Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

cha97michelle

Don't begrudge your nights out. You deserve some enjoyment. I hardly ever hear you say you are going out. I know the sentiment, but perhaps we need to live a little more along the way.

clothes - i totally know where you are coming from there. I will have 2 sets of school uniform to buy this year for September. Some people have seemed to just have one set for their child for nursery this year, but i don't know how they manage that. I have in mind that they should have 3 sets of trousers, 5 T shirts, and 2 or 3 jumpers each, as well as socks, undies, and school shoes, trainers and wellies that fit. Especially as they will only be 3 and 4, so not trusted to keep one set clean.

As for me, i have a wardrobe and suitcase full of stuff for me, and none of it really fits. So i need to suck it up and loose some or just get new, and i know what the cheaper option is. Its hard work though. I have said £100 for the year for myself and DH although he already spent £24 on two new jumpers for work. We will try and get anything else we need from birthday cash which i won't count, or from vouchers i have earned. It feels about the right compromise.

newgirly

Hi michelle, school uniform is the worst! at the moment my boys only need special school jumpers, but at secondary school they have to have lots of the uniform from the local school shop, which has to be in their particular design, when our dd started it came to about £250 including shoes, Half of that was for the PE kit which girls have to have emboidered by the shop as well. Hopefully the boys will need less though and they can wear normal shirts which will keep the cost down, dd's blouses are £13.50 each! (good job they fit her still ) we were lucky as my DM&D helped out with the cost of dd's.

I have been food shopping at the reduced food shop mr al. today, I did get a whole trolley full but spent £62.55, which was way more than i intended and most of it is fridge stuff rather than freezer so will probably get gobbled up too quickly.

Have been looking at clothes on ebay today, as i'm going to do the clothes challenge I thought rather than buy from primarni and it not lasting as long , I might go for some second hand better quality stuff. I fancy a pink gap hoodie just to wear with jeans around the house, I have an old grey one which I have worn for years and its lasted really well. its a bit strange buying second hand, I used to buy in charity shops as a teenager, but that was more fashion than moneysaving, I best get used to it though i think.

newgirly

Its been a hectic few days, already taken my 2 boys basketball today, dd to school and been to doctors, still got lunch with friends, optitians after school for all 3 kids and drinks out tonight with friend. But I just don't have the energy at the moment! Have been wasting a lot of time playing with figures, in the last few days.

I have found out that if we wanted to we could add the money for the loft conversion onto the mortage, If we use dhs figures now we can borrow another 30k in principle, but his wages do drop this year so it would probably not be possible later on.
We had decided to save for the loft which should take 2 1/2 years. Its not that long really, and it would be the most sensible thing to do.
However the house is a 3 bed terrace with one toilet, and it would mean the twins sharing until they are 13. We have a 13 yr old dd now in the tiny box room and it would make such a difference to have another room and bathroom. I'm very torn. DH thinks we should borrow and do it sooner as they are growing so quickly.

If the new mortgage is agreed then we would probably extend the term of the mortage to 15 years, we currently have 11 1/2 years left (started at 31 years at the start of 2010). That would make the payments around the same as they are now, so we would be looking to continue overpaying like we have done before, which would reduce it by a couple of years at least hopefully.

DH is keen to go ahead, he has taken over running the firm he worked for a year and a half ago, and decided to write off some money the company was owed so profits were down last year because of this. Hopefully next year things will be back on an even keel and he should be able to start paying share dividends again. So hopefully his income will rise in the next couple of years.

This is also not the house we want to stay in forever , but realistically its the only one we will be able to afford in this area while the children are growing up,no matter how many times I go on rightmove we still can't afford a bigger house

I think I'm swaying towards borrowing the money and getting it done, also for us the saving part can be tricky, we only started this month and I'm already distracted with thoughts of re-doing the bathroom first. I think I must be the most indecisive MFW ever!

Apologies for the long winded post, and please be honest if you think I'm being totally stupid even thinking about this.

gallygirl

Actually I think you're being very sensible . If you can go ahead now what are the advantages - the main one is that you get the extra room NOW - it is needed NOW, it's not as if you are anticipating a future need. Also it will shut you up about bathrooms :rotfl:. Yes it wil cost you more in interest - work out how much for 2.5 years. How much does that equate to per day? Is it worth that for the extra space? I suspect it will be.

Good luck

Needhelpsaving

Good Luck!!!

newgirly

Ha ha , thanks GG! But i can still bore you all with bathroom details if we get a bathroom in the loft

cha97michelle

I'd go for it. Nothing worse than having to live somewhere that is not suitable. Then you will have to be motivated to pay it all back, and will probably be better motivated than saving.

Easy for me to say though as i don't have to do it. Maybe talk to museum worker about it after her recent loft conversion.

I have to say, i am so glad we put extra to what the in-laws gave us and had the new boiler/bathroom and kitchen exactly how we want. I notice how much better it is every day with better storage and more room to manouvere.

newgirly

Thanks Michelle, it might sound funny but everyone's opinions on the mfw board do matter to me, as on the outside world most people don't overpay or see the point of it, so would not understand the pain in upping the mortgage when you try so hard to reduce it.
I think we will go for the stick it on the mortgage option ( all going well with the bank of course), and then get stuck into overpaying again.
manged do get qiute a few surveys on onepoll today, so thanks for mentioning it on your thread michelle

mummalove

Hi newgirly, I also think you should go ahead and get it done now. If you wait 2 1/2 yrs until you save up enough...I am pretty sure you will be tearing your hair out by then! You are frustrated NOW with the lack of space and bathrooms for the children, and they grow quickly and teenagers spend ages in bathrooms!

It will also stop your urge to keep looking to move and focus again on the overpaying. You have to enjoy life, you have done so well and you and your family deserve this :T GO FOR IT!!

cha97michelle

I always want to know what you guys think too. Dh is pretty savvy but it is lovely to have a savvy woman share. And as for mentioning onepoll - don't mention it hon. All here to give each other that little extra push, and between us we are all that little bit more motivated.