Mortgage gone by 2030

hellosupernova

Hi

This is my first post where I have decided to try and reach my goal of being mortgage free, a lot sooner than I originally thought. In spring this year I started to make some regular monthly overpayments to the mortgage. I think this will be a good place to track my progress.

Total mortgage borrowed: £110,475
Current mortgage amount (03.12.23): £73,576.96
Term left: 13 years 10 months
Current mandatory payment: £576.13
2 year fix until October 24 at 3.35%

Opening balance as of 31.03.23: £79,843.71
10% overpay allowance fee free: £7,984.37
Current overpayments made so far this year: £3,370 / £7,984.37 (42.2% used)

Mortgage free goal date: 2030 or earlier
Current expected end date with overpayments: 03.05.2030

Prior to this I have made a few small overpayments in the past for a short period but then had to stop them. If I manage to keep on track I would be mortgage free 7 Years, 4 Months, 3 Days earlier and save £9,994.00 according to the overpayment calculator I used.

I would like to clear off around 10k each year from the mortgage balance. It motivates me to see the numbers go from 79k to 69k and hopefully as it gets closer to say 50k it might feel like it is possible to keep going. I will at least try and see what happens.

The main concern is what interest rate I will be able to fix at and for how long I should fix for when the current deal is up. At the moment the interest rates on offer are at the highest level since we took out the mortgage so hopefully they might go down a bit before the renewal. If I had my crystal ball I would have fixed for 5 years at 3.35% but I was on 1.99% for 5 years before that. No chance of that interest rate coming back. I have thought about maybe increasing the overpayments up to the renewal date whilst the interest rate is lower to see if I can reduce the balance a little bit more before the interest hikes up again. I might also try to see if I can afford to reduce the term down to 10 years from the 13 years it will be when the fix is up.

My immediate goal is to look at areas where I can reduce or cut spending further and hopefully have more cash to add to the savings or an overpayment depending on how I am doing each month. This is not a new thing but I know that there are things I can try to streamline again and maybe not spend on for awhile. I have changed phone plans to slightly cheaper month by month contracts, cancelled the music streaming service and will use the free playlists on youtube etc to see if I can live without it for the forseeable. I need to look at other areas like the food shop.

Since the spring I have made an overpayment each month and this month's was £500. So the next payment should be when I get paid again before Christmas.

hellosupernova

LadyWithAPlan

Welcome! This is a great place to track your mortgage OP's and pick up tips...

hellosupernova

LadyWithAPlan said:

Welcome! This is a great place to track your mortgage OP's and pick up tips...

Hi thanks for the welcome and for reading. I could definitely use some tips!

hellosupernova

I still need to look at the food shop more but I thought to start with one item that I consume a lot of which is Earl Grey tea. I usually try different brands but I have never managed to swap from Twinings, as I really did not like the other brands I had tried. I don't usually shop in Marks and Spencer but whilst I was there for other things I bought some of theirs and it was nice, so I am swapping and saving a few pounds there.

So after looking at the monthly savings from changing phone contracts, cancelling the music streaming service and swapping the tea, I have saved around £15 monthly. Going forward I am going to add these savings to the regular overpayment of £500 which I hope to maintain so that should now be £515 each month. So not bad for a start.

isadreamalie

I'm aiming to overpay by 10k a year too
I'm also paying 500 on average although 400 is fine as it still means paying the worst of it off in the next five years. It's not so much about being mortgage free as it is about minimising debt and payments 

Current balance is £111,000 down from my initial £230,000 around six years ago. I used to pay 1k sometimes up to 3k in overpayment but I can't afford that anymore. Still £500 is a hefty sum so it's all good.
Currently on a new 5 year fix and pay £599 a month. Excited to dip below £600. I would have done this last year but my interest going from 1.99 % to 2.59% set me back a year

hellosupernova

isadreamalie said:

I'm aiming to overpay by 10k a year too
I'm also paying 500 on average although 400 is fine as it still means paying the worst of it off in the next five years. It's not so much about being mortgage free as it is about minimising debt and payments 

Current balance is £111,000 down from my initial £230,000 around six years ago. I used to pay 1k sometimes up to 3k in overpayment but I can't afford that anymore. Still £500 is a hefty sum so it's all good.
Currently on a new 5 year fix and pay £599 a month. Excited to dip below £600. I would have done this last year but my interest going from 1.99 % to 2.59% set me back a year

You have done really well so far in a short time. I am hoping to try to get a 5 year fix ideally that's at an ok interest rate when I need to renew but things are not looking too great at the moment. 

I think the key for me is to make a consistent monthly overpayment when possible and then it becomes a habit that I don't even think about. Every little helps I guess if I can see the balance going down and feel like I am making some progress. However time will tell if I can keep up with overpaying but writing in this diary has helped and it makes me think about what I am realistically going to do to try and get there.

HotDog2020

Good luck on your quest, wishing you every success.

hellosupernova

HotDog2020 said:

Good luck on your quest, wishing you every success.

Thank you! Wishing you all the best too.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary 
Every little OP helps.

hellosupernova

beanielou said:

Happy shiny new diary 
Every little OP helps.

Thanks beanielou!

savingholmes

Good luck on your journey. Tracking your progress in your signature can help - with your start balance, number of payments left and your current progress. Some people also track no spend days or free money in month etc. Find a few goals that work for you and keep posting. Always consider your long term pension needs too.