Countdown to Freedom

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  • mr_rush
    mr_rush Posts: 597 Forumite
    Just want to say you are not alone with the big mortgage.

    Ours was £379K in Feb 2011 (when we moved into the new house).

    Started making £500 overpayments / month immediately; upped it to £750 overpayments since August.

    My aim is to pay £80K off the mortgage in the next 3 years (repayments + overpayments) and then try and get rid of it completely in another 7 - 10 years.

    The absolute numbers do look scary but you've gotta keep chipping into it.
  • Ales, Adwat and Mr Rush, thanks for feedback and the tip on checking mortgage balance 6 monthly or annually is a good one. I can see I would be tempted to check every month and then be disappointed. I will be checking every six months.

    My DH and I were thinking last night: where does our cash really go? We always end up with a big credit card bill each month and no real gain in terms of what we have purchased, so last night's decision was to fill in the spending spreadsheet each day (if we try and do it weekly it won't happen) and then transfer the cash to the credit card saving pot. This will help us to see how we spend our money, allow us to understand why, and ensure the cash is there to pay the bill. We can then focus our energy on reducing this ridiculous spending.

    Off to London tonight to O2 so will need to pay for rail/underground tickets but no drinks when there and I will pay for the transport from last weeks house keeping.

    Good luck to everyone this week on their journeys.

    Onwards and upwards.
    2004 £387k 29 years - MF March 2033:eek:
    2011 £309k 10 years - MF March 2021.
    Achieved Goal: 28/08/15 :j
  • Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS
    Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS Posts: 7,833
    Mortgage-free Glee!
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    edited 7 November 2011 at 7:28AM
    Removed this as it was a duplication of above! Having a few technical issues and fingers not working.....
    2004 £387k 29 years - MF March 2033:eek:
    2011 £309k 10 years - MF March 2021.
    Achieved Goal: 28/08/15 :j
  • lulabelle1
    lulabelle1 Posts: 2,691
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    Congrats on taking the first step and joining the site.
    I'm a newbie too and am just deciding whether to take the step of starting a diary and working out all of the numbers etc.
    It sounds like you are already very focused with what you want to achieve.
    Good luck!!
  • wynnvegas
    wynnvegas Posts: 1,377
    Mortgage-free Glee!
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    Hi Tilly,

    I thought at 6 years, we'd be looking at something in the region of £200k but that's a scary number right enough! I wish you both the very best of luck in removing it. That you're able to take relatively big chunks off at a time, can I wholeheartedly recommend looking at milestone markers on the road to mortgage freedom. there have been a few that I've enjoyed but I'd suggest tracking things like:

    Mortgage Daily Interest
    Total Interest Saved with payments made
    Total Time Saved with payments made

    There are plenty of other measurements there that will help you to keep motivated as there are certainly points (strangely enough more often the closer you get to clearing the dastardly thing) where you wonder if it's worth missing out on things for. That we were able to say we saved 18 and a half years of paying the mortgage and nearly £62,000 in interest was (and is) a particularly pleasing thought. That's my revenge against the bankers!

    I think an offset is absolutely the way to go. I really wish we had gone for one as not doing so has impacted our plans just a wee bit. That'll be what happens when you decide to not go with a professional and choose instead to opt for a mortgage found on Hot UK Deals. Between that and the grabbit board, I'm with you on being hooked. Moyra still goes on about me buying 5 toilet seats because they were on offer. My view is that it was a buy 1, get 4 free deal in effect so it can't be argued with.

    I don't understand the naysayers. There's an argument for living for today as you never know what's coming and there's an argument for throwing yourself at moneysaving 100% (although the embarassing moneysaving antics tend to go too far for my liking). I firmly believe, particularly that you have kids, that enjoying yourselves whilst keeping a good balance on the financials is the way ahead. Like you, we don't smoke and don't tend to eat out that much and we drink very little so let the naysayers have their expensive habits, hangovers and debt piles into their middle age whilst we all relax into early retirement with not much in the way of money worries. I'm ever more thankful that all we've had is support and wonderment from friends and family and that most of those, where possible, have made a big push to becoming mortgage free (2 have since achieved it).

    Now that you've got a date in mind (and here's to Scotland qualifying for 2018!!), I look forward to toasting your success (from my big house pub of course) as the Russki's kick off the first game of the tournament. I'm now a subscriber so please don't be a stranger to the diary...

    Cheers,

    Billy
    Mortgage Free: 28/10/2010
    Time / Interest Saved: 18.5 years / £61,866.50
  • Twiddy
    Twiddy Posts: 148 Forumite
    Welcome to the boards Tilly, although in my short n sweet tenure so far probably haven't got the right to welcome you as its not quite my "home" yet, but I intend to be more than a regular as time progresses. Welcome anyway and good luck in what you are trying to achieve!! With the many well-wishers on these boards you will not have much chance to drop the reigns, I wish you well!! We haven't started our journey yet but watch this space from next April-ish, we're just laying the foundations for it......

    I couldn't have put it better myself Billy, especially the negative comments from "friends"!! In terms of subjects to track whilst hammering away at the mortgage, I always think that FinancialBliss does a great job of this and has inspired me to create very similar spreadsheets in preparation for the big push. I'd suggest taking a look Tilly as he goes beyond analysis! Makes for great reading though, and keeps everybody interested to boot!!

    All the best.

    T
    Current Mortgage: £113,829
    Standard MF Date: May 2030
    MFW Target Date: Jun 2023
    On Target to complete: Feb 2027
  • Good luck, I'm sure you can do it!
  • Thanks to all for your positive comments. Twiddy, thanks for the advice regarding FinancialBliss, I will head over there and check out the spreadsheets.

    As I am counting this as month 1 of our journey, I contacted the dreaded 'Spanish bank' today and our mortgage now stands at £309, 548, so after years of being over the £300k, we are almost within spitting distance of the £200ks! Still huge but an improvement.

    Daily interest currently is .........£45 ish PER DAY - how hideous, however, in March FY12 we will be switching and can't wait to see that drop significantly.

    Need to get back to work now, so hope you are all having a good day and saving those pennies!
    2004 £387k 29 years - MF March 2033:eek:
    2011 £309k 10 years - MF March 2021.
    Achieved Goal: 28/08/15 :j
  • wynnvegas
    wynnvegas Posts: 1,377
    Mortgage-free Glee!
    Forumite
    Hi Tilly,

    Completely forgot to mention (how silly of me) the main measurement - the one that will keep you coming back every day to chart your progress:

    Number of days to mortgage freedom!

    Cheers,

    Billy
    Mortgage Free: 28/10/2010
    Time / Interest Saved: 18.5 years / £61,866.50
  • dimbo61
    dimbo61 Posts: 13,712
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    Dont know about counting down the days but nearly 6 years ago I sat down with my mortgage details from by lender and worked out using "whatsthecost" that we could save £50,000 in interest if we reduced the mortgage from 23 years down to 10 years!
    Now how much did this £50,000 saving cost me each month EXTRA £500
    6 years later we still manage the £500 a month extra and have saved over £50K and heading towards £60/65K ( interest saved ) and MF in 3 years or less!!
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