How much can you save?

Redbedhead

We are saving for a new house in 2007 and so we can afford to have a child.

I earn a bit more than my H so that excess I have been putting in to my cash ISA which is nearly maxed now. I also have a stocks and shares ISA that I got at a good time earlier this year so that is doing well at the moment.

We did have quite a bit of joint savings but that went on our wedding and honeymoon, so we are trying to build that up again.

Our goal for 2005 was to be debt free which I managed and H managed in March 2006, so any spare cash we have now goes towards our savings and overpaying the current mortgage we have.

save-a-lot

Hi

If you are saving for a new house, could you purely save and not pay into the current mortgage. What I am thinking is, if you are buying a new build you could lay your savings down as the deposit plus any profits on your old house and take a lesser mortgage on when you buy new. I think the savings long term of taking a smaller mortgage on could work more in your favour. That is the way I am thinking, it could just be my dodgy maths.

jamtart6

save-a-lot wrote:

If you want to move forward mutually, would it be a good idea to "invest" into your OH debt? for example if he is paying a high rate on his borrowings then it would make sense to clear that first then both of you save. It might seem unfair that you help to pay off your OH debt, but in the long run, you will both be better off in the future.

Hi Mr Tall!
I fully understand where you are coming from and yes I would pay off his debt if:
a) we had a longer term plan (ie. engaged rather than just talking about it)

b) if I thought he would be ok with money... he has been brought up with the kind of "if you want something, just get it on credit, its ok because everyone does that" ...wheras i have the mentality that "if you want something, save for it" - id like him to adopt the latter! If i paid it off for him, he would fritter some of the money he would have paid his loans off with on "frills spending" and I dont think he would appreciate the value of money - if that makes sense? Every time he pays some of his loan off it hurts his pocket and he always says "im not getting into debt again" -so if I pay it off...i worry that he might get another loan , which he would expect me to pay too... saying that he'd be too proud to ask for help anyway !!

I do know that in the long run it is the best idea but every £50 or £100 he saves for the house, he's really proud of himself... so its all a lesson in life... might just take us longer to save....!

Wanno

Welcome to everyone who has joined the thread. Very glad I started it! You are very welcome and spread the word!

It has really spurred me on to save as much as possible.

zag2me

jamtart6 wrote:

Hi Mr Tall!
b) if I thought he would be ok with money... he has been brought up with the kind of "if you want something, just get it on credit, its ok because everyone does that" ...wheras i have the mentality that "if you want something, save for it" - id like him to adopt the latter! If i paid it off for him, he would fritter some of the money he would have paid his loans off with on "frills spending" and I dont think he would appreciate the value of money - if that makes sense? Every time he pays some of his loan off it hurts his pocket and he always says "im not getting into debt again" -so if I pay it off...i worry that he might get another loan , which he would expect me to pay too... saying that he'd be too proud to ask for help anyway !!

Yeh it's the worst thing you could do is to pay it off for him. Just make it clear he has to do it himself and he will learn. My Ex gf was like this and she never really worked out why she was always broke and couldnt save

Welcome to all new members of the savers club by the way, good luck to everyone.

liverpoolcarl

Hi everyone,

Am still on my way to my target for 10k by April 2007.

I was going to buy another property this time for me to live in but my friend has asked me to buy one with him, develop it over two months and then sell it so I am going to give that ago and see if I can make some profit.

We both have parents in the building industry (joiner / Electirian) so all free labour would come our way..

I still need to keep on saving my £550 every month to achieve my goals and this thread is doing wonders to keep me going.

Lets keep pushing everyone !!

Zazie_Zazou

Hi lads and lasses,

Had some good news today - I'm getting a Xmas bonus of £1,000 on top of my salary, and although I'm tempted to go out and buy an 8ft-wide plasma TV, I'd much rather use it to swell my house deposit savings...I should be able to pay another £1,500 into my cash ISA, meaning that I've already reached the £3,000 limit ahead of schedule, and I will also have some left over to put into my instant access account, which I will dip into for emergencies and Xmas spending.

The plan now is to save as much as I can into the instant access account, and in April 2007 I should be able to bung £3,000 straight into another cash ISA.

Come the new year, I'll also set up a regular saver account, and I'll start researching equity ISA funds as well, although I probably won't open one until after April...I can't believe I've gone from being a debtaholic to a saveaholic in such a short space of time!

save-a-lot

Hi Zazie_Zazou - welcome to the thread

save-a-lot

Originally Posted by save-a-lot
If you want to move forward mutually, would it be a good idea to "invest" into your OH debt? for example if he is paying a high rate on his borrowings then it would make sense to clear that first then both of you save. It might seem unfair that you help to pay off your OH debt, but in the long run, you will both be better off in the future.

then in reply...

jamtart6 wrote:

Hi Mr Tall!
I fully understand where you are coming from and yes I would pay off his debt if:
a) we had a longer term plan (ie. engaged rather than just talking about it)

b) if I thought he would be ok with money... he has been brought up with the kind of "if you want something, just get it on credit, its ok because everyone does that" ...wheras i have the mentality that "if you want something, save for it" - id like him to adopt the latter! If i paid it off for him, he would fritter some of the money he would have paid his loans off with on "frills spending" and I dont think he would appreciate the value of money - if that makes sense? Every time he pays some of his loan off it hurts his pocket and he always says "im not getting into debt again" -so if I pay it off...i worry that he might get another loan , which he would expect me to pay too... saying that he'd be too proud to ask for help anyway !!

I do know that in the long run it is the best idea but every £50 or £100 he saves for the house, he's really proud of himself... so its all a lesson in life... might just take us longer to save....!

When I wrote the above I was looking at it in a very balck and white way, the lessons learnt from paying back a debt are just as important, so you are right to have your OH pay off his own debt.

JAMIEDODGER

i keep checking this thread:) i cannot wait to be able to say "hey! can i join you?"

currently i still have an overdraft of £1000 which i am aiming to pay off in 10 weeks, and a loan with just under £3k to pay and then i will be clear:) i have £200 of lloyds tsb shares which i bought in an attempt to start building an hyp, i want to continue to add to this when i become debt free.

you guys are doing so well, extremely inspirational, keep it up:)