Advice for a clueless twenty year old?

F1F93

Could you consider moving to a different area? I'm 21 and looking to get on the property ladder soon. A £20K deposit would be more than enough for a 3 bed semi where I'm looking at, and in fact with £10k you'd be nearly there for a 2 bed apartment.

As for the sports car, could you go for something cheap and cheerful? For example, a Mazda mx5, clio 172 or focus st170? All can be had for under 2 grand. Not gonna set the world alight, but leagues ahead of a little 1.0 corsa or something. Then buy a sports car after the house. Not ideal, but maybe a compromise worth considering?

Argghhh

when i was 18 i was like u wanted a fast car etc, bought an XR3i and found it was fine buying it but the running costs meant i couldnt afford to actually run it annd i couldnt save anything after i bought it
it took a weeks wages ti insure it every month another weeks to fuel it and some more to tax mot and repair it
oh and in the next 6 months i met someone and was renting a flat so had to get rid of the car anyways lol
forget the car for a few yrs is my advice

jhs14

kteara wrote: »

I need a plan for what to do after these 2 years are up. I have gone through hell trying to save this much money and I really want to reward myself with a sports car but not at the expense of never owning a house.

Not sure what advice you want really. You'll have saved 22k, you don't know whether to blow it on a sports car or use it as the deposit for your first home. Obviously that's a decision only you can make. To me it's a no-brainer.

My whole life has consisted of being smart with my money and working towards being successful. One major "problem" is that my biggest joy/aim in life is to own and enjoy sports cars. I know that sports cars are a bad investment but this is what I enjoy MOST out of life.

My advice is that youre 20, still at university, a sports car is a luxury and is something to think about in ten or fifteen years when you're more financially secure. A roof over your head is a necessity and it makes much more sense to buy rather than rent if you can.

A crappy 2 bed apartment costs roughly 250k

London? 250k will get you a comfortable detatched family home in many parts of the country.

GoldenShadow

How are you saving £500 a month whilst at uni?

I could save barely anything when I was at uni. That included living at home ie. very cheaply and working part time the whole way through. If you can save £500 a month now you are way up on most students. Just like having 10K in savings right now, you are way up on most students.

Perhaps you'll have to pick. Sports cars or house. One of my colleagues says he is desperate for a house and it isn't possible because London is so expensive. My answer is, if you care that much abut owning a house, move out of London. Otherwise, it obviously isn't that high a priority and will have to be an opportunity cost.

Anyway, depending on what you earn, you can lease sports cars for what some would deem not to be too horrific an amount. 'Sports cars' is quite vague really, I'm assuming you don't mean a Mazda RX-8..!

lincroft1710

"Sports" cars are over-rated and at your age will cost a fortune to insure.

dodger1

You need the cruise route. Get your degree, get a good job on a cruise ship. Meet a very old millionairess or millionaire (whichever floats your boat) and job done.

J_i_m

lincroft1710 wrote: »

"Sports" cars are over-rated and at your age will cost a fortune to insure.

Not to mention, service and maintain.

I think it's a question of 'priorities'.

sequence

Why is it one or the other ? If you blow it on a car (a waste of money imo) you'll still need somewhere to live, and rent often costs more than a mortgage... Car insurance on something decent will probably cost as much as a mortgage at your age anyway!

windup

how did you manage to become younger, and save eight or more months full time wages (whilst working part time) in the last 3 weeks.

27/12/14

twenty year old -10k saved

19/12/14

21, £7000 saved.

9/12/14

£6,000 total savings.

adhara

J_i_m wrote: »

I think it's a question of 'priorities'.

Yes, and tbh, OP has a lot of odd expectations about getting onto the property ladder...

Dumb question One: what sort of property in London were you expecting to get for £250K ? And as a first time buyer, what sort of property were you expecting to buy? Are you comparing your parents' current house with what you expect to get? Because unless your parents had a helping hand or lived outside the city (or both!), they didn't have a decadent, large property as their first home. Bonus points: ask your parents what their home is worth, and see if your price expectations match the size and location it's in.

Dumb question Two: If you plan to move out age 26, where do you expect you and your dream car to live? You'll have spent your whole savings on the car, and (I assume) it will have eaten up your monthly savings with constant maintenance, insurance, servicing and petrol guzzling.

Dumb question Three: How will you save up money for a mortgage deposit after you purchase a car? Considering this, when will you feasibly be able to move out whilst still paying for the car?