Pay of my mortgage in one year...impossible or not?

[darcymum]

I saw a programme on telly a while ago about this, I owe about £100,000 how do I do this? So far the only thing I can think of is robbing a bank.

You need to earn loads surely

that was on the telly and probably not applicable in rl.

Funnily enough I don't think they ever did the final programme where we found out if it was a success? Mid time they were all failing.

Well, how much have you in savings, what is your income? How many hours per week extra could you and dh work?

Try moneysavingexpert Debt free forums - always a good place to start. If you already have an income of more than £100k per year, then it may be achievable. Otherwise you need to think about how realistic you can be, and how far you are prepared to go (eg change jobs, take on more hours etc).

have you found the Mortgage-Free Wannabe board at Money Savings expert?

I don't have any rich aunts at deaths door either.

how about rich Aunts not yet at Death's door?

Just seen the £20 pumpkin thread, I've grown one, anyone want it for £100,000 ono?

no thanks

plan for next year - turn back garden into gignourmnous pumpkin patch and raise at least 500, sell at £20 each, pay off mortgage and have pumpkin soup for rest of the winter with the leftovers :)

£20 for a pumpkin! Mine cost 3.50 euro in the supermarket last night.

You might not be able to pay off the full £100k but you could make a big dent in what you owe if you're prepared to pare your expenses down to the bone and do anything you can to increase revenue. The TV show took saving to extreme levels, deciding what is absolutely essential and simply ditching the rest. Most of us don't want to go the full sack cloth and ashes route but it's still not a bad exercise to cut costs wherever you can.

Actually my exP did this once. He lived like a medieval hermit for two years and paid his whole mortgage off. He was a bit on the joyless mean side sometimes, though.

to be fair though BM, medieval hermits tended to live in dark damp caves though, so low mortgage to start with...

Believe me, this wasn't.
But he did have a good salary coming in as well as a private income, and used practically all of it for two years to pay everything off.

I like the idea of this, but my personal philosophy is "carpe diem" or "you're a long time dead" as my nan nicely puts it.

I work really hard, don't spend enough time with dd and the idea of going all year with no treats at all or a family holiday would make me really depressed. Not that I splash out loads now either. And before anyone flames me, I know there are plenty of families who work til they drop and can just afford the roof over their head. I am not complaining.

I think there are good habits to be learnt from this though. I am trying to work out how to introduce more lentils and veg/less meat into my meal plan without dh divorcing me. Any good recipes? Groceries cost a fortune in Belgium now. I swear everything has gone up at least 30% since we moved here.

Mine is just under £100,000. It's doable if you have like 30 or something left, but not the amounts people have nowadays. I do plan to save all my income once I start work and try and clear it in about 3-4 years.

"more lentils and veg/less meat"

"Thick Pea and Ham Soup" (Serves lots)

-1 small, smoked gammon steak diced small
-10oz yellow split peas (dirt cheap)
-2 carrots,2 celery stalks, 1 onion all cut into a small dice
-1 clove garlic, crushed
-plenty of freshly ground black pepper
-about 1.5-2 pints of water

Method 1.. Soak the yellow split peas overnight. Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and simmer until the peas are tender and going mushy... about 40 mins.

Method 2... Place everything in a pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes.

If it is too thick, add a little more water at the end. Serve with crusty bread.

We paid a 25 yr mortgage off over 11 years but it was really hard. Altogether it came to over £700k including the interest, and basically although we still had holidays etc it would be a cottage in Devon rather than a villa in Tuscany for most years.

The feeling we got in August of this year, when it was all gone, was fab. It's a security thing, mainly, knowing that no matter what happens, no one can take the house away.

Added to the fact that we were paying £60k pa in mortgage payments which now is being saved instead.