2008 MFW newbies

bellsbells

Frugalfreda - of course you can keep your target as vague as you want,
Violetblue - welcome to the challenge your info has been added to the first post.
SLP and elantan - you are very welcome and I agree, this is turning into a lovely thread full of like minded people with a mission:beer:

elantan

that's one of the frustrating things with my mortgage ....i can overpay etc but i can also take it out if i need to and i dont want that (too much temptation) have taken the money out 3 times so far and yes i needed the money but if i had taken a loan i wouldve paid the loan off and i would be aprox 8000 less to pay towards my mortgage ..i think when it comes to re-newing my deal i will ask for a reduction in term can i do that?

SPL

hi elantan

i am not an expert on all mortgages and am sure that someone more qualified will be able to answer also - but for my mortgage we can revise the term and reduce the overall repayment period - i would think that most lenders allow you to do this but not sure if all are charge free like ours is or if some charge an admin fee?

bellsbells

I guess each mortgage lender is going to be a bit different. With mine (cooperative) all overpayment money sits in a seperate fund. It can stay there for as long as I want or I can empty my overpayment fund and take it off the total. When I do this I can either reduce the amount I pay each month (as if!!!) or reduce my overall term. They will then send me my updated mortgage info with the new length left. I am sure you will be able to do something like this with yours, possibly whenever you want - it is worth talking to them.

violetblue

This is a brilliant idea, I was already planning to really attack the mortgage this year, but seeing an actual target written down gives me something specific to aim for! Thanks bellsbells for starting us off :T it's lovely to be part of a little community of like-minded people. No-one I know can understand why I am so excited to be overpaying my mortgage!!

I've added my challenge details to my signature - I can already see me getting quite addicted to this overpaying malarkey. I can hardly wait till July when I can pay off a big lump sum, but until then I shall amuse myself by updating my signature every time I send a small overpayment over!

newmoneysaver_2

bellsbells wrote: »

Would you like me to put your target down as £1200 then? If you do nothing else all year but the £100 overpayment a month that is still a fantastic achievement! If you then decide to do a bit more you could up your target.

Sorry bellsbells, only just seen this. Can you put my target at £1500. I would like to think that there will be a few odd and sods left at the end of each month to add to the £100 overpayment.

Thanks NMS!

PS. I keep reading your username as hellsbells!

SPL

violetblue - i know exactly what you mean the majority of people i talk to about this just look at me as if i am mad - especially as right now mainly as a result of this thread i am so fired up about paying it off

even got my oh to keep a record of any money he spends as want to do a money spending diary for january to see where our money is going and if tehre is anything else can cut back. He even said it put him off spending any money today so thats all good !! though dont know how long it will last

now just constantly trying to think of other ways to tip the balance in our favour - if we had the same mortgage (ie no move and no extension :rolleyes: ) i think we could pay it off before i am 40 (7 half years). I am finding that a real motivator for me right now as realistically i know that we do hope that we are blessed enough to have another baby and we are also seriously considering an extension but until either or both of those things are moving i am paying off more so that hopefully it will help balance out for times when we cant pay quite as much

frugalfreda

SPL wrote: »

hi elantan

i am not an expert on all mortgages and am sure that someone more qualified will be able to answer also - but for my mortgage we can revise the term and reduce the overall repayment period - i would think that most lenders allow you to do this but not sure if all are charge free like ours is or if some charge an admin fee?

Our lender charged us an administration fee of £25 to revise the term of the mortgage.

Some mortgage lenders restrict the number of times you change the term of the mortgage. So, if you reduce it, you may not be able to lengthen the term at a later date.
Admittedly we didn't check that point with our lender... :eek:

violetblue

SPL wrote: »

violetblue - i know exactly what you mean the majority of people i talk to about this just look at me as if i am mad

I have the same problem - I've tried explaining to them that by paying off this much extra now, I will save a huge amount in interest, but at that point their eyes glaze over and I get the feeling I'm talking to myself... :rolleyes:

Oh well, I'll be laughing at them in a few years time when I've got no mortgage left to pay! I'm hoping I'll be able to pay it off completely in 6 or 7 years, anything less than that would be absolutely brilliant.

Good luck to you and to everyone else in the challenge!

SPL

actually made me laugh out loud as pinpointed exactlly my experience violetblue

the thing is though that i dont necessarily see others living a substantially more lavish lifestyle or doing extravagant things - we will still be able to have a holiday this year but mr tesco is paying for it as we have saved up all our clubcard vouchers !!!

i think that lots of our friends just buy things as and when without thinking about if they really need it and if so without looking for best deals etc and also seem to have more takeaways, pints down the pub etc.

i also get most of my little ones toys from the car boot sales because they are in perfect quality and with a bit of cleaning as good as new and the amount of money saved there is really incredible especially on things like books

my husband was talking about my new obsession at work today and I think it did open a few peoples eyes when he said that we hope to pay off within 7.5 years - maybe we will get some new joiners

night everyone