What mortgage would you be prepared to pay on this salary?

[Ricepops]

Not stealth boast, we're just rethinking after quite a big change in household finances. Our household income is £6800 per month. We have 2 DC. Childcare costs are approx £200 per month. We run one car, which we own outright, but will probably need to get a new one in a couple of years.

We are in our late 30s and currently pay £1200 on our mortgage per month. Since our childcare costs have gone down a lot and our salaries have increased a bit, we think we could pay more and move to a bigger house. However it feels crazy somehow to spend as much money in real life as we worked out we could afford on paper, if you know what I mean.

What monthly mortgage would you be prepared to pay?

We aimed for just over 1/4 of our income on mortgage. 4.5 years later it’s less than 1/4 so when we refix in 6 months I’m hoping to shorten the term by 5 years so we’ll pay it off sooner.

We could afford significantly more but our house meets our needs and nothing on the market that would cost the extra we can afford grabs my interest more so we’ll stay here and enjoy living life with money available plus the flexibility that if one of us lost a job or was too ill to work we’d be okay and not have to move. If your house doesn’t meet your needs then move but otherwise, don’t put yourself through the stress.