A long journey to mortgage freedom

Hello,

I've been lurking on the MFW boards for some time and thought it was about time I jumped in with my own diary to try and keep me motivated.

A little bit about us - it's me, DH and 2 little ones who are nearly 4 and 1, we bought our forever home just over a year ago for £509,000 :eek: and now we need to get on with paying the mortgage off as soon as possible.

The mortgage balance today is £181,194.94. The current interest rate is 1.75% fixed for another 4 years. The remaining term is 23 years and 11 months (or so the bank thinks)! If we paid the mortgage off in that time frame I would be 63 years old when it finishes so I'd really like to cut some time off that and ideally be mortgage free by the time the oldest little one reaches 18... so that would be in 14 years. I'm not sure that's realistic as so much can change in 14 years and with 2 little ones and all the expense that can bring, but if we start now we have more of a chance.

Our minimum payment is £786.51 and since we have taken out the mortgage we have made our standard monthly payment £1000 so we've overpaid since the start of this mortgage. The plan is to put any pay rises or other unexpected money we receive on to the standard overpayment as we won't miss what we've never had.

We'll then make overpayments as and when we can with money from our budget savings. We need to build up our emergency fund again as we've spent a lot on stuff for the house in this first year, so we're going to split the money 50:50 into savings and mortgage overpayments for now. There may not be a lot this coming year as we have 2 going into nursery, but the oldest will start school next September and we should have a bit more after that.

Hoping this diary can keep me motivated and that I'm still here in 14 years about to join the mortgage free roll of honour :rotfl: . If you've read this far thank you.. and next step is to post a SOA.
«13

Comments

  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 89,822
    Academoney Grad I'm a Volunteer Ambassador Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper
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    Happy shiny new diary :)
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • Runders
    Runders Posts: 292
    First Anniversary First Post
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    Happy new diary!! Looking forward to seeing how you get on :)
    MFW Start:[STRIKE] Sep 2014 - £110,844[/STRIKE], July 2019 New Home £190,995 :eek:
    Current: £82,999.69, £190,972.18, £188,091.57, £180,026.25
    2021MFW #97 OP Goal £296.36/£3000
    2020MFW #97 OP Goal £3104.09.09/£3000
    2019MFW #109 OP Goal £1024.99/£1000
  • themadvix
    themadvix Posts: 7,826
    Mortgage-free Glee! Photogenic First Anniversary Name Dropper
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    Welcome! Love your username - it would work for me too! :)

    14 years? I reckon you'll do it sooner than that ;) This OPing lark is addictive!
    Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days

    'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway


  • greent
    greent Posts: 10,669
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    Forumite
    Hello and welcome! :)

    I agree with madvix - OPing is totally addictive (as is playing with possible figures on spreadsheets :D)
    x
    I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul
    Repaid mtge early (orig 11/25) 01/09 £124616 01/11 £89873 01/13 £52546 01/15 £12133 07/15 £NIL
    Net sales 2024: £20
  • Hello,

    Thank you for the warm welcome :)

    I haven't yet done my SOA as our finances are in a state of flux right now as I'm on maternity leave until the 17th September and on zero pay until then. I return to work after some annual leave on the 8th October and should have a better idea of our normal state of affairs, so someone please prod me if I haven't done one by the end of October.

    I have done some small things to start the ball rolling. I should have done some of these a long time ago but somehow never got round to it...better late than never. So far I have:
    • Transferred £227.40 from my personal account which wasn't earning any interest to the mortgage
    • Transferred £27.24 from PayPal to my mortgage- this money has been in PayPal for over a year
    • Closed an old ISA and transferred the balance of £12.77 to the mortgage
    • Started a spending spreadsheet to see where all our current money is going- we've never really budgeted before just spent as and when we needed or wanted to :o
    • Made a meal plan and shopping list and stuck to it
    • Joined the grocery challenge on the old style boards to try and reduce our ridiculous spends
    • Joined prolific and started doing the studies
    • Joined YouGov and started doing the surveys
    • Joined Quidco and Topcashback to get money back on any purchases

    I still need to do the following:
    • Ebay clothes that I no longer need
    • Sort children's toys and decide what we want to keep, Ebay, chuck or charity shop before upcoming birthdays and Christmas
    • Review and change bank account..currently with Santander 123 and not sure that this is now the best option

    Other than that we will keep on..if anyone has any other suggestions then feel free to share. I can't believe my littlest is nearly one and off to nursery, this year seems to have flown by so much quicker than my first maternity leave.

    More tea please x
  • Hello all,

    Been a while since my last update...just spent a week at Center Parcs with the family, tried to keep the expenses down as much as possible with lots of swimming, parks and walks but it wasn't cheap. We wanted to do it before we're forced to take holidays during school term time and the costs rocket. I'm glad we did it but I've come back more tired than I left as the little one is teething and was a bit under the weather so sleeping wasn't the best.

    In terms of the mortgage the standard payment of £1000 has been paid, together with a small overpayment of £8.97 transferred from PayPal and £397 from money leftover this month. Another £397 has gone into our emergency savings.

    In October, I'm back at work so that means new routine and challenges. It also means I have two children in nursery and the costs go up significantly so not sure what that means with overpayments but I shall keep on trying.

    Thanks

    More tea please
  • Hello,

    I've just logged on to the mortgage and these are my figures for September:

    Balance at 30/09/2018: £179,994.28
    Daily interest: £8.70
    Overpayments in September: £619.46

    October is the first month of more expensive childcare and back to getting a full wage following maternity leave so we shall see how that works out at the end of the month. We've also had to buy some new shoes for my little one and we've bought ourselves a new winter duvet.

    My littlest turns 1 on Friday so we are having a little family get together for her and will need to budget for some buffet food and make a cake. We're not getting her a present as she doesn't need anything so instead are paying some money into her savings account for her.

    Hopefully not much else out of the ordinary this month to take us off track :)
  • newgirly
    newgirly Posts: 8,894
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Forumite
    Welcome and good luck!
    2022 MFW 67 - 33 month challenge to clear mortgage, month 17 completed and and extra 2 knocked off 🙂MFI3 No.12
  • Hello all,

    Well I've been back at work since Monday and feeling very tired. I've made my own lunches and walked to the offices after the nursery drop-off. Good for my health and petrol use. I need to keep this up as there is an on-site canteen which provides breakfast and lunch options which I could easily get in the habit of using.

    Had the little ones birthday get together on Saturday which included making a cake and buffet for everyone. That came to £66 for all the food and drink including 3 bottles of prosecco. I need to make sure I meal plan and eat out of the cupboards and freezers for the rest of the month to try and stay within my grocery budget.

    I've requested payout from Prolific and TopCashBack and will send these small amounts to the mortgage overpayment. I've also sold a dress on Ebay and have bids on 3 other small items so once these are all sold and the money is in my account I'll aim to send these small amounts to the mortgage overpayment pot. I'm hoping to keep up these little steps as every bit helps.

    Thanks,
    More tea please
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 89,822
    Academoney Grad I'm a Volunteer Ambassador Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper
    Ambassador
    Glad all is going well, not surprised that you are tired.
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
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