How to save for starting a future...

positivelypunked

*Not too sure where to post this.Sorry if it is in the wrong section*

Me and my partner have the same goals of wanting to get married, have children and have a nice house or flat. But then we have dreams of going on holiday and I have a dream of eventually being able to drive (self confidence as well as money is putting me off).

I just don't know what process to take to be able to afford all of this and enjoy our lives too.
It's a bit harder because he lives in a different area to me so every other weekend I'm planning on taking a train ride up to see him and he sometimes does the same to see me.

I have so many money goals that I just don't know where to start.

How do I go about saving for a house, like how do i save for a down payment and what do I need to do after...

I don't have a clue how any of this financial things work.
All I know is, I have 3 saving accounts for a goal of £2,700 of emergency funds in case anything happens and I've only just put £100 in there. I have a "fun" account where I am starting to save £50 in so I won't feel guilty for going away or buying a big purchase and I have a savings account for travel, so I can dip into that to afford my train tickets so I put £50 in there.

So what do I need to do now to ensure the future I want ?
My current totals of everything is in my signature.

tiger_eyes

Let's make this simple and easy.

• Put your goals in order of most important to least important. Now you know what matters.
• Reorder them if some goals have prerequisites - for example, if you really most of all want to have children, but you want to get married first. That tells you what comes first.
• Decide on how much each goal will cost and possibly how much to save per month, how many months you'll need to save for, etc.
• Start working down the list, saving for each goal and ticking off each accomplishment in turn.
• Success!

positivelypunked

aha thanks. Wish it was that simple though aha
it is for the smaller goals ... how do you raise a family if you don't live together and yor paces are too small?

Not pregnant or anything right now but We wanted to maybe in 2017-2018 think about it

lika_86

The first thing you need to do is work out how much money you have left over each month once you've paid for the essentials - this is a good website for it http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Once you know how much money you have left over for saving then you need to work out what's most important to you and what it will cost. Start looking at house costs in the area you might want to live in and then work out what 10% will be if you want to buy, then add on at least £5,000 for the various costs. If you don't want to buy but rent then you'll need to think about a six week deposit at least.

tiger_eyes

The reason I made it so simple is because your original post brought up a number of different goals - get married, have children, have a nice house, go on holiday, learn to drive, emergency fund, move in together - without a clear sense of priority. I'm trying to tease out what's genuinely most important to you, in case you can't afford to hit all of these goals in the immediate future, or perhaps some goals can't be afforded at all. Perhaps you already decided all this and I'm just not picking it up from your posts.

Mojisola

positivelypunked wrote: »

It's a bit harder because he lives in a different area to me so every other weekend I'm planning on taking a train ride up to see him and he sometimes does the same to see me.

You could make a big saving by living together - only one lot of rent and no big train fares.

foolofbeans

The norm is usually to live together before getting married and/or having children so hopefully saving money is easier due to combined housing costs.
If you wanted to get married before having children then the wedding and house deposit would be the top of the list. Although you say you have the same goals it doesn't sound like any plans to achieve them together have really been made. Is your boyfriend going to save too? Whose home will you live in? Your? His? A middle-ground one?
You may find it useful to check out the debt boards. Even if you are not in debt it is a good place to get some tips on how to save money and where you can cut costs so you can more/quicker. Also check out the old style money saving for tips on how to live cheaply.

DUTR

positivelypunked wrote: »

aha thanks. Wish it was that simple though aha
it is for the smaller goals ... how do you raise a family if you don't live together and yor paces are too small?

Not pregnant or anything right now but We wanted to maybe in 2017-2018 think about it

As Tiger says, it really is that easy, finding an excuse not to start is probably easier but not going to get you to where you would like to be.

enthusiasticsaver

You have said you and your partner have the same goals of wanting a house, children etc but you have not said that this is with each other. This is one of the things you will eventually need to decide before you can move forward. Ideally you should do this before having children as this places a massive strain emotionally and financially on anyone.


If you do want a future together then living together will save you both money meaning you can save quicker for your goals and have more disposable income for holidays etc in the meantime and save you money on commuting - depending on jobs etc.


Draw up a budget and work out how much disposable income you have after all essential bills are paid. Allocate the disposable income to everyday spending money, long term saving money (for house, kids etc) and medium term spending money for holidays, trips etc. How much you allocate to each depends on your priorities which only you can decide.


If you are a first time buyer you may want to look into opening one of the new help to buy isas as you get free money from the government when you eventually come to buy somewhere and the interest rates are quite good.


Check out the mortgage and savings and investments forums for ideas on where to save.

positivelypunked

To be honest, we haven't made a proper plan together. I told him that I have the savings accounts and how much is in there right now. And he said he'd save money but given his situation we haven't set anything in stone...He doesn't have a job and claims job seekers. So I'm the only one with a "good" enough amount to start us off but worried that I can't do it alone.

for us, we want a child before getting married because He has a daughter with his ex and he isn't allowed to see her so we both want to make sure that he at least gets that chance again to be a dad and to know that we both work (that bit we're putting on hold because we can't actually do anything - he has no parental rights so have to wait really until she's old enough to make up her mind...) From what I've seen we do but marriage to us isn't as important as having a child (not just for him to be a dad again either) .

How much is reasonable to save for a flat?
Like, how much do I need to cover XX Amount of rent (1/6 months advance etc)
and for bills and things? Some things we could probably take with us now my partner has moved into a bedsit (I'm not allowed to move in but I can stay over a few nights)

hm. thinking about it,
Holidays and a car isn't as top priority so i could probablly use the fun saving account to cover that.

DUTR

positivelypunked wrote: »

To be honest, we haven't made a proper plan together. I told him that I have the savings accounts and how much is in there right now. And he said he'd save money but given his situation we haven't set anything in stone...He doesn't have a job and claims job seekers. So I'm the only one with a "good" enough amount to start us off but worried that I can't do it alone.

for us, we want a child before getting married because He has a daughter with his ex and he isn't allowed to see her so we both want to make sure that he at least gets that chance again to be a dad and to know that we both work (that bit we're putting on hold because we can't actually do anything - he has no parental rights so have to wait really until she's old enough to make up her mind...) From what I've seen we do but marriage to us isn't as important as having a child (not just for him to be a dad again either) .

How much is reasonable to save for a flat?
Like, how much do I need to cover XX Amount of rent (1/6 months advance etc)
and for bills and things? Some things we could probably take with us now my partner has moved into a bedsit (I'm not allowed to move in but I can stay over a few nights)

hm. thinking about it,
Holidays and a car isn't as top priority so i could probablly use the fun saving account to cover that.

I don't want to burst your bubble,
keep saving and when you are both in a situation to proceed with the financial things(eg after he gains meaningful employment) then you can continue on the journey.
Somehow I feel you will get to where you want to , just not with the guy you are with (too many red flags) .