Everything you could possibly imagine saving for 'diary'!

lalman

I have spent the best part of 20 minutes (whilst at work :-)) reading the thread and i felt the need to comment.

Everyone get off this young ladies back about saving - yes we all know buying an Ipod isn't saving! haha but you do need to live life as well... saving money needs to have an end goal... for example, i save money for financial security and so i can attempt to retire when i want to rather because my health fails me in old age. I want to enjoy my grand children (if i ever have any) and also provide my children (again if i ever have any) with financial security.

I would offer you a word of warning and this is just a suggestion but do think about it... why do you want to own a 250k house? Is it to keep up with the Jones or for space for a family? The amount of debt you would be taking on would make it difficult in the longer term if your wages dont increase significantly to save huge amounts of wealth that would help provide you with financial security... you are likely to be on the pay cheque spend treadmill that so many people are on... If a 250k is your dream, maybe save a more signficant proportion of the deposit and do stress tests in case interest rates go up to say... 6%?

I am 27 and earn 40k as a chartered accountant looking to push to the 60k bracket over the next few years... London is easier to earn money but also the cost of property etc is alot higher...

What industry are you in? Do you enjoy your job and life? As long as you are clear why you are saving or aims along the way... any actually enjoy life... that's the main thing :-)

Kate.Trotter

Thanks for everyones comments really appreciate you all taking the time to read and comment!

I work in marketing and I absolutely love my job! I am extremely happy to move around, work in London (I do a bit anyway) etc in order to get where I want to be pay-wise, in fact I think London is probably where I will end up permanently in terms of work. I understand that £100k might be a bit ambitious, but my thoughts are that if you aim higher then even if I only get to £60k for example, it's still going to be better than aiming for just £30k! I like to think I work very hard, and I am lucky at the moment to be in a very good company where in my first year and a half of work I have been given 6k worth of pay rises. I hope that this will continue! I don't see anything wrong with having an aim for salary and/or position in a career.

In terms of the house/family etc. We're not in any particular rush for this, but we are very aware that it will be in our future. We both grew up in nice areas/houses, and although our house is lovely and not in a bad area, it's not where we want to bring children up. We are more than happy to wait to have children until we are in a situation where we are able to do so - if this means 5 years down the line so we have enough in savings to help with maternity leave, a different house and family car etc, then that's what we will do! Also to point out I am aware on our current wages we probably won't be getting the bigger house, but it is where we would like to end up!

I think the point I'm trying to make really, is that I know that a lot of these goals are maybe quite a way in the future, but we want to keep these in the forefront of our minds, so that we can plan ahead

One thing I would like to say is that our wedding already booked and going ahead at the costs I have set out. We have been together almost 9 years - so I think this is the next natural step, if not a little overdue . We have been lucky to receive help from both our families, but including this we are looking at around £11-£12k spend. As Jegersmart mentioned, this is a pretty reasonable cost nowadays for weddings.. and if this is what we wish to spend on our wedding why can't we? I'm not complaining about our situation, we are very blessed to be able to spend that amount, so why shouldn't we? I feel some people on this forum are very straight cut in the fact they believe you shouldn't spend any excess money on anything that isn't necessary, which obviously includes a wedding, and if that's the way you wish to live then that is 100% your choice and I would never tell you otherwise.

I will be honest, I do feel a little attacked for our choices by some people on here, which I am a little surprised at! I could understand if we were massively in debt, but I don't think we are? Yes we probably could make a lot of cutbacks...but I don't want to live our lives like that, I don't want to look back when I'm on my deathbed and i've got 100k chilling in the bank, thinking of everything I could have done with it! Just a little frustrating as I was hoping this to be a positive experience to look back on, but it makes me feel a little negative and unsure about our choices. I do however appreciate everyone's opinions, advice etc. Just a bit more positivity would be great guys

innovate

Keep going, Kate - by the sounds of things you have got your head firmly screwed on, and both feet on the ground. As long as you have realistic goals and milestones - of which you appear to have plenty - and not spend money that you do not have / do not know how to get, you cannot go far wrong.

In particular, don't lose sight of that £100K job by the time you are 30 - emminently doable in Marketing, even outside London, if you have the right skills and attitude.

Hope all keeps going well for you.

Kate.Trotter

Thank you Innovate, really appreciate the motivation

lalman

keep going and i agree - keep setting yourself short medium and long term targets!

Keep up the good work and i look forward to reading your diary as time goes on... i do this as a saver... but on my ipad keyboard... (i hear the boos from some people) but do what you want - make yourself happy and have no regrets! :-)

Ken68

Sorry Kate.. I just cannot believe some of the posts on your thread.
So at odds with the rest of the forum.

cathybird

Ken, I don't see how.

Ken68

Most of the other boards on MSE forum are about finding cheaper ways of doing the same thing. It's not just about cutting back.
Like comparing energy costs, insurance premiums. etc. And there must be posts on the costs of weddings , real holidays and low cost communication.
But to spend when already indebted is plain wrong.

cathybird

She and her fiance owe £500 to parents and £1000 on a card at 0% for what she says is another 12 months, hardly a crippling level of debt, and she has listed paying it off as her top short-term goal. They do together have a reasonably large mortgage, but she's hardly alone among MSEers in that and given that she's in her early 20s she deserves plaudits for having managed to get on the housing ladder so soon. She's listed her savings goals and how she hopes to get there, and as others have said these seem quite sensible and achievable. I really think your harsh tone is misplaced.

innovate

Ken68 wrote: »

But to spend when already indebted is plain wrong.

What should she/they cut by how much because of which debt? What will happen to her & her partner if she doesn't / they don't?