My Mortgage Free Mountain - A 7 year expedition to climb to the top

craftingmad

OH and I are in a position where we will be able to repay the mortgage on our own home either at the end of this year or in Jan 2023 thanks to an insurance claim we have been waiting to pay out for several months.

However we also have 3 BTL mortgages which need to be cleared and our big dream is to clear them all before my OH turns 60 (just over 7 years time).

We are lucky in that my hubby has a well paid job so we always have spare money each month (and will have even more when our own mortgage is paid in full) but it will be hard to be able to pay off so much money owed in mortgages in the timescale we have set ourselves but I love a challenge so bring it on 😊We will officially start the challenge on 1st January 2023 so anything paid before then is an added bonus.

Our balances today are:-

 Our Own Mortgage £2338.07 rate 4.1% no cap on overpayment

 BTL Mortgage 1 £51,089.10 rate 1.94% until 1st July 2025 10% overpayment allowed

 BTL Mortgage 2 £81,504.52 rate 2.09% until 28th Feb 2026 10% overpayment allowed

 BTL Mortgage 3 £77,497.02 rate 1.97% until 30th June 2027 10% overpayment allowed

TOTAL AMOUNT OWED:-  £212,428.71

The plan is that we are going to try and spend as little as possible and throw any spare money towards one mortgage at a time so hopefully the results we see will keep us motivated. However we also plan to set up direct debits for the maximum amount we are allowed to overpay for each mortgage as well as save some cash which can be used as lump sums to help clear some of the balance every time we re-mortgage.

So far I have come up with the following ways to earn/save money which can then be used towards our mortgage free dreams:-

Ways to earn money:-

OH working overtime (he already does lots and usually we just fritter it away but not anymore – it will be used for mortgage overpayments)

 Step up my little business a gear (I really want to be able to bring in a decent amount each month to use towards overpayments). All profit made from my business will be being used for OP

 Use cashback sites for all online purchases if possible and use coupons/discount codes

 Get a higher rate savings account to earn more interest on lump sums going to be used

 Declutter house and sell things on FB Marketplace, Car Boots, Ebay etc

 Mystery Shopping

 Apps/Sites where you earn points for playing/surveys etc like Swagbucks, Mistplay etc

 Part Time job for me

Ways to save money:-

 Cut food waste – I am really bad for not using things up but I will be now and will have a monthly budget of £400 to spend each month and no more

 Limit Dog Treats – our house is filled with dog treats and we are very generous how many she has a day but no more – we will use the ones we already have and there will now be a limit (including how many I give out to other dogs I meet)

 Use the cars less – hubby needs his car to get to and from work but I will hopefully bike or walk to post office etc instead of driving

 No buying clothes for OH or me, books, stationery, plants or craft supplies – we have plenty

 Cut back on Christmas – we always spoil our kids and parents but from here on in we will limit the amount we spend

 Cut costs/cancel subscriptions – I’m going to haggle prices and cancel what we don’t use 

 Have lots of NSD’s each month and cut down on spending – not so many takeaways, treats, use towelling cloths instead of kitchen roll etc

 Save energy – turn of lights, unplug, not run dishwasher as much, no heating on when just me in the house or after 9pm etc

 Return unwanted/broken items so need to keep receipts or ask for electronic ones

 Investigate what perks are included in our subscriptions we keep and make use of them

Maintain things better so they do not need to be replaced

I'll edit the list as I think of more!

 

Although the challenge will not officially start until next year there is no harm in getting started this month so I’m keen to see just how much money we can add to our pot ready to help those balances decrease.

Fingers crossed this diary will keep me accountable and stop me frittering away too much!

So strap yourself into your snow shoes and enjoy the expedition 😊

dark^knight

Good luck... and don't forget to enjoy life as well

savingholmes

Good luck on your journey. Sounds like you are doing well juggling 3 BTLs and nearly having a paid off home.

craftingmad

Good morning everyone and thanks for your kind words of encouragement.

Here's my progress for 2nd - 8th January 2023

Overpayment Pot (to throw at a balance when we remortgage)

£39 from FB Marketplace sales

£36 from coupons

£1199 from Etsy sales (my earnings for Dec)

£200 spare money left in bank account

£401 Christmas gift cash (£1 came from winning scratch card which was a gift so I counting that here)

 

Overpayments Made

£1479 overpayment made to our mortgage

£500 to BTL Mortgage 1

 

Actions to help make Money

Started advertising business on FB

Used Quidco for business purchase of packing boxes

Played on Mistplay each day (working towards £5 Amazon voucher)

Sent an email to my mailing list for my business and got a sale from it

 

Actions to help save money

Turning off all lights

Heating not on from 8am – 5pm (wearing my Primark blanket jumper instead)

Meal planned using lots of items we already have

Lidl app used to gain coupons

Asda app used to increase cashpot

Shopped around and saved £1.52 on Atora Suet

Stuck to budget in supermarket

Set up monthly overpayment to BTL mortgage 1 instead of ours to avoid £225 admin fee for early repayment on ours

Son and I resisted a subway and had a meal deal instead instead saving over £7

Stopped myself buying three items totalling £38 as really don’t need them

Limiting treats given to dog and not bought any this month so far

NSD’s x 3

savingholmes

Happy New Year. Well done on progress so far.

craftingmad

savingholmes said:

Happy New Year. Well done on progress so far.

thank you x 

craftingmad

Here is this weeks report - not much progress but still progress in the right direction so I'm not going to beat myself up!!

9th – 15th JAN 2023

Overpayment Pot (to throw at a balance when we remortgage)

£1.50 from coupons

£82.00 interest from account

£33.00 from refund

 

Overpayments Made

None

 

Actions to help make Money

Played on Mistplay each day (working towards £5 Amazon voucher)

Listed unwanted Alloys on FB Marketplace

Returned daughters coat which did not fit (asked for replacement in next size up)

Returned doors which were the wrong size – refund of £118 (credit note so will add into pot when used)

Returned draught excluders which were the wrong size £33

Set up regular savings account to gain higher rate of interest on money

Moved money into higher rate savings account

 

Actions to help save money

Turning off all lights

Heating not on from 8am – 5pm (wearing my Primark blanket jumper instead)

Meal planned using lots of items we already have

Stuck to budget in supermarket (actually bought enough for two weeks meals)

Lidl App used (now have enough for £2 coupon)

Limiting treats given to dog and not bought any this month so far

NSD’s x 5

Went through my clothes so I can see exactly what I have to save me buying more

Price checked for underbed storage boxes instead of buying straight from Amazon (saving £15)

Clubcard used to gain points and benefit from clubcard prices

Resisted take away after son's parents evening and made quick filled pasta dinner instead

LadyWithAPlan

This is all very exciting - and great you have such specific goals plus so near finishing your own mortgage! Wow
Also great that your smallest BTL mortgage is the shortest mortgage - 3 years is a decent time to get it down to a much better mortgage if you cant get it all paid before.

I am confused you said the 2 below as thought  you said there was no fee for OP your main home? Is it coming up to remortgage soon?

 Our Own Mortgage £2338.07 rate 4.1% no cap on overpayment
Set up monthly overpayment to BTL mortgage 1 instead of ours to avoid £225 admin fee for early repayment on ours

craftingmad

LadyWithAPlan said:

I am confused you said the 2 below as thought  you said there was no fee for OP your main home? Is it coming up to remortgage soon?

 Our Own Mortgage £2338.07 rate 4.1% no cap on overpayment
Set up monthly overpayment to BTL mortgage 1 instead of ours to avoid £225 admin fee for early repayment on ours

It was a shock to us also as we thought we could just pay it off without any penalty but apparently most mortgages charge you an admin fee if you pay off your mortgage in full before the official end date (which in our case is July 2035 I believe). 

We currently do not have a deal on the mortgage of our own home as previously it was not really worth us doing it as we were overpaying far more than we would have been allowed to on a deal.

Hope that makes sense but the money to pay our mortgage has been set aside and we will pay it as soon as we are penality free.

craftingmad

Not lots of progress made again this week but still managed to add some money to the overpayment pot so overall I'm happy and should on course to have some money left in the bank at the end of next week thanks to my little moneysaving habits  

16th –22nd JAN 2023

Overpayment Pot (to throw at a balance when we remortgage)

£125 from sale of alloy wheels

£30 from food shopping budget

Overpayments Made

None 

Actions to help make Money

Played on Mistplay each day (working towards £5 Amazon voucher)

Listed craft supplies on FB Marketplace

 

Actions to help save money

Turning off all lights

Heating not on from 8am – 5pm (wearing my Primark blanket jumper instead)

Meal planned using lots of items we already have

Under budget in supermarket – in fact only £70 spent so rest transferred into savings

Lidl App used

Limiting treats given to dog and not bought any this month so far

NSD’s x 5

craftingmad

23rd JAN – 29th JAN 2023

Overpayment Pot (to throw at a balance when we remortgage)

£3 from selling a stamp set on FB marketplace

£50 saving from not buying video software

£104.80 interest from savings account

£6 from asda rewards coupon

£1 from fuel saved

£8 from meal deal instead of McD’s

£41 left from this weeks food budget

 

Overpayments Made

 None

Actions to help make Money

Played on Mistplay each day (working towards £5 Amazon voucher)

New tenants moved into one of our rentals on 25th – paying £75 a month more rent than last ones so this will be put into overpayments pot each month

Set up membership club for my business

Completed two Nectar surveys for 120 points

Used swagbucks to earn 400 points for reordering coat which was too small (not credited yet)

Actions to help save money

Turning off all lights

Heating not on from 8am – 4pm (wearing my Primark blanket jumper instead)

Meal planned using lots of items we already have

Under budget in supermarket – in fact only £59 spent

Asda Reward App Used and cashed in £6 coupon – added to overpayment pot

Limiting treats given to dog and not bought any this month so far

NSD’s x 3

Made a video in powerpoint instead of buying a video maker software subscription so saved £50 – added to the overpayment pot

Signed up to library as I really wanted a book so have now borrowed it to save myself £5 😊

Trying using son’s ecema cream before admitting need a steroid cream from drs (could save me £9 on prescription fees)

Resisted Mcd’s treat and bout meal deal instead and my sandwich was reduced so saved £8 – added to overpayment pot

Walked to library from trip into town to save a bit of fuel - £1 added to overpayment pot

Queried a price in Wilko’s as shelf said it had money off but I was charged full price – price was changed for me at checkout by staff which saves me spending £2.70. The old me would have just paid the full price so as not cause a fuss but now I’m thinking every penny not spent is going to the mortgage overpayments I’m trying to be a lot more mindful. 

 

30th JAN – 31st JAN

Overpayment Pot (to throw at a balance when we remortgage)

 None

Overpayments Made

 None

 

Actions to help make Money

Played on Mistplay each day (working towards £5 Amazon voucher)

Used swagbucks for a purchase of clipart for my business

 

Actions to help save money

Turning off all lights

Heating not on from 8am – 4pm (wearing my Primark blanket jumper instead)

Meal planned using some items already in freezer

Stuck to food shopping budget (£7 under so transferred this)

Lidl reward app used for shopping which has given me a 10% off whole shop coupon for my next shop

Limiting treats given to dog and not bought any this month so far

NSD’s x 2

Hung washing outside for the first time this year to save the radiators being on longer to dry it / having to tumble dry (3 loads dry including all bedding) 😊