tips so we dont go under

Hi gypsy kylz smile

How exciting for you and your family!!!
I agree with pp to factor in future rate increases, hopefully it doesn't happen for awhile but at least you'll be prepared if it happens.
Pay repayments fortnightly or weekly.
Also agree with pp to pay extra off your loan whenever you can afford it, It really saves you in interest.
Shop around for insurance as you can get some really good deals out there and also if you combine policies it usually gives you a discount.
Have a look at what other interest rates are at other banks as quite often the banks are willing to give a better rate if they think you are shopping around plus they usually waive fees for other accounts etc.
Have a look at your grocery bill and see if theres anyway you can make saving there.
Buy in bulk your staple ingredients and toiletries,nappys when on sale.
Try not to use credit cards keep them for emergencys and use cash for day to day expenses.
Figure out how much you want to spend on grocery's each week and only withdraw that amount.
Bake your own biscuits and cakes etc for the family I find it works out cheaper for me to do this.
Plan cheaper going out ideas like packing a picnic to go to park or beach.
Buy your kids clothing at end of season and buy some in their next sizes, you can make big savings. Or if you don't mind going to op shops you can get really good clothing for really cheap prices.

Good luck, it will be so nice for you to bring your children up in your own home smile

Here are some good free budget planner tools (I liked and downloaded the Family Budget Planner): http://christianpf.com/10-free-household-budget-spreadsheets/

Another tip is, the more you stick to whole foods (rather than processed) the more you save and it's so much better for your health.

[quote name='gypsy kylz' date='02 February 2012 - 01:29 AM' timestamp='1328146155' post='3136781'] good idea we hadnt thought of doing that! i think our rate is 7.8% so maybe calculate it at 8.5% or higher? If i were you i would be looking around at other interest rates, as that seems fairly high, even for fixed. i have seen fixed rates for 6.5%. also my interest rate is only 6.60% variable. so it maybe worth your while to look around or see someone from mortage choice. thats if you are in australia

HI gypsy kylz

I would say all the above info is pretty good but also try and get an OFFSET account with your loan, ANY extra cash/mortgage repayments in here until they go out as it will save you THOUSANDS in interest smile

Great advice from so many people! My advice would be to see a mortgage broker. Many of them are free and invaluable. We've just moved lenders because a broker got us a fixed rate at 5.98% for 50% of our loan foot 2 years and variable at 6.18 for the other 50%.

I also calculated how much our bills were a year in advance and then we put enough away each week to cover them. My DH and I both get an 'allowance' each week and anything extra has to have a good reason. Some banks allow you to set up xmas accounts thar you can regularly put money into but only access from nov-jan. This means that christmas doesn't come as such a shock. Man, I've got heaps of ideas! DH and I saved a 10% deposit while he was an apprentice and I was fulltime student. We bought or home at the ages of 22 and even though I didn't work fulltime we are $10k in chance on home loan. It is totally possible ifyou are frugal. Good luck!!

We have a budget working out approximately how much each bill is divide it by how many pays we have in a year and then have a separate account for each major bill and put aside enough money each pay so that when the bill arrives the money is there. We also pay a bit extra on our home loan which so far has cut about 10 years off our loan (only had the mortgage for 4 years so far) good luck with it all nothing quite like owning your own home and being able to do whatever you want to it smile