Open Up to Me - A Savings Diary

_Amaryllis_
_Amaryllis_ Posts: 50 Forumite
First Anniversary
in How much have you saved?
I thought I would start this as a kind of New Year's Resolution. I do have friends IRL but given their situations if I start complaining to them about my situation they might resort to physical violence.

My situation:
I'm 25, I have a permanent, full time job that I love which appears to have good prospects for promotion. I still live with my parents who have very kindly let my fiance (who shall henceforth be referred to as C) move in too.

We are hoping to get married on the 2nd of August 2018 (if the venue ever phone me back) and I have recently come to the conclusion that if I manage to save about £1000 a month between then and now I might be able to buy a house around April 2018.

I currently have:
House deposit: £35,500
Fees: £5000
New Car Fund: £1000
MOT/Service Fund (Due end of April): £250
Car Insurance Fund (Due end of October): £350
Holiday fund: £1000
Fund for next Christmas: £100 + £100 M&S giftcard

C has zero savings and a credit card debt of £2200. He has a full time, temporary contract but will have to leave in the summer as he will be starting an full time Access to Higher Education course in September (then Uni, then a two-year Masters). Hopefully he'll be able to get a permanent part time job but we'll see.

I've done some eligibility check, calculator things on various websites and come to the following conclusion:
Worst Case Scenario (without being unnecessarily gloomy) - C has no job/zero hours/temp contract therefore it may be best to put him down as a dependant, I could still (hopefully) get a mortgage of around 85-95,000.

He only has to be earning £2000 a year for us to get more than £95,000 with him as a joint applicant.

Based on that I need my deposit to be in the region of £55,000 to buy something in our area. My Granny's willing to give me £5,000 (which would otherwise be inherited on her death) and I have a Help to Buy ISA which I plan to transfer into a LISA when they're available so it should be doable. Provided my implant doesn't let me down.

Targets for 2017:
Save £1000 per month for deposit.
Save another £1000 in the New Car Fund
Keep on top of other expenses e.g. insurance
Plan wedding!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year :beer:
_Amaryllis_
No. 30 on Save 12k in 2018 £20,218.75/£20,000
No. 90 on Save 12k in 2017 £19,650.21/£15,000
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Comments

  • Ladykernow
    Ladykernow Posts: 286 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post Car Insurance Carver!
    Good luck! Living with the rents really helped me save!
    What is your budget for your wedding?
  • _Amaryllis_
    _Amaryllis_ Posts: 50 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    Hi Ladykernow

    Thank you!

    We don't have a final budget yet as my parents and C's parents are going to give us some money but haven't settled on a figure yet. I've got a little over £1000 to be going on with. We're going to have a registry office ceremony with immediate family and close friends, then go for a meal and probably to the pub afterwards. We are planning to have a bigger reception (hire a village hall, have a buffet, invite all the cousins and not-so-close friends) at a later date. So I reckon I can get the ceremony organised and leave the reception until we do have a final budget.

    Sorry if this is difficult to read, I'm on my phone and I'm not used to using it for things like this.
    No. 30 on Save 12k in 2018 £20,218.75/£20,000
    No. 90 on Save 12k in 2017 £19,650.21/£15,000
  • savingwannabe
    savingwannabe Posts: 16,610 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Welcome to the thread. Your savings and motivation are great. Yay.
    Aiming for a minimal spend 2022
  • Ladykernow
    Ladykernow Posts: 286 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post Car Insurance Carver!
    _Amaryllis_ wrote: »
    Hi Ladykernow

    Thank you!

    We don't have a final budget yet as my parents and C's parents are going to give us some money but haven't settled on a figure yet. I've got a little over £1000 to be going on with. We're going to have a registry office ceremony with immediate family and close friends, then go for a meal and probably to the pub afterwards. We are planning to have a bigger reception (hire a village hall, have a buffet, invite all the cousins and not-so-close friends) at a later date. So I reckon I can get the ceremony organised and leave the reception until we do have a final budget.

    Sorry if this is difficult to read, I'm on my phone and I'm not used to using it for things like this.

    Aw, well I hope it all goes well! I look forward to reading how you are getting on. Good luck with the mortgage!
  • _Amaryllis_
    _Amaryllis_ Posts: 50 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    Happy New Year everyone!

    I thought I'd make my first entry whilst nursing my hangover. I'm very glad I have another day off tomorrow.

    The venue got back to me, (in our county they've stopped doing marriage ceremonies at the registry offices apart from the one in the County Town but are doing them at a variety of "community venues" instead) so we've booked that and booked the registrar, paid the £50 deposit. So that's great :)

    I've succeeded in printing off my receipt for my student subs (if my manager agrees to sign off my experience requirement and I've passed the exam I took in December I'll be a qualified chartered accountant). The system's been busy for the past few days but now I have the receipt I can claim the fees back on expenses.

    We went to a party at a friend's house for New Year's Eve and I took the mini-keg my cousin gave me for Christmas. C took another mini-keg and a bottle of wine that one of my cousin's gave him for Christmas. He also broke his razor and had to buy a new one and brought Krispy Kreme donuts just because he was in the shop :p

    My Granny gave me £20 in vouchers which she was sent by her electricity company and won't use herself. C's sister-in-law and niece and my dad all have birthday's this month so those vouchers will be used on presents.

    I'm going to try to post updates at least once a week.
    _Amaryllis_
    No. 30 on Save 12k in 2018 £20,218.75/£20,000
    No. 90 on Save 12k in 2017 £19,650.21/£15,000
  • _Amaryllis_
    _Amaryllis_ Posts: 50 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    savingwannabe wrote: »
    Welcome to the thread. Your savings and motivation are great. Yay.

    Hi savingwannabe

    (I have only just worked out how to quote other posts :rotfl:)

    Thank you for your support :)
    No. 30 on Save 12k in 2018 £20,218.75/£20,000
    No. 90 on Save 12k in 2017 £19,650.21/£15,000
  • _Amaryllis_
    _Amaryllis_ Posts: 50 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    Sunday night - My laptop needs a new hard drive, I'm using C's at the moment. I'm not sure how much a replacement will cost, at least C can do it if I get the part (he has his uses :p ).

    I had an email from the registrar regarding our notice interview. We have to wait until October which means I can't book it until we have C's timetable which we should get sometime in July or August. I hope that's not going to be too late.

    In other news apparently C's Master's course is one year not two. Hurrah.

    Monday - Went to see my best friend and spent most of the day looking at discount wedding dresses bought lunch (£2) which I was expecting then her husband and some other friends came round and we played Betrayal in the House on the Hill and ordered takeaway (£6.50).

    Tuesday - Back at work today. I posted my signed form back to Tesco's bank. I'm applying for a current account with them due to the Club Lloyds interest rate dropping soon. That'll make 6 sole current accounts and one joint one. In addition to 5 Regular Savers a Halifax Help to Buy ISA and and old fixed rate cash ISA which matures next October.
    Today has been a No Spend Day so far and we're having steak and homemade chips for dinner. :j
    No. 30 on Save 12k in 2018 £20,218.75/£20,000
    No. 90 on Save 12k in 2017 £19,650.21/£15,000
  • _Amaryllis_
    _Amaryllis_ Posts: 50 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    The interest was paid on my current accounts yesterday. Just over £45 :) It was also our monthly charity collection at work but I forgot and only had 30p on me. :o

    My Team Leader approved my holiday, two weeks from the 29th of July.

    It was also supposed to be our Head of Department's leaving do, he actually retired on the 31st but he came in so the new Head of Department could do a presentation of his cards and gifts. I'm a little sad to see him go because he's been very kind to me, he suggested me for my current role because I was doing an accountancy course but wasn't getting the required experience. I stayed for the presentation, which was after I usually leave but didn't go out for drinks afterwards.

    Went to a friend's with C in the evening and we went out for dinner. C insisted on paying.

    Filled the car up at ASDA it's usually the cheapest in the area, even there it's up to 114.7p per litre. :(

    Today my Team Leader approved my expenses claim for my student subscription fees.

    I also noticed that I seem to have been allocated an extra days holiday, which I'm a bit confused about. I have an idea why it might be but we haven't had an official communication yet.

    My grandpa had a minor stroke and has been in hospital for two days but he was allowed home today and my mum says he seems to be pretty much back to normal now. :j I'm going to go and see him at the weekend.

    C and I are going to play board or card games tonight so it should be another NSD :)
    No. 30 on Save 12k in 2018 £20,218.75/£20,000
    No. 90 on Save 12k in 2017 £19,650.21/£15,000
  • savingwannabe
    savingwannabe Posts: 16,610 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Well done on fees subscription, I hope your grandfather recovers quickly.
    Aiming for a minimal spend 2022
  • _Amaryllis_
    _Amaryllis_ Posts: 50 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    Today is C's first shift of 2017 and the first of a new shift pattern that looks pretty rough, it alternates a 60 hr week with a 24hr one, 12 hr shifts in groups of two and three switching between days and nights. But we'll see how it goes. More shifts means more money at least and he only has to put up with it until July/August.

    I had my appraisal today, I was promoted in October so I was assessing myself based on my current level but should have been doing it on my previous on due to the promotion being so close to year end. My Team Leader rated me as "Excellent" which I'm not going to argue with (I was going for "Successful" which is a step down from "Excellent"). I'm not totally sure what this will mean in terms of bonus and pay rise as this year's pay deal hasn't been announced yet but it does mean I'll definitely get them!

    I bought soup and a roll from the canteen for lunch (£1.30) and I had to go and get some e-liquid for C's vaper. I got 10% off by joining their loyalty scheme and a voucher to get 25% off next time! :)

    We've worked out our list of guests for the reception so now we need to decide on a venue, I'm struggling a little because I don't know what venues there are of the requisite size in the area. I've thought of a few that might be the right size which I need to look into but I'm stuck for more. My mum's trying to help but really being more of a pain at the moment, for example she thinks we have to have a photographer whereas I hate having my photo taken. I accept that my family and friends will want to take photos on the day but I don't see why I should pay a stranger more than my monthly salary to do so. She also seems to think that whatever venue we hire will do whatever we want rather than insist on it being one of their set packages. We just had a long and slightly frustrating conversation where the phrase "when I got married to your father..." was used a lot. They've been married 30 years funnily enough some things have changed since then.

    My best friend got married in June and she told me not to tell the people at the venue it's a wedding when you book, that way you can avoid having the packages thrust upon you! :D

    Also my other friend asked me to be a bridesmaid for her wedding! I didn't think she'd ask me because she's got several sisters and I think she has a niece or two as well, so that's made me very happy :D
    No. 30 on Save 12k in 2018 £20,218.75/£20,000
    No. 90 on Save 12k in 2017 £19,650.21/£15,000
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