Must stop spending

little_miss_spendtoomuch

It's Friday!! This has felt much longer than a four day week!

2 NSD's this week... (Wednesday and Thursday) on Tuesday I bought the baby shower gift and tonight I'm getting my eyebrows done.

Tomorrow is the baby shower so other than a food shop, there's no need for any spending this weekend

little_miss_spendtoomuch

I did it... two NSD's this weekend! :j

Had a quiet weekend catching up with family and attending the baby shower.

Had to top up my oyster today. £75 :eek:
No plans this week other than the gym so I'm hoping for the next few days to be NSD's too.

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Since the wedding I've needed a focus to keep my mind occupied.
The last few months it's been all about wanting a house so we can start a family.
We currently live in a lovely flat in a fantastic location. Its shared ownership so we don't own it all and pay rent and a mortgage.

The problem we have is, to get a house in this area it's like £500k+ for a two bed terrace.
We would never get a mortgage for that as we don't earn enough and have zero savings.
Our flat has gone up in value since we bought it and we wouldn't even be able to afford a full mortgage on it.

Areas near by are still £350k + for a two bed terrace.

Our flat is 2 bedrooms and they are both big rooms. We have one parking space and it's a central location to the train into London and the shops so I don't need a car.

The problem we have is visitor parking- there isn't any and we have some difficult neighbours. Plus we would both love a garden.

The truth is we can't afford a house and we are nowhere near being able to afford one.

Me and my husband sat down over the weekend and had a big talk about our future and we both agree that we want children. We always have but I just always thought we would have our house first. But we have decided we don't want to put off having a baby just because we can't afford a house. We can still make it work. I think.

It's hard because a lot of friends have bought houses over the last couple of years and some of them you just think 'how have they managed that?'

We have a big holiday in May next year and then I want to get the rest of the debt cleared before we start thinking seriously about a family.

Who knows what might happen financially. Our luck might change but I don't want that to be a reason to put our life on hold.

More reason to get this debt clear and save

enthusiasticsaver

It is good that you are planning ahead as babies do cost money. Not in terms of stuff they need as you can buy second hand, loads of gifts normally and they don't eat a lot but in terms of loss of earnings when you are on maternity leave and childcare if you return to work. My younger daughter had her first baby last September so my DGD is coming up to 1 year old and is absolutely adorable. My daughter is 29 and I think you said you were 30 so I guess this is about the time to start thinking about it.

Have you considered moving out of London where property is cheaper? We did that 28 years ago when our daughters were 1 and 3 as housing was just too expensive in London and my DH was offered a job move to the West Country. Never looked back. Do your jobs depend on you staying in London and do you have any family support nearby? I babysit my DGD one day a week now my daughter has gone back to work part time and her MIL has her another day so that has reduced childcare costs. Just something to bear in mind.

You are definitely sensible though in clearing the debt before having a family.

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Thank you enthusiasticsaver
Yeh I turned 30 earlier this year so I know I need to start thinking about a baby soon. I live in a town outside London. I've lived here all my life and my parents are just down the road. My husbands family are about a 20 minutes drive away and all our friends are close by too.
It's tough, but it's down to location that we are looking to stay in our flat rather than move.
I know we could get a lot more for our money elsewhere but I would earn less and we would be alone.
It's the maternity pay and childcare that worries me. I earn more than my husband and we wouldn't be able to pay our bills on just his salary so we definitely need to have some savings. X

enthusiasticsaver

It is certainly tough moving away from family and we did it with a few reservations 28 years ago. We did manage though to buy a 4 bed detached house in a lovely town in Cornwall from the proceeds of a tiny 2 bed terraced house in outer London. Family visited lots and still do but yes we did lose touch with a lot of friends but made new ones who had children. The big plus though was my DHs company had a job vacancy down here so he applied and was successful in that so there was no loss of income. I was a SAHM at that point but went back to work part time in Plymouth when my youngest daughter was 2. Does not work for everyone though so I can entirely see why you want to stay where you are. The only thing I would say is that moving after having children unless one of you is assured a fast career progression is difficult due to reduction in normally at least one income so lower mortgage. Plenty of people though bring up kids in flats and if you have lots of outdoor spaces to take them to at weekends you can get round not having a garden.

little_miss_spendtoomuch

£300 off cc1 this morning bringing the card total below £4k and my total debt down to £6550 :j

Getting there slowly.

little_miss_spendtoomuch

I haven't spent a penny all week! Apart from topping up my oyster on Monday but that doesn't count. :j

Another quiet weekend planned with no unecessary spending

Only 18 days until pay day :rotfl:

abba1772

Wow well done on the nsd xx

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Thanks abba1772! Felt pretty good not spending at all! Unfortunately I broke my good habit at the weekend...

Food shop on Saturday - although I don't count it towards my own spend days because it comes out of our joint account. Only £27 spent for the week so pleased with that. We have £40 left for next weeks food shop before my husband gets paid next Thursday.
The £4 extra I spent on two muffins in the afternoon probably weren't necessary but it's nice to have a treat at the weekend.
We ate lunch out yesterday. It cost £12 and my husband paid so another NSD for me.

We finally had our oven fixed today after 3 months of not being able to use it. £50 between us but it had to be done. We paid for a it a few weeks ago when we booked it.

Topped up my oyster £60 this morning. Hoping for the rest of the week to be full of NSD's