Mortgage/Debt Free Wannabe!

[Mum2Fergus]

Sooo, starting this thread primarily to track my own progress, but please feel free to join me! Some background, after (too) many years of renting I have now been able to pull together a 10% deposit to buy our first home ... we move 23 Feb! Why have I been building a deposit while I had debt to pay off? Very long story which I won't bore your with! I'm very fortunate to have an excellent mortgage deal through my employers which will continue for as long as I remain there. Mortgage is over 20 year term however if I work hard at repaying current debt and then start making overpayments I should be ontrack to be mortgage free in approximately 10 years time. So that's my deadline, Mar 2023. Current balances (as at Jan 2013) are as follows:

- Storecard (25.99%) starting balance 119
- Overdraft (£31pm fee) starting balance 1k (I don't actually have this yet.  I'll have it applied to account to cover unbudgeted costs resulting from the move, and I have an overlap of 7 days when I will have moved to new house but still be responsible for the current rental property)
- Credit card (interest free until Sep 2013) starting balance 5.8k
- Personal Loan (7.4%) starting balance 11k
- Mortgage (0.5%) starting balance 99.3k

The above is also the order in which I currently intend to repay. The new house will require some work, mostly cosmetic, but intend not to do anything until the storecard and overdraft have been repaid. My 'reward' for that will be to redecorate my sons bedroom (on a strict budget!). My 'to do' list over the next 2 months is to:

• swap utility providers - I can get out of current contracts courtesy of the house move. So far I intend to drop BT and move to SKY for telephone/broadband as well as TV. TV will remain on basic package from household budget, if DP wants Sports back he can fund himself
• cancel £250 monthly transfer to savings ac - this was set up initially to build mortgage deposit so can now go towards debt repayment
• redo monthly household and personal expenditure following house move to see exactly how much residual income I have - I'm currently £550pm in rent but mortgage repayment will be £414, we also drop a Council Tax band. In addition however, there will be a slight increase in my travel costs, I've taken out Life Insurance to pay of mortgage when the worst happens, and gone from Contents Insurance to full Buildings and Contents Insurance.
• pay residual towards debt every month

My commitment to the thread is monthly update on new balances and my 'to do/have done' actions around the 20th (payday) monthly - wish me luck!

Good luck. Sounds like some really concrete financial planning. Bet it feels good!!!

Its sooo good to finally feel in control Cog! Something I think you can appreciate more than most!

I hear you sister... I hear you... :) Always good to have a plan even if you end up tweaking it.

You sound like you've got a solid plan! I'll join you for the ride if you don't mind. We're in our first house and overpaying our mortgage as much as possible, though at the moment we're limited to 20% of each monthly repayment. We're trying to save as much as humanly possibly until our fixed rate is up too, as when we bought we totally wiped out our savings. So far since September we've filled one ISA and are now working on the other one! The plan is to save 6 months outgoings by May 2014, which is about £12,000. Gulp.

Oh, and as of August this year I'll be a SAHM, so we'll lose my salary!

Hi Antoinette, and thank you for joining me! Like you, our house (we're FTBs) will wipe out our savings. Fortunately though we have a reasonable disposable income once everything is paid, I just need to be more efficient as to where it goes! We're on 0.5% and are fixed to base rate for as long as I am with my current employer so plan is to get rid of debt while mortgage is low and then start overpaying. So your target is £12k by May 2014 - how is that coming along so far? What plans have you made from August when you become SAHM?

So, here is my first official update for the year ... a reminder of my overall goal is to be debt/mortgage free by March 2023. Current balances (as at Jan 2013) are as follows:

• Storecard (25.99%) starting balance 119, now 104, min payment until house move complete
• Overdraft (£31pm fee) starting balance 1k (I don't actually have this yet. I'll have it applied to account to cover unbudgeted costs resulting from the move, and I have an overlap of 7 days when I will have moved to new house but still be responsible for the current rental property)
• Credit card (interest free until Sep 2013) starting balance 5.8k, now 5.7k, again, min payment til house move completes
• Personal Loan (7.4%) starting balance 11k, now 11.8k
• Mortgage (0.5%) starting balance 99.3k remains same as first repayment not due til 01 March

My updated 'to do' list:

• swap utility providers - I'm dumping BT and moving phone/t'internet to SKY once we move at end of Feb. Their Home Move package gives me free router, new dish, install, calls for 6 months, broadband for 6 month. I'm staying with existing gas/elec supplier as on a really good deal with them til 2014 and they will let me carry it forward to new house. Upgrading Contents Ins to Buildings & Contents for only an additional 8 which I thought was good
• cancel £250 monthly transfer to savings ac - this was set up initially to build mortgage deposit so can now go towards debt repayment, will do this after 01 Feb debit comes out
• redo monthly household and personal expenditure following house move to see exactly how much residual income I have - I'm currently £550pm in rent but mortgage repayment will be £414, we also drop a Council Tax band. In addition however, there will be a slight increase in my travel costs, I've taken out Life Insurance to pay of mortgage when the worst happens, and gone from Contents Insurance to full Buildings and Contents Insurance.
• pay residual towards debt every month

Don't feel as though much has moved but I did expect this until once we get over to new house - which is all on track! Very exciting ... well, it is for me lol ...

If you go bough quidco or topcashback you can get quite a bit of cashback for sky. They have different deals so I always check both.

I think from this April we can all pay our council tax over 12 months not 10. It won't save you money but I'd rather have 12 low payments than 10 higher ones and two months were we just fritter that money away. Of course this wont appeal to everyone.

Aviva are very reasonable on insurance and also do high cashbacks.

A bit late with my update - been kinda busy moving house (expected) and becoming a single Mum (unexpected!) - my overall goal was to be debt/mortage free by March 2013. Current balances (as at 14 March 2013) are as follows:

• Storecard (25.99%) starting balance 119, now 149 - needed some new bits for work! Also have 2 returns still to be credited to account. That aside, will repay in full from March salary.
• Overdraft (£31pm fee) starting balance 1.5k - applied to account just before move. Currently using approx £600 of it but should be able to repay in full from March salary (as it will include part of my annual bonus)
• Credit card (interest free until Sep 2013) starting balance 5.8k, now 5.7k, again, min payment till storecard and overdraft are repaid then will look to pay as much as I can every month until repaid in full. I doubt now I'll repay in full before interest free period is up so may tart balance during August
• Personal Loan (7.4%) starting balance 12.5k, now 10.6k
• Mortgage (0.5%) starting balance 99.3k remains same as first repayment not due til 20 March

My updated 'to do' list:

• swap utility providers - moved to SKY from BT for TV/phone/internet. Gas/electric fixed deal has been carried over.
• redo monthly household and personal expenditure following house move to see exactly how much residual income I have - carried this forward as I now need to account for loss of x's income.
• pay residual towards debt every month - will make a fair dent in things March and June 2013 as I've had it confirmed work bonus will be paid, and I've a 2% salary increase with effect from 01 April

well done - keep going!!