Another Mortgage Conversation

Remember it would cost us €25.000 to change our mortgage. Well, we threw that offer in the bin. However, some banklady phoned and asked us whether we were still interested in a meeting to talk about our mortgage. I told her the fine was too big. She was shocked at this number and was sure something was wrong. She knew for sure she would be able to get us a better deal.

Today we had a meeting via Skype, very handy with two little ones in the house. This time around another bank employee calculated an €18.000 fine. Ehm…right. The interest rate for five years she was able to offer us was as low as 1.9%! Wonderful! Strange thing is that our monthly mortgage payment would go up a little, even though we now have a 4.35% deal. This is because we have this savings mortgage deal….difficult to explain to the non-Dutch. They’re not available anymore….but we’re stuck with one! (unless we move houses, that way we can get rid of it without the fine)

Oh wel….this means that we can’t use our excess money to throw into our mortgage. Our other options are (unless we want to spend it on useless shit…) to either save or invest. We’re all for the latter, yet again!

Lots of love,

Mrs EconoWiser

Exciting Plans Ahead

Now that I sort of have more energy compared to being pregnant (haha, the baby boy doesn’t really know the difference between day and night just yet…) I sense that I am starting to get things going in my life again. As we do not desire to have more kids, our family is complete now. Having been pregnant for almost two years in a row has been tiring. My lower blood pressure dropped to 40 most of the time and didn’t go over 60. Yep…that meant feeling tired and having no energy at all…for 18 months in total.

Oh, wait, this wasn’t going to be a complainypants blog.

I’d do it again all in a heartbeat. We are thrilled with our kids! Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that I am able to do things again…if the kids let me 😉 My first round of decluttering Kondostyle was a huge success. I managed to fill up the whole car (!!!) with shit I don’t want anymore and drove it to a thrift shop collection point. I also have some exciting ideas for things I want to do on the Web. Still working on those ideas. I have also started to devour books again (low blood pressure even took away my appetite for reading!), yay!

Lots of love,

Mrs EconoWiser

P.s. Life is wonderful. Enjoy every moment and do not waste time and energy on things that aren’t worth it.

Tidying Up….Kondostyle

I’ve read the translated into Dutch version of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. She’s a bit cuckoo, but her writings have worked rather contagiously for me. It’s hardly doable with a seven-week-old who wants to be carried around all the time AND an almost fourteen-month-old….but hey, let’s do this!

You can also listen to the English version here.

However, I am cheating or not don’t stick to her plan. I just can’t go through all my clothes first…since I haven’t lost all the pregger weight yet. So that’s a good excuse, isn’t it? 😉 I really want to try on everything I own first, before I start to toss things out.

KonMarie is all the rage….have you started tidying your home yet?

Lots of love,

Mrs EconoWiser

Frugal Holiday

We were thinking about our holiday(s) this year. We thought we’d rent a nice family cottage somewhere in The Netherlands. Then we started thinking about what we’d be doing all day. Well, with two kids under 18 months you’ll probably end up playing in and around the cottage, feeding them and putting them to sleep once in a while. So, why exactly do we want to pay top euros for such a deal? Hm….

We ditched that plan and decided to stay with close relatives who have a beautiful home which always reminds me of a holiday cottage and thus being on holiday when we stay there. Problem solved! How about that for a frugal holiday? And we’ll have free babysitters included in the deal. 😉

Next year I’d like to look into a home exchange. We don’t live in Amsterdam, which people in the home exchange scene seem to find very attractive. So I hope we’ll be able to find a match. I’d love to swap homes with a family in Great Britain. The hubby is very hesitant about this idea.

I think it’s a great idea. It’s frugal and fun. All these homes that are left empty while the owners are on holiday renting a very expensive temporary place to stay is a waste indeed.

Have you ever done a home exchange?

Lots of love,

Mrs EconoWiser

Last Month’s Numbers

April 2015
Mortgage: 33.47%
Emergency fund: 296% 
Stash (=EF + stocks): 17.3% 
Savings rate this month: 34% (we splurged on a new born photoshoot and another baby carrier, I had to pay “my own risk” health insurance…it’s a Dutch thingy)
Savings rate this year: 33% (+1%!!!! I am hoping for a 40% savings rate this year…but 50% would be awesome.)

From now on I’ll pick up blogging again…promise! 🙂

Lots of love,

Mrs EconoWiser