The maths

Here’s some calculations displaying how much real money I saved by reducing my mortgage by £15,000.

The figures are all approximates, and don’t take into consideration interest rate changes that may occur in the future, so I probably ended up saving myself more money (assuming that interest rates increase later on). However, by sticking to my current rate, I saved myself a minimum of 30k over a 25yr duration by reducing my mortgage by 15k. Not bad, aye?

You can also find out how much you could save by reducing your mortgage with the use of my Mortgage Calculator. If you are also thinking about reducing your mortgage earlier than planned, make sure you find out if there are penalities or extra charges for doing so. Some mortgage policies have extra charges for early lump sum payments (fortunately, mine didn’t).

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the outcome of this project. You can get a breakdown on how I raised the money here: I Raised £15,000 To Help Reduce My Mortgage

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What a monumental day it is, indeed! I’ve finally reached my target of raising £15,000.

I officially set off on the quest of raising £15k in order to reduce my mortgage debt on the 16th April, 2007, and it officially ends today, 10th September 2007. That’s 137 days (4 months and 15 days). I actually gave myself 5-6 months so I’m genuinely really pleased with my progress.

Quick recap of my project

The Mission: To raise £15k so I can reduce my mortgage by enough to switch it to a repayment policy, with the monthly rent covering the monthly payments. You can read more about when, where, why and how from the very first entry of this project, I’m Going To Reduce My Mortgage By £15k.

28th April 2007 – I Raided My Piggybank To Help Pay My Mortgage

19th April 2007 – I’m Selling Unwanted Crap On Ebay To Help Pay My Mortgage

4th May 2007 – I’m Using Online Affiliate Marketing To Help Pay My Mortgage

8th May 2007 – Results From Selling Random Junk On Ebay

1st June 2007 – I Just Sold The Love Of My Life To Help Pay My Mortgage

10th June 2007 – I Got A Part-Time Job To Help Pay My Mortgage

17th June 2007 – I’m Using My Savings To Pay My Mortgage

5th September 2007 – I Freelanced My Skills To Help Pay My Mortgage

The Financial Breakdown

Here’s the final breakdown of how I managed to raise the £15,000.

Ok, some of you maybe noticing the donation entry of £71.77. Ok, I confess, I cheated a little. I was a little shy of the £15k I wanted to raise, so I made a charitable contribution to myself. However, I always said I wanted to raise approximately £15,000- being £71.77 shy is no biggie, right? Right.

Using the the money to reduce my mortgage by £15,000

Ok, so now I’ve raised the money I wanted, I’m going to use the entire amount to lower my mortgage. I’m going to contact my lender, Northern Rock, next week and make the payment. While making the payment, I’ll instruct them to change the mortgage from a interest-only policy, to a repayment policy.

Mission accomplished :)

Thanks to those that showed their support

I would just quickly like to say a big thank you to everyone that followed me through this journey and showed their support. It was more than encouraging.

I hope somewhere along the line some of you learned something, or perhaps even got inspired to start your own project. If so, good luck, and I’d love to hear about it…

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After investing my savings into reducing my mortgage, the total shot up to £12,978.23. That leaves me just over two thousand bones to save.

I was actually struggling to think of ways to generate that extra money. I was thinking about what I could do or possibly sell. I was tempted to sell junk on ebay again, but then realised I couldn’t be bothered. The whole process of selling on ebay bores me to death just thinking about it.

Then I realised, I was overcomplicating the question. Instead of trying to think of quirky ways to generate money, I realised I should be focusing on the skills I already have to offer which people maybe willing to pay for.

Freelancing my skills

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m extremely limited at the skills I have to offer. I’m not one of those naturally talented people that can do several things well (I hate those people!). That’s just not me. However, I’m actually quite handy at web development (whether you can or can’t tell by this website is irrelevant) thanks to my degree in Computer Science (you just learnt something new about me). I know how to build pretty stable and efficient HTML/PHP websites, which I’m sure small to medium sized businesses could benefit from. It also helps that Web Development is an extremely lucrative industry.

How I advertised my skills

I thought about advertising for a week or so in my local paper; nothing fancy, just a basic advert to promote my web designing service. Fortunately, I didn’t have to go that far, apparently updating my Facebook status was enough to reel in some suckers. This is what I set my status to:

Temporarily offering a Web Design service at mates-rates. Anyone interested?

I have about 600 friends on Facebook, in which 5 of them enquired. 2 out of the 5 people converted into legitimate sales. That’s a 0.33 conversation rate from an untargeted/random market. I don’t actually know if that’s good or not. Either way, I got the business I was after.

Starting from mid July to early September I designed and built two websites for those two friends of mine. Coincidently, both them were in the process of starting up businesses which required some form of web presence. I charged £800 per website, which gave me a total of £1,600.

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I didn’t actually plan on using my savings during this project because the initial plan was to think of creative ideas to generate money. However, I did a little mental arithmetic and research, and it turns out that using my savings to reduce debt is the way forward. So obviously, I couldn’t avoid from doing exactly that.

Debts usually cost more than savings earn

I’m not going to embarrass myself by trying to explain the logistics behind my decision, so instead I’m going to show you an example from Martin Lewis (the Money Saving expert) of why using savings to clear debt can be a good financial move…

Put most simply, when you save money you’re actually lending your cash to the bank for it to lend on to other people. The difference between the rate at which it borrows money from you (the savings rate) and the rate it charges others (the borrowing rate) is its profit. Therefore, on the whole, it’ll always cost more to borrow than you can earn by saving.

This is why i find it deeply frustrating that many people have both borrowings and savings at the same time, often with the same bank. Effectively it is lending you back the money you lent it, except charging you much more. Ridiculous!

That said, my mortgage interest rate is higher than the rate i’m getting from my savings after tax deductions, so i’d be better off using my savings to clear my mortgage debt.

My savings

I don’t have much savings I can throw towards this project, but I do have an amount that will make a huge difference to the cause. The magic number is going to be £5,000k.

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A few weeks ago at work, I had my head slapped down on my desk, shuffling between procrastination, drooling, and contemplation. I was contemplating on ways I could raise more cash to hit my target of 15k to reduce my mortgage.

When I managed to unglue my head from my desk, I approached my work colleague for ideas; she suggested for me to get a part-time job. She already had one because she was saving to buy a house with her partner. It made sense. The extra income may make a huge difference to my cause.

My part-time job as a youth

I’ve only ever had one part-time job in my life. Most people I know had about 10 different ones. That was the problem with kids, they knew nothing about commitment. They’d change jobs as frequently as their weekly crushes, innit?

All through 6th form and University I worked part-time in a local hotel to help fund my baked bean and cheap bottles of wine lifestyle. I initially started working there when I was 15, as a waiter in the silver-service restaurant; serving pretentious portions of À la carte dishes to pretentious people. I Absolutely hated working there for 2 reasons:

• The head chef was a complete wanker. He would constantly shout at every little thing. And when I say, “shout”, I mean scream his fucking arse off like he had just shit his pants. I’m surprised he didn’t die of a heart attack. I, still to this day, have no idea why chefs can’t treat people like human beings during work; shouting is so unnecessary.
• It was extremely tiring work. The restaurant was always busy, and I would be constantly running up and down transporting food from the kitchen to the restaurant in extremely hot conditions. Granted, I only worked in 4 hour shifts, but it was a hard fucking 4 hours, especially straight after school, trust me.

But I stuck with it for three years because the money was good, I needed to work somewhere, and minus the chefs, everyone else I worked with was pretty cool. However, as soon as I turned 18, that was it, I immediately asked to be transferred into a different department which didn’t involve catering food or interacting with the kitchen staff. Yes, I became the friendly barman that everyone loved!

I loved working the bar; the people I worked with were young, fun, and had no problems with getting tanked up during working hours- my kind of people. The hotel got a lot of banqueting bookings, usually weddings and sorority Lodges. I worked behind the bar from 18, all the way through University, until I graduated when I was 21. After graduation I got a full-time job, consequently hung up my cork screw.

Reliving my youth

A few weeks ago I contacted my old boss from the hotel and enquired whether I could get a few weekend shifts for extra cash. I had a pretty healthy relationship with everyone at the hotel, so they happily took me back. For the past few weeks I’ve been working behind the bar during the weekends, apart from the Lord’s day, Sunday. And you know what? Nothing has changed, and I love it.

A lot of the old people that used to work there still remain, along with the same chilled out vibe I remember. Granted, I have to deal with some absolute idiots that usually complain about the price of the bevy’s, like I priced them myself. However, listening to them rant always provides good humour, because no matter how much they complain, the prices ain’t gonna change.

Extra earnings from my part-time job

I make approximately £85 (before tax) + tips per week from the hotel, so that’s £320 per month (without tips).

All the money I make from my part-time job will go directly into my property project account. I’ll tally it all at the end of the project.

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I’m feeling quite unsettled right now; I just had to part with my baby (Peugeot 206 1.4 GLX). Apparently it’s not uncommon for people to get attached to their first car; the sentimental relationship is sometimes unavoidable, unless it’s a complete piece of shit. I never thought I would be one of those people that get attached to a car. I’m not a petrolhead, nor am I a very sentimental person. But something about selling my car hit a nerve. I never saw it coming. I’m feeling the pain of departure!

As the new owner sat in her and pulled away from my driveway with a gigantic grin on his face, I watched her get further and further away from me until she was completely out of sight. The smug look on the proud new owner’s face made me want to call the deal off, and reclaim what was rightfully mine. I had mental images of running down the road like a psycho, chasing, and screaming “GET THE FUCK OUT AND GIVE ME BACK MY CAR”

She wasn’t the fastest girl on the road, nor did she “rawr” when she pulled away, but to me she sounded like an angel. She made me happy; she was reliable; neat; sleek and just perfect.

Why did I sell my love?

I recently got given a company car so I had 2 cars parked on the driveway, and it seemed pointless. I’m not a huge car enthusiast (even though I loved her), and I really had no good reason to keep hold of two vehicles. I didn’t have to sell it, but it was the sensible thing to do.

I remember ordering the car from my local Peugeot franchise dealership like it was yesterday. There was a 3 month waiting period, which I felt like a lifetime. I ordered extra features that were poncy and unnecessary, like suede/leather seats and climate control, which only made me love her more. I remember the day of delivery, I had butterflies, like the first time I saw a pair of naked tits. What a glorious day.

Letting my baby go was definitely a business related decision, and nothing else. It was a hard thing to do, but I know it’s a step I had to take in order to move onto bigger and better things.

Who did I sell my love to?

The most annoying part is that I actually sold it to a dear friend of mine. That’s annoying because now I will have to witness his grubby little mitts smothering my ex all the damn time. I also had to give him a “mate rate”, as if taking my damn heart wasn’t enough. The “mate rate” consisted of a £900 discount from retail value. I know, I know, I’m super fucking generous, right? Well, I believe in Karma, so hopefully it will all end up in my favour eventually.

I sold it to him for £5,400.

As for the company car, I got given a Ford Focus Zetec. It’s very ok (Yes, very ok). It’s a lot quicker than my 206, definitely more spacious and its current retail value is significantly more. But you know what? It just didn’t cut the mustard compared to my 206. The Focus is a bit of a family saloon, in my opinion. Every time I drive the thing, I feel odd for not having a wife and snotty faced kids populating the empty seats.

I’m going to kill this blog post now because it’s starting to get a bit too emotional and I imagine it’s difficult to type with mascara dripping into my eyes.

Pushing aside all the emotion, I can look on the bright side and realise that the money raised from this transaction was required to reach my goal.

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I predicted I would raise close to a few hundred pounds from my auctions. Although, I did confess that I thought I was being optimistic. I genuinely am trying to sell junk.

Anyways, without any further ado, here are the results from my auctions.

ebay Auction Results

Men’s Armani Lucky Charms necklace: £164.99

Men’s Burberry Wallet: £5.50

Nokia 6101 Mobile Phone: £24.12

Vintage Hugo Boss Shirt: £2.20

TOTAL: £196.81

I was pleasantly surprised. I genuinely didn’t have faith in the crap I was selling. It just goes to show, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I should have more faith in random junk and in humans as creatures to buy a pile of shit. Lesson learned.

That’s another £200 added to the kitty. I may sell a few more items on ebay later on this week. In the mean time, I’m working on other ideas to help generate some cash.

Does anyone else have any money generating ideas? I’m open to “crazy”

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This is Wikipedia’s definition of “Affiliate Marketing”:

Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s marketing efforts

Basically, I advertise a few landlord related products on my website like Landlord Insurance on behalf of other companies. Every time I generate them a lead or direct sale, I make a small commission. That’s essentially what affiliate marketing is.

I know a lot of successful, and even not-so successful, affiliate marketers make thousands and thousands of pounds each month. It’s a great area of business to enter if you have the skills and time. Unfortunately, I have neither.

I don’t do much affiliate marketing these days (not that I did much before, but I do even less now), and the little I do, I make extremely little from.

Last month I made £106.42. from affiliate marketing. Like I said, it’s not much, but hey, it’s better than a kick in the face. Plus, I never actually did anything too taxing to earn the money, I just put up a few banners here and there.

£106.42 isn’t a life changing amount; it’s a drop in the ocean of the £15k I’m trying to raise for my Reduce My Mortgage By £15k project. However, I will happily put it towards my 15k property project.

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I’m a great fan of ebay. In fact, I’m a huge fan. I love the concept; and I love a good bargain. I don’t sell much on ebay simply because I’m too lazy, but I’m a rabid buyer of random junk. I usually buy DVD’s and jewellery to assist my piercings (I have my ears, nose, and lip pierced).

I don’t expect too make much from ebay because I don’t have much to sell, but as they say, every penny counts. Actually, that’s a lie, I do have loads of junk lying around the house that I could sell, but preparing the items is beyond boring. For example, if I want to sell a shirt, I need to iron it, hang it somewhere with good lighting, take a few “clear” pictures (which isn’t easy), and then transfer the files onto my computer. BORING!!! However, Ebay seems like an easy and obvious way of generating some cash, so I may as well sell a few items.

I’m only going to put up a few items to start with; if I get a positive result, I may force myself into putting more shit up for auction.

From the few random items I conjured up, I hope to make a few hundred pounds. I’m being optimistic, because I genuinely am selling junk, But then again, ebay tends to attract a lot of strange people that love being strange items. That’s what I’m counting on anyways.

The Items I’m Selling on Ebay

Item 1 – Men’s Armani Lucky Charms necklace.

This actually retails at £250. My ex g/f bought me this; I didn’t wear it once. It really isn’t my thing; although I think it’s pretty cool. I know selling presents (especially from ex’s) is frowned upon by society- but I don’t care- THIS IS BUSINESS!

Item 2 – Men’s Burberry Wallet.

I bought this a few years ago, before the brand became the national symbol for chav’s. It’s amazing how a group of badly dressed, foul-mouthed, idiots ruined a once prestigious label with such ease. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be seen dead with it now. I’d rather carry my money/cards/ID in an envelope. But what’s more funny is that Burberry wallets are actually selling quite well on ebay, for reasonable prices. Is it possible that chavs play online?

Item 3 – Nokia 6101.

I’m pretty sure almost 9/10 people have at least 1 spare mobile phone. I have 4, but I can only be bothered to put this one up for auction (for now). I can’t even remember how I came to owning this mobile. I sure as hell never used it; I think someone left it around my house years ago. Anyways, the history of the phone means nothing to me; the sooner it’s out of my life, the better.

Item 4 – Vintage Hugo Boss shirt.

This has been hanging in my closest gathering dust for years, along with many other items. I hate throwing away clothes, especially since most of mine are designer (I’m a fashion whore); consequently half of my closet consists of items I never wear. I actually like the shirt, but it just doesn’t suit me anymore; I swear it used to. Either way, it’s HISTORY!

After prepping those items, I got bored and decided to see the outcome before I continue auctioning more junk. But as mentioned, if things go well, I may make an effort to shift more shit!

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Like most people, I do have a pot of change that has been the disposal vessel for all the loose coins that has accumulated in my trouser pockets after drunken nights out. It’s always easier (and cooler) to hand over notes when paying for a beer (or in my case, a dry martini and lemonade- ice and slice, ofcourse), as opposed to digging deep into my pockets and scrounging together all my loose change. After a night out, I usually return home double in weight (that’s exuding the alcohol consumption and traditional donar kebab) from the copious amounts of loose change swinging around in my pockets, which gets disposed into my “money pot”, which besides on my bedside table.

So, what better place is there to get my first instalment for my 15k project than my money pot? I think I’ve been emptying loose change into my bowl for about 5 months, and I’m confident it will make a significant contribution to the pot. It’s not really money that I consider as “savings” (I don’t have any savings at the moment), it’s more of, well, as mentioned, a tool that helps me lighten the weight and quieten the rattle. I pinch a few pounds from the bowl here and there, but besides from that, it tends to keep growing.

Aside from the money pot, I also have a plastic wallet type-thing, which I occasionally throw a few notes into. I’ve been contributing to that pile for approximately 6 months. I have some odd habits. Let me explain…

I usually withdrawal cash on a night out and when I go shopping. I don’t usually spend all the cash, so the notes ends up in the plastic wallet which resides in a secret location in my bedroom. I don’t leave it in my regular leather wallet because I don’t like carrying around cash in general. Instead of with-drawling money from that plastic wallet before I go out, I end up going to an ATM again. So it’s easy to imagine how the money in the plastic wallet can accumulate.

Funds gathered from the “money pot” and plastic wallet

Here’s a picture of the bowl after bagging all the loose change, and counting the contents of my plastic wallet. Notice, there’s still change left in the pot. Those are all the 1p, 2p, 5p and 10p that I couldn’t be bothered to count. And the few £1, 50p, and 20p that you can see- I didn’t have enough of those to fill up a bag:

£20 – £320
£10 – £260
£5 – £85
£1 – £580
20p – £20
50p – £10
Total: £1275

Not bad at all, if I must say myself. That’s a pretty decent jump-start. Now all I need is £13,725. Err..yeah.

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