Hello all, firstly thank you for the inspirational threads and diaries.

I have been aspiring to be mortgage free for a while and we have been regularly overpaying. We bought our house 3 ½ years ago and with things like DIY and a recent wedding any serious thoughts of clearing it kept being put on hold. However through chipping away and upping the payments we have reduced the term or the mortgage from 30 years to 17. I’m pretty happy with that now, but that certain things are out of the way (wedding) its time to up the anti a little.

My aim is to clear as much of the mortgage as possible before we move house again (around 3 years from now).

I will do this through saving cash and earning a little extra where I can. I am a procrastinator when it comes to a lot of areas in which I can save (switching, cashback etc) and where I can earn (matched betting mainly).

I only have a feel for how much I’ll overpay as my outgoings have tended to fluctuate quite a bit, This month I have returned from honeymoon and have been seriously tight on the ol' spending to clear the CC back to £0. My rough estimates of my monthly expenditure are as follows:

Mortage £640

Car:
Car Insurance £20
Car Maintenance £50
Car Tax £16
AA £9

House Bills:
(This is my 1/2 as the Wife and I split the bills)
Council Tax £65
House Insurance £10
TV License £6
Gas £21
Water £15
Electricity £33

Other:
Holidays £150
Gifts £55
Supermarket £250
Petrol £150
Internet/Phone £17
Train £20
Taxis £10
Fun Spending £30
Going Out £80
DIY £100
Gym £41

Total £1,788

I expect I actually spend much more than this so its time to record what I do spend.

As of this morning the mortgage stood at £173,205

I felt the need to get it below £173k so overpaid £204. The OH kindly matched the overpayment so it now stands at £172,759

We have an offset mortgage with no restrictions on overpaying so I will try and pay something each week. I’m going to try and use this diary to stop me procrastinating…

Cheers

Ok here is the deal.

Time to up the anti!

"The name of the game is raising money fast and getting it into your mortgage account without delay. Don't let your money hang around: if you're really manic, you could deposit it every day, but once a week should satisfy most players. Remember that the "mortgage massacre" is guerrilla war – you need to raise what you need, get it in your mortgage account and then get out!"

This morning the mortgage stood at: £173,205

Right now it stands at: £172,759

Thanks to an overpayment of £204 which was nicely matched by the OH with £204
Very cool

(Next target £169,999)