Would you get a loan for this?

[Moanaorviana]

It would be 5 grand, €90 per month over 7 years

The money would be to do up the garden-fences, grass etc, plus some on the kitchen. We would also use a little over July & August as I start a new job in September and need a stop gap. The rest would be on a treat holiday to Disney Paris (we’ve had a traumatic year) and a little on Dds birthday
The money spent on the gardens would make a huge difference if we ever wanted to sell, plus tne little bits in the kitchen

Would you do this?

No,but I'm careful with money and don't like debt

If you are do comfortably off why not save the 5k over a year or 2 or pay for all these separate things out of spare money over the course of time?

You know deep down OP that you want to take the loan to fund lifestyle stuff you can't afford. What will you do next year when you want a holiday again, DD wants flash trainers for birthday, and the bathroom is looking shabby? Another 5k loan, another monthly repayment? Learn how to save until you can afford things

For house improvements that are tangible then yes a loan is ok in my view but paid back quicker so the total interest is less

loans for optional items like holidays, nope.

Artificial grass 🤮

Just buy some boxes of grass seed

You would be still paying off the loan long after you'd forgotten what you spent the money on. All the things you'd bought would have needed replacing and you'd still be paying for the originals.

You seem determined to do it. But you've had good advice on here. Get the washing machine on interest free, then reassess your finances when you have been back at work a few months.

Artificial grass is incredibly hot underfoot by the way, especially if you are abroad.
I have it and on sunny days you have to wear shoes constantly on it. Really difficult to put a paddling pool out for my kids etc as when they get out of the pool, they burn their feet!

Also echoing others - 7 years is ridiculously long to be paying off something. We consolidated some credit cards into one loan and had to pay that off for years, it was so demoralising as I couldn’t even remember what we were paying off anymore!

Work out how much you can pay back each month, you are suggesting €90is ok,
I would then multiply the amount you can pay per month by the number of months you can get free credit on a credit card. Then it is free debt. May not be enough for all you wants, but should be enough for boxes of grass seed for the lawn and any other needs.

Surely it’s more sensible to get 0% credit cards (if they still exist, I think they do) - given you’ve no other debt apart from a 100k mortgage. You can transfer the credit card amount to another 0% interest card when the period of no interest runs out. Then you’re not paying any interest but you get ‘the loan’. You just have to make sure you keep an eye on them and repay some into the 0% interest debt monthly.

Artificial grass really brings down the price of a house and puts off buyers because of the maintenance & removal costs. I've just bought a house & discounted viewing 20 houses with artificial grass.

Open up a premium bonds or stocks & shares account & save the money instead. Cut down on unnecessary expenditure, go through your monthly spending & divert spare cash into savings. Learn to manage your money better:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

Get a temporary or remote job over the summer for your living & holiday expenses instead of getting into debt. So many hospitality places need temporary staff over the summer. If you need a loan to go on holiday it means you can't afford it.

https://uk.indeed.com/m/jobs?q=temporary%20work%20remote&l=&radius=25&from=searchOnSerp&sameQ=1

This is starting to sound like an unconsidered way of borrowing..."might as well" add things in. What NEEDS doing now and what's the LEAST you absolutely need to borrow? Do you need a new phone? Could you get a reconditioned one? What kitchen things are truly essential and what can you make do with? Do you have any savings? How much could you save per month?

How old is your dd? Going to Disney in Paris during Nov will be freezing & miserable. Why not shift it to Easter or May half term so you have more daylight? You could save more towards your holiday budget if you go a bit later.

No, but only because you don't know how probation is going to go in your new job and I wouldn't borrow money for a holiday.

Plus it isn't a magic 5 grand. It's not going to stretch that far into the plans you have.

No.

Yes, don't assume you're permanent until you have passed your probation period in 6 months time. We got rid of someone who failed their probation period.

If you can easily afford £90 a month, you can put a washing machine on CC and pay it off real quick.
All the other things are not essentials. Save up. Getting loans is a slippery slope. What if you have a real emergency, you obviously have no savings so don't risk it. Don't gamble with finances.

A remortgage would be cheaper than a straight loan.
Id do neither though, as what you are talking about spending the money on are non-essentials, and should be saved up for instead.

But isn’t that the same with everyone? Doesn’t everyone have mortgage/rent, some form of loan or credit cards/overdraft etc? I thought we were doing quite well compared to most people in terms of borrowing and having only a small mortgage left

I'm not against borrowing at all, as it can be done in a well managed way but for the mix of things you want to use it for I absolutely wouldn't be able to justifying spreading that over 7 years, far too long, 18 months to 2 years max as they are all things you could pay for or save for in that time period so why spread it so long

She’d be 13/14 by then 😬 probably wouldn’t want to go

I always have done, it isn’t lifestyle things, garden has to be done. Trainers etc I can afford and bathroom or other bits ‘ll either save or accept them as they are

No way , home improvements maybe I’d look at adding to mortgage but never for a holiday

Not a chance. I’d save

It isn’t what we like either, but we have no choice. The garden has completely dried up, we have no rain for over 6 months at a time, to water that the water bills have become insane. Neighbours are the same, most have either left it as a brown soil/dirt mess or concreted over it all, which we don’t want

No, but I'm debt averse. We currently need two newer cars & our house needs painting, but are saving up for it. We save more than the repayments would be and it'll take years longer.

I'd never borrow for a holiday.

Not a chance
What happens if your boiler breaks? Car needs a repair? Roof leaks?
Can you get your washer fixed instead of replacing it.