Burn the mortgage!

Hopefuljoy · 1 January 2018 at 11:00PM

Well here I am again after a long absence during which I've watched Robin and Tilly's journeys through life and mulled.over line a bit. It's 2018 which is great as I.prefer an even number and I've signed up to the Frugalwoods January challenge to spend as.little as possible this.month.

Have done my budget and decided once and do all that shifting the biggest debt and burden iny.life has to be the ultimate priority. I'm too old now to faff about at 51 so here we go..........

I am on an interest only mortgage fixed for another 9 years at a low.%. I started paying off approx £300 pcm seven months ago but need to get my figures straight tomorrow. I have £93000 to pay off by the time I retire which is technically at 67 under the new teacher pension scheme. Well they can shove that!! I'm not staying a day beyond 60!

So there is a mountain to climb and my salary is £1800 monthly after all deductions. I do mark exams in summer as well which usually nets about £650 and which I set aside for holidays.

Impossible it may seem but it's worth a blooming good try! The worst case is that I downsize at 60 and the best case is that I succeed so let's just do it!

I've Tilly Tidied as well as I have an e savinsavings account with TSB called save the change. Anything which gets swept into there is immediately paid into my mortgage to nibble away at it.

I hope some.of.you might find me on my journey. Meanwhile I wish you a wonderful 2018 and I'm off to read the Savvy Shoppers Cookbook and plan my first week of very frugal meals!!

Blibble · 2 January 2018 at 7:28AM

Happy new diary! :beer:

wishingthemortgaheaway · 2 January 2018 at 8:09AM

Good luck. With an interest only mortgage I'm assuming the interest goes down as you pay off some capital? So will you keep your monthly payment the same but it's then split between interest and capital? (Does that make sense?)

I'm a teahcer too, lots around here, but currently just doing a tiny bit of supply along with another education related, but not teaching job. Hope you've had a good break over Christmas, when does term start again?

Hopefuljoy · 2 January 2018 at 11:08PM

Hello visitors!!!

I will keep my payments the same and gradually the balance between interest and capital will work in my favour. I go back to work on Thursday and have four weeks before I go on jury service. That should last two weeks so unfortunately I won't have a half term break. Mind you, doing something different to teaching is a break!

I'm feeling motivated and positive. Went to Starbucks today and had tap water which was free while chatting to a friend for half an hour. Only essential purchases today were as follows....

Toilet paper £1.85
Dog food £7.99
Bread 89p
Cat food £3.50

The dog food should last three weeks providing I use the measuring cup. Cat food lasts just over a week as I have 3 cats.

So, me and my daughter are still living in the contents of our cupboards and tomorrow I will batch cook spaghetti Bolognese for the rest of our meals this week.

Have to sort out some financial bits tomorrow to see where I currently stand. For now though this is looking achievable! Will call in again tomorrow with an update.

juniordoc · 3 January 2018 at 2:06AM

Wow, £93K in 9 years sounds pretty ambitious, good luck!
We all know in the public sector that we can't expect our pay to keep up with inflation (under thus government anyway!) so it won't be an easy task.
All the best with your savings journey to freedom.

Betterthanever · 3 January 2018 at 9:25AM

Happy new diary - I look forward to updates along the way!

greent · 3 January 2018 at 10:05AM

All the best with your journey

x

Greying_Pilgrim · 3 January 2018 at 10:07AM

:wave: Hopefuljoy - good luck with your journey kicking the mortgage into touch. You CAN do it

Another doing UFM - January here too! Eat all the things!

Greying X

Hopefuljoy · 3 January 2018 at 8:46PM

thank you green, juniordoc, betterthanever and greying pilgrim. It's lovely to be back and see old and new friends. Here's an update for today which i have to say is not totally frugal!

My daughter has effectively just given me a 1.5% pay rise by asking me to stop her weekly allowance now that she is 18. So I have £40 more per month to use to pay down my car loan quicker as it's the highest interest debt I have. I am so grateful to her!!

In the interests of full disclosure I have to tell you that I am at Pizza Express using a voucher to have a main course for £5!! A one off to celebrate and also brace myself for going back to work as a teacher tomorrow.

Knowing that I was going to post here did make me decide not to have a dessert though. Small steps!!!!!

Juniordoc you are absolutely right about our pay! However, we have a certain amount of job security at least and at least our pension is well worth it. I am trimming back absolutely everything and as Greying so wisely says I shall eat all the things!!!

My mortgage now stands at £90937 as of today. I am so close to the 80s so it has spurred me on. When I started overpaying it stood at £94500 so I am quietly pleased and determined. For five of those months I was deep in depression which has resulted in a delightful process at work (!!!) which I will near the blessed end of in Feb. Bless them they have done it all horribly wrongly which prolonged my illness but they do want me to to stay so it is well worth slogging on! Thank goodness for the NHS and my wonderful GP surgery! And the medication!!

If you are on the Uber challenge Greying I post on the page and you will identify me by the Yorkie!!

I have also found out the balance for my car loan which is £4450 over the next 50 months. So a question for you wise ones is....... do i use the extra 40 pcm on this or the mortgage. The interest on this is higher but is the snowball effect better on the mortgage??

greent · 4 January 2018 at 11:07AM

Car loan - higher interest rate - although may be worth checking out T&Cs of loan to see if there are any penalties on extra payments. Alternatively, save the £40 (and any extra which you would have OPd) into an interest-earning account until you can clear the whole car loan. Then snowball your car loan payments + the £40/ mth to the mtge. (just my personal pov

)
x

Hopefuljoy · 4 January 2018 at 8:19PM

Thank you for wise advice greent. I'm going to do what you suggest and pay off the car loan faster!

In breaking news I have just had a no spend day!!!

Burn the mortgage!

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free