Diary of a Debt Free Wannabe aged 24 and 3 quarters

DawnW

We didn't buy till our 50s - I guess we could have afforded it 10 years before (but no more, we were in debt before that, combination of bringing up kids and low wage) but were living in low cost, though grotty accommodation that went with OH's job and were uber-cautious as we remembered all the repossessions in the 80s and 90s .

The mortgage is paid off now and house all done up. It makes me smile to read the newspaper articles scaremongering that 'young people will never afford to get on the housing ladder' :rotfl:They will, if they want, but not straight away. It is only in quite recent years that young people in their 20s have been able to afford to buy

So, don't be too hard on yourself - once you have paid off your debts you can start to save for a deposit

killerpeaty

I concur with the others, try not to worry too much about the mortgage at the moment. Apparently a single person would need to save for 14 years to get a deposit up.

I would also love to get my own house, I have savings and no debt (not through skill, mostly through luck) but my timeline is to buy at or after 30. I'm 24 too. My mum and dad got their home at 29 so not too bad really. : )

Jonesy88

Just popping by to wish you good luck. I joined here at 24 & 3/4s, I'm now an elderly 26 hahaha. Seriously though, looks like everything is moving in the right direction

rokat

Thanks everyone. You've made me feel better about the house situation. It's just annoying that we feel like we are throwing hundreds of £ a month on rent when we could be putting it into our own house. OH parents said earlier this year that when we're ready they will help us out with a deposit by doubling whatever we have saved, which is very generous (he's an only child )

So after reading your posts and having a gander on the debt free wannabe board, I have decided to set myself some goals.

1. Debt free by 29. At the minute my DMP says I wont be debt free until Nov 2021 (when Im 32!!) but I've done some sums and I'm hoping that with overtime and some frugal living I can get this to the middle of 2018. My overtime isn't included in my DMP budget as it isn't regular (term time only) so whenever I get this it can be thrown at debts.

2. House at 30ish. So once I'm debt free at 29 (she hopes) I can then save what I've been paying off on debts for a deposit. As well as OH contribution and OH parents generous donation I think it may be achievable.

3. Get married OH doesn't know this yet but we've been together since 19 so its inevitable really :rotfl: I'm not one for a big fancy wedding so could save up along side the house deposit for this.

rokat

Had a no spend day yesterday :T went to OH mums for tea so didn't even have to cook

Had to go to the shop this morn for mine and OH lunches for the rest of the week. It was so busy! Got stuck on the car park for 15 mins because it was backed up and no-one would let me reverse out of my parking space! Ended up getting a few bits and bobs for tea to supplement what we already have in the freezer to cover us until Friday (OH payday) but only spent £7.23 altogether so shouldn't have to spend any more on food until at least Friday now. Lets see if I can have no spend days until the end of the week

Back to work tomorrow. I've had 2 weeks off and I haven't really done much. Looking forward to going back though and getting back into a proper routine.

Today I have:
washed 2 loads and hung outside to dry
made soup for my lunch with enough left over for tomorrow and Wednesday
Sorted through wardrobe and now have a pile of clothes to sell
Sorted through OH socks - now all paired up with only 3 odd ones so he can now wear matching socks to work :rotfl:

Still to do:
Stop looking at the pile of clothes and start putting them on Eb@y!!

killerpeaty

So productive! You're putting me to shame.

I love your goals! Have you tried breaking them down into monthly sections? It gives you more achievable short term goals and really helps me get myself together.

rokat

Thats a good idea Killerpeaty! It will make my goals more manageable. I have broken the debt free one into monthly goals based on what I estimate I will get paid after my promotion (which started today!) but need to see my take home salary for definite first before I can concentrate on them
For the getting married goal I might just start leaving wedding magazines around the house and see if OH gets the hint

Well after my post yesterday I listed a total of 32 items on Eb@y!! I started to give up towards the end so listed 3 of them as bundles of 10 or so items and put them on buy it now for £20 each as I didn't think I'd get much for them anyway and when I got back from work 2 of them had sold :j also have bids on 4 other items so far...

Back to work today, was good to catch up with all my colleagues, most of whom went on holiday to lovely places abroad I resisted getting chippy lunch with everyone else so had another no spend day today :T

rokat

4 no spend days this week! :T

OH got paid today so he treated us to takeaway for tea. Only 5 days until my payday now and then can sort and update the budget... I think I'm getting a bit obsessed with checking it and changing bits even though nothing has really changed haha.

Weighed myself this morn and have lost another 2lbs :j

So glad it's Friday! I know it's only been a 4 day week but it feels like it has dragged! Hoping for a minimum spend weekend

rokat

So today I have...

:)washed clothes and hung out to line dry
:)went out with OH and friends for some food and a few drinks and only spent £4.20
cashed in my nectar points for a sainsburys voucher
ordered sainsburys shop online to be delivered tomorrow but used nectar voucher and a voucher I got a few weeks ago (because the delivery driver only delivered half my food!!) so ordered £45 worth of food for only £15.36!
Sorted out new contents insurance and pet insurance through quidco (total of £42 cashback!)
paid council tax and set up DD for rest of the year
checked payslip and updated budget
posted all eb@y items


Hope you're all having a good day

NHS_worker_bee

rokat wrote: »

Need to ring BT this week to get our bill down. We currently pay £45 a month for internet and landline :eek: I know its alot but we've had it for 2 years and got it when we were both in good jobs.

Hello

Just read your diary, it sounds like you are on track

If you can't get out of the BT contract (unlikely if you're contracted in, BT charged me the remainder of my contract for leaving early...) then you could consider Line Rental Saver? You pay for it upfront as a one-off each year but it's more economical than paying a higher monthly line rental fee (and once you've paid it, your monthly bill will be smaller/easier to budget for) Just a thought.