whatever feels right for you. 

Competsoph

@griffinsaver26 oh yes, hello! I’m a long time stalker and only recent poster on this forum but I have to say it’s very addictive! 

I’m in the process of buying my first home and these pages have been so valuable. I also am a bit nosy and I like reading what goes on in other peoples lives (Only stuff they share on here obviously 😂) I’m hoping to be able to pay off little bits here and there towards my mortgage plus I’d like to be able to do a regular overpayment. We’ll have to see how things go once we get started. Also the OH job may be at risk so we could be relying on just my wage which I’ve budgeted for anyway as I’m buying myself, but doubt the overpayments would be huge in this situation. Fingers crossed I can keep the motivation that you and many others on here demonstrate.

I may even start my own diary! 😇🤞🏽

griffinsaver26

You're very impressive @Competsoph - planning on over payments already! I really wish I had started early, even if you can't make many big payments yet, every bit counts. Good luck and I'll follow your diary if you start one

I've had an eventful day, we're having some improvements made to the house and had some stone flags taken up. Sold them for what I now realise was a ridiculously low price! Was pretty annoyed with myself for a while - I hate feeling like I've made a mistake or been ripped off, but nothing I can do now. £200 towards the renovations but it could probably have been 3x more. Gutted! Of course, once you start with getting work done, it always seems to lead to more expense and (in my case) a decision to get even more work done at the same time! Luckily we have savings for that but I hate seeing savings go down!  So I put 70% of the Topcashback payment payout to the mortgage and the rest into the home improvements pot. 

Is it just me or has this been a really long month?!

griffinsaver26

Not much to report overpayments wise. We’re on leave this week, the weather is glorious, it’s so nice just not to be stuck at the laptop on constant Skype work calls. Decided to get the drive done at the same time as the other work so it’s all a bit more expensive than we originally planned, but luckily we have savings and lockdown has given us a bit more flex in how much we can save. 

I’ve downloaded the form to start making the AVCs and got some advice from the Investments forum so will probably set that up from August salary. There’s good benefits from making payments that way tax wise (although I’ve been reading pensions will probably be the focus on reclaiming tax to pay for COVID) but it will obviously be tied up until retirement so I’m going to start small on that. 

Done 4 surveys now on Prolific but still waiting for my first on YouGov. Reactivated my account from years ago but nothing coming through yet - just the non payment ones which is annoying. Doing them anyway in case they somehow influence being offered others. 

Next OP due on Friday. Sounds stupid but I’m looking forward to it! Seems a long time since the last one - in reality it’s been 2 days!

griffinsaver26

Made a tiny OP today, I’ll make just one more on Tuesday to get balance to .00 and then that will be me done for June. I’ve done really well but I know it’s month one so I’m very motivated. Hopefully can keep it up. Looking forward to posting my final numbers. 

I’ve done a few more Prolific surveys, I’m enjoying doing them and I’m up to £13 now. Will withdraw at the end of each month and see how it adds up over the year. Been thinking of other easy ways to make some cash. I’m so silly sometimes, have sold on and off on eBay over the years, but throw so much stuff away that I later realise could have earned some money. My OH isn’t so keen on selling bits of (what might seem like) junk and isn’t very encouraging, I just need to get on and do and not mention it I think.  Also I’ve realised how much I’m missing out on with TopCashback. I’ve made nearly £1k over the years which is amazing, but I tend to just use it for big spends like insurances, hotels and flights. I forget about other online spends so need to remember to do that. 

Got a few expenses to pay for this weekend, the skip we hired for the work to the front of the house and the hardcore going down before the new flags. Those will be paid for from the money made from selling the stone flags. Still kicking myself about how much (little!) we sold them for.  We’ve caused a bit of a stir in our little courtyard. All the neighbours asking what we’re doing, commenting on having more work done and being nosy about a wall we’ve had removed. We’ve been here 3.5 years and done quite a lot of work, some of the neighbours moved in 30 years ago when the houses were first built and haven’t done a thing! 

griffinsaver26

Quiet weekend to end my week off work. I didn’t realise how ready I was for a break! Having the Sunday evening blues now but I’m sure once I log back on in the morning all will be fine. 

I’ve spent a bit more time reading the forums and stealing some ideas and inspiration for this 10 year journey to mortgage freedom! Signed up to a couple more survey sites, the MSE favourite Swagbucks being one of them - but swiftly deleted it after I’d got kicked out of several surveys 80% in! I’m just going to stick with Prolific and OnePoll now. It’s not much but every penny helps. I really love reading on people’s diaries that they’ve paid £5 here and £10 there and their term has reduced so massively by these regular overpayments from free money and cashback and penny jars and the like. Keeps it interesting to me! 

The work to the house is coming along nicely if a little slowly. We have a few more of the Yorkshire stone flags to sell so we’ve learnt our lesson and going to not rush into just getting rid too cheaply. I think the in-laws think I’m exceptionally tight and it makes me a bit uncomfortable but I’m happy to continue selling bits here and there without making too much fuss. All I’ve heard this week is “get rid of it” or “don’t be so penny pinching”. It’s hard to keep motivated, luckily the forums help with that! 

Competsoph

@griffinsaver26 I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets these jibes. 

One side of my family are not at all money saving and I regularly get jibes about how ‘tight’ I am. I enjoy life and if I want something I will buy it but I don’t think being sensible is being ‘tight’. I just ignore them and take some pleasure being more than comfortable. I love reading these forums and it’s itching to start paying my mortgage off!!