For once in our lives...we've come into cash!!! £30,000!! AIBU to ask WWYD?

[Stripedmum]

Well it's only gone and happened - we have money! Yippee!

We are now thinking of extending. What would you do with the cash?

Pay it off the mortgage.

[needsto get a life emoticon]

Wipe out debt, stick the rest in a high interest account for the kids, as it'd be the only way they'll ever afford to do university.

Pay the window cleaner

how exciting - congratulations

Pay off loan
Book a holiday
New bathroom
Don't know after that!

Purely from a financial point of view, what You should do depends what rate you're paying on your mortgage and if there are penalties for reducing the balance through one off payments. For paying down your mortgage not to be the best option, the other options need to yield more than that.

Eg if you spend 30k on the extension and it increases the value of your house by 30k but you're currently paying 5% on your mortgage then you'd have been better off paying down the mortgage and saving money each month.

However, if you're on some crazy low deal- like you're paying 1% or something, you'd be better off sticking the money into an Isa ( will take 2 tax yrs but do one now and another on 6 April 2014) as the return will likely be more than the interest on the mortgage

New bathroom.

Wood floors downstairs.

Make cellar into a usable room.

Maybe put some aside for when/if DCs go to uni?

Dunno but congratulations!

Everyone is so clever with money. We are so shite. Lots of good ideas here - Mortified you really stretched it to good use.

There's no penalties for one off mortgage payments but is it really bad to say we want to enjoy it now? I think with our two DCs the extension could be part sensible - adding value to property and more space for their plastic mounds of stuff - but also fun and exciting.

The buy to let idea is a good one too. Never thought of that!

I think if you are facing not having enough space and potentially moving in the future, it would make more sense to extend now. If we just came into a similar sum, I'd convert the loft. We love our house, just could do with a little more space upstairs.

Have a great holiday, put a bit in the bank for a rainy day and the rest off the mortgage.

"I would put in the bank and sit on it for a while to avoid making silly mistakes."

This^^

Then maybe some in the mortgage and some for a holiday

holiday, extension or put away as. nice nest egg for rainy day.

lovely for you.

When something similar happened to us, we put it all in Premium Bonds whilst we waited to build our extension. We won each month and received more in winnings than we would have in interest over the same period.

Congrats and enjoy :)

Lucky you
Clear credit card, pay off some of mortgage, then nice holiday to
St. Lucia me DH and kids

Are you thinking of moving for schools? Or staying put? That would influence my decision as to extend or not!

Add extension, but keep some back for savings. And a treat for the family - maybe a holiday (while extension being done!).

Congrats!

new kitchen, bathroom, carpets, orangerie, garden landscaped, bed room furniture that matches, give kids few quid to go mad with and a great holiday!

Certainly an extension. And if you have any left after this then a family holiday would be nice.

I think some needs to be 'rainy day' money - perhaps put 3 months mortgage repayments in an 'emergency' fund. Put some extra savings aside for the children.

Then see how much is left over for the extension.

Scarily, £30,000 doesn't go all that far these days.

You might also think about investments that save you money in the long term, like getting a more reliable car.

Yay you! When the same sort of thing happened to us we decided to put it towards holidays, so we would save a couple of grand and then use a few grand to "up" the holiday. Ie Florida rather than our usual beach holiday

If I got the money today, I would replace the doors in the house, put some money aside to sort the garden next year and probably put the rest towards holidays

I would build an extension, you may as well get the tangible benefit of it now.

Moving house will cost you at least £10k.
(Eg based on your current house value £235k; you will end up buying a new house for more than that £250k - stamp duty will be 3% = £7500 minimum.
Estate agent 1% £2300; Solicitor, £500 +)

That's a 3rd of your windfall already.

I would have a lovely large family room built - kitchen dining living all in one. 20sq m would cost you between £20k & £30k according to [[
www.channel4.com/4homes/build-renovate/building-renovating-advice/extension-costs-how-much-do-extensions-cost-10-05-18 this]] website.

Also a lovely trip which your family will always remember. I would ask (if DCs are young enough to take them out of school, why pay through the nose for designated holidays.)

When i was young, my DM took me to the US for a month. I still remember it 30 years later

Interest rates are shite at the moment for savers, I would think very carefully before simply putting it in the bank. Paying off the mortgage, or spending it on something sensible would be better.

Perhaps a session with an independent financial adviser would be an idea?

WOOOOOOH!! For you! How gorgeous. xxxx

Deposit on a buy to let is what I would do, better long term investment I think.