Edinburgher's balancing act

edinburgher

Damn forum just swallowed my reply Pickle - I must be doing 'a Pickle'!

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

Damn forum just swallowed my reply Pickle - I must be doing 'a Pickle'!

Cheeky, Ed, very cheeky! :mad:

edinburgher

I'm writing this entry up on Notepad before posting in case my login is Pickled

I suppose now that the debts are gone it's time to think about some priorities and what I want to do with what's now mine, not the blimmin' bank's!

Things I'd like to see happen down the line:

1. Buying a house (this was the raison d'oh!etre of my first diary on DFW)
2. Proposing to the GF
3. Marrying said GF
4. Buying a car
5. Getting really debt free (Student Loan included)

I've put these roughly in order of importance, so hopefully this will aid planning. Luckily for me (I suppose?) I won't be able to work towards any of these until the end of May (when my wages jump). I'm also hopeful of a bonus from work at the end of June, although it probably won't be more than a couple hundred pounds.

Much as I'd like to use the bonus for a sensible engagement ring, I'm not really keen to start the whole wedding ball rolling until we have at least part of a house deposit saved - I'd rather have a place of refuge and stability for the rest of our adult lives together than a ceremony to formally seal a very loving relationship that's been going great guns for 3.5 years so far without it... Does that sound mean?

Planning on requesting a move back to Scotland with work at the end of May (ideally moving back in the autumn) and GF's parents have very kindly offered to put us up rent free as a helping hand towards us getting our own place! Probably another reason to put off proposing for a little while yet, as I don't want to end up trapped in limbo living at the inlaws for years. I know that this isn't unheard of in Germany and other parts of Europe, but we're used to our own space more than the average family-orientated eurobod.

So, current order of things seems to be get through the next couple of months (quite a few significant one-time costs to absorb), stick to the common sense frugality and then start building an emergency/fledgling deposit fund as quickly as possible from the end of May.

I also like Pickle's fancy coffee machine comment in an earlier post.

Ps. I apologise for the Simpsons joke, it was awful

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

I'm writing this entry up on Notepad before posting in case my login is Pickled

*Pickle's bottom lip quivers* Now you are just making fun of me and how technology hates me*

But seriously, it all sounds good. I mean, if you wanted to, you could get engaged to GF and then start saving in earnest for the house etc., which might focus the pair of you even more as it might seem more 'real', IYKWIM. Still, in matters of the heart, Ed, you should do what feels right.

And mmm....coffee machines. I'll have to come round for a cappuccion once you've got it up and running.

edinburgher

That's definitely a thought Pickle, but what if the whole 'wedding thing' snowballs and before I know it all our hard saved pennies are going towards a do, not our deposit accounts?

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

That's definitely a thought Pickle, but what if the whole 'wedding thing' snowballs and before I know it all our hard saved pennies are going towards a do, not our deposit accounts?

Could you agree that you could start saving for the wedding ONLY after you have moved into your own house? That way you would be living day-to-day life and only saving what is left over. It would mean that you probably wouldn't be getting married for a few years, but you would be living as man and wife in the interim anyway, and then you would only be saving 'extra' money after your mortgage and other necessary life expenses have been paid, so it can only snowball so far (ish). Plus, you can put your :money: skills into practice over the wedding (not being mean, of course, just making the most of your money to get the extra-special day you want.) It's a hard choice to make - a big choice - but doing it that way round would at least mean that you have a place of your own to live as man and wife instead of maybe renting beforehand (unless you want to take the outlaws up on their kind offer, that is! ).

Best of luck whatever you decide to do

edinburgher

We've been living together for 2 years now?

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

We've been living together for 2 years now?

Yeah, but paying someone else your hard-earned money as rent, not your own mortgage!

edinburgher

InaPickle wrote: »

Yeah, but paying someone else your hard-earned money as rent, not your own mortgage!

I getcha Pickle

Good news hot off the press - Capital One have accepted me for a credit card (no doubt at a ruinous rate!) It's the first access I've had to mainstream credit since 2004, so I'm chuffed :T

So, I've been accepted for a new 'phone contract and a credit card in the space of a month - I feel positively 'normal'.

Hopefully this will allow me to upgrade to a full current account and a non sub-prime credit card by the autumn :j

InaPickle

edinburgher wrote: »

I getcha Pickle

Good news hot off the press - Capital One have accepted me for a credit card (no doubt at a ruinous rate!) It's the first access I've had to mainstream credit since 2004, so I'm chuffed :T

So, I've been accepted for a new 'phone contract and a credit card in the space of a month - I feel positively 'normal'.

Hopefully this will allow me to upgrade to a full current account and a non sub-prime credit card by the autumn :j

Way hay! Well done! :j Who knows, I may even get accepted for the Santander card if all this good luck on credit is floating around. *Pickle starts grabbing the air in order to snaffle all the good luck*