Beating the interest rates..

carrotstick_2

L9XSS said:

Good luck on your journey, it’s a great feeling when you up payments and the term decreases! I took out a 25 year term in 2008 and managed to shave off 11.5 years by overpaying.im so glad I did, I made my last payment in August last year and became mortgage free.

Thank you, and congratulations on your hard work I am looking forward to the day I will be able to say the same. 

carrotstick_2

I did a bank switch a couple of weeks ago to first direct which resulted in a £175 bonus being paid this week! I would have liked to added this on to the mortgage, but money has been tight this month with the summer holidays to pay for, so it was desperately needed to pay for next years football registration for my children. I'm hoping to do another now I have got the taste! We'll see how I get on!

Currently thinking of a side hustle to increase our income..any ideas welcome..

geordiejon

yes good luck on your journey my daughter is doing the same.
just a couple of things spring to mind without knowing your outgoings.
i opened a chase account last february and have been using its rewards and roundup for spending, not a massive amount but as they say every little helps.
also you mentioned you buy herbs maybe you could grow your own next year it might be something the children could get involved with.
and lastly if you have high mobile payments look for a cheaper option.

carrotstick_2

geordiejon said:

yes good luck on your journey my daughter is doing the same.
just a couple of things spring to mind without knowing your outgoings.
i opened a chase account last february and have been using its rewards and roundup for spending, not a massive amount but as they say every little helps.
also you mentioned you buy herbs maybe you could grow your own next year it might be something the children could get involved with.
and lastly if you have high mobile payments look for a cheaper option.

Thank you for your kind input. I haven't heard of chase but I will look in to it. I have a reward account with my current bank, but I'm not 100% sure what the ins and outs are. Note to look in to chase and compare with my existing.

I would love a herb garden, definitely something I will be adding to the list, infact there is a perfect location just off the back door. I do have a basil plant in the kitchen, I potted a supermarket one, it's quite small and has struggled to keep up with demand over the summer!

Mobile phone, I have a really cheap contract. I can remember exactly but it's around £5. 

carrotstick_2

I have started my second switch this week, I should have the £200 bonus by the end of next week / or early the week after. Mr Carrot was so impressed at how easy it was, so he has also decided to complete a switch!

carrotstick_2

We've increased our mortgage overpayment by another £100. We are now overpaying monthly by £200. 
Still renovating the house, currently working on the back garden. Sooner than we had planned due to an unsafe wall. Slabs will be the next big spend, hopefully they will be down by early autumn. But everything always takes longer than planned so it may be next spring. 
Our fix has another 2.5 years left at a low 1.69%, I'm in between two minds to increase by another £100. From my research our repayments will increase to around the £1000 mark when we remortgage, without overpayment so the money will have to be found eventually...