Scrimp and save to pay mortgage off or live now?

Do 2 now and 3 when the children have finished uni.

Our mortgage wasn't that large. We have almost paid it off. We are mid/late 40s.
Pai d of 220000 or thereabouts within 7 years. ( this is our 2nd property together and we already paid a fair bit off the 1st mortgage)
I wish we hadn't and had enjoyed life more and done some lovely holidays and worked less to enjoy life more.
I am looking back at it and while financially it makes sense I wish we had prioritised our relationship and the kids and theses needs more.
We had repeated conversations about this and my OH didn't want to downsize/ have a less stressful job etc. I wish he had!

Your life will.change.

You will never get back the opportunities you lose now.

We paid our mortgage off in about 18 years.

Iworked part time so I could drop kids to school and pick them up, so had all the time with them.for activities etc. We went on nice holidays but the children remember camping as much as Florida so they don't have to be ££££. We ate well but I shopped at sensibly priced places. We didn't eat out much or have takeaways.

So I guess you say we hit a happy medium.

Now the children have flown the nest so any time with them is very different than it was. I'm happy our mortgage was paid as I've been able to retire early and now care for my Dad. You could say it's bought us choices but I wouldn't sacrifice spending time with your children now but I also.wouldnt overspend and I'd use that saving to.overpay the mortgage.

I would do 2 for 5 years and then 1 for 2.5 years as I'm guessing you will have fewer mouths to feed and fewer people to entertain/dress in 5 years time so should hopefully be able to save more year by year. Although if you have 13 year old triplets now then I'd say do 2. Don't do 3, the teens will probably not like it.

I doubt very much your teens will want to be uprooted and have to live in the country.

Option 2 gives you more options (and more money to cope with the most expensive child years coming up).

Enjoy your life, especially while your kids are at home. I speak as somebody whose mum died at 60 with lots of plans for "retirement" that she missed out on. I've seen too many tragic situations to assume that things can't go wrong. I'm sorry to sound maudlin but you have some really good options there and I'd be taking advantage of that. For me it would be the downsize and financial security alongside a better work/life balance.

We were lucky enough to pay our mortgage off about 5 years ago (we're late 40s now). To be honest, it hasn't been the life changing experience I expected.

Yes, it's been great not having to worry about all the interest rate hikes and we've had less impact from the COL crisis than most but it's all very intangible stuff - we know we should be grateful and we're lucky etc etc but given the choice on what to have done with that money, I think I'd have spent it on the fun stuff. I'd love to take DC to Florida, for example.

I think the more money you have, the more you just adjust your lifestyle to it. Not sure I'm really making sense here but basically I'd say enjoy life with your kids.

1 is no way to live. Life is too bloody short. You’d regret it if god forbid something happened and you never managed to enjoy things.

2 is your best bet with your view to aim for 3 further down the line.

We are paying ours off as we don't know how long we will be fit enough to work, or how long we will want to work- u never know the minute

That's just our personal choice!

I’d do two, then three once the kids have flown (unless they’d all like to do 3 now)

I live very rural and do more driving than I really want to and that's without teenagers! It would be a nightmare with older children, you'd be constantly ferrying them around.

I'd go too. Yes, you have to plan for the future, but it's really important to enjoy the present as that's all that's guaranteed.

Once kids leave home, I'd do 3 then.

Do you honestly think three teens will be happy to be uprooted from their friends and all they know? Not to mention some of them are likely to have started GCSEs.
If the kids were under 7, perfect. But do you honestly not see any downsides at all?

Other than interrupting schooling at vital ages, losing their friends, having fuck all in the way of activities to do, stifling their independence...

Option 2 here as well.... Was our plan and costs changed due various things and ended up spending less on holidays/travel than hoped but enabled more support around activities and education....and extension which made house better for us to live in

Mortgage paid much later than originally planned but hey that's life we had choices.... Some decisions i would possibly not do now in hindsight... But can't go back in time... And nothing major..

3! It’s a no-brainer for me, I can’t see a downside!

I'd go for 2 if it means that you can have a good quality of life and let you make the most of the time you have with your teens.
3 isn't fair on your kids, I really don't imagine they'd want to be uprooted to the countryside they don't like where you live now.

Do your teenage kids actually want to move to the country? It's a hard time to uproot them.

2 sounds like the best option- less disruption and a bit more balance. Once they have left school you can think about next steps. When are you hoping to retire?

Option 2. Teens are expensive and you don't need any addtional pressures.
Countryside life Is tricky for teens not used to it. That's an adult dream.

Life is too short for 1

We did 2 and I would do the same again

I meant 2.

Because childhood is only 18 years long and if you spend 5 years of a 13 year olds life living like a miser that's their teen years gone. Teens are great, and it's a brilliant time to start enjoying your kids having fun holidays not tortuous ones.

2 then 3, there is almost no virtue to 1 at all.

but why would you spend your life making a chicken last 5 meals if you don't have to.

1 sounds like the worst option, you're giving up several years of happiness and at the end of it you're still overpaying on utilities, council tax, maintaining an expensive house etc - unless you're planning to sell anyway after the kids leave.

We're doing No 1 because we want to be able to help our teens out with Uni and house deposits in a few years time when we don't have ongoing mortgage costs.

We have done the big Disneyworld holidays and abroad trips in the past but we've been concentrating on our house reno over the last couple of years so the kids can have more room at home. We're now downsizing our holidays to travel more often rather than a big expensive trip every few years. They have everything they need.

If you had young children i'd say 3 in a heartbeat, but since they're teens i'd suggest option 2. Then when they've left home go for 3.