Final Stretch

MissLemon

Oooh, I've not been on the forum for a while and my original MFW thread has been closed...

So I thought I would start a new post as we are very nearly almost there

I started my original MFW post back in June 2017 when we had a mortgage of £96,491.71 and an original MF date of January 2035 (starting date 2010).

Back in 2017 I thought we might be able to pay it off in December 2022 if we consistently overpaid. But it now looks like that can be done in January 2022, so if all goes well we should be MF by Feb 2022, 13 years earlier than if we had stuck to the normal payment - woo hoo!

My overpayment strategy has been

* consistently overpay every month by a set amount
* use the council tax free months of Feb and March to send what we would have paid in tax to the mortgage
* shorten the term when we came out of our fix so that the monthly amount stayed the same but the term was shorter
* taking @A_Frayed_Knot advice and always have a 0.00 at the end

I'm also an avid YNABer, which has really helped with overpayment, savings and budgeting!

Which is one reason why my old thread was so sorely neglected...  each month was pretty much the same OP details and it seemed a bit boring to keep writing the same thing. However, now I'm in the final stretch I wanted to do an update as it's starting to feel a bit exciting! 

The monthly OP is on hold at the moment as we've used almost all of the annual OP allocation right now, I'm still putting the money aside and making it to 0.00 but we can't put the money against the mortgage until the allocation resets in November, which is also the date we'll come out of the current fix. I thought it was more sensible to do it this way then pay the interest on any additional OP.

So.... I'm on a 6 month countdown!!! Fingers crossed it all stays on track!

L9XSS

Well done, your on the final leg,so close to being MF. I have a similar timeline to you and started the journey in 2008 with a previous thread (joining the quiet revolution). I’ve managed to take 11 years off my term and will be MF in April 2022. It’s a very good feeling. I will follow your last bit of progress!

MissLemon

Thanks @L9XSS It’s a really good feeling 😀

I kept checking my calculations over the weekend as I couldn't quite believe it! 

LeighofMar

That is so wonderful. I don't think I would be able to sleep for the next 6 months, I'd be so excited. 

LadyGnome

How wonderful.  You will soon be free.

caledonian_princess

How exciting to be so close now. I also use YNAB and have some very dull budgets each month but as you've shown, those OPs add up to something more interesting!

MissLemon

@LeighofMar 😀 it looks like your almost there yourself! I keep worrying we'll have some big expense between now and January so that's hoping to keep my excitement down 😆

@caledonian_princess I don't think this would have been possible without YNAB. Before I kept getting surprised by regular annual expenses that shouldn't have been a surprise.

Thanks @LadyGnome 😊

jimjames

We're in a similar situation although ours isn't cleared nearly as quick as yours - we'll be about year 22 out of 25. One mortgage out of 5 was cleared in June this year and maxing overpayments as soon as we can on the others at the moment but can't go above those 10% lump sums without hitting penalties so no point when the remainder will be cleared by May 2022 anyway. 

Good luck for the next 6 months.

MissLemon

jimjames said:

We're in a similar situation although ours isn't cleared nearly as quick as yours - we'll be about year 22 out of 25. One mortgage out of 5 was cleared in June this year and maxing overpayments as soon as we can on the others at the moment but can't go above those 10% lump sums without hitting penalties so no point when the remainder will be cleared by May 2022 anyway. 

Good luck for the next 6 months.

I did a bit of a calculation and decided it wasn't worth the penalties either. Not long for you either.

MissLemon

Today I'm doing a little bit of DIY.

We had a leak in our roof which has hopefully been fixed now (at least there's been no more leaking since the roofer replaced some tiles!).

So today I'm painting over the brown stain and hoping it really has been fixed and I won't have to do it again!

MissLemon

Well August gave us more household disasters.

Following last months roof leak, this month we had a plumbing leak... A blocked pipe meant the water from the washing machine couldn't flow so we got a small kitchen flood... 😬😬😬

Pipes have been cleared, we have a free flowing sink and drain. I'm still anxiously overseeing the washing machine everytime I use it but so far so good 🤞

And now, as the weather is getting a bit fresh, my thoughts are turning to heating. We don't have central heating, instead relying on plug in oil filled radiators and occasional use of an open fire to keep the house warm.

I'd like to save a bit on the electric bill this year so am trying to work out the most energy efficient way of heating, especially as I'm likely to be working from home at least half the time this winter. Any suggestions?