The Mortgage Free (to be) Pixie 13 January 2021 at 3:07PM in Mortgage-free wannabe 37 replies 1K views

BeeblePixie

Seen a few people putting these up, and they seem quite useful, so I’ve put ours up. There are some bits missing, as I have only put up the joint stuff. We then each have our own accounts which we can do whatever with. 

Bargainhunter30

Do you have a joint savings pot for DIY and house stuff? I've found when things happen they can be expensive to replace or repair and your £100 emergency fund might not cover it. Glad you got OH onboard. Mine is not that interested, I just used to tell him what to pay in and did what I thought with joint money 😂 luckily it's worked out well and OH is now quite happy with my decisions. Good luck.

caeler

Well done @BeeblePixie Great news! 
Your SOA looks good although I appreciate it is only for the joint account things. 

BeeblePixie

Thanks for the feedback guys! 

@Bargainhunter30 we put £100/month in that pot, it’s currently sitting at £1300, and we also each have our own savings which are intended for a few home improvement jobs (we need to get our floorboards fixed/replaced, as there isn’t a single patch of the house that doesn’t squeak when we stand on it - even the cat makes some of them squeak!!)

Also, that is pretty much how our joint account works too 😂 he puts the money in, and I look after it. But for bigger decisions, I like to get his input. Especially since this time I’m asking for him to increase his monthly contribution!

BeeblePixie

We’re managing being to be remarkably sensible with our money so far this month. Other than our bills, I have spent money on 2 things so far - groceries, and posting a parcel to my Aunt and Uncle (their rather belated Christmas presents 😂😂)

I’m wondering if I can also start to funnel smaller OPs into the mortgage account on a what’s left at the end of the month type basis. Don’t need to check with OH about that as he pretty much just lets me sort out the day to day running of the joint account... it’s something to think about anyway 💭 

FiveMoreYears

Good luck with the journey towards becoming mortgage-free, BeeblePixie.

You'll find that both your enthusiasm and that of your OH will grow as you see the results of these over-payments filter through. My building society sends me a letter showing mortgage recalculations every time I've made an over-payment of £500+ (either a single payment or after several combined) - I always find it hugely uplifting and it really gets me focused on saving up the next over-payment.

And saving small amounts up at the end of each month will work - you CAN save pennies! Small acorns and all that.

Good luck!

powerspowers

Your finances look similar to ours Pixie. Own accounts with a joint for bills and he leaves it to me!
Have you looked at an overpayment calculator and shown that to your OH? Mine saw me playing with it and jokingly said “are you trying to work out how to get the mortgage paid off in 4 years” so I worked it out and showed his how much we’d have to overpay to do that (all my wage and live off his), that was an eye opener for him, he thought I was taking the odd year off it and didn’t realise the impact on the interest. We aren’t aiming to go that fast but we are now both fully on board. 

I think the easiest option would be both contribute more to the joint and OP from that. If your other half is not on board and you are making significantly higher OPs (not just tidying up at the end of the month) I’d make sure they come from your personal account as that (may) give you more protection if you split- sorry for being a pessimist but a lesson I learnt the hard way! 

caeler

Great idea @BeeblePixie OPs can become quite addictive. Others here try to round up each week or month paying the little bit extra to get the outstanding mortgage balance to a rounded up numbers in the 10s or 100s whatever suits. It’s another technique which I can imagine is quite effective! 

BeeblePixie

Thanks for the support guys 😁 it’s nice to hear people being positive about this. Oh asked if I was going to get obsessed, and make him live off rice and beans 🙈🙈

@powerspowers I intend to only overpay with joint money. We had that chat when we took out the mortgage in the first place, that we would both always put in the same amounts into the house, due to that exact possibility (we don’t intend to split, but the who ever does 🤷‍♀️) He has got more on board after a play about with an overpayment calculator, but he seems to think we should just magically pull big OPs out our @rse rather than consistently pay smaller ones

@FiveMoreYears yeah, I think the whole think is a bit abstract for him at the moment because we have so long left to go (although we got our annual mortgage statement yesterday, and the interest we had paid disgusted him - £2627.23!, he was also pleasantly surprised that we had already OPd by £704.55)

@caeler I think I’m already addicted 😂😂 not sure that one would work for me, as the interest gets added daily to my outstanding balance - I’d have to OP every day 😂😂 end of the month will suit me I think, putting in what’s left of our grocery money and the other pots which get filled up each month

On a non-money front - I hate snow! I want it to go away, not keep coming again!!

caeler

I'm with you @BeeblePixie I do a monthly overpayment and then save the rest ready for redemption.  I have daily interest now and I'd be forever rounding up and it would drive me crazy!  But I can see why it would an effective technique for some.