A homeowner is on a mission to be mortgage-free by the time she turns 40 – and is using a shopping app to help her achieve her goal
A couple have been using a shopping app to shave a decade off their mortgage. Ellie Boyle is on a mission to be free from her mortgage by the time she hits 40, and has turned to the Sprive app to convert cash rewards from her shopping into overpayments on her mortgage.
The 36-year-old and her husband Colin, from Solihull, say they are dedicated to making regular additional payments towards their mortgage. They earn around 50p back from each transaction, which adds up to an extra £40 to £50 a month towards clearing their debt.
The Sprive app’s bosses say it entices users with cashback incentives when they shop at various retailers, allowing them to funnel these savings straight into mortgage repayments. The couple are determined to slash their mortgage term significantly, contributing roughly £2,000 in overpayments every month.
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For her grocery runs to Tesco and Morrisons, Ellie makes use of the perks of the app. Colin accrues rewards through his Uber trips to work and back twice daily.
Having reaped the benefits of Sprive for about 18 months, Ellie said: “It is nice and easy. All the accounts are all connected, even when buying any of the giftcards through Sprive, all the bank accounts are connected so it’s a fairly straightforward process once it’s set up.”
Their drive to eradicate their mortgage stems from a personal cause – Colin suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease. That makes financial stability an essential aspect of their future planning, reports the Manchester Evening News.
He works as a maths teacher but, being registered blind, foresees having to give up his role in the foreseeable future. Ellie explained: “That’s the main driver for wanting to pay off the mortgage.
“It’s so we don’t have an additional bill round our heads when that time does come. Then we’ve got a little bit more freedom and flexibility, the only thing we need to support are the bills then and any other outgoings.”
Ellie and Colin took their first dive into the property market in 2013 with a £145,000 mortgage, later moving homes in 2018 – which saw their mortgage swell to £202,000. They also secured a £35,000 loan to finance a loft conversion.
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Sprive customers earn cash rewards from brands like Greggs, Amazon, M&S, Caffe Nero,and Airbnb. One Sprive user said by using the app that they managed to reduce their mortgage payments by approximately £2,500 each month, also trimming three years off their mortgage term.
The app doesn’t stop at helping with savings, the firm says. Sprive users can also get professional advice on remortgaging to secure the best available deals. The app’s reach extends to well-known companies such as Deliveroo, Halfords, IKEA and Asda for cash rewards.