Tried asking a friend, thought would now ask the audience

joeblack066

RE Student Loans - I would much rather that they were known as 'Contributory Grants' - you make contributions back once you are at a certain level of income. This would stop people being so scared of them!

mountainofdebt

joeblack066 wrote: »

RE Student Loans - I would much rather that they were known as 'Contributory Grants' - you make contributions back once you are at a certain level of income. This would stop people being so scared of them!

or as my OH calls them (and he doesn't have one btw) graduate tax

jackyann

Definitely save it. Take out the maximum you can in ISAs & JISAs and top them up next financial year.
However you save it, think in 3 parts:
1. for something nice when the right time comes
2. for emergencies
3. long-term for children's education etc.

Having said that, look round your house and see if you can "spend to save" eg: good insulation, double / triple glazing; maybe solar thermal panels or photovoltaic cells. Check your insurance and things like home emergency cover.

I actually think, not unlike Mr. Micawber, that the most content financial position is to be happy with a modest life-style, but have some savings in the bank so that the washing machine breaking down isn't a dreadful problem. Also a good lesson for your kids.

PS: have just seen that you are going to do just that - enjoy!

seven-day-weekend

I personally would never 'waste' it on Disneyland, but that is just me. However, I would love to go up into the Arctic circle to see the Northern Lights.

To the OP, don't spend it just because you feel you have to. Why not open Bank Accounts for the children or buy some Premium Bonds (you may end up with even more ), put some into a Pension, etc?

pollypenny

This is such a non-problem.

No one knows what's round the corner, so a safety cushion would be good, especially as the children are so young.

Certainly replacing your boiler and having an extension are sensible ideas.

HOWMUCH

We were in the same situation back in 1992, we paid off the small mortage and invested the rest. We have always had the nest egg and had extra to spend each month if we wished due to not having to repay the mortage. I would also go with replacing the boiler as this will save you money in the long run.

tesuhoha

HOWMUCH wrote: »

We were in the same situation back in 1992, we paid off the small mortage and invested the rest. We have always had the nest egg and had extra to spend each month if we wished due to not having to repay the mortage. I would also go with replacing the boiler as this will save you money in the long run.

I would agree with this. I was in a similar situation a few years ago when I got a small redundancy payout plus a largish pension payout. Like you I would be charged a penalty if I repaid the mortgage. However I found that I could make overpayments of £500 per month without extra charge so that is what I did and the mortgage is now repaid. Peace of mind:)