Another take on 'affordability'.

Spirit_2

Have only read the first page......but am pretty sure Geoff and Shazny have a couple of friends who I know.

Em is a team supervisor and earns £23000 a year and earns a lttle more than her OH. During the three years I have known her, she and her OH have :

• gone to her sisters wedding in Mexico .
• paid for a white/hotel wedding of their own (had some help from her dad)
• honeymooned in Orlando
• bought a house (in a low cost area) but now necessitating a 70 mile return commute for Em.
• Holidayed in Orlando to celebrate 1st Anniversary
• Em's OH has been 'laid off' after completing his apprenticeship and he is now going it alone
• Em is now expecting their first child.
• He has bought a van - for work
• Em this weekend is looking at a newer car - commute and baby require it.

The elasticity of their income amazes their colleagues. Em discusses it all as essential, once in a lifetime, not their fault, having to have a life.

Cleaver

Spirit wrote: »

The elasticity of their income amazes their colleagues. Em discusses it all as essential, once in a lifetime, not their fault, having to have a life.

It interests me that we generally get a picture on here of a downtroden, poor youth that are are desparate to buy houses but can never quite afford to gather the money together because they are being priced out by mean BTL b*satrds.

Which I'm sure is true sometimes and in some places. But there also seems to be a trend of the youth of today not really wanting to be even vaguely sensible and expects to buy a house whilst also 'having a life', which seems to mean £20k weddings, every gadget under the sun, owning Posh Spice's wardrobe, new pair of shoes every 20 minutes and a transatlantic holiday every 3 months.

I still maintain that the budget I stuck on the first page is realistic and doable and would allow someone to have a nice life and buy a house.

Emy1501

Cleaver wrote: »

It interests me that we generally get a picture on here of a downtroden, poor youth that are are desparate to buy houses but can never quite afford to gather the money together because they are being priced out by mean BTL b*satrds.

Which I'm sure is true sometimes and in some places. But there also seems to be a trend of the youth of today not really wanting to be even vaguely sensible and expects to buy a house whilst also 'having a life', which seems to mean £20k weddings, every gadget under the sun, owning Posh Spice's wardrobe, new pair of shoes every 20 minutes and a transatlantic holiday every 3 months.

I still maintain that the budget I stuck on the first page is realistic and doable and would allow someone to have a nice life and buy a house.

Yes it is doable and yes it would allow the couple in question to have a reasonable life but as I have said before to what effect on the economy when this is not how the youth of today live?

undetterred

damanpunk wrote: »

Graham, can I ask you a serious question as I remember you from another website. What did you do with the £60k you won on that online game? Did you put it into your house? Or spend it on cool stuff? I'm genuinely interested as last I remember you'd bought the R32 and that was it. A bit off topic I know so PM me if you'd prefer.

Sounds like he spunked it away,whats the betting you wont get a reply?

StevieJ

Congrats Dev :beer:

one_hot_minute

Cleaver wrote: »

Well, they currently have £500 going out / fun budget. That's not going to be spent on you when you have a kid.

That's right. When you have a kid, your life ends. You stop socialising and your standards on haircare, fashion etc all stop.

Why do people always assume that parents stop being people when they reproduce?!

Add to that the additional child rearing costs, the fact a family hol abroad is the same price as a small car, etc!

ukcarper

When I bought my first house in the seventies (3-bed terrace) I was on average wage at the time and lived in the Southeast. If I got a mortgage of the same size in relation to my salary and had the same size deposit now i.e.10% I could buy a nice 2 bed flat in the same area or a 2-bed terrace in not quite a good area. Make of this what you like.

carolt

Joeskeppi wrote: »

I don't know if you meant to quote me, but I do intend to have kids, but not for a few years yet. I have 2 cats to keep me going.

I think (?) I did mean you - among others - but (no offence meant), I suspect your attitudes may change and your understanding of the costs involved deepen if/when you do have kids.

I look back on life before kids and it was so EASY financially! My earnings could all be spent on ME!

Once you have kids, as a woman, certainly, you (a) have less earnings and/or (b) you have huge childcare costs plus (c) you have all the other costs associated with paying for other people who bring in virtually no income themselves, bar a tiny bit of child benefit.

Paying for all of someone else's food, clothes, nappies, holidays, a bigger house/car to accomodate them (no having a room in a shared house now! - you need a 3 bed house minimum just to accomodate you and your offspring...), social lives, birthdays/Xmas/etc plus hobbies, toys,... the list goes on.

Whilst I think the Guardian article I gave the link for above is OTT at 200K total, it's certainly A LOT OF CASH. :eek:

But, oh, worth every single penny.

Graham_Devon

damanpunk wrote: »

Graham, can I ask you a serious question as I remember you from another website. What did you do with the £60k you won on that online game? Did you put it into your house? Or spend it on cool stuff? I'm genuinely interested as last I remember you'd bought the R32 and that was it. A bit off topic I know so PM me if you'd prefer.

The R32, Passat for my dad, laptop for mum, private operation fee's for my dad, cooker, carpet througout the house, new kitchen units (all this stuff was needed for the house as I bought it knowing it needed to be done before I had the money) , holiday, help for my sister, £800 TV for my best mate, same for me. Some debt paid off, some gone into the mortgage.

Rest is in an ING account.

Why? What was your point?

damanpunk

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The R32, Passat for my dad, laptop for mum, private operation fee's for my dad, cooker, carpet througout the house, new kitchen units (all this stuff was needed for the house as I bought it knowing it needed to be done before I had the money) , holiday, help for my sister, £800 TV for my best mate, same for me. Some debt paid off, some gone into the mortgage.

Rest is in an ING account.

Why? What was your point?

I was genuinely interested as in alot of your posts you come across as struggling and 60k is a fair leg up!Doesn't sound like you've frittered it all away anyway!

Btw, I'll never win 60k as I don't gamble so it's interesting to see how other people blow it, think mine would go on a 997 c4s