How much did you borrow for your mortgage? Bare minimum or extra for making it a home?

HRH_MUngo

Do you really want to be paying interest on your carpets and sofa for twenty-five years?

Borrow as little as possible, is my answer.

lookstraightahead

housebuyer143 said:

lookstraightahead said:

I find make do and mend, second hand, waiting for things and finding a bargain much more enjoyable, therapeutic and satisfying than trying to get everything new and matching. It's a bit like getting fit and eating well - really hard to start with but really enjoyable when it makes a difference.

I came into this house last year thinking I needed a brand new kitchen. That meant digging up the quarry floors, having new pipes laid for dishwasher etc. new units, cooker, the lot. Then I realised I loved my floor and worktop and previous owner's Rangemaster, , so thought I would just replace cupboards and tiles. Now I'm thinking new tiles and paint cupboards instead, oh and a new tap. I've saved tens of thousands of pounds just in thinking 🤣

There are companies that change all the door fronts etc and it looks like a whole new kitchen for a fraction of the cost. 
Saving money is fun lol

Yes I'm so excited at having a new kitchen without having to buy a new kitchen 😊

housebuyer143

HRH_MUngo said:

Do you really want to be paying interest on your carpets and sofa for twenty-five years?

Borrow as little as possible, is my answer.

People buy these things on credit for much more. Suppose it depends if they plan to do that or not. 

alipops1986

We borrowed the absolute minimum, but we had a large deposit from the house we sold so we put a good chunk down but kept some for a few items we knew we wanted to purchase quickly. 
This was helped by the fact we purchased a new build, so decor wise it's a blank canvas. We've been here 16 months and still haven't painted anywhere yet! 
When we bought our first home, before this new build, we just saved to do it up as we went along. That took us almost 7 of the 8 years we were there but enabled us to have a good chunk of equity which funded the new build move! 

[Deleted User]

I think we purchased at under 50% of what we could have afforded. At 60% LTV we did have about 30k left over but didnt plough this into the mortgage. Some of those monies did go towards the house and furniture items but the fund was replenished at about the same rate through salaries. Looks like  cash is now going to find its home in savings and hopefully pay off mortgage before the 5 year fix ends.

theoretica

If you borrow a little more you can then pay it back off the mortgage as an overpayment if you discover you can get by without it.  If you discover you borrowed just a bit too little you will probably need to take out more expensive borrowing.  The key is not spending more liberally because you have it already borrowed.  So I would cut my spending - but not necessarily calculate my initial mortgage borrowing to the very minimum. 

juliebunny

Some great insights here thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond.
I did the whole 'sitting on beanbags" thing in my first home. 
The carpets in the new place are vile with unknown stains probably from their doggie!!
I'm excited to decorate and DIY but it's my 3rd home now and starting to feel a bit like I've done it all before.

Good luck to everyone with their own projects!!

secla

Borrow minimum and save for the rest, with mortgage rates currently going up and unlikely to see the long term lows we have seen in past years paying for carpets over the term of a mortgage makes no sense 

goodwithsaving

I wouldn't ever borrow for carpets etc. It's a total waste of money on the interest. I've always borrowed for the property, overpaid the mortgage before all other monthly saving commitments (apart from a rainy day pot) and saved to renovate over time. Sure, I don't enjoy living in an old fashioned house or building site, and I'd love to have the whole place new and to my taste, but it's the most affordable way of doing it. I'm on #4 and it's wearing thin, but at the end of the day it's the only way I've been able to get the properties I have.

badger09

I’ve never ever borrowed to buy carpets, furniture etc. 1st house bought 1971/72, in a run down area of Liverpool, & needed a lot! of work, including bathroom & inside😊toilet. We bought a new mattress (couldn’t afford the complete bed), cooker, & 2 black PVC blow up chairs which lasted about a year IIRC. 

Mum & dad had bought me a Bex Bissel carpet sweeper as a 21st birthday present☹️ & some Pyrex casserole dishes as a wedding present. That was about it until each payday. 

Yup boomer had it easy in those days😂 

Took us about 4 years to furnish it but then we moved on when we were burgled by the local scallies & wanted to start a family. 

Fast forward 50 years😳, 2nd husband & several house/county moves later.., in 2021 we happened to move to a cheaper house so I didn’t feel at all guilty buying some new ‘stuff’. 

The Pyrex is still in regular use, though the Bex Bissel didn’t survive much longer than the blow up chairs.  

TLDR know the difference between what you need & what you want.