Gien gets it together.

gien

We're just about to join the ranks of the newly mortgaged and I know I'm going to have to be really focused about money. So I'm going to try and keep track on here and keep myself organised.

I'm married with three kids, live outside of the UK in Switzerland (land of big bills and expensive houses!!!). We're lucky to have a good income but things are very expensive here so it doesn't go as far as you'd think.

We have owned houses in the past and done very well in paying the mortgages off so we have been able to invest some money into, well, investments I guess (you know the sort of thing).

The situation we are in now is we are buying a house with a 20% deposit and a mortgage, part of which is fixed rate, part variable. Here you can offset mortgage interest against tax so I think we have to adopt a slightly different approach and 'virtually offset' the mortgage with savings - at least that's what our tax man tells us to do. if you do pay the debt off then you pay a wealth tax on the value of the house.

the house we are buying also needs some renovations done to it so we need to save for that and we need to make sure we have a 'cushion' should everything all go horribly wrong.

I am trying to be as thrifty as possible and really stack up the money to enable us to do the things we want to.
At the same time I don't want to be so frugal that we're all miserable, and need to strike a balance.

My first ideas are:

1. I need to stop buying stuff we don't need (I am the culprit here, DH spends only on his lunch and a few clothes - kids buy sweeties)

2. Get best value for grocery shopping - more of this later.

3. Find out how to sell stuff here - ebay is not too successful here, I think, and there appears to be a lot of flea markets but I don't know how they are organised. Maybe small adds in the paper?

4. Spend more time researching purchases - finding cheaper options/discounts etc. I don't think there's a Swiss quidco type thing but even more work looking at how much shops charge would help.


that's the main things for now I think. I'll add some more tomorrow.

Gien

SmlSave

Welcome to MFW Gien!

Sounds like you've got a good action plan in mind and I look forward to hearing about your journey

gien

got the contract for the house today - we need to check it and then go and talk with the agent to make sure we understand on thursday morning. then we sign with the lawyer and it's all fixed.

then the real hard work starts!

setmefree2

and Good luck on your MF journey

gien

thanks for the welcome Smlsave and setmefree.

We went through the contract today with the agent - all very straightforward really, no problems. We'll get an appointment to sign in front of the solicitor soon and then that's it all signed and sealed. Keys will be 'delivered' on the 23rd July.


I'm feeling vaguely worried about having such a huge mortgage but must just chip away at it.

Yesterday I went got in enough food for the next few days as I am going away for the weekend, leaving DH and the kids behind (I think they'll survive!)
I have the option of shopping in three different countries as we are on the border with France and Germany!!! It's a ten minute drive to the nearest supermarket in either place so no hassle. Germany is the cheapest and I can claim back my VAT, but I like the French products. Switzerland is the dearest of course but also the most convenient as I can just pop into the local small supermarket to pick up milk etc.
So I think I have to really organise my shopping list so I get all I need for a week and go at a fixed time every week - routine seems to be the key to money saving I think.

on the down side we got hit by some weighty bills yesterday - insurance premium and heating oil (ouch!) and an accountants bill because we had to get a tax return done (way too complicated for us to do and in German:eek:).

Sometime I just feel that everyday someone asks for money - it's never ending!

setmefree2

gien wrote: »

Sometime I just feel that everyday someone asks for money - it's never ending!

Ain't that the truth:cool:

gien

Haven't been in for a while - got hit by a wave of real life. I've been keeping a careful eye on my money though, being quite thrifty and thinking very carefully before parting with any cash.

Although we haven't actually signed yet I have started sorting through things, getting rid of rubbish, charity shopping things, taking photos for ebay etc.etc.
As I do this I am struck by the number of articles that I have bought without a real need for them, without proper reflection so they don't fit the purpose they were bought for, impulse buys. It's not even so much the monatery cost of the articles that make me think but the waste of resources in making them.

Although I have been 'good' recently this is though a real effort, and hopefully this effort will eventually become a habit and no spending days the norm rather than the exception.

Ah well, better get on and do a biut more sorting out.

SmlSave

Good luck with your sort out gien

Every year I have a go at clearing out the house and its amazing how much 'stuff' there is that hasn't been used for ages or just somehow turned up.

But then they wouldn't be called impluse buys if we could resist them!

mattb001

Hello from Switzerland!

We've been here a year and have found out the following:

Recycle as much as you can. It's free to recycle, but you pay per bag for general waste collection. Here we have different types of collection each day, then one day for general waste. Between the two of us we're now down to one binbag a week general waste. There are paper and cardboard collections every couple of months.

Shop in Germany if you can, but beware of the personal allowance for bringing stuff back. Otherwise, try and find an Aldi nearby. Some of their stuff is terrible, some is really good!

Stock up on medical stuff in the UK if you can, stuff like paracetamol costs a small fortune here. And toothpaste! We once had to pay 18CHF for a tub of Vicks rub...

Avoid the highstreet for electronic goods. Instead use www.toppreise.ch - you will save 20 - 30% here usually.

www.ricardo.ch is the Swiss equivalent of ebay.

Finally, not sure if linking to other forums is allowed, but if you aren't there already take a look at www.englishforum.ch, huge resource!

https://www.comparis.ch for insurance quotes in English.

Matthew

gien

Oh those impulse buys Smlsave, I think perhaps you have to have a little bit of a splurge on occasion but I have done it a bit too much I think. I am going to focus on giving myself some nice little treats which are not too expensive and 'consumable', so it's not hanging around a year later ready to be chucked away. And I need to not buy stuff for the children too - just cr*ppy stuff that's totally disposable or so rubbish it breaks within 20 minutes.

Thanks Matt for those tips. I think I'm doing all of them, although I prefer going to France for shopping because I know the products and speak the language, but Germany is cheaper and you get the VAT back. There's a few Aldis in the area but it's as easy to go over the border to be honest. I do sometimes pop to the local swiss stores and although I rather like coop I try and use it only for a few things.

Ricardo seems useless - nothing seems to sell or have bids on them... Have you ever used it and sold something?

I know English Forum rather well actually and you are right, it is a mine of information. I tend to read more than post as there are some real opinionated what nots and a fair amount of expat whinging but I guess it's like any forum. Take what you want and leave the rest behind.

I just wish it wasn't so expensive here!!! I'm shocked a lot of the time to be honest.

mattb001

Hi Gien,

No never used Ricardo, I agree with you, it's hard to understand how it actually works, and nothing seems to actually sell on there...

Expensive, tell me about it.. I think as long as you earn in CHF it's not so bad. We are both working now and are able to save more than we ever would have been able to in England, but we don't have kids or a car (although I'm working on that last one, the buses here are great but I miss having a car so much!). 30% - 50% more expensive than the same car in England though :mad: