How much do you pay for Mortgage?

[wanderlove]

We are starting to look at moving in the Autumn. At the moment we pay about £1000 a month but we are overpaying and trying to get ahead. We've just looked at a beautiful house but our mortgage payment would be about £1500 a month. We do need a bigger house as we have 4 kids in a three bedroom. It's fine at the moment but as they grow we will need more space. At the moment we manage to save £1000 a month on top of paying the mortgage. I don't mind scrimping to do this; I shop at Lidl, get the kids clothes second hand and we generally go on uk holidays and camp. I guess for me I enjoy spending money on a home rather than other things to make me happy. However I am also very careful with money so thinking about taking on a big mortgage makes me very nervous. By moving I will reduce my commute to nothing so will save a tank of petrol (approximately £70 per week) and also have to pay less in childcare as won't need to use the 7am breakfast club (approx £40 a week) so the move could save in other areas of our budget about £400.
I am feeling really anxious and have no idea if it seems like too much. Would you mind telling me how much your mortgage is and perhaps more importantly what % of your income it is?
Also any things I need to think about consider when taking on a big mortgage particular when working out if I can afford it.

In this climate, your main consideration should be how would you cope financially if one of you lost your job or became ill and couldn't work.

Could you still afford your mortgage?

We are high earners but our mortgage has never been more than what we could afford comfortably on one wage. We overpaid also and have been mortgage free since late 30s.

[quote postyourlunch]@nettie434 when ds was small breakfast used to autocorrect to breast milk on my phone [/quote]
It's such a strange change isn't it, postyourlunch Could be embarrassing in some contexts. On that note I am off to make breakfast but not breasts. Although I wouldn't mind some new ones.

We're about to go to 21% although outgoings will be increasing too as bigger house and further away from work. I won't lie, interest rates going up makes my blood run cold, I'm well aware what's happened in the past. I'm hoping to fix for 5 years, after that if we are set staying put I may even shoot for a 10 year fix if it's affordable for us as I hate the unknown.

£2500 per month. 50% of net income. It's all relative. If it was £370 and 50% of net income I'd only have a small amount to live on rest of the month, pay bills, take holiday. We have enough in our last 50% to do the other stuff although we also shop at Aldi, have holidays in this country etc. because we save for the kids etc.

£570 which is about 15% of our pre covid income. Our income has gone down drastically since lockdown so it's now 30% of our income

@Pipandmum
How many times!! I know figures alone are meaningless... that's why I've been asking for percentages of earnings to try and see the norm and people's experiences on these percentages. That is relevant and actually has been really helpful. I get that a figure means nothing in isolation but that is not what I am asking. I've clarified this a couple of times now but still people telling me off for asking without reading the whole op and thread

That's Mumsnet for you, wanderlove!

@CallmeAngelina
I know right. Give me strength. I think there's a 1 to 10 ratio of people giving me really helpful answers and someone telling me figures mean nothing alone. I know! That's why I asked for percentages of income!

@justmarriedbecca
Wow that's quite high but as you say still gives you lots of income. I'm not a spender. I don't crave to buy my food in m and s rather than Lidl for example. I sort of enjoy living simply and frugally for the freedom to save and from worrying about money. For extra information we have no debts other then the mortgage and own our cars etc. We could potentially even think about downsizing to one car as the kids schools, nursery and my work would be in the same town and about 10 minutes walk.

25% of our income. We’re not high earners but we live in an ex council house (In the north) that some would be snobby about! I occasionally eye up new builds, but I like working part time and having disposable income.

Do any of you live in the south east? Even 1500/mo over 25 years is about a mortgage of 300k which buys next to nothing down here.

£2,200 which is around 23% of our take home.

Dont put yourself in a position of getting something that in the event there is a small change in interest rates you wont be able to afford.

12.5% of our combined take-home pay - due to go on mat leave in a couple of months though and can't imagine getting back to my pre-baby earnings for some time so that figure will probably be higher in future.

@BubblyBarbara
No we will be moving from quite a cheap area of the North East to quite a pricey area of North Yorkshire. Our actual mortgage will be about £350 k because we have about £110 k In savings and equity.

That sounds like a nice upgrade and not a bad mortgage rate either, Hope it works out!

Tbh honest I think it will be unlikely we get this particular house as I don't want to put an offer in until my other half has secured the government contract and the house will go. I feel a bit heartbroken but we have no option to make sure we are financially secure. It has however made me realise that I want to completely look at finances and different eventualities and to put offers in based on good financial planning not just what we can afford

@BubblyBarbara
I just watched a location, location location in London and a 350 k mortgage got you a 1 bed flat. I honestly don't know how normal people like teachers and nurses manage. We are professionals, a teacher and an engineer and have not inherited any money or bought particularly young. We are just average in a way so I am really grateful to live somewhere we can do this!! I know that it is impossible in some areas

46% of my current take home pay. I pay the mortgage and bills. But my husband earns a similar amount and pays for the nice things we do. Works for me as I'm a control freak and he's a spendthrift.

@dancingonmycervix
I like that style of management!!

Nearly £3500, which includes 10% overpayment. Equates to nearly 50% of basic wage.

£1600 or 13% of monthly net income

Percentages aren't very meaningful either as it would be a lot harder to manage a £500 mortgage on a £2000 income than it would a £2000 mortgage on a £8000 income.

Plus expectations on other spending vary enormously, the amount people like to spend on groceries, beauty treatments, holidays, cars, days out etc, vary by many times as do fixed costs like commuting and childcare, some people need to spend loads on these, others virtually nothing.

You just have to consider your situation and expectations and think carefully about money coming in and going out and seeing what will work for you.

20% of my income - £300 a month for a 2 bed.

Houses are pretty cheap and wages are poor where I live though so it's all relative

Ours is around £650 a month. It's about 12% of our monthly income. We were looking to move up the ladder but have decided to stay put for now and revisit the idea next year. We haven't been overpaying recently, nursery fees eat into our monthly budget massively, but we've done some figures and we do fritter money on inconsequential things, so will be reducing that as want to recommence overpaying now so we are in a more favourable position when we start looking at moving again.

Rubbish at working out %. Our monthly income is circa £5k and our mortgage is £1100. So around 20%?!

Our first home was a 2 bed mid terrace in London bought with a 5% deposit. Our mortgage was £1500 and that was SO tough on our much lower salaries.

In your circumstances I would probably go for it.