Let's go fly a kite..

savingholmes

I understand the sweaty palms moment. Best of luck with your goal - sounds like you are doing really well.

thriftychick

Thanks @savingholmes and @South_coast for your support.

Payday this week so, we decided to have a budget overhaul.  It feels like a new start going into our tracker mortgage.  Also, Mr Thrifty had a payrise and we have decided that this will go into his salary sacrifice towards the pension, the amount we save in that and the amount towards the overpayments are now equal, and this feels about right at the moment.

We went through all the catagories in the budget and have decided to not renew a couple of things and also, to rename a few catagories to give more scope and make sure everything is covered.  The budget balances and hopefully, although tight, it will see us to the end goal of paying off the mortgage.

Another £1,176.62 towards overpayments.  This money is actually partly in Premium Bonds and partly in a savings account so, I think we will pay it in two installments next month.

We've been reading The Piano Diary and have been inspired by @glass_half_full, I love the marbles idea and I'm thinking of adapting it by using pound coins then, when the big day comes, using the money to celebrate    

savingholmes

I'm all for visual reminders of the journey - I'm using wooden tokens and sticking them on wooden house I bought at H0bbyC

thriftychick

Mortgage amount: £49,999.99
Interest: £76.62

So it begins...the new tracker is up and running.  At 6am we owed £54,238.70 and by 8.30am we owed £49,999.99, I couldn't help myself, the extra penny had to be done.  We have another almost £5k in Premium Bonds which we left in for this month's draw (won nothing) so, that will now be withdrawn to use.

I have received a small payment for an extra job this morning so I feel a tilly tidy coming on.  Still haven't organised my pound coins but I have got the jars poised for them, I went to the bank but, it was shut at 2.30 in the afternoon.

thriftychick

Mortgage amount: £49,950

A small tilly tidy this morning to round things down .  Today's job is to withdraw the overpayment money from Premium Bonds.

savingholmes

Wow what a fantastic OP

thriftychick

Mortgage amount: £45,150

PB monies landed this morning so, an overpayment of £4,761.29 plus a tilly tidy.  So, that's a year's worth of saving gone in a blink of an eye.  We had a bottle of fizz to celebrate the sub £50k, that figure has always been a milestone.

We received a letter from the bank yesterday saying that our regular mortgage payment will drop from £823 to around £660 but, of course, the interest will be something eyewatering.  It is good to have the flexibility to pay what we can when we want.  Anyway, more stickers on the chart 

savingholmes

Gotta love a sticker!

What a fabulous OP. Not surprised you took a moment to celebrate

thriftychick

Mortgage amount: £44,150

Payday this week so, £1,000 overpayment made. 

Went into the bank and collected 100 pound coins for the jars (from a very curious bank clerk), so they are up and running, £44 in the debt jar and £46 in the freedom jar ....plus another sticker on the chart which we started in March 2021 at £100,000 to go.  The mortgage payment goes out on the 1st July, the payment will be around the £660 mark so we will keep the total payment to £2,000 per month.

The new budget has mostly gone ok, food shopping was overbudget, it's hard to keep up with price inflation.  

savingholmes

Coin jars sound fun - is that your version of a marble jar?

I keep over-spending on food but remain in denial...