The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

lisathompson · 27 November 2007 at 12:12AM

You are right, the paper deeds have lost their importance. All ownership, rights & titles, restrictions etc are in the register at the Land Registry office. Go to:

http://www.landreg.gov.uk/

...and put the postcode of your property in the Land Register Online section on the right. You can download a PDF of the Register and Plan for £3 each. Check they have your correct contact details, and make sure the bank has released its charge by looking at section C: charges register, and also the Register Extract on the front page.

plumduff55 · 4 December 2007 at 8:49AM

Hi everyone,
On Saturday morning I went to my local BS and made the last payment to my mortgage 7 years early ! It was a great feeling and I was inspired on my MFW journey by MSE.com.

I found this site two years ago and decided to overpay my mortgage. Firstly I paid most of my savings to the account, this left a balance of £13.000. I then paid extra at the end of each month - whatever I had left. Becoming more determined to have the mortgage paid by the end of 2007, I obtained the current balance from the BS and roughly calculated the interest added on a monthly basis. I then set up a direct debit for this estimated amount - that came to 55% of my monthly take home pay. My tips are:

Keep a spending diary
I have always been thrifty but was quite shocked at the small amounts frittered away that all added up to quite a sum. I have kept a spending diary for the full 2 years, it now has pride of place in my memories box.

Make, make, make and mend
Huge amounts can be saved by cooking from scratch, repairing and mending. Visiting the OS boards daily not only gave me the knowledge and practical tips, it also gave me the emotional motivation to keep going. Instead of feeling isolated by my lack of spare cash I felt part of this moneysaving community.

Remember the dream
Know why you are doing this and when you are feeling low or deprived, remember the dream. I have been in a job I love for many years - But it is getting more and more stressful and as I get older I worry that the stress is too much. Being MF means I have the freedom to change jobs if I want and money will not be an issue.

In the future I will continue to be thrifty and visit MSE daily whilst also treating myself and my family. I cannot say how grateful I am to the people on this site who have enabled me to realise my dream.

THANK YOU

butterflymum · 5 December 2007 at 2:46PM

Wasn't sure if I would post or not (and think there may be many more out there feel the same) - if I'm honest, I was a bit put off by the post title including 'honour' and also not wanting to seem to be bragging/not humble, but on balance, realised that, as with most things on this site, this thread is meant as a genuine way of encouraging others by sharing how that same encouragement On this and other threads) has helped us.

plumduff55 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
On Saturday morning I went to my local BS and made the last payment to my mortgage 7 years early !

Just wanted to say, you could be me (or hubby). We went into our BS on Saturday 24/11 and did the same (and fully realise and appreciate how very fortunate we were to be able to do this), and like you, it was 7years (well, and about 8 months) early.

BS did cause us some concern, though, when we discovered a few days later they had processed our payment as a Capital Payment instead of a Mortgage Redemption Payment. After a few frantic phonecalls, everything was sorted out.

Today, in post, we received a letter dated 3/11 thanking us for our payment and also, much to my surprise given the short timescale, a signed for package containing a letter dated 4/12 together with our Title Deeds etc.

If I could share one statement for those looking for encouragement, it would be this:

Please remember to 'try to live, at all times, within your means', it really can make a difference.

akh43 · 16 December 2007 at 12:26AM

a. The date you decided to become a MFW - I never really had a mortgage free date, took out my mortgage at the end of Jan 2002 over a 15 year period. I just hoped to pay it off earlier than that, hopefully before I took early retirement which was planned for approx 13 years after I took out mortgage.

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest - £25,001, the minimum they would let me borrow. I bought a £85,000 house and put £60,000 down from sale of previous house when I divorced.

c. Mortgage-Free Date - 14 December 2007.

d. Your one pearl of wisdom - Just keep chipping away at your mortgage. I never expected to finish so early, initially I was only offsetting with my wages, then wages/savings and then I started paying off small amounts when I could. Also, whenever my mortgage payments dropped in the early years I kept paying the same amount as when I first took out my mortgage, I was expecting to pay £200 approx a month and so I kept it at that all the way through. I didn't put my all into it until the last couple of years as during the first few years I was doing jobs on the house and took 3 holidays with my kids and bought a new (used) car. It was only the last couple of years when I really saw the amount reducing that I knuckled down and at the end of Dec 2006 I owed £7,763.91. I kept overpaying an extra £500 most months and in June my savings were more than my mortgage and I stopped paying interest. I started an ISA with £3,000 in April so I wouldn't pay tax on that part of my savings once I stopped paying interest on my mortgage and then I just paid off as much as I could spare. I still went on holiday this year and renovated my bedroom which was in great need of work, I suppose I could have paid off a couple of months early if I had really buckled down but I am still happy with the way I have done it. It's a nice feeling knowing I will be starting 2008 debt free and mortgage free 9 years early. Now wondering what to do with my extra money each month!

e. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it - I never had a mortgage free diary, I just occasionally looked at the 'Mortgage free in 3 years' thread and got inspiration from what I was reading.

wymondham · 3 January 2008 at 6:23PM

Well, I've just become mortgage free and want to add my name to the roll of honour if I may?!! Happy New Year to you all and best wishes for all you MFW's out there!!!!!!

The date you decided to become a MFW

It all started in October 2006 - 14 years into our 25 year term. I had an endowment policy which I did’nt feel was going anywhere, and costing more after each review (the cost had trebled in three years in order to keep their ‘guarantee’!). I decided to cash it in after being unable to sell it and was pretty peeved that I couldn’t overpay my mortgage by anywhere near as much as I’d hoped by using this money (I was with Abbey at the time on an ‘inflexible’ part repayment/part endowment mortgage). It was now I decided to look around for a more flexible product that suited how I wanted to work as my 2 year tie in would be coming to an end in March 2007. On 1st April 2007 I took out a One Account after lots of research and after lots of questions (mainly on this site – thanks guys and gals!). I liked the flexibility and how automatic everything was – it suited me down to the ground as I could overpay in anyway and in any amount. The costs to get this account open as well were a fraction that of others (I begrudge paying the extortionate fee’s associated with opening new mortgages) and I liked the idea of having the account for the life of the mortgage – no more wasted time and hassle every 2/5 years and then there’s the remortgaging costs…

b. Mortgage Debt at its highest

It was £45,600 at its peek on 1st January 2007

c. Mortgage-Free Date

2nd January 2008. Whilst the mortgage has gone in theory, I’m just really in credit on the One Account (they now pay me!), but I don’t intend to close it and ask them to release the charge on the property just yet as I now need to build up savings elsewhere (ISA’s here I come!) and having access to the One Account money could be useful if I run into any sticky times in the meantime as the interest rate is much lower than loans etc..

I’m chuffed I’ve done this in just over a year – just goes to show how much you can do when you rain in your finances for a specific purpose. The odd thing is we never really cut back on anything, just looked at what was, and was not working for us with regards to investments/savings/services etc - using Asda rather than Tesco for our weekly shop made a big difference!!!! Changed energy suppliers and also built up referals on our telephone/broadband (they pay us!)

d. Your one pearl of wisdom.

Mine would be to keep sight of the end goal and try to stick with it, whilst remembering to have a life also! I went for this account against lots of advice, as people dismissed it as expensive but it worked for me very well – I don’t believe I would have done it had it not been for online access and seeing it all in lots of pretty graphs!! – a real incentive!

e. And if you had a mortgage freedom diary on MFW, a link to it.

Sorry but I have none!

pixiepp · 20 January 2008 at 1:11PM

Hi
Some of the posts from other MFW's are truly inspirational!. I paid off my mortgage back in 1995 after a discussion with a couple of friends three years earlier about the cost of borrowing.
Mortgage debt at Highest
£27,000 (I know it does'nt sound a lot of money, but I was able to put a deposit down of £9,000 on the asking price of £36,000).This was at the time when interest rates went up to almost 15%.
Mortgage Free date
1995; paid off £9,000 per year. We used to love going to the building society with £1,000 and then ask for our monthly repayments to be re-calculated. Our treat for the month would be a piece of steak!
Pearl of Wisdom
Stick to your plan, and celebrate every saving no matter how modest (even if its with a cup of tea!) We used a 'Blue Peter' style thermometer to help with motivation.
Sorry did not keep a diary, but suffice to say the feeling of being debt free is fantastic; especially as I lost my job the year after!
well done to all other MFW's and to the wanabees; keep going!!

barnetboy_2 · 31 January 2008 at 3:59PM

Thanks to the soup dragons for the lyric that sums up my feeling over the past month.

a) decided I could get mortgage free about 2000. Got an offset mortgage and realised the correlation between saving and interest payments.

b) I have paid two more mortgages off since 1997 with a combined total of £174,000

c) Jan 2008 !!

d) Pearl. Offset mortgage and dont be put off by detractors. How people laughed at me when they watched me making small savings. I have been called boring , wierdo, tightfisted the lot... How I am now laughing at the these people slaving to pay off debt. I am now able to take on a complete lifestyle and work change despite having a family to support.

Also thanks to Money Saving Expert picked up loads of tips , and realised there were many others like me who were working to same goal.

owitemisermusa · 23 February 2008 at 6:32PM

keeperbear wrote: »

a. February 2000 after a terrible day at work
b. £65,000
c. Mortgage free on 4th February 2005 after abusing many 0% credit card offers. Officially one of the best days of my life!
d. Throw any spare cash at your mortgage and treat it as a game.
e. I was mortgage free before joining this site.

Having so much free cashflow is liberating, and coupled with an inheritance, has allowed my girlfriend and I to purchase a mortgage-free 2nd home in the USA.

Does that mean that you owe thousands on credit cards? If so, then you're still in debt.

How can this be ie using CCs to clear mortgage?

setmefree2 · 27 February 2008 at 6:31PM

I think the poster used the credit cards to stooze and reduce his/her monthly interest on his/her mortgage thereby enabling him/her to pay of mortgage quicker.

owitemisermusa · 29 February 2008 at 2:32AM

setmefree2 wrote: »

I think the poster used the credit cards to stooze and reduce his/her monthly interest on his/her mortgage thereby enabling him/her to pay of mortgage quicker.

I take it you mean stoozed into an offset account and then paid off mortgage gradually till capital sorted then paid back the CCs?

Still a mite confusing.

The Mortgage Free Roll Of Honour

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