London Dreams

MoneyQueen

Hi,

After being absent from MSE for a long time, I have decided to start a new Diary as I have been reading a few MFW diaries for the last few days.

A bit of background about me:

I an DH both are in our early thirties and currently live in Scotland. I had a diary on this board few years ago which greatly helped us in keeping on track. We did manage to save enough to pay off the outstanding balance on the mortgage if we wanted and then had quite a few expensive holidays but since then, things have changed.

We have sold our house since then and bought another house (seemed our forever home at that time). Since we had lots of equity in our earlier house and a big savings pot (DH had also got a big bonus last year), we could afford to buy our current house with the existing mortgage even though it was £50,000 more than our earlier house.

Coming to the thread heading –My family (parents and sister) has moved to London and I am missing them a lot especially my nephews so we have decided to move to London whenever we can. DH’s family is in India so he doesn’t have any tie-ins with Scotland and is happy to move.

But what that means is paying off the mortgage on our current house so that we have enough equity in the house to be able to have a decent deposit to buy our own place in London. I am looking to buy a place for £600,000 :eek:(DH doesn’t like small houses ) so will need at least 25-30% (the more the better) of that to get a big mortgage at a decent rate. My parents will also be helping a little as they want all of us to be near each other.

I don’t have any fixed date for the move yet as we will also need to get new jobs in London which may be a bit difficult especially for DH as he is a specialized role.

Enough for the first post, I am checking all our savings accounts and will post some numbers soon. I am looking forward to know all the fellow MFWers and hope to receive and share some tips along the way.:A

MQ

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Hi and welcome back,

Good luck with your new London Dream.... and well done for already breaking it down into mini-goals (pay off current mortgage, find jobs etc.). I'm also glad you didn't set a date since staying flexible will put less pressure on yourself.

MoneyQueen

I had a look at all our accounts today and following is the breakdown of everything:

Cash ISAs – Total: £56,429.69


Newcastle BS Five Year fixed ISA 5% till July 2014 - £7,962.03
Newcastle BS Five Year fixed ISA 5% till July 2014 - £ 10,589.00
Northern Rock Fixed rate Cash ISA 4.5% till Dec 2012- £4,012.81
Northern Rock Easy Access ISA 3.05% - £13,581.54
Northern Rock Easy Access ISA 3.05% - £9,202.71
Santander Easy Access ISA 3.4% until Aug 2013 – £5,540.80
Santander Easy Access ISA 3.4% until Aug 2013 – £5,540.80

Other Fixed savings – Total: £15,156.85

AA Five Year Fixed account 5.15% till Nov 2014 - £3,360.70
AA Five Year Fixed account 5.15% till Nov 2014 - £3,631.73
KRBS One Year Bond 3.6% till Oct 2012 - £3,000.00
Newcastle BS bond 4.4% until April 2012 - £5,164.42

Regular Saver Accounts – Total: £7,414.42

Coventry BS 4.5% Regular Savings - £673.00
Coventry BS 4.5% Regular Savings - £673.00
HSBC 4% Regular Savings – £1,750
Monmouthshire 4% Regular Savings till Jan 2013 – £818.42
Skipton BS 5% Regular Savings – £1750
Skipton BS 5% Regular Savings – £1750

Mortgage

£69,292.49 at 1.29%

Outstanding Credit Card debt – Total: £717.95


My Credit card 1: £456.91 (Will pay by direct debit on the due date)
My Credit card 2: £0 (Will close this account)
DH’s Credit card 1: £205.88 (Will pay by direct debit on the due date and then will close this account)
DH’s Credit card 2: £ 55.16 (0% till Dec 2013 so will only make minimum payments till then)


I have also been recording our monthly expenses for this month so will post the breakdown of that soon. In addition, also looked at "how much we can borrow" calculator and based on our current salaries, we won't be able to get more than £260,000 so will either have to have more deposit or look for a cheaper house. I have no idea what we will do and TBH I don't have any idea of how expensive other things will be in London. I will check with my sister but her lifestyle is entirely different from us and she has never been the one to track spending so not sure how helpful she will be.

MoneyQueen

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice wrote: »

Hi and welcome back,

Good luck with your new London Dream.... and well done for already breaking it down into mini-goals (pay off current mortgage, find jobs etc.). I'm also glad you didn't set a date since staying flexible will put less pressure on yourself.

Thanks Mortgage Reduction Novice

I am already feeling very pressured about this whole thing as I am sure London will be much more expensive than Glasgow where we currently are. We only bought our current house last year so too early to sell it. I do need to think about a time frame and also need to plan for everything. I generally like to be in control and don't cope very well when things are this uncertain.

Though for now, I think I should just concentrate on how to get the deposit ready for the new house. Off to read some diaries for inspiration

MQ

MoneyQueen

I did a bit of maths and after all expenses, we should be able to save £4,185 per month

Income £5,404.29
Mortgage £861.83
Electricity/ Gas £60
Mobile £5.58
Phone/ Broadband £41.98
Miscellaneous (Hair Cuts, work expenses, etc.) £50
0% Credit card minimum payment £200
Savings £4,185

I haven't added anything for clothes, shoes and make up as we have had two trips to the US this year and both of us have bought enough stuff to last us at least three years if not the whole life.:o

I have also not included the once a year expenses for the car/ house such as car servicing, car tax, MOT, car and house insurance as they will all be paid with the 0% credit card and then paid at the end of the next year when the 0% rate finishes.

I have also not included the monthly expenses for Groceries/ Eating Out/ Council Tax and Fuel (Total £385) as they will all be paid with the 0% credit card and then paid at the end of the next year.

MQ

MoneyQueen

We had a money saving day out today. The weather was very nice so we went to a country park nearby which has nice gardens, a history museum, picnic area, a stream/river,a vegetable garden and it was all free entry. We took a picnic with us so didn't spend any money there. :money:

Then we went to Wholefoods for the weekly shop. We had a £10 off £50 voucher with tomorrow as the last date. In total we paid £43.99 and have bought enough fresh stuff to last us atleast the next two weeks. :j

I have only recently started shopping at Wholefoods and I am quite liking it. We have switched to eating only organic food this year and they do have a wide variety of stuff and the customer service is second to none.

MQ

Georges_Mum

Good Luck with your journey - will watch with bated breath!!
I'm sure you can do this!!

GM

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

MoneyQueen wrote: »

Cash ISAs – Total: £56,429.69

Other Fixed savings – Total: £15,156.85
Regular Saver Accounts – Total: £7,414.42

Mortgage £69,292.49 at 1.29%

Outstanding Credit Card debt – Total: £717.95

Practically a millionnaire compared to others on the forum! Well done on all your hard saving.

Good to see that frugality last once you've got the bug too!

I've never tried Wholefoods but it sounds reasonable.

MoneyQueen

Thanks GeorgesMum and good luck with your endeavours too

MRN, when I look at these figures, it looks like we are doing just fine and heading towards a comfortable retirement but the state the economy/ job market is in UK, I am not sure any more. I had a look at various job sites and and there is nothing much available in our specialized fields in London so at the moment, the move to London seems very difficult if not impossible.

Note to self, check at work if I/ DH can get relocated to London through work. I can't do it till I complete one year at work and there are still some months left for that.

I got rid of the domestic cleaner this weekend. It will save us £40 each week so that will be £160 a month. Earlier my mom was getting the house cleaned while we were at work but now, I don't want to spend my weekends waiting for the cleaner to do her work. Need to join the Fly Lady thread me thinks :eek:

MQ

MoneyQueen

MRN, I find Wholefoods good for fresh fruit and veg but I have been informed on the OS Board that the prices are quite bad for meat etc.

MQ

MiddyMum

I hope you don't mind me stalking your journal. It would be a dream to buy in London, although if it does happen it wont happen for another 6 years at the very least! So I am reading lots of diaries like yours for inspiration. You have done so well with your savings!