Shaving off the years at Sleepy Hollow

enthusiasticsaver

CreditCardJunkie said:

Toying with lots of different ideas of overpaying on the mortgage.

We're in our 30s with 2 young children. We want to enjoy life but also not still be paying our mortgage in our late 60s. How do you all find the balance for this? A family member paid of their mortgage early but lived very very frugally for 30 years.

We're also trying to work out if we're better to build savings for the children (for their own house deposit one day) or overpay that off our mortgage so we will be in a better position to help when they are nearing that stage?

Personally I would focus on the mortgage rather than significant savings for the children.  If you are in a good place when they get to the point of buying houses then you could help them then.  We made a plan to pay off our mortgage by the time our daughters started Uni.  However then mortgages were 25 years not 35-40 which is sadly a reflection on house price inflation over the years.  I would start with small overpayments like maybe rounding up to the next £10.  It won't look a lot to start with but it mounts up and you won't miss the small amounts. Review in a years time. 

CreditCardJunkie

Zerforax said:

CreditCardJunkie said:

Toying with lots of different ideas of overpaying on the mortgage.

We're in our 30s with 2 young children. We want to enjoy life but also not still be paying our mortgage in our late 60s. How do you all find the balance for this? A family member paid of their mortgage early but lived very very frugally for 30 years.

We're also trying to work out if we're better to build savings for the children (for their own house deposit one day) or overpay that off our mortgage so we will be in a better position to help when they are nearing that stage?

We're struggling with this.. on one hand it would be great to pay off the mortgage quick but then you want to create some memories with the kids and let them do fun stuff.

I think you pay off your own house before worrying about helping kids with their own house deposit etc. You may find they're still living at home in their 20s!

Yes this is a very valid point!!

CreditCardJunkie

enthusiasticsaver said:

CreditCardJunkie said:

Toying with lots of different ideas of overpaying on the mortgage.

We're in our 30s with 2 young children. We want to enjoy life but also not still be paying our mortgage in our late 60s. How do you all find the balance for this? A family member paid of their mortgage early but lived very very frugally for 30 years.

We're also trying to work out if we're better to build savings for the children (for their own house deposit one day) or overpay that off our mortgage so we will be in a better position to help when they are nearing that stage?

Personally I would focus on the mortgage rather than significant savings for the children.  If you are in a good place when they get to the point of buying houses then you could help them then.  We made a plan to pay off our mortgage by the time our daughters started Uni.  However then mortgages were 25 years not 35-40 which is sadly a reflection on house price inflation over the years.  I would start with small overpayments like maybe rounding up to the next £10.  It won't look a lot to start with but it mounts up and you won't miss the small amounts. Review in a years time. 

Thanks! I know it's crazy. Our first house we were lucky to make quite a lot of money on, but this meant the house we bought had obviously gone up massively too. We also got into a bidding war and ended up going quite significantly over asking price, however we really love the house and the area and the house didn't need any renovations, no onward chain so it was worth the extra for us with 2 little ones! 

I genuinely worry what it will be like for our children trying to buy a house! We didn't get any financial support in buying but it's looking like our children will definitely need help!

CreditCardJunkie

So I'm becoming a little bit obsessed with mortgage overpayments 😂

I suppose this is good because this is how I got out of debt.

I've decided the money we were going to save for the kids will go to the mortgage overpayments. I'm also going to try and be super creative with the food budget and lump any savings here off the mortgage too.

I've been making bread and pancakes today and reckon I could save around £40 a month by making these and wraps at home instead of buying them (yes really!). Honestly they taste so much better too and are very much approved by the littles which is half the battle!

I've calculated we could shave 19 years off the mortgage with what we said we'd regularly over pay, what we were originally going to save for the kids and by making bread, pancakes and wraps at home!

CreditCardJunkie

Another mortgage over payment today. My santander app tells me that each overpayment we've made has shaved a month off the mortgage, so that's 2 in total.

DH and I are genuinely horrified at how much of our monthly mortgage payment is interest 🙈

CreditCardJunkie

Another day and another overpayment 🙏

1 more month off the mortgage!

LadyWithAPlan

Go you ! Well done 
Some people here track their daily interest ££ going down as you pay your mortgage -

regular savers are you can add in X max in a month so Coventry it’s max £250 a month 
So you don’t get 7% on 12 x £250 as £3k isn’t in there for the whole year but as it grows each month 
so you can get regular savers with different bank accts and for you both - all helps 

CreditCardJunkie

LadyWithAPlan said:

Go you ! Well done 
Some people here track their daily interest ££ going down as you pay your mortgage -

regular savers are you can add in X max in a month so Coventry it’s max £250 a month 
So you don’t get 7% on 12 x £250 as £3k isn’t in there for the whole year but as it grows each month 
so you can get regular savers with different bank accts and for you both - all helps 

Thank you!

DH has been paid today and has made his overpayment so that's another month down!!

CreditCardJunkie

I've just been paid today, made my overpayment so that's another month down!

carboot_karaoke

Hi @CreditCardJunkie I've just read your diary. Your making great progress but l warn you reducing your mortgage term can become quite addictive 

I agree with the other MS to focus on reducing your mortgage before building up the savings for your children especially with mortgage interest being so brutal at the moment.  

Your family situation reminded me of the first time we set out to be mortgage free with a young family, l admit at times l didn't get the balance between wanting to overpay, and enjoying the here and now quite right. I wished I'd been a bit more flexible. 

Now we are on the MF journey again I've set a few ground rules. I save in everyway l can that WONT negatively affect my children. for example, using comparison sites for utilities, insurances etc you can save a fortune.

Always doing a food plan cuts down on extra trips to the supermarket and food waste.

I buy good quality, new or nearly new clothing from Ebay or Vinted - no one knows.

We very rarely have takeaways - we mastered the fake away during covid. Instead we save the equivalent of a few takeaways and go out for dinner instead. No cooking and making memories at the same time   

I'm sure you'll pick up lots of tips on your journey