Our Journey to Mortgage Freedom by 2030 🏡💪

MoneySavvyMum

Hi everyone,

I’ve been reading lots of inspiring posts here and thought it was time to start my own little diary to keep myself accountable (and hopefully help others who are on the same path!).

A bit of background:

• We bought our house in 2022, borrowing just over £400k on a 5-year fix at 2.4%.

• We originally wanted something smaller and more of a “doer-upper” to keep the mortgage lower, but the market was crazy competitive, so we stretched a bit further than planned.

• We decided to keep our old flat and rent it out, thinking it would help cover future expenses. With all the landlord rule changes and tax shifts, that decision has been… a mixed bag 😅 But the flat more or less pays for itself, so we’re hanging on and hoping for some long-term appreciation.

From 2022 to early 2024, we just made the standard £1.4k per month payments. Then our lives changed — we welcomed our first baby in early 2024 👶.

While I was on maternity leave, we dropped payments slightly to keep things comfortable. But after returning to work in November 2024, we had a big chat about what we really wanted — and we set ourselves a bold goal: Mortgage Free by 2030.

Since then, we’ve been on a mission!

• Feb 2025: increased payments from £1.4k to £3.4k per month

• Spring–Summer 2025: realised our living expenses were still too high, so we got serious about cutting bills, trimming subscriptions, and reviewing everything.

• Sep 2025: pushed our overpayments even further — now paying £5k per month (£3.5k overpayment + £1.4k standard).

We’re now fully committed and (fingers crossed 🤞) on track to clear the mortgage within the next 5 years!

There’s still a long road ahead — childcare costs, maintenance, maybe another fixed-rate period to navigate — but it feels so empowering to see the numbers finally moving down quickly.

I’ll use this diary to track our progress, share updates, and maybe pick up some tips from those who’ve already smashed their goals.

Wish us luck! 💫
MoneySavvyMum

MoneySavvyMum

As of Monday 3 Nov - we're currently at £330,000 ... 
That being said its probably going to be a very expensive Christmas, but we'll try to keep costs low as best as we can 

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary. 

MoneySavvyMum

Haha, what a great start already, Christmas redundancies are around the corner. Luckily, I am one of a few people who's job is not at risk. 

What it has taught me is how volatile the job market is where things can unexpectedly change at any moment.

A constant reminder for why we want to chase mortgage freedom...

beanielou

Yes. At least if you can get the mortgage down it’s not such a worry. 

Ms_Potato_Head

Good luck on your journey! 🍀

MoneySavvyMum

Hello world,

It’s been a while since my last update. Reluctant to say nothing major has changed since, just ploughing on with those overpayments really. Currently, the mortgage is at £313k and some change. I try not to look at the balance anymore as it just annoys me seeing the interest adding up over the months.

With a baby on the way I am up planning what we’ll be doing to keep up with the overpayments, thankfully have a nice bonus payout so will keep that aside for the rainy days on mat leave when barely anything is coming in.

I’ve also been looking at EPC’s and what it means when we eventually do want to pay off in lump sum, assuming we eventually accumulate the savings to do so. We have a fixed rate mortgage ending next year in the Autumn so just figuring out whether we should fix again for 5 years or go for the goal-aligned 2 year and aggressively pay on a tracker rate thereafter.

There will also be some outgoings as we need desperately some works around the house and although we’re quite keen DIYers, I’m absolutely exhausted so think we’ll throw the towel in.

Mixed feelings if I’m honest, not sure if it being 3am and me being pregnant has anything to do with it. The mortgage journey just feels like a very long tunnel I’m chipping away at with a spoon.

I must say I’m super excited for what’s to come this year, family is definitely the main focus and will channel my energy into make the most of these precious days.

Will be trying my best to stay as consistent with these entries as possible as I would love to read these back one day on the other side - one can only dream.

Zerforax

Slow and steady wins the race! You probably took out a 25-40 year mortgage so trying to do it in 8 years is a huge undertaking! Congratulate yourselves for how much you have achieved already.

Maybe focus on how much extra you have paid off rather than what you have left?

MoneySavvyMum

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81939300#Comment_81939300

Thank you for your kind words. Note to self to try to take more of a glass half full approach!

I did have a quick look at the overpayment allowance and we have £19,8000 left of £40k allowance which resets in October, so literally maxing out. This may change when we come to renew next year but for now it's just about what we can afford to put in comfortably.

I hope I don't look back one day and think we should have lumped it all in our investment accounts, as I am having second thoughts on the returns and long term gain. But we are doing both and we hope to knock off the interest in what will be 4 years now so I think I ought to just focus on the main goal at hand.

MoneySavvyMum

Managed to persuade the hubby to finally do the drawings for our new bathroom. Once we have a plan we'll get some builder quotes and see what it will cost. We've not got long to go though as I'd rather not have a building site before due date. Should make for an interesting summer project.

Zerforax

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81939765#Comment_81939765

Yes I had similar thoughts and decided rather than just doing mortgage, I'd do a bit of everything. So now I'm doing some S&S ISA, pension contributions, some overpay mortgage and some premium bonds.