Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

getmore4less

newgirly wrote: »

Getting dd named as a driver on the zafira is over £6 k on go compares cheapest quote :eek: Im getting about 32mpg commuting. Trade in around £3500 without the foot and a half long dent taken into account! Annual milage around 8 k I think.

Mileage on the low side for the diesel route
Whats the commute like for 45min each way, fast/stop/start.

chances are you may not save much on fuel changing

Make sure you do the quotes with them as a learner(usualy cheaper than passed test), location could be your issue, I know when sis(rural) got her quotes for her kids they were reasonable.

Could you use the van/car share some of the time.

getmore4less

If you really want to get the mortgage on track for the 7 year target then you may need to have that much higher up the priority list and juggle the money below that.

A kind of pay your mortgage first approach.

If you don't you will become increasingly dependant on refinancing.

As your overpayment(over the interest is quite high) you could use the mortgage to hold some of your savings/emergency funds as you can meet those costs by just paying the min payment for a month or two.

Polly_Wolly_Doodle

FWIW we had a Zafira and it was easy to drive and convenient for all the children but when it went through it's last mot the advisories were mounting up and it was expensive for road tax and mpg. This was the one DH drove and i'm afraid I decided he needed something far more economical so we went for a three year old Polo. Diesel works for us as we are rural and both cars get good long runs daily (mine is 13 year old German with nearly 180k miles on the clock!).
Polo is fab and i'd hope it'll be around when 12 year old needs to start driving!


I like your idea of a corsa type car when the boys get to that age. Can you use the electric van for your commute on the days you work and Eric for your non work days?
Could you lease through the business or is that another strain...

newgirly

Get more for less, the plan is to use the mortgage being io as an emergency fund.

Pwd , thanks for popping by, I did look at polos but they are a bit small for the five of us. I think its better the devil we know with the zafira for the monent . I can't share commute with dh in the van as he starts at 6.30 am and gets home well after 6 in the evening, no way am I doing those hours!

Just trying to plan over a longer period , which is probably impossible work out the things we will compromise on and what isn't worth the pain and suffering

Off the top of my head :

Won't compromise on :


Fresh food , plently of fruit and veg

Sky TV, we love it and make good use ! Currently paying £15pm

Christmas and birthday presents for friends and family - as mse as possible though.

Coffee and or cheap lunch out with best friend every week

Pocket money for kids £5 pw for the boys

Pay DDS oyster costs

Holiday or short break with the kids

Cheap weekend or night away with dh once a year


Will compromise on:


Clothes - shopping in primarni

Making my own wine - have a demi John round mums as we speak

Second hand furniture - can't afford the new stuff

Hairdos- DDS friend does her mil does the boys\dh I colour my own

Make up - mua superdrug £1 an item

Packed lunches

Drying clothes on horses and my heated airer, the tumble is too dear

Shopping in discount stores, aldi is the best anyway , so no sacrifice

Heating off as much as possible



Can't think of any others , but might try and come up with a longer term budget, am currently working on a more or less monthly basis.

AlexLK

Eric would be a great first car for your children. The mini will be much cheaper to insure than a modern box and learning in a classic will make them appreciate that cars cannot be abused. They will learn how to properly maintain a car and possibly meet lots of new friends of all ages if they choose to join a club.

My first car was a Mk.1 MGB and I have very fond memories of it and plenty of happy miles driving it all over the country. The car ran on a dynamo, didn't have servo assisted brakes and I had to quickly learn how to double declutch (no syncro on first and second was very worn). Of course, there were no air bags, power steering etc. etc.

Plenty of my school friends had anonymous brand new hatchbacks, most crashed them because they did not respect the machines they were driving, whereas I found the limits of my car amongst other MG enthusiasts with much more experience of driving a 'B than I.

I can even claim to have found love through driving old cars as I met my wife at a classic car meet.

getmore4less

If you don't have pay off the mortgage at the top of the don't compromise list you have to have sell up on the will compromise list.

newgirly

Make the mortgage payments is a given, this was more about the journey to get there

Alex,I fully agree about joys of classic cars , its a much or a personal relashionship, but the sheer size and lack of protection is a no go for me allowing seventeen year old boys to drive it. In theory you may be right, but I still remember driving my dads mg roadster at seventeen, and I did not respect it and had a lot of fun racing round the streets like a loony

My youngest twin is dreaming of an orange vw beetle, after he realised that an e type may be a little over budget for us :rotfl:

Ive got to think "sensible" if I'm going to pay this mortgage off in time though,they may have to stick with a bus pass yet!

getmore4less

With <7 years and it would be fairly easy to do a budget to cover that full period.

With the mortgage, bills and no compromise plan populated it will be clear what's left for the rest.

newgirly

Another car dilemma has been thrown into the mix, I popped round mums to collect the boys from their tea night and she said they are selling grans car, I thought they would at some point , but she has agreed she can no longer drive it, which is a surprise.

Its an 08 ford zetec climate ka (red and called poppy!) but its only done 6k miles from new , they are going to sell it for around £2300. Its a good little car and could be used as my daily driver. Although we would still need a bigger car for the family.
I can borrow it for a couple of weeks before deciding what to do, and I know gran would be much happier if it was me that bought it, not sure what to do, if I carry-on like this I will end up with as many cars as Alex

Popped round my friend for dinner with the girls last night as she had arranged an "aloe Vera" sales chat my someone she knows, lasted for a couple of hours then the four of us tried and bought some products. I managed to get a bar of soap for £6, the shampoo was £21 a bottle :eek: we were not expecting it, so it was a little bit of a surprise to say the least! The new sales girl said she knew someone making £16kpm selling aloe products, could this be the answer to all my financial woes I wonder :rotfl:

Alchemilla

Let the mini be the kids learner car. No synchromesh in first gear, they can service it themselves.
Many happy hours fixing my morris minor and they are very similar!