Have I budgeted correctly for my dream home?

klolav

As mentioned, your grocery shop also includes (or most people's do) toilet roll, sanitary products, washing powder, dishwasher tablets (?), deodorant, shower gel, soap, shampoo, cleaning products, basic beauty products, make up, hair products. Even if your not a 'girly' girl who uses a lot of 'products', some are essential.
So I do think that this area isn't really covered. Your food shop is very low, and there is no room for mentioned extras. I budget, but as others have said, there is always some money that you can't account for.
Good luck if you do decide to go for it, but things will be very tight. I think the 2nd job is a good idea, if possible.
Have you looked at selling your car?
Massive area of savings there, if you could downgrade.
All the best!

theartfullodger

PasturesNew wrote: »

OP doesn't qualify for WTC due to age... and probably income is too high as well.

You may be right, but their signature says that's what they are getting....

somethingcorporate

You spent almost an entire years salary on a car, wow.

I think you are going to get in serious trouble with this plan - not enough slack in the budget and taking decisions like spending more than a years net salary on something that has lost 30% of the value as soon as you drove it off the forecourt means you are probably not financially mature enough to take on a house.

spadoosh

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

I did! I have multiple contingency plans for loss of income in fact. Firstly when we were buying our house I made sure that our essential outgoings would be less than my wages (as I am the lower earner) so that we would be safe if my boyfriend lost his job. Second line defence is that I have 9x monthly income in my savings, boyfriend has 4x monthly income in his savings, all conveniently offsetting against our mortgage. Third line defence is our £3k joint emergency fund. Fourth line defence is our DIY budget, fifth line defence is our credit card limits and sixth line defence is our parents! Perhaps I have gone overboard(!) but it's nice to feel completely financially secure.

Done something more or less along those lines. Although i feel both mine and my partners jobs are safe always better to plan for the worse!

Recently purchased (FTB) and spent a year and a half drawing up calculations on costs before i would even look at a house. I'd like to think im in a situation were its difficult for me to struggle IYKWIM. Ive always overbudgeted on costs and under budgeted on income, almost every possible money costing exercises is covered short of appocalypse.

Thankfully i saw this forum before i even went close to buying and some of the horror stories jsut dont bear thinking about.

And its always the situation were people have thought theyve got the best deal to be really bitten in the behind 5 years down the line. E.g. 5 years ago i was gutted i couldnt afford a house. If id've bought the house im living in now i wouldve paid circa £130000 i paid £105000 in may. The house 2 doors down (exact same style minor cosmetic upgrades) bought in july 07 @ £145000 on the market now at £130000, to be fair they might not be in negative equity but it probably isnt that nice to sell for less than you paid.

But im planning on staying put for a long time so not bothered how much its worth.

Hermia

tristinh wrote: »

A question for others.... do you really budget for job loss?

Absolutely. As soon as I started working I made sure I saved up enough money to have six months worth of wages to fall back on (not an easy thing on my rubbish first time job wages). Just imagine how quickly you would run into trouble if you didn't have that? It's taking people who have been made redundant a while to find new jobs at the moment. If you didn't have money to fall back on how long would it take before you struggled to pay bills?

19lottie82

would buying an older (thus possibly cheaper?) 2 bed property, and renting out the spare room to help with the mortgage and bills, be an option?

GDB2222

19lottie82 wrote: »

would buying an older (thus possibly cheaper?) 2 bed property, and renting out the spare room to help with the mortgage and bills, be an option?

That's a miles better idea. This new property will lose loads of its value the moment the OP moves in. So, then we'll have a thread from her:

"Please help! Desperate to sell my place as it's too small for me and my boyfriend. Plus I'm expecting in 6 weeks time. And the best offer we have had would leave me with £20k negative equity. Please look at my Rightmove listing [like rearranging the towels in the bathroom is going to add £20k to the value]. Should we let it out until prices improve?"

I think I must have seen 50 threads on this forum along those lines.

And the heartache can be avoided by:

1. Not buying new, as these are invariably over-priced, and you lose the 'new' premium as soon as you move in.

2. Buying 2 bedrooms, so at least there is some room for expansion of the family for a few years.

19lottie82

GDB2222 wrote: »

"Please help! Desperate to sell my place as it's too small for me and my boyfriend. Plus I'm expecting in 6 weeks time. And the best offer we have had would leave me with £20k negative equity. Please look at my Rightmove listing [like rearranging the towels in the bathroom is going to add £20k to the value]. Should we let it out until prices improve?"

I have friends in this exact situation. as a first time buyer she bought a small one bedroomed flat. fast forward 7 years and she is now married with a 3 month old baby. The flat has been on the market for 2 years and they have dropped the price from 80k to 70k.

Although she has a steady job with a good salary, and the property has gone up in value since she bought it, the deposit that they require to buy a family sized home, is locked in the equity of this tiny flat , that they cannot sell. Nightmare, I really feel for them.

twirlypinky

hubby bought a one bed brand new house four years ago. We've just sold it for a £5k loss (that's on the mortgage, it was a larger loss on the purchase price).

I beg you, please don't do this. Your costings are really on the edge already (nothing for clothes!!?? Really? What about next year when the ones you have are all out of fashion?).

You're probably hoping to make money on this property so that when you sell up to give your parents back their share, you're able to buy another property. I personally feel that buying a one bedroom brand new home is a big error. Buy a cheaper older two bed place so you've got room to make money improving it over time, it's got potential, freehold and a garden and will be far more sellable when the time comes.

puddy

i completely agree, but i have to pick up on this point

new clothes next year because this years are 'out of fashion'

what does this even mean - do you mean the trousers and tops that i have had for over 5 years are not not trendy anymore?

have people been gossiping behind my back about my old fashioned clothes?

ive got knickers and bras that are about 12 years old:eek: