All the small things...

newgirly

Hi, welcome and best of luck with your new diary, oh and happy new year too!

FlacosFloozie

Well I haven't been very good at posting but the money saving has been going a bit better.
I spent a lot at the supermarket this weekend but have batch cooked and restocked the freezer- lots of stews which can be microwaved and should help counteract our takeaway habit.

AlexLK

Glad to hear the money saving is going well.

FlacosFloozie

I've stuck to the grocery budget and everything is up to date on YNAB.
Holiday savings is now up to £175 and there should be more to add to the house savings this time next week.
I've used a special offer to sell all my shares at reduced commission. The total value ended at a little over 2k. My plan is to withdraw the cash next week, use 1k to start a S+S ISA, add £500 to the holiday fund and the rest to the house savings.


I also had a call from the bank, they are now doing 95% mortgages. I still think its worth saving for 10% if we can but its tempting....


The other thing to consider is if we do want to move north. Friends were selling their flat back home and I was stunned to find out how cheap it was so I looked on rightmove with our budget (bad plan I know) and instead of a 2/3 bed terrace in an okay area we could afford a 3/4 bed detached in a scarily posh area! I hadn't been expecting that much of a difference. We need to do some serious thinking for the long term...

egoode

Good luck with saving for your deposit, don't forget to also save for all the other house buying costs like stamp duty, conveyancing, surveys, etc. I was quite surprised at how much they all added up to. Although my stamp duty was under the old slab system so might not be so bad now it's changed!

I'm also a YNAB fan it's been quite eye-opening for me to see where I've been spending my money and I'm starting to notice I'm definitely doing better at not spending freely like I used to and pay a bit more attention to whether I really need to buy everything I want.

FlacosFloozie

Time for an update...

Firstly, hello to egoode and AlexLK. Its always nice to have some company on here .

So the shares were sold for a total of £2012.76 in the end. £500 is in the holiday fund and £512.76 got added to the house fund. The other 1k is in limbo at the moment. My plan is to start a S+S nisa and drip feed into a tracker fund. However, we've had some potentially bad news about Mr F's health. It may be nothing at all or it may be really bad and we won't know for a bit. If its bad I will need to stop work to look after him. I have to say its a relief to know we have enough money in the bank to cover expenses for 6 months plus.

The other, very telling, thing is that part of his early reaction was that he doesn't want to die down here. I think that has settled the question of where we want to end up long term. It may not be the first house we buy, but our forever home is going to be north of the border.

katep23

What a tough time, sorry to hear about MrF. Hope you get the answer that you want and don't have to wait too long.

It does sound like it's helped you to realise what is important to you both though x

FlacosFloozie

Right, enough of the scary life decisions and back to money saving. I'm really happy about the tax breaks for saving in the budget and I'll be interested by what the help to buy isa is like, although it does feel like a massive bribe to vote tory...


Current stats:
House fund £7515.87
Holiday £675.01
? £1000


I've worked out that if we do spend £300,000 on a house then stamp duty would need another 5k and I suspect solicitors would be similar. I think we'd be able to save some of that while looking as I don't think we'll make our minds up quickly but you never know..

sofarbehind

Hi FF,


Sorry to hear about your OH. I really hope it turns out to be on the less serious end of the scale. Well done for getting into a better financial position, it always makes it a bit easier to cope with life's lemons.


I really enjoy reading your diary as I'm in a very similar point saving for a deposit. Your progress is impressive. Good luck.

FlacosFloozie

Hello again,


We had the best news this week. Mr F's cancer is NOT back :j To say I'm relieved would be an understatement- I couldn't stop crying when we got the good news.


So now life can get back to reality. Deposit total is up to £8302.22 with a bit more to add later in the month. I'm still getting used to YNAB and the virtual envelopes. When we had debt I used to just pay off as much as I could at the start of the month because if it wasn't there I couldn't spend it. Mr F gets paid 3 weeks after me but I like to budget all the monthly bills at the start so I can't allocate it all to the deposit. It is working well for making me think about what I spend money on. Takeaway is our downfall....


In a very MSE move using a combination of nectar offers and the Sainsbury's sale I have a new duvet, pillows and sheets for the spare bed for the grand total of £18. Just as well since we have guests due next weekend.