The holidays are supposed to feel joyful — lights up, family in town, kids vibrating with excitement — but let’s be honest. They’re also expensive.

Travel. Gifts. Extra groceries for hosting. Winter tires. Property tax installments. The credit card that still hasn’t come down from summer.

If you’re already feeling stretched going into November and December, one of the smartest moves you can make is to look at your mortgage before the holiday bills start rolling in — not after. That’s where a refinance can help.

Let’s walk through what that means (in plain English), when it makes sense, and how it could give you some breathing room heading into the new year.

First: what does “refinancing” actually mean?

Refinancing is when we replace your current mortgage with a new one.

You’re not adding a second mortgage. You’re restructuring the one you already have so it works better for you right now. That can include:

• accessing some of your home equity as cash

• changing your rate or term

• consolidating other, more expensive debt into one payment

Think of it like reorganizing your financial closet before company shows up. Same house. Just cleaner.

Why would someone refinance before the holidays?

1. To roll high-interest debt into something manageable

Credit cards and lines of credit are often in the double digits. Your mortgage is (usually) much lower.
When you refinance, you may be able to take those balances — the $8K on the Visa, the $5K remaining from the basement reno, the “we’ll pay it off next month” travel card — and fold them into one payment at a lower rate.

Result: one predictable payment instead of five, and way less interest piling up while you’re trying to shop for stockings.

This is especially helpful if December normally means, “We’ll just put it on the card and sort it out in January.” January-you is tired. Let’s not do that to them.

2. To free up monthly cash flow

Groceries are more expensive. Fuel is more expensive. Kids’ activities are… let’s not even talk about hockey.

Refinancing may allow you to stretch out the amortization (the length of time left on the mortgage). That can reduce your monthly mortgage payment.

Lower monthly mortgage payment = more room in the budget for seasonal costs like travel, gifts, or even just heating the house without panicking.

Note: this doesn’t erase what you owe. You’ll likely pay over a longer timeline. But for a lot of families, cash flow right now matters more than “in 18 years.” That’s a conversation we have together so you understand the trade-off and feel good about it.

3. To get ahead of holiday/January stress instead of reacting to it

Most people call me in mid-January and say:
“We had a great Christmas… and now we’re buried.”

By that point, the spending already happened. The interest already started compounding. The options are usually tighter and feel more urgent.

When we start in late October / November, you’re in control. We can review the numbers calmly, position you with a lender, and make a plan that supports you rather than patching holes after the fact.

Proactive almost always beats emergency mode.

“But don’t I have to wait until my mortgage term ends?”

Not necessarily.

You can refinance mid-term. There may be a penalty to break your current mortgage early — and yes, we talk about that up front before anyone signs a thing.

Here’s the part most people don’t know:
Sometimes the penalty is actually cheaper than continuing to carry high-interest debt for another year.

We’ll do the math. I’ll show you side by side:

• “Here’s what you’re paying now if you change nothing.”

• “Here’s what it would look like if we refinance, even after the penalty.”

If staying put truly costs you less, I will tell you to stay put. (And I do that all the time. A good mortgage strategy protects you; it doesn’t push you.)

“Will refinancing hurt my credit?”

Handled properly, refinancing can actually help your credit in the medium term.

Why? Credit scores love two things:

1. Low utilization (not using all of your available credit)

2. On-time payments

If we use a refinance to pay down or pay off revolving balances, your utilization drops, and you’re no longer juggling five different due dates. That’s often a score booster, not a score killer.

“Can we just do a small top-up instead of a full refinance?”

Sometimes, yes.

We can look at options like:

• a small increase to the current mortgage amount

• a HELOC (home equity line of credit) tied to your property

• or a step product that gives you a fixed mortgage + revolving component

The right move depends on:

• how much you need

• how fast you’re planning to pay it back

• your income and credit profile

• how comfortable you are with variable vs fixed exposure

This is where custom advice matters. Your neighbour’s solution is not automatically your solution, even if you have the same street and the same builder.

The “this might be the right time” checklist

You should absolutely reach out before the holidays if any of this sounds familiar:

• “We use credit cards to float normal life, not just extras.”

• “Our mortgage renewal is coming in the next 18 months anyway.”

• “We’ve got equity in the house, but cash flow is tight.”

• “We’re worried about affording gifts/travel/food without digging a deeper hole.”

• “We’ve got balances that never seem to go down, just get shuffled.”

If you’re nodding to two or more of those, a pre-holiday refinance chat is worth it.

What happens when you reach out to me?

Here’s our process — super low pressure:

1. Quick conversation
   You tell me what’s keeping you up at night, money-wise. No judgment. I’ve heard everything.

2. Snapshot review
   I look at your current mortgage, debts, income, and goals. You’ll hear phrases like “cash flow,” “penalty math,” and “total cost of funds,” but I promise I’ll translate all of it into normal human.

3. Options
   I’ll lay out what’s realistically available for you right now (not what a bank ad says generally), along with the pros, cons, and risks.

4. You decide
   If it makes sense to move forward, we move. If it doesn’t, you at least know your numbers heading into the holiday season, which already feels better.

No pressure. No lecture. Just clarity.

Let me leave you with this

The holidays are emotional. Money is emotional. When those two collide, people tend to either avoid it (“Future Me will fix this”) or panic (“We’re in trouble, do something fast”).

Refinancing — done properly, with full math and full transparency — is not about “spending more for Christmas.” It’s about lowering stress so your household can get through December without robbing January.

If you want to talk it through quietly before things get hectic, call, text, or DM me and ask for a “pre-holiday refinance checkup.” I’ll take it from there.

—

Charlotte Ferguson
Level 2 Mortgage Agent (M08009211)
DLC National Ltd #12360 – Guiding Star Mortgage Group
📞 519-575-1804 | ✉️ cferguson@dominionlending.ca
🌐 www.mortgagewithchar.com | 💬 @mortgagewithchar