100% mortgage?

happycamel_2

Can I point out that a mortgage is only part of the cost of owning a home, and rental prices reflect that. I'm spending over £1k this year just having the wooden windows and doors repainted. Decorating and carpets cost money as does plumbing and boiler repairs etc.

Mortgage rates can vary too, 20 to 30 years is a long time to commit to joint finances, especially if you are young and aren't married. With a family planned if interest rates go up on such low salaries or on maternity pay you'll really struggle. At least of you're renting you can easily move in with parents, downsize, move to a cheaper area or house share. Owning a home is big commitment.

lawless21

Somethings a little off with the expenditure. According to salary calc £16,950 take home per month is £1,195.38 and £13,380 take home is £993.08, a total of £2,188.46.

With rent of £525, thats £1663.46. Taking off your estimates of monthly expenditure (which are extremely high for two people in a flat), you should have £628.46 left over per month. That's £7,541.52 per year.

That's plenty enough to save for a 5-10% deposit even without a pay rise or new job.

I assume your spending much more than you let on, otherwise the money would naturally accrue in your current account.

It would be very difficult for me (and my partner) to spend £87.50 a week at the supermarket, even when stocking up on discounted fabric conditioner/washing-up liquid/detergent etc. A regular shop for two for a week never tops £50, with one-off extras (medicine, bulbs, whatever), maybe up to £70. In fact the highest total in my recent memory was approx £68 (I think engine oil was on special that time).

If you try harder with your weekly shop, lets say £60, then the extra £90 per month will add £1,080 to the £7,541.52, for a total of £8,621.52 per year.


LL

ACG

happycamel wrote: »

In spending over £1k this year just having the wooden windows and doors repainted.

If you have anything else which needs painting give me a shout :-)

Im painting those wooden things under my roof that stick out a bit on the outside. Tin of gloss, bit of sandpaper and some ladders off my neighbour and a sunny afternoon or 2 - £20!

peytonx

Where are people shopping to get a weeks worth of shopping for two people including toiletries and cleaning products for £50 every week? I shop at Morrisons and the bills range from lowest £50 but more often about £70 per week. I buy stuff for work including lunch, snacks, fruit and juices. I always try and get stuff on offer but for the last year or so my shopping bill has been about this much?

BranstonPickle92

catflapuk wrote: »

I dont think £350 for food for two people per month is as much as it sounds. I take out about £50 a week for food and household products plus things like shower gel etc. These things weren't listed in the OP breakdown. They are in fact spending less per head than me, and while I live a comfortable life I am not throwing away money and do not buy everything I want, otherwise £50 would not be enough. I take my own sandwich into work, cook my own meals most of the time and go to the market for fruit and veg. So no, to spend about £40 for food and household products and toiletries per week is not excessive. Things add up quickly if you want to eat fruit and veg every day and meat/fish once a week. I mean fresh meat/fish not fish fingers and stuff.

Your household bills are high however. I think you can cut these at least by £100 per month.

I eat very healthy and make sure i dont buy ready meals, so you are right, thats exactly why the food is so high.

however, my household bills are literally all needed, there is nothing that i pay for that i can take off - ill put a comment further down to show exactly what we pay out

BranstonPickle92

FloppyDisk wrote: »

is it possible to downsize?.

It is possible but there is nowhere near that we can go and we will be venturing into very rough areas which is not something we want - we have only just come from that and have moved out to escape it, so no not really

Ivana_Tinkle

You spend about the same on groceries as my family of five! And we eat extremely well - not value stuff or ready meals - and don't bother with shopping around. That really is an astonishing amount for two people.

BranstonPickle92

My exact outgoing are as follows;

rent 525
electric - 80
sky - 37 - my mother pays for this
120 - council tax
12 - TV licence
43 - sofa finance (interest free)
10 - home insurance
thats £827 - we share the cost of this at 413.50 (round it up to 415)

my personal outgoings are;
car finance - 78
mobile contract - 33 (i will not be renewing or taking out a new one once its over in Jan next year)
Union - 10 (i get travel ins, income insurance and support if there are any issues at work - so i believe its needed - correct me if im wrong???)
my mum - 30 - i pay her back for money she lent me last year to fix my old car
Loan - 46
save - 20 (this is to cover tax/mot/ins for my car as i dont like forking out alot in one go - i know i have this money ready when needed)
i also save an additional - 50 (this is usually taken back out just to feed us at the end of the month)
Fuel - 50
travel to work - 95
so in total this is - 407

my boyfs outgoings are;
Gym - 50 (i know - i have talked to him about cancelling or going elsewhere)
car ins - 35
spotify - 10 (again - i have told him to cancel and safe this per month - but he sees it as a small amount)
netflix - 6 (we do use this alot so we probably get waaaay more than our moneys worth - but again - i know he should cancel this - i have told him)
mobile contract - 30
petrol - 50
so in total this is - 181

NOT INCLUDING FOOD - MY BILLS/OUTGOINGS ARE - 822
HIS BILLS/OUTGOINGS ARE - 596

MY MONTHLY MONEY ON AVERAGE - 1170
SO 1170 - 822 = 348

MY BOYFS MONTHLY MONEY ON AVERAGE - 913
SO 913 - 596 = 317

NOW, this is where it gets strange - my boyfriends get paid weekly not monthly so his money tends to fizzle out - - i dont know how - i have just had a HUUUGE talk with him about this

So when i pay between - 300 and 350 for food per month - i am literally left with nothing at all.

I think what i have learnt from this is that HE is the issue with saving money not me.

I just wanted you all to have a clear understanding that im not being ridiculous by saying i cant afford to save much and you thinking im being reckless because im really not and i am serious about getting my finances in order and eventually owning my own home.

sorry for boring you all with such a long post hahah - thanks

BranstonPickle92

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

You spend about the same on groceries as my family of five! And we eat extremely well - not value stuff or ready meals - and don't bother with shopping around. That really is an astonishing amount for two people.

I dont know how your family works, but i think mine is so much as i take my own food in to work each day (and my boyf) , make everything from scratch - eat in on the weekends

I dont know if im right but i know alot of my older friends who have families have told me the same - then realised they also pay for their kids lunches in school and get stuff from the staff canteen or out on lunch - whereas, i buy groceries for all of this -

If im wrong then i cant explain it - but i dont buy a stupid amount and we eat everything we buy - nothing goes off as i plan each meal everyday for a week before i go shopping so i know what i need

catflapuk

ACG wrote: »

When i first went self employed things were pretty tight, i had our weekly shopping down to about £50 a week (usually closer to£45) for the 2 of us - that wasnt living on rice and carrots - we ate steak or chicken pretty much every night.

OK. When I was on a much lower salary I had GBP30 as a budget per week for food, household products and toiletries. To be honest I hated it as I counted every penny. I shopped at Lidl, Asda or Morissons and still do that today as I get more for my money. I am pretty impressed how you two manage to live on 50 quid a week. I could not do it. But then, I have always saved a great deal on socialising as I do not do cinemas etc and do not drink etc. Guess it all depends on lifestyle and priorities.