Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

cha97michelle

I thought we had all agreed you were going for the extension? I can understand the reluctance, but i do think you are not going to last much longer as you are in that house.

Re: your merger changing the op terms - we had the same when our mortgage with the portman became a nationwide mortgage, but it worked in our favour a bit as previously we could only overpay by 5% of the outstanding balance which we did fairly quickly, and then nothing all year, whereas NW is £500 per month, and now we are out of lock in is unlimited so it is much better for us. My point being, i think they can do it, and it will probably change on the day of the merger, but in your favour so you can overpay in your current conditions now, and then in the new conditions once the merger takes place.

One thing that is a bit weird is the overpayments made since moving to NW are held in an overpayment reserve we can get back, but the extra few 0000s we paid before that are not accessible. That might be another thing to check.

newgirly

Thats a good point Michelle , at the moment we can't get any op's back, I'll have to ring up and find out if that has changed.
I know the best option is to get the loft done, I think I'm just fed up as i wish we could move, but its just not to be right now.

CathT

Do you think you will move even after the loft work is done? It is such a hard decision and it's something you can talk yourself in or out of quite easily (I did the same when we were going to move). I think taking on extra debt is always going to be a tough decision which has to be weighed up - do the ends justify the means.
When we moved here our mortgage jumped from £200-£750 a month but that was worth it to us to go from 2 bed terrace in a village to 3 bed deatched with garage in a fab area. If that decision had just been made on cost the move would never have happened. I also think that when you are already being frugal it is hard to see areas in which you can cut back - can you save in any other areas at all?

newgirly

Hi cath, yes if we get the loft done we will still probably want to move in the future as we both don't like being on a main road , plus one day I would like a big garden to grow stuff.

I've been looking on rightmove and we really won't be able to get anything bigger where we live until we pay the whole of this mortage off and start again as its so expensive here. By then though the kids (should!) have left home, so we won't need such a big house, so who knows maybe we will never go.:D

Baby_steps_2

Its so hard making decisions like that isn't it. I sometimes feel its best to go with gut instincts. Do you think the extra space will do you and your family good. If it will then if you do convert and only get back 95% of the cost when you move then will it be worth it for the extra X amount of years you have spent there?

newgirly

Hi Babysteps, the space would be great, but the extra bathroom would be the best bit!

I'm going to spend some time working on budgets later today and try and make a decision and stick to it. we have been stuck in a bit of a rut lately with all the focus being on dh's work,it may be good to have a new project thats not related to that.

I also need to lose some weight, I am the highest I've been for years but don't seem to be able to get together enough will power to do anything about it So thats another thing which needs to be tackled, I'm going to try and start today (again) I think feb may be a better month to diet than jan, with the baileys and chocs still hanging around.

Tasks for today:

• Do about 6 loads of washing / did 5 so far
• dry on hangers/airers, stop using the td all the time! / yes
• mini food shop / yes
• reconcile current accounts / done
• meet gran/mum/aunt for coffee at shops / yes
• have ds' friend for tea / still here, but yes
• clean kitchen /bathroom no
• find and pack fooball/swimming kits / not yet
• cook gammon joint and hm loaf / gammon, bought a loaf instead
• look at figures and make decision on loft. / did figures

gratefulforhelp_2

Can you get six loads of washing through your machine in one day??

newgirly

Hi grateful, my machine is a miele and I love it! we've had it about 8 years and it cost a fortune but has never broken (touch wood) and does a 25 min quick wash which is fine as most of the kids stuff is not that dirty.

gratefulforhelp_2

Right I am going to time my quick wash. I don't think it comes anywhere near as fast as that. Impressive.

eta 25 min and counting...

eta eta an hour and ten and counting...what rubbish, now...what did I do with the instructions 7 years ago???

newgirly

I have been trying to work out how much the loft will cost in interest if we go ahead.

It was using the calculator on here which takes IO plus op's , which a lot of them don't. it does not give you an accurate end month when you finish though so its fairly rough.

If we start as in may this year and pay a lump sum of 4 k off first, (savings from going IO this year)

...................Get loft done.................... Don't do loft

start bal:......... £178,073................ £147,923

Int PM............... £510........................... £418

monthly OP......... £1100..................... £1192

ends in.............. 11 years....................... 8 1/2 years approx

total int paid......... £35,780................. £25,537

Extra cost of loft..... £12,243............. £0

over 11 years this is £1,113 per year in interest, £92.75 PM , or £3.04 per day! Obviously plus the actual 30k which need to be paid back as well.

If we op'd by a lump sum of £5k per year this would take us back to the same sort of end date as we would have had without the loft conversion.

Will have a chat with DH when he gets home.