Zola's pursuit of 20k+

Zola.

My partner and I are saving for a house. In all my accounts right now I have about 16k. She has about 20k.

I see others have a bit of a diary on here so thought I would do the same for motivation / hear tips from others.

My aim is to save about £500 a month, I have spreadsheet where I mark all my fixed costs, another for variable costs and then a spend tracker. It has so far helped me to see where my money goes. 500 can be a challenge some months when unexpected bills and things pop up.

The rent on the shared house I am in finishes in August, but I would love to be in our own house for around April / May all being well, dont care about losing out on a couple months rent if we can get our own place!

We have spoken to one mortgage broker and reckon we could do an 85% LTV mortgage on a house about 150-170k, with enough left over to furnish the house how we want etc, provided it doesn't need a lot of work.

The aim is to deposit 30k on the house if possible, so I want to save at least 20k, so that I can meet half the deposit easily, as well as have a bit left over for other costs like stamp duty etc. If I have more thats ideal as can furnish the house more etc.

So once I get the expensive christmas out of the way I want to live as tightly (but comfortably) as possible!

Any tips are appreciated!

asajj

Good luck Well I can't say I have any tips but I noticed there are some good rates for cash above certain amount (Like Santander) so perhaps you can also earn some interest on it.

I do use few websites to boost my income but not sure if these are preferable to you.

About that Christmas - perhaps keep it cheap !