Countdown to Freedom

A question about : Countdown to Freedom

A new diary as we enter the last two months of 2011. I have been lurking for almost a year and have found so many of you inspirational, particularly Billy, Michelle, Radish, and Museum Worker.

A bit of background I am married to a great man, two kids who are growing up too quickly, two cats and a dog! Never a dull moment in our household as you can imagine.

I had my LB moment 12 months ago and started to work on my husband to bring him round as I thought we both needed to be on board to tackle this project. I have just asked him when he had his LB moment and he said 'when you told me I had' however he swiftly followed this up with 'when I realised we would never reduce the mortgage whilst battling with 'the large Spanish bank'!

To set the stage for where we are and where we are aiming for:
Current mortgage Ј312000 and I wince as I type the number, with the outstanding mortgage due to finish in 10 years. Aim is to clear the mortgage in 6 years. We are fortunate that we are both employed on good salaries however in this day and age who knows how long that will last.
Onwards and upwards, my next post will be to build a picture of how I/we have put into practice all the things learnt from you great people.

Thanks for reading and I hope some day I can inspire others the way some of you have inspired me/us.

Best answers:

• Trying to figure out how to add to my new diary......... Apologies you'll have to bear with me as I am learning the ropes.
  During the last six months we have:
  Prepared between 3-4 weeks worth of menus at a time to enable us to use freezer contents and food stores up wisely
  Started doing surveys and using cash back sites
  Opened new bank account to get the introductory cash welcome
  Opened regular savings account
  Topped up one cash ISA
  Opened up a cash back credit card
  Huge fan of the grabbit thread and really benefited from this
  Reviewed our financials to make sure we know where our money goes
  Next thing to do: start a spending diary
• Good luck in your quest to repay the mortgage in 6 years. Look forward to reading how you get on .
• I was quite anxious about posting on here as the mortgage is so high, however what really matters is the disposable income. We all face the same problems of how to stretch the portion of our money which is available. I have experienced the same problems as some of you and when mentioning my dream of clearing the mortgage sooner to friends, pretty much without exception people thought it was unnecessary. Why bother and make life so difficult? This was one of the questions I was asked.
  Hence starting a diary among people who understand the desire to be rid of the mill stone.
  I have set up the following to enable me to really understand how much I can afford to throw at the mortgage:
  Saving accounts which get topped up after payday:
  Car maintenance
  Holidays
  Christmas
  Children's birthdays
  Annual bills, ie TV license, bldg/content insurance
  Subscriptions
  Food
  Credit card
  We do need to build up a savings buffer so that's going to be the next area of focus, along with the spending diary.
  Thanks for the inspiration
• Hi tilly , welcome
  Yours is a scarily high mortgage, but the principles are the same and the bigger the mortgage to start with the more interest saved when you overpay.
  There are so many helpful tips here which will help along the way, I find reading other's diaries gives me a boost sometimes when I'm not feeling i'm doing so well.
  You are right in saying its what you do with the money you have , i'm sure most of us know high earners who "are broke", its how careful you are with what you have thats important, whether its a little or a lot.
  Good luck on your mf diary and don't listen to anyone who says its not worth it, they won't be saying that when you are mf!
• Wow - this should be a good thread to watch, esp. if you're able to keep on hammering down your mortgage - I know you know these stats, but you will need to overpay 4.33k a month to get mortgage free in your time frame (assuming only interest paid off per month).
  Many people here are really encouraging of others in their pursuit to loosen the shackles of mortgages, and I myself have been helped and supported by many people here since becoming a more regular poster than when I first started.
  Looking forward to seeing you make positive progression.
• Thanks for posting. Yep i agree with your analysis, i came to the conclusion it would be around that number.
  However, on a practical front, we tend not to eat out as we love cooking, we don't smoke, nor pop to the pub so our entertainment tends to be saving for a holiday and doing things with the kids.
  I forgot to mention in my initial post that our current mortgage is 5.39% with the 'spanish' bank and the 5 year fix ends in March 2012. We have opened a FD account in readiness for an offset mortgage at that point. So I/we have 4 months of salary to save hard and then it's a different type of saving.
  My DH and I wonder why it has taken us from 2004 to now, to decide to follow this path but I didn't feel I could tackle this on my own and it's only over the last few months that we have both reached the same conclusion.
  So now it's time - feels a mountain to climb and I/we have given ourselves a tough challenge but there will come a day when we look back on this, breath deeply and say "we've done it" -
• Good decision on the offset mortgage ( is it a tracker?) and the more you can build up in the offset pot the better.
  Its always reassuring to have 3/6 months of income ( upto 16K ) in the offset to start then overpay as much as you can afford.
  There is a world of difference between having Ј16K of debts on credit cards/store cards/loans and Ј16k sat in the bank (just in case)
  I have had an offset mortgage for the last 7 years and I think its the best way to clear the mortgage early.
  Buying a car thats 6/12 months old is also a big saving compared to new
• Thanks for your post D. We currently have around Ј8k in savings but agree that Ј16k or even possibly up to Ј20k would be a real help. I am wondering if my mind is a bit flawed: In my head I am looking for two buckets, both of which could be off set against the mortgage but one would be 'available' money if push comes to shove, but the other bucket, the mortgage offset, needs to be untouchable. I know it would be available if in dire straits but mentally I want to forget it's available.
  Fortunately both me and my DH aren't really into cars, both cars are at least 6 years old with one having just pinged over the 100k mile point. This is likely to mean we have to find cash for that but the intent is to run them until they collapse.
  We both feel nervous and relieved that we have posted as this is going to help focus the brain but having had such negative comments from friends about over paying it's made us determined to keep quiet to the outside world as many people just don't understand
  On a practical front the Christmas shopping is now complete and I am going to do the wrapping next Saturday whilst the kids are out. I have built up a great hamper thanks to glitches, Јland and HB for Mom and am looking forward to packing that up for her, and most other gifts have been purchased on line and am now waiting expectantly for them to be confirmed on Quido and TCB.
  Having a think regarding how we track our spending as we are not consistent. I feel that NSDs may be a big help so I will have a look at that challenge and see how I can use that for added focus.
  On another positive point I don't buy magazines, I always pop to the library and pick them up from there, so I get to support the local library and find cooking inspiration at the same time.
  Off now to finish the dinner for tomorrow night - Monday's are completely insane here so I like to know I only have to heat up the dinner not cook it from scratch.
  Thanks to all for reading and hopefully it will get more interesting once I/we get the mortgage moved and in the meantime 'keep saving'!! In my head I could hear Brucie on a Saturday night, so I hope DH doesn't read this post otherwise I will never hear the last of it.
  Onwards and upwards......
• Just to chip is with support for the large mortgage. Three and a half years ago our mortgage was more than yours, about Ј333k (I think) and now it is about Ј200k less. We also have a fix of very slightly less than yours so have not really benefited from interest rate cuts. So it can be done but 6 years is pretty optimistic!
  Paying it down can start to feel a bit endless because progress seems like a drop in the ocean but every little does count. My advice is not to focus on monthly payments as you will start to feel like you are not going anywhere but to take stock after 6 months or a year and look at the progress. That way you can really appreciate the payments you have made.
• Hi Tilly
  That's a stonker of a mortgage! I look forward to seeing you make progress over the coming months, good luck and welcome to the MFW's.
• Just want to say you are not alone with the big mortgage.
  Ours was Ј379K in Feb 2011 (when we moved into the new house).
  Started making Ј500 overpayments / month immediately; upped it to Ј750 overpayments since August.
  My aim is to pay Ј80K off the mortgage in the next 3 years (repayments + overpayments) and then try and get rid of it completely in another 7 - 10 years.
  The absolute numbers do look scary but you've gotta keep chipping into it.
• Ales, Adwat and Mr Rush, thanks for feedback and the tip on checking mortgage balance 6 monthly or annually is a good one. I can see I would be tempted to check every month and then be disappointed. I will be checking every six months.
  My DH and I were thinking last night: where does our cash really go? We always end up with a big credit card bill each month and no real gain in terms of what we have purchased, so last night's decision was to fill in the spending spreadsheet each day (if we try and do it weekly it won't happen) and then transfer the cash to the credit card saving pot. This will help us to see how we spend our money, allow us to understand why, and ensure the cash is there to pay the bill. We can then focus our energy on reducing this ridiculous spending.
  Off to London tonight to O2 so will need to pay for rail/underground tickets but no drinks when there and I will pay for the transport from last weeks house keeping.
  Good luck to everyone this week on their journeys.
  Onwards and upwards.
• Removed this as it was a duplication of above! Having a few technical issues and fingers not working.....
• Congrats on taking the first step and joining the site.
  I'm a newbie too and am just deciding whether to take the step of starting a diary and working out all of the numbers etc.
  It sounds like you are already very focused with what you want to achieve.
  Good luck!!
• Hi Tilly,
  I thought at 6 years, we'd be looking at something in the region of Ј200k but that's a scary number right enough! I wish you both the very best of luck in removing it. That you're able to take relatively big chunks off at a time, can I wholeheartedly recommend looking at milestone markers on the road to mortgage freedom. there have been a few that I've enjoyed but I'd suggest tracking things like:
  Mortgage Daily Interest
  Total Interest Saved with payments made
  Total Time Saved with payments made
  There are plenty of other measurements there that will help you to keep motivated as there are certainly points (strangely enough more often the closer you get to clearing the dastardly thing) where you wonder if it's worth missing out on things for. That we were able to say we saved 18 and a half years of paying the mortgage and nearly Ј62,000 in interest was (and is) a particularly pleasing thought. That's my revenge against the bankers!
  I think an offset is absolutely the way to go. I really wish we had gone for one as not doing so has impacted our plans just a wee bit. That'll be what happens when you decide to not go with a professional and choose instead to opt for a mortgage found on Hot UK Deals. Between that and the grabbit board, I'm with you on being hooked. Moyra still goes on about me buying 5 toilet seats because they were on offer. My view is that it was a buy 1, get 4 free deal in effect so it can't be argued with.
  I don't understand the naysayers. There's an argument for living for today as you never know what's coming and there's an argument for throwing yourself at moneysaving 100% (although the embarassing moneysaving antics tend to go too far for my liking). I firmly believe, particularly that you have kids, that enjoying yourselves whilst keeping a good balance on the financials is the way ahead. Like you, we don't smoke and don't tend to eat out that much and we drink very little so let the naysayers have their expensive habits, hangovers and debt piles into their middle age whilst we all relax into early retirement with not much in the way of money worries. I'm ever more thankful that all we've had is support and wonderment from friends and family and that most of those, where possible, have made a big push to becoming mortgage free (2 have since achieved it).
  Now that you've got a date in mind (and here's to Scotland qualifying for 2018!!), I look forward to toasting your success (from my big house pub of course) as the Russki's kick off the first game of the tournament. I'm now a subscriber so please don't be a stranger to the diary...
  Cheers,
  Billy
• Welcome to the boards Tilly, although in my short n sweet tenure so far probably haven't got the right to welcome you as its not quite my "home" yet, but I intend to be more than a regular as time progresses. Welcome anyway and good luck in what you are trying to achieve!! With the many well-wishers on these boards you will not have much chance to drop the reigns, I wish you well!! We haven't started our journey yet but watch this space from next April-ish, we're just laying the foundations for it......
  I couldn't have put it better myself Billy, especially the negative comments from "friends"!! In terms of subjects to track whilst hammering away at the mortgage, I always think that FinancialBliss does a great job of this and has inspired me to create very similar spreadsheets in preparation for the big push. I'd suggest taking a look Tilly as he goes beyond analysis! Makes for great reading though, and keeps everybody interested to boot!!
  All the best.
  T
• Good luck, I'm sure you can do it!
• Thanks to all for your positive comments. Twiddy, thanks for the advice regarding FinancialBliss, I will head over there and check out the spreadsheets.
  As I am counting this as month 1 of our journey, I contacted the dreaded 'Spanish bank' today and our mortgage now stands at Ј309, 548, so after years of being over the Ј300k, we are almost within spitting distance of the Ј200ks! Still huge but an improvement.
  Daily interest currently is .........Ј45 ish PER DAY - how hideous, however, in March FY12 we will be switching and can't wait to see that drop significantly.
  Need to get back to work now, so hope you are all having a good day and saving those pennies!
• Hi Tilly,
  Completely forgot to mention (how silly of me) the main measurement - the one that will keep you coming back every day to chart your progress:
  Number of days to mortgage freedom!
  Cheers,
  Billy