Trying to save! but getting no where!

partialycloudy

Sorry if this is the wrong section, but wasn't sure where else to go!

Hubby and I have been trying to save to move for months and all we have managed is £600!!!:mad::mad:
I really don't know where our money goes and how to make it work better for us.
Combined we earn nearly 4k a month,which is a very healthy amount. Mortgage is just over £650, we have one 0% credit card which we pay £180 a month towards and a car loan of £250a month. We have sky, broadband, and mobiles/home phones and every month we put a large chunck in our savings and then something will come up and we will have to dip into it....like the boiler breaking down, car needs needs new tyres, a wedding in Devon, big birthdays!
We are over paying on the mortgage by £100 a month but we have a 100% mortgage and our flat only has a 58year lease! We want to put it on the market by August but with no money saved how can do that?
We think we should have about 20k equity in the flat, going by a valuation in 2010 but thats only if we sell at top whack and with a short lease the chances of that are pretty slim!
I'm getting really stressed out and anxious about money, but I don't know what to do to change things?

BitterAndTwisted

You need to pop over to the Debt-Free Wannabe part of the forum and complete an SOA (Statement of Affairs). For the moment I suggest that you both keep a spending diary, keeping all of the receipts and noting down every single penny you spend. That should concentrate your minds on what are absolutely necessary expenses and what you might be frittering it away on. With £4k coming in you should have a substantial amount left over each month for savings.

Also. are you absolutely certain that your flat is actually saleable with such a short lease? I would say that with only a 58 year lease it's definitely unmortgageable now. It's my understanding that for every year which passes by the value reduces and the cost of extending it increases.

fannyanna

Have you sat down and looked at your outgoings yet? If not, that's where you need to start.

Post on here and people will be happy to help you see where you can cut back so that you can save more.

My Husband and I don't have as much income as you, child maintenance is paid out for 2 kids, when our purchase is complete we'll be paying £800 per month on the mortgage and we'll still have £1,000 to save each month. That should help to give an indication of the kind of money you have the potential to save.

fannyanna

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Also. are you absolutely certain that your flat is actually saleable with such a short lease? I would say that with only a 58 year lease it's definitely unmortgageable now. It's my understanding that for every year which passes by the value reduces and the cost of extending it increases.

^^ This is a very good point. I think you might need to pay out for a lease extension before you try and sell your flat.

partialycloudy

We bought the flat with a 63 year lease, not all mortgage companies will touch it but some will. We can't afford the 25k it will cost to extend the lease. We can't get any money out of our mortgage company as they have been nationalised so not giving out any more money. We would consider selling and renting for a while to facilitate a quick move, or a small purchase price.

Hovel_lady

The link for the Statement of Affairs is here:

http://makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

BitterAndTwisted

In which case your pool of potential buyers will be those willing to pay cash. Who are also prepared to wait the necessary two years before applying to extend the lease themselves. I would guess that the flat is now borderline unsaleable.

With about a grand going out each month in mortgage, credit-card and car-payments between the two of you, you should be able to put away about two grand into savings. Where is this two grand going?

That is why you need to do an SOA

partialycloudy

Hovel_lady wrote: »

The link for the Statement of Affairs is here:

http://makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

We will look at this tonight then. I have estimated we have £1800 going "missing" each month. We have been doing bits to the flat to get in a saleable condition so that has all hindered our saving and we still have some bits to do! it seriously never ends.
We have been TTC for 18months aswel, so all this "stuff" is seriously getting me down!

savingmummy

partialycloudy wrote: »

every month we put a large chunck in our savings and then something will come up and we will have to dip into it....like the boiler breaking down, car needs needs new tyres, a wedding in Devon, big birthdays!

sounds like you need a separate emergency fund for these emergency needs that way you wont need to dip into savings or income.

reduce an outgoings you can ie, reduce sky, change elec/gas suppliers, cancel anything you dont need or use anymore you can then put aside the extra savings from income for days out etc that way your free of dipping

fannyanna

partialycloudy wrote: »

We will look at this tonight then. I have estimated we have £1800 going "missing" each month.

You’re doing the right thing by looking at what you’re currently spending. What you then need to do is work out your new budget and stick to it. I would recommend having four accounts (seriously) as follows:

1) Account which has your spending money. Use this however you want but when it’s gone, it’s gone.

2) Account which has enough funds to cover all your bills for the month.

3) Emergency fund account – put a bit of money aside each month to cover things like the boiler breaking down or the car needing tyres.

4) Main savings account – work out how much you can save and at the beginning of the month move that money into this account. Once it’s there don’t touch it again.

partialycloudy

fannyanna wrote: »

You’re doing the right thing by looking at what you’re currently spending. What you then need to do is work out your new budget and stick to it. I would recommend having four accounts (seriously) as follows:

1) Account which has your spending money. Use this however you want but when it’s gone, it’s gone.

2) Account which has enough funds to cover all your bills for the month.

3) Emergency fund account – put a bit of money aside each month to cover things like the boiler breaking down or the car needing tyres.

4) Main savings account – work out how much you can save and at the beginning of the month move that money into this account. Once it’s there don’t touch it again.

This is pretty much what I want us to do! But Hubby thinks we will still save slowly!
We have agree'd to go over everything tonight. But how much to put aside for nights out? We don't generally go out that much! mainly spend on take aways, weekend night in treats, I take piano lessons and he has band rehearsal are our only hobbies. We are not pub/clubby people, and we don't spend on designers or anything, i pretty much spend in primark!