Pay off mortgage and start having fun!

Ramouth

I think you need to be kind to yourself and take a bit of breathing space.  You have been doing this for so long and have come so far!  It does not matter how long it takes you to finally pay it off as long as it is gone by the time you retire.  Easing off on the overpayments a little to make life easier do some of the things you want to do sounds like a good compromise.

Moneyfordreams

Ramouth said:

I think you need to be kind to yourself and take a bit of breathing space.  You have been doing this for so long and have come so far!  It does not matter how long it takes you to finally pay it off as long as it is gone by the time you retire.  Easing off on the overpayments a little to make life easier do some of the things you want to do sounds like a good compromise.

What Ramouth said  

Take the stress off and enjoy the scenery

LadyGnome

I would take some time to work out what things you would like to be doing that you don't feel you can do now.  See how much you would need to flex your budget to allow you to do them.  So you may want to add a cruise line (see what I did there  ) to your budget but there may be other things where you are happy to be frugal.  I am a great believer in intentional spending i.e. spend the money intentionally and happily on the things that matter and save in the areas that you aren't so bothered about.  

newgirly

Thank you so much for the kind comments Ramouth, mfd’s and Ladygnome 🙂 

Every now and then mf fatigue does set in, it doesn’t usually last long but this time feels a bit different. Perhaps it’s all lockdown related? 

Anyway, I’ve yet to speak to dh about all this properly yet but I think although he wants to pay the mortgage off and is supportive (if a little uninterested 😆) I think after me going on about it for 11 years and counting, he would be glad if I relaxed the financial reins a lot more now instead of a further few years. 

Ladygnome you are so right what you say about intentional spending, it’s so easy to spend money on things that don’t make a big difference to your life. That is something I do worry about as somtimes spending money in one area can spread like a disease to other areas 😁

So all going well with dh, I’ve come up with a timeframe I’m going to start with this month (what’s left of it!) and that is that we will attempt a maximum term of 100 months from today - or 8 years and 4 months ( current term 19&1/2years). This will mean a minimum normal payment of £347 pm plus an op of £380 pm as well as an extra one off payment this month of £280 to trim to figures down to 100 months.

This allows a huge budget of £1000 pm extra, it should be more than enough to have some adventures and whatever is left will be overpaid, I’m not sure if this will be a long term thing or we will just ease off for the next couple of years and then knuckle down again, who knows! 

South_coast

Just echoing the comments from LadyGnome, as this quote really resonates with me (and I'm not one for inspirational quotes normally):

LadyGnome

That sounds like a really good plan.  You can enjoy life and still get the mortgage paid off early. The chances are you will take less than 100 months as you will sometimes have spare to OP but now you have a plan that is sustainable.  I am always trying to strike a balance.  If I threw everything at the mortgage I could clear it faster but I have two teenagers to think about and I can't say no to everything - we have to live too.

killerpeaty

Hi Ng I feel similar to you, my grandad, dad and uncle all died at roughly the same age prior to retirement. It makes you think about what you want if the same were to happen to you. Like the others have said, you need to put yourselves first and assess what is right for you.

£1000 must get you quite a few rounds of butter beer at the Harry potter thing you like though!

newgirly

Hi and thank you everyone 🙂 I don’t know of it’s age or lockdown that’s making me look at things a bit differently, I still really want to pay the mortgage off early and looking for a break for next week has confirmed that I’m still never going to waste money and want to try and get the best deals possible, so I guess that’s a good habit I’ve picked up here 😆

Who would have thought that everything is fully booked and very expensive in the uk this year? 😂 yes I did know that but it hasn’t stopped me being shocked every time I see pages of sold out breaks online. £800 for a basic caravan in an average park while the kids are still in school (if you can find one) er, no thanks. 

Dh accidentally has three days off next week (booked in error and not cancelled) so it needs using up, so I think we will do a few days in my parents flat in York and maybe sandwich in a hotel night a bit further away if I can find one. 

Food spending has calmed right down as they have been at their partners house and ds1 was house sitting for a friend for a few days, we have dds birthday next Sunday so will do a bbq probably, I’ve already bought 12 or so bottles of wine and Prosecco for that (Tesco 25% off) and also the boys’ 21st 13 days later, that will be much more low key since their festival was cancelled ☹️ I think we will do an evening curry in the garden with my dads long pasting tables and lots of decorations and fairy lights, will no doubt be at least a dozen of us and even if we can book a restaurant outside it will cost a fortune and I feel often with large numbers is less sociable as you can’t mooch about and chat. 

newgirly

What a busy week, dh and I had our second jab, I didn’t feel as ill as last time thank goodness. The cat had a trip to the vet as she came down one morning and her one good eye is now blind as well ☹️ She’s ok and a few days later is getting around fairly well considering, but she’s now only allowed upstairs if she escorted the whole time, and it’s messy, very messy as she no longer uses a tray 😱

I took dd out for breakfast yesterday as she had a rare day off, and today her and my mum and I have an appointment booked to look at wedding dresses -hooray! This is only a local shop so no doubt the first of a few trips 😁

themadvix

Glad that you were better after your second jab. Sorry to hear about poor old kitty though. That’s rotten - for her and you. 

Enjoy dress shopping!