How much can you save?

Rose_Crow

Perrycomover - thanks for a lovely post, really enjoyed reading it

Jimlad - yep, I have a partner. To be honest I would really stuggle to get a house on my wages, so I'd probably end up saving loads up and not be able to get a mortgage if I was on my own.

Aloha - We're both still living at home. We need to stick with that as it works out much cheaper so we can save more. Sadly we live 50 miles apart so only see each other at weekends - which is pants

Crap_with_money.com

grn.w.nv wrote: »

Aloha - We're both still living at home. We need to stick with that as it works out much cheaper so we can save more. Sadly we live 50 miles apart so only see each other at weekends - which is pants

I feel your pain grn - until very recently my boyfriend and I were living 150 miles apart - plus he works shifts, so only had 2/5 weekends off - it's defo not an easy life - but it's worth it in the long run! It doesn't help with the saving either does it? makes it far more expensive to see each other than if you lived in the same town or whatever!

Anyway - at least you're both working towards the same goal! Hopefully it won't be too much longer 'til you have your own place together!

xx

mouthscradle

Crap_with_money.com wrote: »

what course are you doing mouthscradle? I'm going back to uni in August, to do a post grad in teacher training - so it's the year of being out of work which has prompted me to finally start saving!!

I'm totally in awe of all of you, who manage to still save whilst studying full-time! Although I was thinking about it this morning, and if I get a second job just now, and keep it on whilst at uni - I might even manage to get through the course without touching the student loan I'll be applying for - which would be great if I could - but suppose I should concentrate on actually getting the job first!

xx

Hey I'm studying a Masters in Astrophysics (yet I still can't get my head around the numbers when it comes to interest on savings accounts/ISAs etc, how pants am I haha).

I actually manage quite comfortably just on my student loan, maintenance grant, and the low income bursary I get from the uni. If I add it all up I end up with about £100-£150 a month disposable income. I think it helps that I don't live in student accommodation so my rent is much cheaper than alot of my peers even though I live in a bigger place with just my partner (albeit in a suburb, not the main student areas). Also, I don't smoke and hardly ever drink, and I don't often spend money on clothes/shoe shopping etc, and I don't really go out socialising too often like most students do, as being a mature student who was out of education for a few years I find I need my evenings and weekends to keep on top of my workload. We have a car between us, and two cats, those are about our only extravagances (ok well that and the new widescreen tv and corner sofa we've just bought, but hey, those were our treats for the year ).

My course is pretty much full time monday to friday, as with most science based courses, so getting a part time job would mean giving up my weekends. But I decided that the extra income wouldn't be worth the effect it would probably have on my grades and on my general happiness, everyone needs at least one day a week to just relax and get the housework etc done and I am no exception.

My partner recently finished his PhD and now works full time so he has a much better income than I do, but I still insist on going halves on everything and so far I have managed it fine. He will therefore find it much easier to save for his half of the deposit :rolleyes:

Perrycomover

Hi all. Thanks for your kind words.

Crap with money - As I am sure you will find, there are two great feelings about paying off your debt. The first will be the exhilaration that you are debt free, the other being the knowledge that all future money will be yours to keep, like being freed from a prison, you will be able to smell the flowers, hear the birds like never before. Keep going and well done. On a practical front, is there any way that you can use MSE website to assist you in finding the latest 0% credit card deal to transfer your debt while you put the money in an interest paying account? Sorry if I'm being too nosey.

Crap_with_money.com

Perrycomover wrote: »

Hi all. Thanks for your kind words.

Crap with money - As I am sure you will find, there are two great feelings about paying off your debt. The first will be the exhilaration that you are debt free, the other being the knowledge that all future money will be yours to keep, like being freed from a prison, you will be able to smell the flowers, hear the birds like never before. Keep going and well done. On a practical front, is there any way that you can use MSE website to assist you in finding the latest 0% credit card deal to transfer your debt while you put the money in an interest paying account? Sorry if I'm being too nosey.

Unfortunately not! :mad: In my pre-mse naivety (sp?) I consolidated, so am now left with just my bankloan to pay off. I'm going back to uni in August, so rather than saving to pay it off, I'm trying to save enough to cover the min payments, for the year I'll be at uni, along with my rent, then by the time I'm finished my (paid) years probation, the debt will be paid off. I've gone through it with a fine toothcomb, but don't see any other more sensible way around it?

I could obviously have deferred uni for a year and started debt free and with some savings in the bank, but I just felt it was something I needed to do now - whilst I still have no other real commitments and am still living at home with my mum!

xx

McSaver

I'm saving up to buy a property as well - house prices arent that huge where I live... they are like the 1/3rd of the price in london!!!

£500 a month minimum is what I save but usually its around £700 plus the interest - I have been doing this for 6.5 years and I am nearly at a major milestone but lately my intentions in life are to find a partner in life.

Yesterday and Today have been NSDs as people would call them on here lol

Lokolo

LOL I've just seen your signature.

Anyone at your work you take a fancy to?

mouthscradle

McSaver wrote: »

I'm saving up to buy a property as well - house prices arent that huge where I live... they are like the 1/3rd of the price in london!!!

£500 a month minimum is what I save but usually its around £700 plus the interest - I have been doing this for 6.5 years and I am nearly at a major milestone but lately my intentions in life are to find a partner in life.

Best of luck, McSaver! You must have a lovely sum of money saved if you've been committed to it for so long, well done. I must say, I am glad I live up north where prices aren't quite so ridiculous. Unfortunately many of the typical first time buyer properties in this city are snapped up by buy-to-letters, which resulted in a system of sealed bids being promoted by many of the estate agents over the last few years, and FTBs were often just completely priced out, but that seems to have mostly stopped in the current climate :T

I have a really nooby question to ask now, when setting our ideal savings target at £20k for a deposit, my OH and I have not taken into account the other fees incurred when buying a house i.e surveys, agents/mortgage fees, removal costs, buildings insurance etc. Does anybody have any idea how much these 'extras' actually add up to, for a typical £120k-ish house?

Lokolo

I'm 20 and am only renting so I have no idea!!! I've got 5 years before I buy! But it'll more than likely be in the south urgh!

I think mortgage fees range from £500-£1000. If you go on Halifax website and do a mortgage calculator it tells you how much the one off charges, they range depending on the product you pick.

McSaver

trouble is I would struggle to get a mortgage of any great size because it goes on my basic salary and thats only around 7K so I probably wont get approved for much