Should I be more worried than I am??

Happyharry78

Hi,

This is my first post.

My wife and I are both 39.we have 2 young children. About 12 months ago we found ourselves much better off due our childcare costs ending, my wife going back to work full time and me getting a promotion. We had also cleared the debts that we had accrued in our twenties of around 30k.

We decided that we needed to sort our ramshackle of a house out after 10 years of papering over the cracks (literally). We want it to be our forever house but it was in dire need of major work. After much discussion, we decided to use 0% cards to finance the renovations. We now have 40k 0% debt shared between us. We could have remortgaged but it would have actually cost quite a bit in terms of interest over the remaining 15 years of our current mortgage. I was also dubious about accruing secured debt.

My wife has suddenly started stressing about it and wants to remortgage! I am dead set against this for the following reasons-

1. We earn 4500 tackle home combined
2. My wife has recently inherited 15k that could be used to clear half of remaining debt if the 'shtf'
3. We choose to pay 1000 per month off the debt meaning that it will be paid in 3.5 years, when the 41 months 0% expires
4. We live well, pay the bills and have money left for fun stuff
5. We are still able to save 400-500 per month

I know that no debt is good but I just can't feel to worried about our situation!

Should I be more worried and should we remortgage?

[Deleted User]

Not an expert, but seems to me like you have a workable plan already. However low mortgage rates are, they will be higher than 0% for sure.

Ashingtonian

Never change unsecured debt to secured unless as a last resort.

enthusiasticsaver

I think if you are on a good income in relatively secure jobs and are easily able to afford payments, have substantial savings and are paying 0% you should stick to your plan.

Fireflyaway

You have a good plan so as long as no long term loss of income happens and you remain focused enough to pay every month no matter what, I'd say you made the right choice. Debt of any kind is a burden but you seem to be in control of it. Maybe seeing the Cc statement each month is a bit unsettling as I remember when I had a mortgage we only got a annual one?!

tlc678910

Hi,
Your situation looks good to me.

The only danger I can foresee (as stated by Firefly) is a loss of income (redundancy/illness) if it resulted that you could not make your minimum payments and lost your 0% offer. The debt could then spiral.

For this reason I would suggest keeping your wife's inheritance in a savings account, rather than paying it off the debt, so in the event this did occur it would keep you going for a while until you or your partner got back into work - even work that was not as well paid.
Tlc

zippygeorgeandben

Nothing more to add apart from agreeing with other posters. Have an emergency fund though built up with at least three months payments in it.

System

Remember that on a credit card you can overpay as much as you want penalty free. A mortgage will only typically allow 10% without penalty.

Happyharry78

Thanks for the replied folks. I must admit I am pleased to see that I am not kidding myself that this situation is ok!

FinallyDebtfree2017

the risk is you need to borrow more for emergencies.

I assume your 0% cards will come to an end and then you will incur interest, why not throw savings against it?

Happyharry78

FinallyDebtfree2017 wrote: »

the risk is you need to borrow more for emergencies.

I assume your 0% cards will come to an end and then you will incur interest, why not throw savings against it?

Hi

Thankfully we were able to get 41mnth 0% deals so at our current rate of repayment we should not have to pay any interest