Life after Mortgage (before the Next One!)

HelenaPinky

I have been a long time reliant on these threads and at times considered starting my own but bottled it...now I am just going to go for it! It seems like a strange time to be starting a thread as a 'mortgage-free wannabe', but I can't imagine being off this group! It's been such a lifeline to be with like-minded people.

This journey will be about adapting to life after...overpaying and frugality has been a focus for me for so long, it will be a change! The majority of the money will be saved for the next house, I would also like to learn to treat myself and the family a bit more, they have all put up with a lot of scrimping and saving over the past few years while I've been on this determined mission! 

HP x

carboot_karaoke

Just thought id say hi 👋and welcome.

I spent a long time (literally years) lurking on the MSE forums before finally taking the plunge to start a diary. I felt a bit exposed to begin with, but the support and advice l have received has been amazing so i'm glad you've done the same. 😊

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary.

HelenaPinky

At the start of my mortgage OPing journey, someone on here shared:

0.0<interest rate> x mortgage amount

divided by 365

to work out daily interest. I found out I was paying £16 a day .... I would never allow myself to spend £16 a day on something so that lit a fire in me. The equation has been a constant for me: I've watched the daily interest go down!

I will certainly have to find another money obsession when it's paid off....it's been a fixation of mine for six years! I have started investing in a stocks and shares ISA...just £25 a month so far and I haven't even reached the £100 you need to actually get stocks and shares yet!

HelenaPinky

On 1st May the final mortgage payment went through, it was only 266 so half of our usual payment which means that already this month, I have felt a benefit! I have definitely already spent it...treated ourselves to custom made blinds, I've been ordering on Vinted and I said yes to hair clips and a new outfit during the supermarket trip...the kids must have thought I'd gone mad!

My plan is to enjoy spending....the economy surely needs a bit of my money circulating when I've been holding onto it so tightly for the past eight years, is my justification! I told one friend of our news and she said we needed to mark the occasion, so we dressed up and went for a lovely meal at a local restaurant. There was no limits, we had starters, mains and the kids had desserts, but I only had a water because I didn't fancy a fizzy or alcohol drink and old (saving) habits die hard!

The final payment itself: our monthly payment was only £41.91 by the time we got to the end, so I'd just got in the habit of overpaying to make that up to £475. I calculated the final payment myself knowing that the interest was 3p a day (I tried to use their redemption figure tool but it didn't take into account the £41.91), and I must have overpaid a little because my mortgage account said -0.02. I phoned the mortgage company and the woman explained what would happen next, and sure enough, on 7th May, I had a credit in my account called SUNDRIES: 0.02. The Nwide woman did say "Congratulations on being mortgage free!" which I was pleasantly surprised about, as I'd read on here that mortgage companies didn't acknowledge the celebration as much as they expected!

beanielou

Congratulations.

carboot_karaoke

Wonderful news ☺️

I'm glad you marked the occasion with a special meal. Paying off a mortgage takes teamwork and sacrifice by everyone. It's lovely they got a little bit of the reward to.