First time buyer

epz_2

many of the big items you need such as sofas an fridges are available as 0% finance from the major stores, even if you pay a littl over the cash price the % savings your morgage makes will easily ofset that.

i would even put them on a credit card and do a balance transfer to a low rate before touching your deposit, as soon as i heard about higher lending charges etc i thought thats not for me.

one phyological thing but for me it would be a lot easier to save up and buy things gradually than buy whats needed and then pay the rest off to the morgage.

obviously though, leave a bit of spare cash for unexpected stuff

Indispensable_Hobbes

i wont have a credit card, i've done 0% with argos for 12 months before!
obviously am not going to buy everything at once but all ideas are being noted!

sarah_elton

jenyking wrote:

I have no idea how much water/electricity/gas/insurance/council tax etc cost therefore havent a clue what i would be comfortable with.

I live on my own in a 2 bedroom flat, the below from my budget may give you a rough idea:

Monthly:
£78 - Council tax (I get 25% discount for living on my own though)
£60 - Electricity (my usage is high, and I have no gas, so heating is elec.)
£32 - Water (flat rate, I can't have a meter, which sucks, it'd be cheaper if I could)
£15 - BT Landline
£15 - Pipex Broadband

I pay my TV license (about £120) and house insurance (£110) annually. My home insurance is contents only as I'm in a leasehold flat. If you have buildings insurance as well add something for that.

So total that out monthly and it's around £220 per month on top of my mortgage and leasehold service charge. Plus I spend about £100 a month at the supermarket. Think about how much disposable income you want per month for all other spending and saving.

Indispensable_Hobbes

Thank you, thats a great help!!!