My Situation: Advice/ Opinions welcome

lincs1205

Hi Everyone,

A bit about me first: 31yrs old, living at home with parents (yes one of those), have just got myself into the position where i can start saving after paying off the majority of my debts obtained while i was doing my nurses training whilst living away from home. I now have my one remaining debt with Black horse which i finish paying off in october this year i then have a balloon payment of £4593 to pay.

I also have a default on my credit file from october 2007, so i am aware that this will have a big impact on when i do decide to apply for a mortgage.

Now my question is this i want to aim to move out by optimistically the end of this year but realistically it will be this time next year, however i am debating between Renting, Homebuy Direct (have been doing some research on this) or buy my own house.

I earn £24000 a year basic rate without unsocial hours etc and am currently saving £830 a month when my car hp finishes that will go up to £1000 a month.

Thanks for reading

Any Suggestions

BitterAndTwisted

In all circumstances, regardless of age, I would recommend renting and living on your own for at least six months first. That way, you have a much better idea of what it's like being totally independent without any nasty surprises like a heating boiler or washing-machine packing up to pay for when it's least convenient. You'll also have a much better picture of what you can save. What my sister and brother-in-law did before moving to a much bigger and more expensive house was to put away the equivalent of the increase in mortgage payments to see how they could manage for about 6 to 9 months before they decided to move. You might consider doing that as well

DVardysShadow

lincs1205 wrote: »

... am currently saving £830 a month when my car hp finishes that will go up to £1000 a month.

Thanks for reading

Any Suggestions

Yes, you probably have savings enough to wipe out the HP. So you will have already paid off the car, your HP is now to keep money in a savings account. Your HP rate means that you are paying quite dearly for a tiny return on your savings. Pay off the HP in full from your savings if you can get a worhtwhile early settlement discount.

Fire_Fox

Do you need to run a car? Could you move into an on-site nurse's accommodation or rent a room in a shared house near your place of work? Not running a car should save you a small fortune. If you attempt to apply for a mortgage whilst you still have debt the lender will simply subtract your debt from your savings to leave the net deposit which needs to be at least 10% of the property value.

lincs1205

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your replies they are all really useful.
Unfortunately i can't really do without a car i have just started saving upwards of £831 a month, to settle the outstanding balance on my car will be £6094 that is why i am waiting till october till i have paid my balloon payment of £4593 i then want to sell my car get a runaround for a couple of grand then carry on saving until at least this point next year when hopefully i will have a good sized deposit saved up.

I have to admit though i am still torn between renting and buying but will see what the end of the year brings.

Thank-you

wymondham

With Nursing, do you move about different hospitals or are you 'posted' to one in particular - this might have a bearing on buying/renting....

lincs1205

Hi Wymondham,
i am contracted to work permanently full time for one nhs trust at the moment, although i do not want to move closer to work because it's not the best area to live in.

thanks for your reply

CLAPTON

what sort of price do you need to pay to buy a property.. surely that will determine whether buying is practical and how much deposit you need to save.

dianah

i don't know what other people's experiences are with buying a banger for a couple of grand - when i was with my ex, we had two such vehicles (one after another, not at the same time) and every single month there was something wrong with it and i mean, wrong that needed fixing rather swiftly. this cost us £200 each month, pretty much.

at the moment, my husband and i have two cars - a 'nice one' that i use for work (he has a work vehicle) and one that cost £2,500 - this one, however, is for taking the dogs out in so only does about 1,000 miles per year.
the only thing i've had to do with mine since i bought it two years ago (and it does have 66k miles on the clock) is change the break pads. the other one had all sorts of work done (wouldn't start etc) and i'm sure if it was used on a daily basis, it'd be worse.

just think about it - you may get a lump sum when you sell it and buy a cheap one, but in the long run, you may not save money at all.

olly300

dianah wrote: »

i don't know what other people's experiences are with buying a banger for a couple of grand - when i was with my ex, we had two such vehicles (one after another, not at the same time) and every single month there was something wrong with it and i mean, wrong that needed fixing rather swiftly. this cost us £200 each month, pretty much.

at the moment, my husband and i have two cars - a 'nice one' that i use for work (he has a work vehicle) and one that cost £2,500 - this one, however, is for taking the dogs out in so only does about 1,000 miles per year.
the only thing i've had to do with mine since i bought it two years ago (and it does have 66k miles on the clock) is change the break pads. the other one had all sorts of work done (wouldn't start etc) and i'm sure if it was used on a daily basis, it'd be worse.

just think about it - you may get a lump sum when you sell it and buy a cheap one, but in the long run, you may not save money at all.

I was going to say that.:D

OP you are better of keeping the car you have and running it into the ground as you know the service history of the car you have and therefore any problems with it.

lincs1205

Thanks Dianah and olly300 for your replies,
I am thinking long and hard with regards to both keeping my car or getting rid, it is an mpv, to big for me on my own, expensive to run and to be quite honest one of the most expensive mistakes i have ever made i have certainly learnt an expensive lesson which is to buy with your head not your heart, i was in a totally different place then to what i am now. I am doing a lot of research at the moment as well as trying to save money my aim by july is to have at least enough money to make a settlement depending on what the figures are.