We took a variable mortgage last round (December 2020) because we were considering moving with a couple years. Supposedly the penalties of getting out of a fix

We took a variable mortgage last round (December 2020) because we were considering moving with a couple years. Supposedly the penalties of getting out of a fixed rate were costly, whereas they are less so (none?) with the variable flavour. Yet, we are still here and now our payments have gone up nearly 25% :(