Stoozing seems a great idea!

skim

Angelina-M wrote: »

I'm waaaaay off paying mine off. In fact I'm thinking of moving away from the offset mortgage as its doing nothing for me right now... I owe more than I did last year!

If you've not got sufficient savings or making large overpayments then you may be better off with a conventional mortgage.

However for me, I'm about 70k in front of target at the moment & should be paid off in another 2 years.

Nile

MSE_Martin wrote: »

MLC thanks so much for doing the film; I thought it was inspirational to see how you've managed through your finances and stoozed you way to so much success. Brilliant to watch (and you look NOTHING like me! )

PS For anyone considering it please read the stoozing article first.

I think he does............a bit. We met at the Manchester MSE meeting...........and he does look a bit like Martin - close up/in real life.:D

Hello Martinslovechild:wave: Well done, I enjoyed watching your stoozing feature.

Regards

Nile

whitewing

Yes, I've been thinking about stoozing for a little while and last night's programme made me really keen. Not so much that I think I'll be able to work magic with it, but just as a little fun challenge to myself initially.

So I shall spend Feb learning more about it and understanding it, and then maybe have a go in March. I need to take these financial things slowly so I can retract a bit when I !!!! it up!

I just like the word 'stoozing' actually, and the history of how it came to be called that. That is my main motivation for being a stoozer. I'm a nerd.

Angelina-M

skim wrote: »

If you've not got sufficient savings or making large overpayments then you may be better off with a conventional mortgage.

However for me, I'm about 70k in front of target at the moment & should be paid off in another 2 years.

Well thats the thing. When I took out this mortgage it was the right product for me, however I've not used it correctly and now its not working.

Offsetting is a great tool if you can use it correctly. I am now starting to sort my finances out and an offset still may be the way to go once i've taken the huge overdraft off it.

Its great hearing the stories of success.. it spurs me on to get off my bum and do something! :T

DrGUID

Yes it was a great show about stoozing. I'm a money nerd, so have just applied for a 0% purchase card in order to begin my stoozing sideline. I reckon I could make at least £200 in the first year, and maybe a lot more in subsequent years as I learn to play the system.

Incidentally, does anyone know about the advanced stoozing methods Martin mentioned (I think it was called muelling?). I'm looking to put my obsessiveness over my personal finances to better use, namely being mortgage free in less than 10 years.

no_debts_no_more

glastowinebar wrote: »

Can I ask what might be a daft question

I have just under £10,000 mortgage left to pay and it's due to be paid in October 2010. If I make overpayments, then wont that pay it off before that term, resulting in a 'paying off early' penalty

Check with your lender how they treat & what they do with overpayments. Bad ones don't credit your account with any payments until the end of the year, so they have no effect until then. Others penalise you. Our lets you overpay by a certain amount without penalty each month. Offset is most flexible wrt this, but you generally pay a slightly higher interest rate.

Ours asked if we wanted to reduce the term, or reduce the monthly payment. If there was an early exit penalty, maybe you could reduce the payment until it was £1 a month for the remainding term!

Martinslovechild

Angelina-M wrote: »

Thanks for that. You've certainly played the game and won. Your an inspiration to people like me who expect they will be paying off the mortgage until old age :mad:

You're making me blush again!!

Angelina-M wrote: »

If you have an offset mortgage though you arent 'overpaying' as such because the money is just sat in your account and they take that off the amount you owe at the end of the day. You mean you just sat the stoozing money in your account? Thats my understanding anyway.

Not quite.

I stoozed an amount of cash at 0% equivalent to the amount I owed on my mortgage (or ever so slightly less as I didn't want the bank to assume that my mortgage was redeemed by depositing an equivalent amount in my 'offset' account, if you get my gist). Once my offset fund was virtually equal to the outstanding mortgage balance, my interest charges practically reduced to zero where they would have been upwards of £300 a month. Therefore, virtually every penny that I paid into my mortgage reduced the capital rather than a large proportion going towards servicing the interest charges. Because my mortgage interest rate was then effectively 0% and I didn't know how long I would be able to take advantage of stoozing (i.e. was it a blip due to low UK interest rates circa 2003 when I started; would some banks start levying fees or increasing their rates from 0% to 5%???), I decided to hammer the mortgage with overpayments.

The amount I overpaid varied, but I essentially devised a budget in early 2003. The budget included all of my regular outgoings as well as one-offs (car insurance, birthdays, christmas presents etc) - you'll find a budget planner spreadsheet which allows you to work out your own at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/budget). Anyway, with the budget worked out, I was able to increase the amount I paid off the mortgage by reducing expenditure in other key areas. Whilst I was able to cut back, I didn't exactly stop living - I still put money aside in the budget for meals out & CDs etc. If I found myself being the lucky benefactor of a bonus at work or a saving on car insurance, for example, I would deposit these additional funds into the mortgage. Because the mortgage rate was effectively 0%, every penny helped to reduce the balance and it fell pretty quickly!

Nile wrote: »

I think he does............a bit. We met at the Manchester MSE meeting...........and he does look a bit like Martin - close up/in real life.:D

Hello Martinslovechild:wave: Well done, I enjoyed watching your stoozing feature.

Regards, Nile

Hiya Nile :j. Good to hear from you! Glad you enjoyed the article.

whitewing wrote: »

Yes, I've been thinking about stoozing for a little while and last night's programme made me really keen. Not so much that I think I'll be able to work magic with it, but just as a little fun challenge to myself initially.

So I shall spend Feb learning more about it and understanding it, and then maybe have a go in March. I need to take these financial things slowly so I can retract a bit when I !!!! it up!

I just like the word 'stoozing' actually, and the history of how it came to be called that. That is my main motivation for being a stoozer. I'm a nerd.

Hiya Whitewing. The word 'Stoozing' is named after the fella who first wrote about the process of making money using credit cards. He now runs the stoozing.com website, his name is Stooz.

I'm really pleased to hear that the programme has given a few people the inspiration to go for it. Don't forget to report back.

Angelina-M

Many thanks for taking the time to write out that reply, its appreciated.

Right i'm with you now, but there's just one thing that bothers me. Your signature says you had a £129k mortgage in 2001. Are you saying you borrowed approx that amount on credit cards??:eek:

If this is the case then you have more bottle than me, I'm worried for you just thinking about it.

Seriously though if you did that then its hats off to you for giving it a go. I owe the same amount you did in 2001 except mine is pretty much still the same :-(

PS I hope im not intruding, i'm not nosey, just utterly interested in giving it a go!

MSE_Martin

Hiya

For those asking about the advanced methods - they're all in the stoozing article

Linda_Jane

Hi everyoneJust joined after watching last night's programme. Always tried to watch all of Martin's articles on tv or pick up on his tips and managed to claim back on a mis-sold endowment and a mortgage fee after seeking help on this excellent website.Loved watching the stoozing article and well done to Martins Love Child.Similar position myself with the offset - my aim is to equal my savings with the mortgage and am around £15,000 short so wonder whether borrowing this on a 0% Credit Card would work for me but never really had much understanding of Credit Cards. Don't really understand how to get the cash into my account. So any advice or pointers would be helpful. Many thanks Linda