100% Mortgages gone - other options?

Idiophreak

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Do you really need a car if you live in London?

This struck me, too. £300 for petrol is a lot for someone living and working in London?

Your car insurance also seems very high?

I think there's definite potential to get your outgoings down below £2k without you noticing much difference in quality of life...the bigger question, though, is does that matter?

On 65k, you're unlikely to get a mortgage for much more than 200, meaning you'll be looking at the £250k end of your original budget - and will need to save up a good 50k deposit yourself. In "real life", this is likely to take you a good 7 or 8 years - and by that stage you'll probably have aspirations above the 1 bed flat you'll be able to afford.

The closest you'll have to a magic solution is your last guess in 2009 - with the "deposit topup" scheme you were mentioning. More formally known as "shared equity", this can be a good option for people with high incomes but low savings.

My wife and I bought our first home on one of these schemes and it's been invaluable. We pay around £300 less per month in mortgage payments than we would in rent, so we're able to save faster and we're accumulating a little equity in our property as we go.

The downsides are that you're exposed to falls in the housing market (as are all home owners) and that a lot of builders use the schemes as a tool to overcharge for the home in the first place - which can make life harder down the tracks.

Your best bet, honestly, is to bide your time and wait for there to be a second earner to help you with the saving. Will make your life a whole lot easier.

Mrs_Z

It is that simple - you need to SAVE for the deposit (unless you are fortunate enough to land a lump sum from other sources). We bought in 1997 and it took us 5 years to get the deposit together.You're earning well so if you cut some of your living expenses, you'll have a decent deposit together in no time at all, and even more so if you're prepared to move outside central London.

jpowell79

I wish life was as simple as you all make it out to be!!!

Ok I could get rid of the sky.....agree about that. I could also reduce my mobile phone bill to probably half what I'm paying....again agree with that.

I could try and sell my car and get one that has better fuel economy.....but the truth is that to get a really good economy car these days (50+ MPG) your looking at a relatively new car thats only 1-5 years old.....my car is over 10 years old and is worth around £1000 at most, so the liklihood of me getting a "cheaper running" car is difficult.

My fuel bill is expensive because I do a 70mile round trip to work every day...... I live in London but work in Essex.

"So why not just rent out in essex where it's cheaper!" I hear you say...... well I deliberately live in London as I am very close to my family and friends, who in particular help me out with looking after my dog whilst I am at work.....which is especially needed after all the surgery and operations he's had. It saves me having to pay a dog sitter £15 a day, and means I don't have to travel into London all the time to see my family and friends.

If I didn't have a car at all, I would have to get the tube and train out to Essex every day.....which not only would be a pain and almost double my journey time.....but wouldn't save me much anyway, and its useful for when I need to take my dog to the vets.

My car insurance is so high now because I literally "bumped" into the back of another car a year ago.....no damage whatsoever to either car......not even a scratch...I am talking ZERO damage......but the driver still wanted my details......4 months later my insurance company pays out a total of £20,000 in whiplash damages to him and his three passengers!!! so the insurance is now expensive!!

And whoever said that having a dog is a luxury....I'm not sure how to respond to that! I've had him for 5 years since he was a 12-week old puppy, and I wouldn't give him up for anything!

Why is the rent so expensive.......because I rent a 2-bed house.......I cannot find any flats that will have dogs, and 1-bed houses are like rocking horse sh*t...very hard to come by!!

(but if anyone has a flat with garden that accepts dogs in the SE16/SE17 area, who is willing to rent me a place considerably cheaper than what I'm paying, in a reasonably safe area that isn't on an estate overrun by hoodies and drug dealers, please get in touch!!)

The dog is big......he is a Rottweiler.....I admit his food costs are quite expensive, but he eats the food he has always eaten, which was recommended to me by a lady who ran a puppy class I attended with him 5 years ago when I got him as a pup....so there's no point changing that.....even if I did and bought tesco own brand dog food, I'd probably only save around £30 a month off his food.

£200 a month on food is not excessive.....its not like I'm eating caviar and lobster!!! Its actually less than £10 a day.....I actually think this is one thing I am quite conservative with.

So in essence....yes If I was really, really, really careful, I could maybe chop off £200 a month off my bils.

...basically if I ate beans on toast for the next two years, never ever went out, never bought any clothes, never had sky, got a cheap mobile....and no unexpected costs pop up (like thet did with my dog) ....then I "might" be able to save £1500 a month....maybe......

so if I lived like that, then I might have a deposit in ANOTHER 2 years time

Living in London is tough......I actually prefer it out in Essex....but because of my dog situation, and the fact that literally all of my family and friends live in london, means that its not an option at the moment.

I just need a lottery win, and all my problems will be sorted!

Idiophreak

So in conclusion, you pay more rent because of your dog, you travel more because of your dog and you spent all your savings on your dog.

If you moved into a shared house in Essex I bet you could save £700 on rent. If you drove to London once a week you could save £200 in fuel. Round up the £80 of dog food and that's around £1000/month the dog's costing you. Between that and spending your savings, I make that around £34k spent on the dog in the last two years.

If you can't understand why someone might, therefore, describe your dog as a "luxury", I think you've serious problems.

I personally think that £100 for lunch is pretty easy to cut down on - make a sandwich and take a packet of crisps. Likewise, £10 a day to feed one person is quite a lot. Around 30p for cereal and milk in the morning, that leaves you £9.70/day for dinner. Fairly sure you could afford caviar or lobster a couple of times per week on that. As you say, the phone bill could be halved easily, the sky could be dropped, etc - but this is small savings in the scheme of things.

Have you thought about getting a lodger into your second bedroom?

jpowell79

Idiophreak wrote: »

So in conclusion, you pay more rent because of your dog, you travel more because of your dog and you spent all your savings on your dog.

If you moved into a shared house in Essex I bet you could save £700 on rent. If you drove to London once a week you could save £200 in fuel. Round up the £80 of dog food and that's around £1000/month the dog's costing you. Between that and spending your savings, I make that around £34k spent on the dog in the last two years.

If you can't understand why someone might, therefore, describe your dog as a "luxury", I think you've serious problems.

I'm guessing you don't own a dog yourself judging by this comment.....If you're not a dog owner who loves and cares for your pet, you wouldn't understand.....If you don't have a dog, then you might find it pathetic, but he is like family....I have had him since he was a pup, and I'm not going to give him up just so I can save money.......I would love to get on the property ladder, but absolutely under no circumstances would that be at the expense of my dog.

You're right though.....he has cost me an absolute fortune when you put it like that......but I wouldn't have changed my decision to get him for one second.

And for anyone who's just going to make a pathetic "its only a dog for christs sake" comment.....seriously save your breath.

....I know what you all think...."its your own fault, you've only yourself to blame"..... I wasn't looking for sympathy on here.....after all, I have a roof over my head, I don't go hungry, and don't have any serious illness or disability.....so I've a lot to feel grateful for........all I was doing was highlighting the fact that its tough to make a go of things in London.....that's all

KingElvis

I would deffo eat the hound, even if I wasn't skint I'd eat it anyway.

jpowell79

KingElvis wrote: »

I would deffo eat the hound, even if I wasn't skint I'd eat it anyway.

good one....hilarious

shop-to-drop

Sounds like a choice between house or dog and you are happy to choose dog.

Idiophreak

jpowell79 wrote: »

I'm guessing you don't own a dog yourself judging by this comment.....If you're not a dog owner who loves and cares for your pet, you wouldn't understand.....If you don't have a dog, then you might find it pathetic, but he is like family....I have had him since he was a pup, and I'm not going to give him up just so I can save money.......I would love to get on the property ladder, but absolutely under no circumstances would that be at the expense of my dog.

You're right though.....he has cost me an absolute fortune when you put it like that......but I wouldn't have changed my decision to get him for one second.

And for anyone who's just going to make a pathetic "its only a dog for christs sake" comment.....seriously save your breath.

....I know what you all think...."its your own fault, you've only yourself to blame"..... I wasn't looking for sympathy on here.....after all, I have a roof over my head, I don't go hungry, and don't have any serious illness or disability.....so I've a lot to feel grateful for........all I was doing was highlighting the fact that its tough to make a go of things in London.....that's all

I don't have a dog, no...And I'd never put spending money on a pet above my ability to afford a home for my wife and (future) children, you're right. The same goes for any other luxury item, for that matter.

I didn't mean to infer, however, that you should get rid of the dog, or that it was a stupid thing to spend your money...I was simply pointing out that you pay your money and take your choice. Some people choose to buy a house, you chose to buy a dog.

I don't think you've highlighted that it's hard to make a go of things in London, but you've certainly highlighted the cost of being a pet person. If you had that £34k you've spent on your dog now, you'd have the 10% deposit people on here said you would, plus some money for fees and you would be "making a go of things". But you don't, so you aren't.

DannyboyMidlands

It's just choices and priorities. You don't want to compromise your lifestyle (not that the savings being suggested are at all a big deal) and that's fine but it'll mean you'll still be renting in 5 years time. A few small changes to the budget would easily allow you to save a deposit but you don't want to do it. Also fine, it's your choice.

What I don't understand though, your phone bill for example. Whether saving for a house or not, if you could cut it in half why don't you just do it? You could buy the dog a little present with the saving.