Mortgage free vs lifestyle for kids???

dips_3

Hi

This is my first post but this subject touched me.

Have you ever thought of camping? It isn't all soggy fields and wet tents. You can get some very good tents and camping equipment these days that make camping very easy.

We take our son all over the place for a fraction of what a holdiay would cost and you can get to places you wouldn't normally visit.

Last year we all went to Holland for two weeks for less than £500 including the ferry crossing. A friend is taking her 2 kids to Paris for a week this year in august for less than £350! She could never have afforded to take them unless she was camping.

We also go away for weekends - just watch the weather and when the sun comes out pack and go. Our son has swam in whelsh mountain streams, watched the sun set over the highlands, taken a canal boat ride in Amsterdam and lots more.

We took a TV with us this year and watched one of the early world cup games in a field in the Lake District sat out in the open in glorious sunshine :beer:

Off to Holland again in august to a campsite with lakes, swimming pools, wall climbing, sailing, archery, cycle tracks etc - cost approx £500.

We still can't decide about next year - it's either the German Black Forest or France but I am still holding out for Italy :j

violetb_2

Hi there - know exactly where you are coming from Loonyleo. I think as you have no other debts and can obviously afford a holiday why not go for it.

Yes save the big holidays for when they can remember it, but holidays can be so worthwhile that they are worth the expense. It needn't be a race to see how quickly you can pay off the mortgage, your kids' time with you is the most special thing you have and enjoying that should come first. You could spend the next 6 years overpaying the mortgage and then book a holiday with trucculent teens who would grunt their way all through it!!

Well that's my opinion anyway. Have just got back from a holiday I wouldn't have done without for all the world - and it wasn't too expensive.

Jorgan_2

As long as you are not borrowing money for the holiday, go for it. We delayed booking ours this year, usually book in October for August, but OH job was looking iffy so delayed booking hols until June. Its costing us £400 more as a result.

Getting the balance right is important. As a kid we nearly always went to my Grans in South Wales, visiting numerous beaches in the area. Can't say I feel I've missed out on to much. If it wasn't Wales it would be a cottage somewhere in Scotland.

Use the holiday as quality family time & chance to recharge your batteries. You will feel better for it.

seven-day-weekend

Have a cheaper holiday (Although it could still be still a cheap 'cash for ash' holiday in the sun....hubby deserves it!) and put the rest of it into the mortgage.

I don't mean to sound like gloom and doom, but you never know what life may throw at you. What if one of you ever can't work for any reason? What if one of you loses your job? What if, for whatever reason, you can't afford that £880 pcm?

Try and pay your mortgage off while you can, whilst enjoying simple, inexpensive pleasures. Your children won't mind.

Just my twopennorth!

Redbedhead

We have been debating this recently, as I do think there is a risk you get caught up in trying to save money / become mortgage free etc and the cost can be that you are only living for the future and not enjoying what you have today.

Finding the right balance is a personal thing as the lines drawn will be different for everyone, so I can only tell you what we have done.

I get married in 2.5 weeks, so we have had the added issue of saving for a wedding, but the theory is still the same really. Whenever I have had 'spare' money we have split it 2 ways - 50% to savings, 50% to mortgage.

Spare money is the money we have left over after paying bills and budgeting for a few nights out each month. The night out don't have to be expensive, although some are, but if we have one expensive night out, the rest are kept cheaper to account for it.

A few times a year one or the other will get a bonus from work, normally between £1k - £2k each time. When we do we discuss how to spend it and have come up with a 3 pronged approach. We pick a treat for ourselves - last one was a DVD recorder, time before that an upgrade to our holiday villa. Whatever it costs, we have to put the same amount in the savings and the same amount against the mortgage.

Every once in a while I think you need to splurge a bit and enjoy yourself - or else what are you working so hard for?

Particularly with kids, I agree it is the experiences that count. We had some lovely foreign holidays as a child and we really enjoyed them, but we also really enjoyed the caravan holidays with my Mum when we saw my Nan.

Luke

looneyleo wrote:

Hi everyone!

Spent some time looking at my mortgage today and calculated we need to make 242 more payments of £880.00 per month to pay it off. :eek:

Assuming an interest rate of 5% your mortgage is £150,000. If you used you £1000 to make an over payment you would save approx £700 in interest over the term.

jonesMUFCforever

To the OP
Don't feel guilty about having 2 holidays a year!
You are going about it the right way in that you are saving up the cost rather than borrowing it.
I had never been abroad until i was 24 - but my 7 year old son has been to America twice and Europe 5 times already!
I think it is a life balance thing. We want to do things with them now whilst we are young enough to enjoy - they can inherit the house when we're gone.

Joe_Bloggs

@Luke
Where did you get those figures from ?
£150K @ 5% over 300 months is £876.90 per month. Paying £1000 of the capital in the first month reduces the term by very nearly 4 months, keeping the original payments the same. Thus 4 x 876.90 -£59 is reduced from the end of the mortgage .

There are certain advantages on some mortgages to being below a certain loan to value level. I can take a years payment holiday if the LTV still remains below 80% at the end of the year. I can also get overpayments back if needed. It is not all about deprivation and misery. Sometimes it does make financial sense given the alternatives.
J_B.

Spendless

seven-day-weekend wrote:

I don't mean to sound like gloom and doom, but you never know what life may throw at you. What if one of you ever can't work for any reason? What if one of you loses your job? What if, for whatever reason, you can't afford that £880 pcm?

Try and pay your mortgage off while you can, whilst enjoying simple, inexpensive pleasures. Your children won't mind.

Just my twopennorth!

You see I see that as a reason to take the holiday. In the event of something happening to me or mine I would want me/them to have the memory of the holiday more than being 2 months nearer to paying off the mortgage.

Joe_Bloggs

Life is for living everyday. Why scrimp and save each day, overworking youself, missing your kids, just to fritter it away on such a short period of 'holiday' time abroad. It is all about balance and there is no correct answer only personal choice.
J_B.