Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

A question about : Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

I have been reading other peoples posts for a while,trying to get myself in the right frame of mind to start overpaying on the mortage.DH and I have a house worth about Ј220,000 with a mortgage of Ј159,000 although we only paid Ј120,000 for it (Ј93,000 mortgage) to start. So as you can see we have been not so great in the past! Last year we also owed about Ј20,000 on credit cards which is now down to Ј10,000. I really want to get rid of the mortgage before our youngest turn 18, the twins are nearly 10 now. So any words of encouragement would be great, I need keeping on the straight and narrow.

Xmas paid for by saving Ј1 a day minimum in a sealed tin, plus homemade/sale stuff.
Birthdays now in monthly budget, plus extra vouchers earned

I am taking part in the earn Ј2012 in 2012 challenge on the up your income board, so whatever earned from that will be split between op's and holidays fingers crossed.

Budget from may 2012 onwards:

income.................2092.00
child benefit..........188.60
child tax cr..............0 no longer!
total....................Ј2280.60

mobiles x 2...........32.00
tv licence..............12.37
elec/gas................140.00
water....................60.00
council tax............125.83
home insurance.......11.83
pension..................21.90
life ins....................15.17
sky ........................21.00
car tax....................15.83
car ins.....................22.00
car maintenance.........8.33
petrol.......................60.00

school dinners............48.00 (1 dinner/1 bacon sarnie each pw)
pocket money.............20.00
clothes.......................30.00
birthdays....................50.00

grocery.......................250.00
(food/pets/cleaning)
DH's money.................100.00
0%cc ................................32.35
mortgage interest.........425.00
mortage overpayment....778.39

money in: Ј2280.60
money out:Ј2280.60

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Best answers:

• My advice is always this - know the difference between what you WANT and what you NEED.
  Think carefully about why you want something, and only buy what you need; you will spend less.
  Good luck on your MFW mission.
• Get rid of the expensive CC debt before you move on to the mortgage.
• agree--clear credit card--PRIORITY
• I forgot to mention, my credit card is on 0% until August, which is also when the expensive fixed rate ends on the mortgage. Am thinking of getting a one account as DH gets a lump sum once a year, approx Ј8000 from work.
• Good luck on being MF. Have a look at all the challenges on here (see my sig!)
  Also try and look at your outgoings and see what you can save by changing suppliers and insurance (going through cashback sites etc)
  Do you work full time? I work part time and in the evenings I do surveys and reviews etc to gain some extra cash.
  Definitely watch what you are spending and ONLY buy things if you really need to and have the money for already (not on CC)
  Join Freecycle if you need anything just ask, someone may have it for you (I got a breadmaker the other day and have had a childs bike)
  Set yourself a target to OP each year (mine is Ј3k)
  Maybe see about decluttering and doing a carboot now they have started again?
  Once you start OPing it will become an obsession!
  Good Luck x
• Hi newgirly,
  Welcome to the mortgage free wannabe forums. May be worth listing your mortgage balance and rate, your credit card balances, rates and when any 0% deals expire, so that we can advise what should be paid off first.
  Biggest debts first, as others have mentioned. Chances are that that will be the credit cards.
  Financial Bliss.
• I can't wait to start overpaying on the mortgage in August, I have already started doing online surveys and have earnt about Ј60 using topcashback in the last 2 months. I have cut my shopping budget from about Ј120 per WEEK! to Ј60 which is a start, but I know i can get it down further whith help from some of the other boards. Must try to get kids to eat what we eat a bit more and not be so fussy! I do a bit of cleaning for some extra money sometimes, but am a SAHM, at the moment it is easier as OH has just taken over running the company he was working for, which was a bit unexpected, and he is working from 4.30am until at least 7pm sometimes much later, and often weekends, so he is not around much. I am hoping that if we can pay the mortgage off earlier than the 30 year term we currently have, he can leave if the stress gets too much in the future. Anyway I am off to make some homemade bread for lunch, one of the only things EVERYONE in the house likes! Have a great day.
• Good luck newgirly!! We did this a few years ago (for my 40th). It's a nice feeling not having to pay any rent/mortgage etc - makes you feel 200% more secure in this uncertain world. I did it by evaluating all outgoings, checking i was getting the best deals, cashing in all bad/poor investments. I changed to a current account mortgage so I overpaid automatically (anything left pays the mortgage) - we did it in a few years. You've had some good advice on here, especially the poster who said evaluate what you NEED rather than what you WANT - remember it's not what you earn, it's what you spend that decides if you'll be successful...
  Just to add be sensible about it - don't let it rule your life!
• I was wondering how many of you MFWs are overpaying on the mortgage so you can buy an even bigger/better house when you have finished. It seems that there are two different ways of looking at becoming mortgage free, those that want the security of no debt and being financially better off, and those that are doing this as a means to an end,so they can one day own their dream house, which may be otherwise out of reach. I am asking as I can't decide which of these I am. It does not stop me wanting to work hard to become MF, but knowing the end goal may help a little.
• I think at the moment I am striving to not have that debt and be financially better off to be able to save for other things like a car or holiday BUT it does not stop me looking at houses and wondering if one day I could possibly afford the better detached house with the garage!!
  On the whole though to be mortgage free and in a house that isnt that bad really, I have to look at the bigger picture and think, in 10/15 years time the kids will hardly be here and the house I am in will be plenty enough for just me.
  But who knows I may meet the man of my dreams one day and then I would be on a completely different path
• I'd definately like to move, although my initial thought is to rent out the current house if / when we move and use that rent money towards paying a new mortgage so if we start a family in the future we could live on a smaller income
• I have been overpaying the past 4yrs and managed to overpay Ј13K which meant that we had more equity in our 2 bed semi to hopefully in the next few days conclude a missive on a 3 bed detached. I know that the interest rates are low and we have got a good deal on the top up part of the mortgage and hopefully I can overpay a small amount (reduction from nursery fees) and it will help in the future and then we can try to reduce the mortgage term at a later date.
• I have contacted my building society chelsea today to find out how much I will owe when the fixed rate ends 1st August and the figure was a little higher that I thought at Ј160,230, the credit card will be a little lower than expected at Ј9500 so will be looking to borrow just under Ј170,000 The thing that really shocked me though was that out of the Ј961 per month payments only Ј169 has been coming off the balance eeek! So I am feeling extra motivated, and have decided to ban myself from looking on rightmove for a bigger (more expensive) house. I have had a fairly cheap day except for the TEN pounds I have just paid for my boys to go to their junior disco at school, but other than that have been very good, and dinner is homemade curry from the freezer and a nice bottle of red that mum left last week.
• interesting that i am also keen to be mf but keep dreaming of my big house in the country!!
• i keep thinking where could I be living in 10 years time, being MF, will I want to move and start again but have a great deposit to have. I have to keep telling myself to not be silly, my house will be ample for me when the kids are older!!!
• Hi Newgirly
  just stopped by to wish you luck!
  SD