How Much Is Enough?

chuckalicious_2

Haha No, we hardly do foreign holidays as it is! We're home buddies. Walks and picnics are our idea of fun. M&S food is nice, but home cooking is best.

Some mixed opinions here, as expected. Thanks for all of them, lots to think about. I do need to consider more regarding mixing with other children.

Curlywurli

I think that you need to do a comprehensive check of your finances. They're already talking about interest rises- go on a calculator check if you could afford your mortgage going up by one percent, then two etc.

Can't see why a man wouldn't enjoy going to a toddler group though- I run a toddler group and men come along.

Morgan_Ree

I'm not saying a man wouldn't enjoy a toddler group

I just mean that might be some peoples idea of hell!
I thought i would enjoy it before i had my DS, then i took him and realised how wrong i was

LEJC

The mixing with other children will come naturally.....as I said ive made lifelong friends from the people I met at a similar point in life
before we had our son we had exactly your fears but believe me life is what you make it and if you put too much planning into this you may find theres never a right time.....and regret it somewhere down the line

chewmylegoff

chuckalicious wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. To answer your questions

1. No, hadn't factored in interest rate rises. Is it even possible to plan for something like that?

depends what mortgage you're on really. if you're on a very low % tracker or discount then you do need to consider what might happen to your repayments if the base rate goes up. you can just run the numbers to see what the effect would be. if you're on a long term fix then a bit different really as at least you have certainty for the short/medium term.

2. The difference in monthly payments this sum would make to the mortgage has nowhere near the effect of using it as a monthly supplement.

yes, but the saving you make on your mortgage is over the term of the mortgage, whilst you will have used up all of your cash after 4 years if you spend the capital. you'd be far better off in my view using most of it to pay off your mortgage and keep few grand back as an emergency fund.

you could look into getting an offset mortgage as well so that you have the money available to you should you need it, but you make the interest savings. need to do sums on this though as the cost of remortgaging may outweigh the offset benefits.

you could at least try to live without spending the extra £500/month and see how it goes.

chuckalicious_2

LEJC wrote: »

if you put too much planning into this you may find theres never a right time.....and regret it somewhere down the line

I've heard that before - "if you wait until you can afford it, you never will"

DigitalJedi

You are overplanning it. So much happens after having a baby that there's little point in making detailed plans.

You may find your wife feels totally differently and doesn't want to go back to work. Or that you hate being cooped up 10 hours a day with a crying baby.

chuckalicious_2

chewmylegoff wrote: »

if you're on a very low % tracker or discount then you do need to consider what might happen to your repayments if the base rate goes up.

On a 5.2% fixed rate until end of 2011.

LEJC

If we had waited until our mortgage was paid off or we felt comfortable about interest rates ....then i would be a first time mum at 56!

woody01

Whether you have £10 or £20K left over each month, it is never enough