It's not a lot, but it's enough

jvr

Hi Speky


It is expensive living on your own but having your own place are you likely to have friends over more... depending on location air b&b might be an option to top up money for treats without losing your independence or a mon-fri lodger... I direct everyone to Brizzles diary for advice on this as she has done each one!
I live in a 3 bed semi (with OH and two dogs and one cat) Household expenses are about £700 this includes all insurance including life and I pay for job loss insurance.. water... gas.. electric... council tax.. tv licence.. mortgage (is about 400) and of course Netflix haha
We have switched things around to find the cheapest possible but we don't exactly skimp on heating and have endless washing and dishwasher. So I think 750 is probably quite an overestimation of costs and hopefully you could do it for a lot less!

SpekySquarehead

Chandelier - The stag is in Liverpool and yeah, I've set myself a budget and I won't go past it.

My mum had the same idea. She encouraged me to hold of 12 months and allow me to save up lot's more. However. Playing about with the mortgage calculator and increasing my deposit from £5k to £10k only reduces my monthly amount by like £30!!!

I'm also putting some money aside for emergencies as you say. Aiming to have £1k away by Xmas.

Buttermilk chicken sounds right up my street. You've gave me some inspiration for next weeks meals


JVR - Am I likely to have friends over and stay? Very unlikely as they'll all live pretty close by. Air B&B would be an option but my location is in a small town, so there won't be a demand for it.

Yeah I edged on the side of caution. I spoke to a friend who lives on his own in the same town as I to gauge his costs and and I've then added 10% wiggle room. Also the mortgage I've assumed to be at 5% (which I believe is high?) and at the most expensive I could afford.

Likelihood is that I'll settle for a smaller place with cheaper bills, yeah. But for the purposes of budgeting, I'd rather assume worst case scenario.

Thanks to you both for your input.

SpekySquarehead

I love me an excel spreadsheet.

Was happily working away till my mind gets distracted with money/mortgage etc. It occured to me, how will the year pan out if I continue to put away £750 per month? Well, it looks like this;

January £2,650.00
February £3,400.00
March £4,150.00
April £4,900.00
May £5,650.00
June £6,400.00
July £7,150.00
August £7,900.00
September £8,650.00

Wowzers! Don't know why but the figure I had in my head was a lot less than that. Assuming I still put £5k down as a deposit, I'd still be left with nearly £4k for 'things'.

Also on my lunch break I went onto Rightmove and played about with their mortgage calculator on various properties. All of the below figures are based on a £5k deposit and on a 5% interest rate over 25 years;

£100k property = Monthly payments of £556
£75k = £410
£69k = £375
£65k = £351
£60k = £322
£55k = £293

These were all based on properties which I thought were reasonable and on the very face of it, I'd live in. Of course much more research is required for having such an investment but again, it was interesting to see what sort of monthly repayments I'd be looking at for a cheaper mortgage.

Drawingaline

No idea if you can still get them but our mortgage was over 33 years when we took it out. (Took us to age 65) we went through an independent broker. If it is an option it may reduce the payments on a month to month basis, giving you a chance to save with an option of the 10% overpayment yearly, but if anything drastic happens it's an extra emergency fund if that makes sense?

crazy_cat_lady

Good on you for planning it all out rather than just jumping in head first. At least you know what to expect and can be realistic about having your own place...

SpekySquarehead

Drawingaline - That's a good idea. Wasn't aware you could do that.

CCL - Well I feel like it's all I think about so hopefully going to think of everything by the time I go to buy.

louby40

Don't forget about solicitors costs etc. When I moved in May 2015 I sold and bought and spent £8k on moving costs. It astounded me. I moved from a large 5 bed detached to a 4 bed townhouse. The estate agents fees were a staggering £3,600 and they did very little. I actually sold my house to a work colleagues daughter so could have saved myself the ££, but it was complicated to get out of the contract with the estate agent.

Obviously you're not selling so your costs will be much lower.

I borrowed £106k on a £170k property and my mortgage payments are £564 a month I pay extra and rounded it up to £600. It's 2.3% I think till 2020!

SpekySquarehead

Louby - thanks for the info. Can't you get those costs included in the mortgage though? If your percentage increases after 2020, what 'type' of mortgage is that? Variable?

louby40

If you add those fees you're paying them for 25 years (or length of your mortgage) you have to factor them in.

My mortgage is a fixed rate for 5 years. When it ends in 2020 I shall remortgage for a better/similar deal.

Hopefully I will have done most of my house renovations by then so shall be looking for a mortgage I can overpay. I can only overpay 10% a year at the moment.

SpekySquarehead

It might be short sighted of me, but I think I'd rather hide those costs in the mortgage payments, otherwise I'd need to save for another 12 months!