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Original poster

Mortgage repayments are terrifying

167 replies

LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 17:59

My mortgage is up for renewal and I've had some quotes from my mortgage advisor.

My payments are going up by £400 per month.

I work part time and my husband works full time. We are barely scraping by just now and are in some debt as it is.

We can increase our term which will lower it but we will still be paying £200 more per month and adding a other 8 years onto our mortgage.

Any advice :( is this just the ways things are going just now?

OP posts:
CatsOnTheChair · 08/09/2023 18:05

It's definitely the way things are going right now.
Is there any way to increase your hours? Or does childcare make that a minimal increase in money available?

Unfortunately I think the low interest rates we have seen for the past decade are long gone, and the current rates are more representative of typical values. But that doesn't help if the money isn't there to pay for it.

Original poster
LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:07

Yeah we have a toddler so I dropped my hours to do childcare.

He is starting nursery but still wouldn't allow me to go back full time.

It's heartbreaking

OP posts:
BMrs · 08/09/2023 18:08

Sorry- this happened to us too. The only other thing we did in addition to increase our term was to condense a loan we had onto our mortgage so we didn't have the additional month payments for that. Not great in the long term but helped us manage a £600 increase in the short term at least

Dolly567 · 08/09/2023 18:11

Would this be the most you can extend by? Flowers got my appt Sunday nervous

Original poster
LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:13

It's horrific isn't it! I don't know how people manage.

We both have reasonably well paid jobs too so it's not like we earn minimum wage.

In fed up just getting by every month. Also feel like a lot of pressure is on my husband with finances since I've got part time.

Doesn't help I absolutely hate my job and dread ever having to go back full time.

Currently trying to think of a wide career I can do to make some more cash.

OP posts:
Original poster
LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:13

@Dolly567 this was the deals our mortgage adviser came back with. He is a family member too so I trust he is getting us the best possible deal out there.

OP posts:
NoSquirrels · 08/09/2023 18:14

I think all you can do is accept that if you need a lower payment right now, then extending the term is the right decision, and remember that your toddler won’t be in the high childcare years forever, so it’s s case of grinning and bearing it and looking forward to when things improve in the future.

Dox9 · 08/09/2023 18:16

I would do whatever is needed to get through next 2-3 years and look at things again then. Your childcare needs & costs will decrease, you or dh may have pay rises, interest rates may come down a bit. Extending term for now doesn't mean you can't reduce term in a few years when your circumstances are probably a bit different.

boboshmobo · 08/09/2023 18:18

This is the problem with people maxxing themselves out. You always need a decent buffer !

NoSquirrels · 08/09/2023 18:19

If you both earn OK but you’re carrying a bit of debt, do you have a rock-solid budget that accounts for everything you need to spend? Not just monthly bills but all the annual or less frequent expenses that add up - Christmas, birthdays, car MOT and maintenance, house repairs etc?

DysonSpheres · 08/09/2023 18:24

boboshmobo · 08/09/2023 18:18

This is the problem with people maxxing themselves out. You always need a decent buffer !

Some people can only get a mortgage they can just afford or it's nothing. No one expects such a sudden hike in their mortgage, plus whatever buffer they initially had may have dwindled with the cost of living + childcare.

Original poster
LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:26

@boboshmobo when we had the house we had a decent buffer and I was full torn but circumstances and various things that's have gone wrong meant our buffer is completely gone.

We used to be quite comfortable and have disposable income but unfortunately everything has gone up.

OP posts:
Original poster
LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:28

@NoSquirrels

No we don't. We just do what we need to do to get by to be honest.

The debt was accumulated by maxing our credit cards just to live and buy food shops or pay for car repairs.

It wasn't used for holidays or luxuries.

OP posts:
manontroppo · 08/09/2023 18:30

What are your employment prospects like? Are you under employed and could you get a good earning bump by looking for a new job? You need to not be married to a dickhead who will do his proper share of shitwork but assuming you can’t spend less, you need to earn more.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 08/09/2023 18:30

Well yeh that is how it is right now. We just had to add on 8 years to our mortgage and we pay childcare fees etc. We have no money left at the end of the month even though we are earning the most we have ever earned.
It's smarts a bit, doesn't it?

pjani · 08/09/2023 18:31

Have you tried putting your details into a few mortgage deal websites just to check your family friend’s deal definitely looks the best? Extending by 8 years sounds rough. I am also wondering if there is any way you can up your hours. Good luck!

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 08/09/2023 18:32

Oh and check to see if you can overpay to get yourself into the next Loan to Value bracket because that means any mortgage offers should be a bit better than the one you just got

Firkinhavinalaugh · 08/09/2023 18:34

come the end of the year ours will be treble what it currently is. For the last 16 years this has been affordable for us, however it won’t be next year.

so: buffer - yes, you should have one but frankly if we had three times as much money we wouldn’t have had the mortgage on the first place……. So we are fucked. Not helped by Covid/col and that our businesses have really suffered so we haven’t had pay rises etc That healthy buffer we did have is long gone. But please do carry on being smug about it!

DysonSpheres · 08/09/2023 18:34

Is your husband earning to his potential? What kind of work does he do? Is there scope for him to transfer to another company who pays more? Could he ask for a raise?

Purplerain0505 · 08/09/2023 18:34

Can you earn an extra £200 per month doing a second job? If you’re part time because of childcare maybe you can work a few evenings or a day on the weekend. I know a few people who do this to juggle the childcare better when their kids are young.

Hungrycaterpillarsmummy · 08/09/2023 18:36

Sorry I keep thinking of things!

Once our new two yr fix ends, our child will get the free hours for nursery so we will have a lot more spare cash each month that we then plan to remortgage and overpay to reduce our mortgage term to what it is now and minus an extra two yrs basically undoing the mortgage term extension which kicks in this December.

Original poster
LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:45

@DysonSpheres

He's just had a promotion at work and now earns the most I think he can. He also works overtime every month to earn more cash so he's really doing all he can in that respect.

OP posts:
Original poster
LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:46

@Purplerain0505 would absolutely do this if I could think of something I could do evenings or weekends that would give me some extra cash.

My job is quite demanding as it is so when I get home I absolutely crash out but I'd be willing to do something that isn't too taxing!

Any ideas?

OP posts:
caringcarer · 08/09/2023 18:56

It's always hardest when the LO's are small. If you increase your term now by 8 years on a 2-3 term fix, once kids are all in school you can increase your hours and remortgage hopefully on a lower rate, but reduce your years again. I had to increase the years by 6 years years ago and was really upset because it felt like we were going backwards but after kids grew up and left home we overpaid and when mortgage came up for renewal deal we got rid of those extra years and in fact overpaid too now it's paid off 4 years early so don't think just because you have to add years on now it must be forever.

caringcarer · 08/09/2023 19:06

LemonAda376 · 08/09/2023 18:46

@Purplerain0505 would absolutely do this if I could think of something I could do evenings or weekends that would give me some extra cash.

My job is quite demanding as it is so when I get home I absolutely crash out but I'd be willing to do something that isn't too taxing!

Any ideas?

We were struggling to get a dog groomer as there seems to.be a shortage in our area. Our groomer cancelled due to getting Covid. We tried 4 other groomers but all full. Our girls looked bad after 3 more weeks so DH booked himself on to a course learning how to groom. He took one dog with him to learn on. The next day he ordered all the grooming gear and says he's doing them from now on. He's now done other dog and she looks great. He was chatting to our neighbour who said to our dogs oh what pretty girls been to the groomers. DH said he had done the course and did them himself. Our neighbour has asked him if he can groom her dog very similar breed. We pay £60 each dog including nail clipping and ear cleaning every 8 weeks. I have pointed out he'd need insurance to groom our neighbours dog but she has asked if he'll show her how to do it herself. I know you can get certified courses and then insurance. It is something you could fit around kids and so many people want dogs groomed at the weekend. It took DH 2 hours to bath, groom, clip toenails and ears for 1 dog.

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