House Deposit Here We Come....

candylucy

I've been a long time lurker on the MSE Forums but for some reason have only just discovered this savings section! Observant or what?!

This makes me happy as my quest to save a house deposit didn't really fit in anywhere else on the Forums and I've been desperate to start a diary about our journey to keep me on the straight and narrow!

So - a bit of background about me. I'm 30 years old and my DH and I have been married for 2 years this summer. He is in the army and based in Norfolk while I work and live in the Midlands - strange situation I know but our hands are tied at the moment as DH only has 4 years left to serve until he retires on a full pension. My job is currently not transferable so we're stuck for the time being.

I am currently living with my mum while we save up for a house. The plan is to buy a house in the Midlands initially to get onto the property ladder and eventually maybe look at moving to Norfolk to get our little slice of the good life!

I'm pretty good with money generally while DH has always been of the "why save it when you can spend it" ilk! Having said that I've managed to work my MSE ways with him since we got together and thanks to a few months of throwing everything at our debt and a fantastic payout from PPI claim (thanks to this site) we've now managed to pay of the vast majority of our debts with a couple of exceptions.

I borrowed some money off my mum to buy my beloved car a couple of years ago. I've been repaying this monthly and only have about £650 left to pay so not long to go!

DH also borrowed some money off family to buy his car back in August 2012. He has been paying this back at £750 a month and currently owes £4250 which should be paid off this summer.

We're in the very lucky situation of both being in well paid jobs with very little outgoings because of the fact I'm living with Mum and DH is living on camp, which means we should be able to save quite a fair whack for a house deposit.

Through my work I already have a few 10 year savings plans. I generally take one out every year and have done so for the past 6 years. Each of these is around £20 per month but I don't count these when totting up current savings as I don't have access to them until after the 10 year period. The first one will start paying out in 2016 I think.

So, onto the house deposit plans. I've already been saving £750 per month towards this in a normal savings account with my bank and currently have £3707 saved.

I also have an 18m ISA which runs until October 2013 which has £8798 in it. This is money from an inheritance and also some money we were lucky enough to get for our wedding gifts.

So in total I currently have approx. £11,000 in savings. So far, so good! However, the area we plan to buy in is notoriously expensive so ideally I'd like to save up as much as possible for a deposit while we're still able to throw a lot each month towards this. I'm thinking about £30,000 minimum and we would like to start looking at houses early next year. So we have to save about £20,000 in the next year. Doable? I hope so!

We recently opened a joint Save to Buy account with Nationwide which needs a minimum payment of £50pm.

So here goes. My plan for 2013 is as follows -

1) Continue to save £750pm in my regular savings account until April when the new ISA allowance starts.

2) In April open a new ISA and transfer all of the money in the regular savings account (approx. £5000) into the ISA as new funds.

3) From April onwards pay £750 a month into the Save to Buy account.

4) Once DH has paid off his car in the summer, he will start to save £750pm into the Save to Buy account

5) Make as much extra money as possible by eBaying, using Music Magpie, Amazon, car boots etc. This will be kept in a separate account so I can keep track of what extra is coming in. I've already started selling things on eBay this year for the first time and am really pleasantly surprised by the amount some things have gone for which have just been languishing in my wardrobe!

6) Have as many NSD as possible every month.

7) Be mega organised when it comes to birthday presents/Christmas etc. Last Christmas I started buying presents in September which resulted in mocking and ridicule from my friends and family but I'm pleased to say worked a treat! I had a set budget for every present which I pretty much stuck to and meant I wasn't frantically scrambling to buy presents at the 11th hour with my December paycheck as normal! So this will definitely continue this year!

8) Keep on comping. Thanks to MSE I'm now a converted comper. I started entering them towards the end of last year and my first win was a pair of tickets to see War of the Worlds. Prior to that, I'd never won anything in my life so you can imagine how excited I was! Since then I'm seriously addicted and have won quite a few bits. In Jan I had an email to say 'd won £500 from completing a survey online :j but I haven't yet had the cheque so need to chase this up - not sure if it's not been sent yet or may have gone astray in the post with all the bizarre weather we've been having lately! So I definitely need to carry on comping - if you've never done it before I'd definitely recommend you start!

So that's my plan. If anyone has managed to keep awake through that, you deserve a medal. I don't expect anyone to read this, just hoping this diary will be a way for me to record my thoughts and and will keep me on track to our ultimate aim. Who knows, this time next year we could be putting an offer in on a house! :beer:

x

candylucy

Started off yesterday by listing 9 things on eBay (free listing this weekend, gotta love it).

All only down for 99p but even if they only sell for that I'll be happy - means less clutter and every little bit helps in the house deposit quest! Going to spend today having a mass declutter and see if there are any other bits I can list while it's free.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

Good luck with your challenge!

You might want to read and/or join in on this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/789675

D9

candylucy

Thanks D9! Just had a mooch and it looks right up my alley! x

gothrockchic1

Good Luck on your quest and welcome to the Board!!

Robin_TBW

candylucy wrote: »

Started off yesterday by listing 9 things on eBay (free listing this weekend, gotta love it).

All only down for 99p but even if they only sell for that I'll be happy - means less clutter and every little bit helps in the house deposit quest! Going to spend today having a mass declutter and see if there are any other bits I can list while it's free.

You can list things for a 99p starting price for free anytime. Not just on free listing weekends.

talisha

Hey Lucy!
I absolutely love your idea.

I too am looking to save up for a deposit for my first house, but in the next 5 years as I am looking to work abroad until then.

You are very inspiring, I wish you the best of luck :T

brenda10

CANDY LUCY Well Done, I am just getting my mortgage finally paid off after having 8 hard years of watching my spends, have saved 36,000 for mortgage and on top of that an extra 28,000. I am putting some money in an isa for my 23 yr old daughter and she has got the saving bug for a house deposit for mortgage maybe next yr, so well done to you, a very interesting story, her boyfriend rents in exp part of London due to job, she works all over world so no rent, food paid for etc so great opportunity but misses b/friend so may be coming to an end. GOOD LUCK with all and Well Done.