I dream of a MF home for my plants

Idreamofplants

First time on here since April.  Life has been upside down with family issues and currently off work sick as have been feeling stressed.  Made OP in May and June totally £660. Not sure if will have any cash left this month. Have been spending a fortune on food and eating out.  Luckily I am still getting paid by work at the moment. Mortgage is due to go sub £160k next month. Lots of diaries to catch up on.

Idreamofplants

Today has been good.  Family came over for lunch and I mostly used up food we had in with the exception of a cherry pie which was £2 well spent.  Have started to look at our remortgage options as we can fix again over the next couple of months.  Wondering whether to go for a 5 year over a 2 year this time. Also not sure whether to keep the term at 11 years remaining and keep Oping or whether to reduce the term and commit to paying more each month.  It looks like our standard payment will be reducing just over £200 a month when the interest rate comes down.  Our costs will be changing quite a bit as we will have 2 children at Uni from Oct so the food bill will go down but we are going to have tutoring costs for the youngest as they are struggling loads with school work and my middle aged brain cannot follow most of what they are learning.  The biggest variable is I have no idea what I will be earning when I return to work. This is the main reason I've been keeping my head in the sand about my budget.  

Idreamofplants

Ok back on here for third day in a row so feeling a bit more ahead of things than I have for a while.  Still contemplating the new mortgage term - over 10 years will be about £1609 a month whilst over 11 years is about £1490 if we go for a 2 year fix.  There is a 3 year fix available with similar rates (3.94 as opposed to 3.86). I'm thinking possibly going for the 3 year as we will be paying an arrangement fee which is the same for both 2 and 3 year fixes.  The other option is to go for a 5 year fix but and this is a huge but, I just wonder if we could OP the whole thing within 5 years.  If we take out a 5 year fix is assuming this is not possible at the outset. There again within the next 5 years it is likely all 3 of the kids will have either completed/started Uni so unlikely we will have the cash spare to significantly OP consistently whilst they all need help to pay their rent. 
Planning on a cinema trip with DD today then a trip to the gym and library on the way back.  
Things to be grateful for today:
- getting time with my kids whilst I am off work
- Youngest has had a good few days at school after the worst time during June
- I have felt able to think about money the past couple of days so hopefully my head is out of the sand