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Overpay mortgage or put money into pension?
I am a very late starter with my pension. I'm in my 50s and only started paying into one about 5 years ago. I'm self-employed and contribute on an ad-hoc basis. There is around £15k in there. I have a flexible mortgage which I really like because I can draw down money if I ever need to (roof repairs, new car etc) without…
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Marginal Gains
After a lot of lurking I thought I should start my own diary. I am about to start a new job with 20% pay rise and a 5 year contract. So this diary is about how I can improve our financial situation over this time - so if my contract isn’t renewed I can afford to take a lower paying (and less stressful job). I have a lovely…
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The Piano Diary
Good morning diary and all, I recently became debt free after 31 months of debtbusting over on Debt Free Wannabe, following the advice and diaries on this site. Here is my previous diary My debt free diary I have found keeping a diary really helpful in staying focused and also therapeutic being able to think things through…
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Getting shot of the mortgage sooner than 2049!
Hi everyone! So... 2049... yes, that’s the current end date for our mortgage and at that point I’ll be (gulp) 61 and my husband Red will be 64! I DO NOT want us still to be paying a mortgage in our 60s and so I’m starting this diary. I’ve had a diary over on debt free wannabe for the last 8-9 months and it’s been so much…
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Starting Afresh Back Home
Hi Everyone. It's been over a year since I posted on the forum and a lot has changed since then so I thought I'd start a fresh new diary to go with my fresh new chapter in life. Last year my marriage broke down and I left Yorkshire and moved back to my home village in Lincolnshire. I'm currently living with my parents but…
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Mortgage free in 4 years
Hi All, I have been reading these diaries for a while, I never really post anything, but it helps keep me to my journey as nobody in real life seems to be on the same path. When I tell people I am overpaying my mortgage they ask why? lol I took this mortgage in 2016 (£310k) and the interest just got lower and lower over…
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A Dream Worth Dreaming?
Long time lurker, first time poster …. Hopping on because I come here for inspiration regularly …. so my story and plan I will share because I’m starting to flag and lose motivation … insights and opinions appreciated 😊 bought a London flat for £355k in 2017… £60k deposit, £153k mortgage and £142k help to buy loan 2020…
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A new royal start
I mmmed and ahhhed about whether to start a diary on here or not. However, my head hurts with all my internal planning, so I thought I'd give it a go! I cannot promise excitement though! So here goes... we bought our house almost 6 years ago now and stretched ourselves quite a bit to get it (in the expensive South). I…
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Twinklies mortgage journey 2.0
New Beginnings So today is the start of our remortgage and as such I thought it would be nice to start a shiny new diary. Hopefully I can be reflective of the journey so far and make some new and focused goals. Just to bring anyone who doesn't know me up to speed. I am married, 2 kids, a dog, a house and an allotment.…
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Roll on October 2025!
Thought I would start my own thread! * Mortgage taken out c.10 years ago for £95,000 * Have had several rate changes in that time * Now on a 1.4% fix through until October 25, with currently 9 years left on the overall mortgage term * Have overpaid a lot pre 1.4% deal and since savings rates went above this, overpayments…
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Tm's MFW ramblings
Hello :) I've been overpaying but with no real consistency or effort put in to it, for a while now. After getting locoblade's spreadsheet I realised how much I could be saving, so I want to give this my attention. Ideally, I'd like to be MF twice by 42. I'm 29 this year (OH is 38 this year). I did once upon a time dream of…
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Best overpayment tactic
Hello, I'm hoping for some help. I'm on a mission to pay off my mortgage asap. I have used the MSE calculators, have looked at my income/ outgoings and have settled upon overpayments averaging at £900 per month, allowing me to be mortgage free in 6 years. I am aware of the 10% overpayment limit (currently £8533 for 2024).…
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Aiming to be mortgage free before I am 62!
It feels very bizarre to be starting a mortgage free wannabe diary! I (and we when I was part of a we!) have always been a bit of a on off rollercoaster between paying off debt and creating more debt! I can’t really put much of a potted history of my finances together as I don’t really know how things built so much or how…
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770k reasons to be mortgage free
We have a very large mortgage. We are also lucky enough to have much a larger than average household income but with my husband approaching 50, we want to put the work in to get mortgage free so that we have the freedom to spend our life doing more of the things we enjoy! Current approx balances Sep 2023 £526,800.00…
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our forever patch challenge
well, this week sees the new start to my mortgage free plans. After 18 months clearing debts, then paying for our wedding, which took most of our hard earned savings, we are at the beginning again. Due to restructure at work, OH is on a reduced monthly pay, so the savings are even more of a challenge! Our plan is over the…
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Dilemma, Dilemma, Dilemma
Hello, I've been on MSE for many moons, gone through debt repayment and many challenges but this one feels the absolute worst. I'm kind pre 'mortgage free wannabe' but also needing the comfort blanket of a good ole MSE diary. So current situation, co-parenting with Ex H. We both have partners and everything is friendly. We…
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Let's go fly a kite..
Current mortgage amount: £62,743.73 Current monthly interest: £79.87 Original
mortgage amount: £200,000 (2005) Inspired by all the MFW diaries on here, I hope you don’t mind me
keeping a record on here of our journey. After trudging through the treacle of debt repayment until 2019, and
with that momentum, turned our sights…
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Two years and then downsize...
Hello - I wanna be mortgage free! I have a mortgage in the high £40k's which has 14 years left to run and fixed at 3.04% until end Jan 2024. I'm divorced and have a grown up son living at home and job hunting, plus a teenager. September 2019 I got a temporary promotion at work and made the decision that all the pay rise…
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Lumiona's MFW Diary
As a forum lurker, I'm not a threadstarter but I figured like many of you that a diary is a good accountability method. Ok so here goes: Backstory, we moved to our current house in 2006, bought for £178k mortgaged at £130k for 30yrs. Interest rates were high monthly payment about £750, went up to nearly £900 at one stage.…
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Mortgage free dreamer
Hi All, I've often visit the forums and dream of being mortgage free before I am 40-45, over the last few years I've really concentrated my efforts on clearing what little debt we have an focus on overpaying as much as I can. Bit of background - I'm 32, earn approx £30k p/a (full time) OH - Also 32, earns approx £11k p/a…