Anyone trying to pay down a large mortgage?

esthomizzy

I'm trying to pay 229k off (now 225). I can't really afford to take any risks with businesses etc though as I really need my salary in order to pay the mortgage.

whitewing

My mortgage is not that big really. I'm trying to do the best I can. I have a part-time job that brings in a regular salary. I also run my own business. I am trying to live day-to-day on my part time wages, OH's parttime salary and maintenance/child benefit (as part of the live off £4Kish a year, except my target is £5300 for various reasons). It is my intention to use the earnings from my business to overpay the mortgage, on the basis that I have been growing the business from scratch over a few years so am not used to having the money as part of my regular income at the mo.

I have to balance family life with not putting all my eggs in one basket. I wouldn't want to be mortgage free in 5 years if it meant not spending proper time with my family.

belfastgirl23

I'm on a £230k mortgage and trying for the first time to make some overpayments. Managed to overpay by £500 last year (only started in last few months of the year). Aiming to overpay by £210 a month in the next year which will knock 5 years off the term of the mortgage (currently 23 years) if we can stick with it. Fingers crossed! It does feel like a long haul though, I wish I'd thought of doing this before we remortgaged (which added £150pm extra interest grrr, could have been overpaying by this before).

On the bright side though thanks to big rises in house prices across NI we probably now have about 50% equity in the house

silvercar

I have to balance family life with not putting all my eggs in one basket. I wouldn't want to be mortgage free in 5 years if it meant not spending proper time with my family.

So true.

Imagine walking through a cemetary and seeing a headstone with the words, "He cleared his mortgage".

setmefree2

If anyone is interested the challenge is on the DFW board . 111 people are trying to live on £4k a year:eek:...That would just about cover my food bill:cool::o

Trying_to_be_good

My mortgage was over £190k at its highest (Feb 2005), and I'm single so it's been a big challenge. But as everyone says, just keep chipping away:

• maximise your income (for me I'm not prepaared to take more risks, so it's just about ensuring I claim the expenses I'm entitled to)
• cheapest suppliers
• only buying things you need (or take back stuff you've impulse bought whilst the shops will still take it!)
• I use topcashback and a cashback credit card
• I've ebayed loads of clutter (can be hit and miss, but quite fun)
• small amount of stoozing
• BUT really it's about prioiritising what you want - spend the money on overpayments not junk.

I originally had a 10-year plan to pay it back, but I'm hoping to beat that!

iieee

We started with a 200k mortgage, now at 173k after 3 years (we didn't start making overpayments until a year ago).

DH has been running a business on the side for the last couple of years, which is doing well, but the problem is that most of the money that has been made has gone back into the business for now, rather than being drawn out. So it's not really a solution to get the mortgage paid off superfast, but it'll help in the long run.

Dithering_Dad

I'm trying to clear down a 150k mortgage in three years, which I guess equates to clearing a 300k one in 6 yrs. Even with a successfull business it's still pretty difficult to do. I earn about 10k per month (in my best month I earned 16k) but after you've deducted VAT, Corporation Tax, NI & PAYE and put away money to pay your self assessment Income tax and to cover you for lean periods, you're struggling to put much more than 2k - 3k a month extra on the mortgage.

While 2/3k is still quite a lot, it'll still mean that it'll take 6 - 4 years respectively to pay off a £150k mortgage. Plus there is the little bit of resentment that you're putting in all of this effort, earning all of this money with precious little (materially) to show for it!! :rotfl:

What you do get though is piece of mind. WHen I started my challenge I paid £1100 on my mortgage and £66.10 onto a failing endowment. A quick endowment surrender and several overpayments and 9 month's later my monthly mortgage outgoings are £800 and falling.

I don't think I'll quite manage to pay off all of the £150k by the end of the three years, but I will have reduced my mortgage down to the point where it won't worry me any more.

It's a long haul, but I think it's worth it in the end, and while I don't want me headstone to read "He paid off his mortgage", it would be nice if it read "He had a long and carefree mortgage free life"

Free_Mike

I have to balance family life with not putting all my eggs in one basket. I wouldn't want to be mortgage free in 5 years if it meant not spending proper time with my family.

I think most of us would agree with this point.

I'm trying to pay 229k off (now 225). I can't really afford to take any risks with businesses etc though as I really need my salary in order to pay the mortgage.

My intention is not to give up the day job but rather to run a business on the side (you can get a lot done between 6&9am and 6&9pm!). I think it does raise a key point though - risk v reward. If you take a risk with a new venture and it pays of then the reward could be that you pay off your mortgage sooner. I for one am much more inclined to this way of thinking than playing it safe for years and years and finding that I still have a mortgage when I'm 60.

Saving money by following the principles on this site is only part of the answer here - there has to be a flip side where you increase your income dramatically in the short term to make these dreams of being free from a large mortgage happen - unless of course you happen to have a high flying city job (which I don't).

setmefree2

Hi FM,

You're right, of course. Don't know if you've read "The Millionaire Next Door"?. This was an American Best seller that analysed the spending patterns of dollar millionaires. In American speak - you have to think not only about the offence (getting money in) but also the defence (making sure that money stays in and doesn't get frittered away). So, you can have a good offensive strategy (getting money in) but a poor defensive strategy (you cansume too much - flash cars, etc)..and you end up with nothing.

Or as I read somewhere else!...All businesses have to think about both Income & Expenditure - this is true of "Me plc" too.

Basically, there really only a small number of people - Sports & rock stars, etc who need not think about the defence...I think of MSE as helping with the defence strategy - if that makes sense?