Thinking of buying one day!!

blondy24

Hi - thanks for everyone's posts so far - I will keep this post up to date with the progresss I make.

A thought that I have had is when we look at moving at the end of september perhaps let my b/f's father have our two dogs for 6 months and we rent a cheap flat and save the rest to help us with our deposit. Not sure if b/f will go for that idea but it is an option! Obviously we will visit everyday and feed and walk the dogs if we live near my b/f's work.

Fire_Fox

blondy24 wrote: »

Pawpurrs - Our rent per month is £695 not £400! We are thinking about moving to another rental place at the end of Sept with cheaper rent, perhaps just a 2 bed rather than 3 bed place but with a bigger garden. Find it very hard though with two dogs - which we are not getting rid of!!

Getting better - Thanks for the advice. Hopefully things will be better in a couple of months after b/f gets paid monthly. I might well join the sealed pot challenge. I have been the one paying all the rent, car loan (£260 pcm) and some other bills - so I have no money left for other things. I am going to get my b/f to start paying half the rent from now on tho

I think the three bedroom place is your biggest liability - you don't need more than one bedroom, and you don't need more than a basic yard plus green space nearby to properly walk your dogs. Do you run a car, and do you honestly need to run a car? It's really all about what you are willing to sacrifice to save for a deposit.

blondy24

Thanks Firefox. We do need our cars as we move have to drive to work and I need to travel to meetings etc. I suppose we only really need one bedroom maybe two at most compared to what we have now. I would like a garden to grow my own fruit / veg and for the dogs as we have a small back yard now and it isn't fair on two large dogs not to have a garden to play in. I know we have to make sacrifices but you need a bit of sanity too, especially because we don't go on holiday, have lots of hair cuts, nights out or spend lots on clothes.

Fire_Fox

Unless you live and work in the middle of nowhere or you both drive for a living you don't need two cars. You could live closer to one of your workplaces, one of you could car share to work, cycle, use public transport or a combination of these.

There are no right or wrongs with the lifestyle choices that we make as individuals or couples but I do think we all use the word need a little too often when want would suffice. It seems to me a lot of people (not digging at you specifically, Blondy24) feel hard done by when they can't afford this or that when actually they can, they just choose to spend their money elsewhere.

For example, I calculated how much some of my lifestyle choices were costing me on an annual basis ... I spent £600 on Amazon in just one year!! Then I complain I am a broke student. :rolleyes: It's choices like that that mean I can't afford to live somewhere with a garden.

PasturesNew

What are the tax credits for?
He earns £9600 and gets tax credits up to £16,600 - and you earn £20k ...? So where do tax credits come into it?

PasturesNew

I rent a studio flatlet, not even a bedroom. This saves me £2000/year in extra rent and council tax by not having a 1-bed place. A 3-bed place, or 2-bed place would be even more. You could probably save £4-5k/year easily just by living in a 1-bed place.

tb1105

I live near Salisbury in wilts and have just graduated as a teacher, have a job lined up for september on £21k, other half earns £17k a year and is doing apart time degree paid by work. We have lived with his dad for 4 years, saved enough to have a lovely wedding next week!!!!

So when I start in Sept, the house saving starts! We are desperate to move out. OH saves £500 a month and has £4k saved already, I will be saving £700 a month so we hope to have £18k by next summer.
There are shared ownership schemes running in tidworth and amesbury and also salisbury and wilton so plenty to look at, we are looking at amesbury and tidworth - £96k for a 50% share on a 3 bed house and £250 a month rent and with my annual pay rise we hope to buy more shares until we own the house. Halifax offer SO mortgages with 10% deposit so we need £10k deposit leaving £8k for fees, furnishings and an emergency fund etc., or we may buy a 60% share instead..... it is hard saving when you are just desperate to have a place of your own, we are lucky that we live with parents and cheap rent.... we'll get there one day!! we'd love to buy outright but £140k mortgage for 2 bed house needs a £21k deposit alone at the moment plus money for all the extras!!!

blondy24

Hi - thanks for the posts.

Pasturesnew - We don't get any tax credits even when b/f was unemployed for 6 months at the start of this year we were not entitled to any help from the council/gov etc. So we have paid for everything on our own, majority of which on my wage.

Firefox - I agree you have to make sacrifices to get to where you want to be but we have made a lot of sacrifices so far by not ever going out for a night, buying clothes, going shopping in the high street, going on holidays etc. Plus the dogs definitely need a garden otherwise we shouldn't have them if they can't have somewhere to play. Sorry I am not having a go, just in comparison to a lot of other people we do make sacrifices with our lifestyle. We definitely need to downsize tho I agree, unfortunately my idea about my b/f's dad having the dogs for 6 months went out the window so now looking for a place for us and the dogs!!! Oh what fun!

TB1105 - Thanks for your experiences so far very helpful to know that you can get there, I wish we lived closer to my parents and then we would probably all stay with them and save money, but not an option when they live a few hours drive Hope that you have a lovely wedding next week

Fire_Fox

blondy24 wrote: »

Firefox - I agree you have to make sacrifices to get to where you want to be but we have made a lot of sacrifices so far by not ever going out for a night, buying clothes, going shopping in the high street, going on holidays etc. Plus the dogs definitely need a garden otherwise we shouldn't have them if they can't have somewhere to play. Sorry I am not having a go, just in comparison to a lot of other people we do make sacrifices with our lifestyle. We definitely need to downsize tho I agree, unfortunately my idea about my b/f's dad having the dogs for 6 months went out the window so now looking for a place for us and the dogs!!! Oh what fun!

My post honestly wasn't a pop at you, chicken, it was a general observation. Sorry if that didn't come across despite my disclaimer. I am as guilty as anyone at spending on stuff I don't need: feel free to come onto my DFW diary and laugh at my excesses!!

I totally agree you need some kind of garden for your dogs - I'd love cats again but live in a city centre flat so unless I get off my backside and locate a blind/ deaf house-cat in a rescue centre it won't happen. :rolleyes:

blondy24

Firefox - I am sorry, I have had a very bad day that's all, I didn't mean to get a bit ratty!

I just find it hard when I see people that seem to spend lots and still have the savings or house etc. Some people in the world just have it too easy.