Staying on track to be MF and ready to support my daughter at 18

Cheery_Daff · 13 January 2019 at 3:32PM

Not off topic at all - you were talking about getting the most out of your gym membership!

(and also, who cares if it IS off topic?? This is all about fitting money-saving into life, so I reckon it's fine to talk about life too

Hope so anyway

)

I go through phases with activity too - I've done triathlons and marathons in my time but then I'll go for months without running at all, especially in the winter. Tis indeed sometimes hard to make yourself get out there.

A_Frayed_Knot · 14 January 2019 at 1:41AM

Excellent saving for your first week of trying. Well done. :T

Here's hoping next week is similar.

Are you o/p it just now, or waiting . . .

J[FONT=&quot]ust remember every £1 o/paid, is a £1 you will never pay interest on again[/FONT]

ElmoR · 15 January 2019 at 8:52AM

Wow Cheery, marathons!! I salute you!!

My body frame carries me through a 10K max and I'm not sure I could even jog my way round 5K at the moment.:o

Frayed, I have an admission to make in that I do not know how to overpay a one off payment :eek:. All my previous O/Ps have been set up for each month and automatic in the past. Which is fine in one way, but I can see the logic that the £27 I saved, in NSDs/no work spends on lunch last week, is money that I wouldn't have had if I spent it, so in theory I don't need to wait til the end of the month before putting it towards an O/P. I'll phone the bank and find out...
Continuing into my second week well, a NSD yesterday despite the cafe meeting. Apparently I had bought the coffees before Christmas, so it was someone else's turn. I've noticed that out of the 3 of us who meet for these work cafe sessions, only 2 of us ever pay. The other one is always late/last arriving. I know they have serious debts and struggle as a carer but it still feels a bit awkward.

The lunchtime walk is helping me reach 10K steps each work day too. :T

Off to work...

Cheery_Daff · 15 January 2019 at 12:23PM

Yay for another NSD! :j If one of your three seems to be struggling with money, and you would rather not be spending - could you suggest meeting somewhere other than the cafe? The third person in your gang would probably be thankful for it (they may be embarrassed they never pay), and the first person could always bring a takeaway cuppa with them. Just a thought

As for one off overpayments - good plan to check with the bank. I stash my OP money in a separate pot to pay off all at once, as if I pay any less than £1000 in a lump sum it doesn't get taken off the balance until the end of the year anyway - so basically the bank are just keeping hold of it and earning interest themselves. I'd rather it sat in my account until it made a difference! But all banks are different, and some calculate interest daily and let you make as many small OPs as you like - wish mine was like that but we had so many other mortgage conditions to meet I wasn't going to quibble about that too :rotfl:

ElmoR · 15 January 2019 at 5:26PM

Thanks Cheery, it didn't occur to me to ask about when it gets taken off the mortgage, something else to check up on. Steep learning curve right now.
Will ponder suggesting a venue change for the cafe meetings...probably means booking a room and adding a task though. Hmmm.
And another NSD :T However, eating 2 minute microwave uncle bob rice for lunch didn't see me through the afternoon or provide enough brain food, so best start making something more substantial with a few more food groups represented:(

A_Frayed_Knot · 15 January 2019 at 7:07PM

My mortgage was with the H@lif@x, so I just opened an account with them, then done the transfer to the mortgage account as and when I liked.

Make sure though that you are o/p the mortgage account with the interest being added (I had a sub account at 0% interest) and when I paid my 1st large o/p, stated this, but no one at the bank had heard of it (yeah, right) :mad: so they just split the o/p and took off both accounts :mad: not just the one that interest was being added to. Takes about 2 days to show in the mortgage account

once you have o/p.

Cheery_Daff · 16 January 2019 at 12:43AM

Ooh, the blighters, there are so many ways they can shaft you!

I didn't realise about the overpayments not counting til after I'd made the first one - that £130 annoyed me all year, sat earning interest for the bank and not me :mad: :rotfl:

Also (apologies if you already know this) mine wanted to recalculate my monthly payment when I made our recent OP. I had to specifically ask them not to, but to reduce the term instead. Except that wasn't the term they used - they confused me by saying "so you want to make a monthly overpayment then?"

Er no. I want to make a one off overpayment but not reduce my monthly payment. But in their terms, because I've overpaid, the amount they want me to pay each month is less (because they're still spreading it over the full 24 years) - so if i keep the monthly payment the same (because i want to pay it off early), i'm effectively paying more than they require - so yes, i'm making a monthly overpayment :rotfl:

Clear as mud, yes? :rotfl: had to ask the poor lady on the phone to explain it three times before it clicked

:rotfl:

Cheery_Daff · 16 January 2019 at 12:47AM

And now I think about it, if i keep the pyments the same they're earning interest on my monthly £4.33 overpayment! Gah!! So mybe I should have reduced it after all, and put the difference in savings account then given it back at the end of the year.

Except that might have made my head explode so for the sake of about 15p in interest I'll just leave things where they are :rotfl:

A_Frayed_Knot · 16 January 2019 at 5:36AM

Yep, you said it,wee blighters !!!

When I started o/p every month, they also wanted to reduce my monthly payments each time, so went into branch and explained, I do not want a reduction in mortgage payments each time I o/p, again no one at the bank could do this, ended up they phoned (abroad) and spoke to someone that could do this for me, took about 1 1/2 hours if I remember right. They don't make it easy to o/p :rotfl:and keep mortgage payments the same. As you say clear as mud.

Once my last deal was finished, I didn't go into another deal as it would have restricted me too much

and they still reduced my monthly mortgage payment from over £300 to something like £87 :eek:

,
they were certainly trying to spin it out, but I was having none of it :rotfl: and as it was at SVR spurred me on even more to get it finished, as it would have taken me years and years to finish it off at that monthly payment :mad:

Thank goodness for Martin and this forum. :A :T

ElmoR · 16 January 2019 at 9:37AM

:eek:Whoa!!:eek:
I think my head is generating steam from trying to figure it all out. Definitely need to get into the details with my bank. To be fair though, my bank have been excellent regarding the mortgage so far. But then I think fdir*ct do seem come out well in surveys. They were excellent through the divorce upheaval and getting me set up independently. I know some people see the affordability checks as being intrusive but they really helped me start my first budgeting habits. Amazingly, they also sent me a letter to say that my fixed term was ending and that there were these new (and better rates) available but that the deadline to apply was nearing. The letter arrived while we were on holiday and I missed the deadline by one day but they still honoured the better rate. Mind you, I would have changed provider if they hadn't and maybe they know me well enough?!:D

I'm hoping they won't be as slippy/muddy about the o/ps and interest as your providers sound Cheery/Frayed.

Staying on track to be MF and ready to support my daughter at 18

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