MFW Diary.....before moving in!!!

LauraWxx

Spending Diary for Week 14/11/2012 - 20/11/2012

Total - £120 (inc £15pw contribution bf gives me for food shopping)

Budget
£30 - Food Shopping
£90 - Xmas Presents


Actual




Total
£0.00 / £120 remaining


Task for the Week -
Oooops...once again these roll over...
List text books for sale
Music Magpie sale
List Ebay items[/QUOTE]

misscousinitt

How fantastic for you...bet you are glad the waiting is over.

MCI
xxx

LauraWxx

Thank you!! I sure am:D:D

LauraWxx

Just spent a bit of time working through my direct debit spreadsheet and trying to figure out how much I will be able to op next year.

I have put all of the direct debits to the figures they will be in January (A couple of things I dont pay at the moment, a couple of things I can cancel and a few things I pay more now than I will in the new year) and included the money that the bf will be paying me as 'board'. It works out to be £462 leftover each month:j:j:j

I think I will aim to OP £400 per month and chucking the rest into my savings account.
The savings account should generate circa £160 per month in interest so this together with the remaining leftover money should equate to £220 per month going into the savings account. I am so very tempted to just remain saving instead of Overpaying as I would love to see the saving account grow by that much per month but I know it is better spent throwing it at the mortgage.

My savings rate lasts until August so will need to be on the lookout June / July time to try and get one at a similar rate (3.15% currently).

LauraWxx

Why oh Why did I start thinking about just saving instead of OP'ing again??!!

Right can anyone help my convince myself that OP is the better idea....I have been thinking overnight and keep thinking if I saved I would be keeping my options open...If I could save enough to pay off the first buy (without touching the 60k) then potentially I could have enough in cash to pay for 'my half' of the family house. If that was the case and the rent should cover the mortgage on the flat (and some left over), I could also throw my wages and OP / Saving money at the flat mortgage then or look to take another b-t-l.

Oh god...i Just cant decide...part of me thinks as I cant make up my mind, stick with saving as it is the more flexible option. Anyone got any sparks of wisdom for me???!!!

gallygirl

Some questions:

1. are you a 40% tax payer (tell me to mind own business but it does impact on savings/debt calcs)
2. what rate are savings at
3. what rate is mortgage at - both bits
4. if you op on main mortgage can you claim it back
5. what time scale are you looking at
6. what is the 'family house' - is this to do with your inheritance (sorry, I missed that)
7. have you thought about moving to a bigger place with the 60k (thought I'd chuck a curve ball in at the end just to confuse you further :rotfl:)

The great thing is that you have choices

ETA:
8. have you got a column set up on mortgage spreadsheet to show mortgages - savings

LauraWxx

Arrggghh just did a really long post and then it got deleted :mad::mad::mad:

gallygirl wrote: »

Some questions:

1. are you a 40% tax payer (tell me to mind own business but it does impact on savings/debt calcs) Nope, just basic...salary of £27k
   
2. what rate are savings at The savings is currently at 3.15%, this finishes in August so I will need to be trying to find something that would match that. If i do go down the savings route then I would also open a FD saver at 8% but max of £300 per month
   
3. what rate is mortgage at - both bits Main mortgage (72kish) 3.99% and the first buy bit is interest free for the first 6 years and then 1% after that and rising. I have been playing with the calculator and know that the savings rate I would need to achieve to rival my mortgage would be 5% which I know aint gonna happen!!
   
4. if you op on main mortgage can you claim it back No, I believe it will sit almost in a 'reserve tank' so I could use it for mortgage payment holidays but not withdraw it back
   
5. what time scale are you looking at I would love to stay in the flat for another 4 years, this would give me time to massivley increase my savings, however I fear that we will outgrow the place sooner than that and want to buy our family house circa 2-3years
   
6. what is the 'family house' - is this to do with your inheritance (sorry, I missed that)The flat is my flat, my mortgage and bf lives there, officially moves in in January but it is still owned by me...he is not going on the mortgage. Bf owns half a house which he will continue to pay the mortgage on when he lives with me, the plan is for in a couple of years we buy a house together, the house where we will have kids etc. I would rent the flat at this time and bf would sell his half of his house.
   
7. have you thought about moving to a bigger place with the 60k (thought I'd chuck a curve ball in at the end just to confuse you further :rotfl:) /Bhaha thanks for that!! That's how i see the 'family house' i guess, just dont want to sell the flat as I bought it brand new with the intention of renting it long term as I new it would go down in value before it goes up.
   

The great thing is that you have choices Certianly is a nice position to be in, just wish i was better at making decisions!!

ETA:
8. have you got a column set up on mortgage spreadsheet to show mortgages - savings I feel bad in saying but i dont actually have a mortgage spreadsheet set up...something i def need to crack on with!

I suppose the main thing is I am liking the idea of the flexibility that I could have from saving.
Say for example we last 4 years in the flat, if i saved £600 per month that would take my savings to circa 95k.
Then say the first buy element remains at 19k ish (will prob go down as the value of property goes down but working on worst case) once that is cleared that would still leave me with 75k.

I would not want to spend more than £150k on our family home so my half would be there in cash and no need for any mortgage contributions for me...just half of bills, obviously legals, removals etc etc but just taking rough budget figures.

This would then mean that I could OP the mortgage on the flat..will be rented out and rent should more than cover the mortgage so anything I would add would be an OP, this would also give me the option of working less hours as it would coninside with the time we would be looking to have kids...hmmm i just dont know, well scrap that I do know...I want to save but am just trying to justify it to myself!!!

LauraWxx

Morning all...I have been very naughty at coming on here over the weekends lately and updating!

Bit of an update...food shopping done in about 4 different stages over the weekend, pretty much all xmas shopping done now, just got to wait to give some money to a joint gift when the bf's parents decide what they want, some cakes that i will get nearer the time and another little something for my niece if I happen to see something!

Have settled on the savings plan for the time being. Had a good chat with the bf at the weekend and he is going to commit over £100 per week to the savings when he moves in (although his will be kept seperatly from mine!).

Will spend some time over xmas coming up with the best possible way to save...combination of ISA, Regular savers and locked accounts I assume. I cant help but love all the money in one place where I can see the big total but I know it makes sense to split it to ensure I make the most from it. I have deleted my signature on here as that was showing the First buy goal and will update shortly with current savings total and new goal.

Got that figure of £95k in my head....would be very hard to get there but at least its something to aim for!! Will break it down into shorter more managable goals though.

S&S yesterday and hoping to be able to sqeeze another voucher in time for xmas...should do I think, will get b&q and then will be able to buy my paint so I can decorate the hall over xmas at some point.

Work is still incredibly busy ... for the first time in a long while I didn't log on this weekend and work from home for a few hours...was good to have 2 days fully away from work but am regretting it now with loads to do....in fact saying that I prob shouldn't be on here...oops!!!

Hope all are well. Really need to update my spending diary but all been a bit confusing this week...including lending cash to bf's sister who then put it back into my bank and then bought a gift on c.card so need to pay that....bf is going to pay for his share of xmas presents soon so that will cover some more...might just cut my losses and start a new one for next week. Glad all this xmas presents are nearly done..I am sick of owing money to myself from different bank accounts etc!

hope all are well xx

LauraWxx

Savings have just taken a bit of a hit...just cleared my credit card which had my £400ish car insurance on, really hate having an outstanding balance (even though the card is 0%) so decided to clear, i will then keep putting the money earmarked for insurance into my savings each month and pay it in full again next year.

Also had to pay £285 backdated council tax, I chose to pay this in a lump sum and then all the months moving forward will be the normal rate, rather than have the 'arreas' (not because I didnt pay but becuase they hadnt banded me) spread out over the next few months.

I want all finances starting nice and clean in the new year!

Thought about how to work the bf's money (as in what he will pay me when he moves in) and he will pay weekly but I will have this set up to go to my savings account, I will cover all the bills out of monthly money...saves me faffing about with 4 / 5 week months!

Also have to get him sorted with a savings account and then set up an account for our food shopping....nice and organised is what we like!!

Does anyone know if it will look bad on him (credit score wise) if his phone bill etc come out of my account?? the phone bill will still be in his name, its just I have a santander 123 account for bills so will build me some more cashback and also will again save the weekly pay faff!

I assume as long as it is paid every month it will be fine on his credit record....can anyone confirm this??!!

gallygirl

As I hoped - me asking a lot of questions made you sort out in your own mind how you wanted to do things .

The thing about savings is that it gives you another opportunity for a spreadsheet . Have one sheet where you list them all, and movement in/out, then link the total to your mortgage page to show net figure. Hours of fun .