We moved to this house in late 2005 and took a £130k mortgage (about 47%LTV) - a big jump from our previous £34k mortgage! Because it was such a large jump (and we had DS2 on the way) we did increase the term - we took the £130k out over 20 years. However, it was always my intention that we'd pay it off sooner if possible. Along the way we've had some building works done and a new (bespoke real wood with granite worktops) kitchen put in (cost approx £20k). We also took a further advance of £30k in Dec 2008 (when DS3 was on the way!) for a loft conversion (cost around £36k) That meant our borrowing against this house has been a total of £160k - eek! However, our total mortgage is now just over £86k, and we are looking at an end date of 07/2017, as opposed to 11/2025 - not bad! We regularly overpa each month by rounding up our mortgage payment and I also pay any 'extra' money we receive to there - the premise being that if we weren't expecting it as our usual money then we won't miss it if it goes on the mortgage. Today's £110 was made up of money saved in a tin (1ps, 2ps, 5ps and £2 coins), a refund from a magazine subscription (cancelled as they went out of print) and the sale of some clothes. Ebay sales money goes there, as does any money received from cashback sites, nct sales and the like.
We try to strike a good balance between paying the mortgage off early (we have no other debts) and still having a fun life and treats. We're off to Disneyland Paris in October this year (cashback obtained, naturally!) and use things like Tesco clubcard vouchers for days at Legoland. We could tighten our belts further and hit the mortgage harder, but we might resent it then - this way life is still fun, but treats are recognised as such as they are not an everyday occurence.
Mickey Mouse pizza :)
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