Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

newgirly

Hi, Thanks for popping in megala. I have spent too much for sure this year However I think I have worked out what works best for us as a family for next year.

Centerparcs is great but it was a lot of rushing about and very expensive and they enjoyed theme parks far more.

A couple of cheap breaks near theme parks for the kids in cheap hotels or cottage, and a couple of hotel nights away for me and dh without the kids

They have different interests so we may as well go along with what they enjoy, instead of trying to do our usual family seaside summer holidays which I think for the moment dd has grown out of.

alwaystryyourbest

hi again it might be worth you getting some merlin annual passes to get you in to all the theme parks for free,( take your own pack lunches.. ) tesco do them for £50 for of vouchers...
This is what we are going to do when our little ones are old enough.

newgirly

Hi again Yes we do already have annual passes we got for the first time this year, a couple of months ago I did a costing to see how much value we got from them but we have visited a few more places since then so I decided to do it again (and avoid the cleaning this afternoon!)

Family of 5 : 3 "adults" 2x kids (will be 5 adult price next year)
We have visited:

• Alton towers .........3x days
• chessington...........3 x days
• thorpe park........... 4x days
• london dungeons.....1 xday
• madame tussauds....1x day
• legoland..................1x day

Total cost using online discounts paid in advance etc. would have been :£1841.35

Total cost based on on the door prices: £2295.00

Cost of annual passes £438 :beer:

lulabelle1

Wow thats a fantastic saving! I think we'll be buying these passes once the boys are older and big enough to go on rollercoasters....

newgirly

We had a nice meal out last night, and an interesting conversation with a differing view to mine on debt and paying the mortgage off. Our friends are not worried about their debt as in the future they willl both inherit and be able to clear it and the mortgage , so prefer to spend now on their young family.

Its something that is probably relevant to a few of us on here, and I have to say not something which factors in any of our plans, I was just a bit surprised that others are so unworried about owing loads of money.

Talking about paying off the debts and mortgage seems to be quite difficult as I really have not met anyone yet who does it or seems overly bothered by it, so don't bring it up in conversation usually.

never_too_old

Morning NG ,i suppose we are all like minded people on here so all try and think in a very MSE way.My parents sadly passed away a long time ago but my inlaws are going strong.I look at when we do get an inheritance it will be our pension as neither of us have a private pension.i hope to have my mortgage and be debt free long before i need to think about retiring .My mortgage interest rate is really low and i would truly love to pay as much of it off whilst rates are low as when they do eventually go up that will obviously reduce the op.:)

newgirly

I agree nto, plus the satisfaction that you paid it. We have 3 kids and live in a stupidly expensive area so any money we do come across in the future will help them as hopefully we will be sorted already. (fingers crossed!:D)

Peonie

newgirly wrote: »

We had a nice meal out last night, and an interesting conversation with a differing view to mine on debt and paying the mortgage off. Our friends are not worried about their debt as in the future they will both inherit and be able to clear it and the mortgage , so prefer to spend now on their young family.

Its something that is probably relevant to a few of us on here, and I have to say not something which factors in any of our plans, I was just a bit surprised that others are so unworried about owing loads of money.

Their family must have quite a bit of money as I don't think you can plan to use your parent's money like that anymore. People are living longer and may have to downsize to pay for their own retirement and if they need care. I would rather my parents enjoyed their retirement rather than thinking "that's my inheritance you're spending."

newgirly

Hi Peonie, it is a bit of an uncomfortable way of looking at things, and you never know what will happen in the future do you?

gallygirl

I agree NG - they could live to 100, in good health, or both end up needing 24 hour care for years and years.

I would never rely on anyone else (including Mr GG!) to provide for me.

Having said that, my dear old mum died 48 hours before she went in a home so I did get a small inheritance after all :cool:.