Saving for a mortgage advise

masamoah

Hi guys
Just need a bit of advice. I am 28 (just turned) and I trying to achieve some financial goals. My main goal in life is to get a mortgage for a flat/ house. I am currently living at home paying £250 in rent per month. I am currently contracting and earning £140 a day, which grosses to be about £30k (taking into account sick days/ 25 days holidays) etc. I have no kids so outgoings are pretty minimal. The target money I want is about £50k within the next 2 years. I live in Reading and house prices are just so expensive, hence why I think I need £50k to get something half decent, that would be for a 10% deposit.
So at the moment, I put £250 in my HSBC regular saver account monthly and £200 in my Santander Help to Buy (these are both maximum amounts I can put into these accounts).
So here is the breakdown, as contracting I can only ‘pay’ myself a certain wage. So this is what I take out on a monthly basis:
671- Wages
412 – Dividends
75 – UOH – Rent
Approx £350 for mileage
Approx Total = £1500
So out of this £1500, I use £450 to put into my two savings accounts which leave me with about £1050.
Then I pay my Nan £250 rent which leaves £800 disposable income.
This is just enough to pay bills, buy food, leisure etc. So I do not feel like I can really save anymore out of this £800. Is this an OK amount to live on? Should I be saving more out of this money?
Also, on average, I bring in about £2900 via contracting.
£140 * average number of working days = 140*20 = £2800
So, £2800 - £1500 – Accounting fees = £1k per month
So, at the end of the contract I should have £1k left over (per month), which, at the end of the contract I plan to put into a savings account once I pay all of my taxes. This should be about £10k I hope.
I just putting this message out because I want to see if anyone has any suggestions as to what I could be doing different to achieve my goals quicker / easier?

xylophone

You might consider opening a couple of Tesco current accounts and paying in any excess you have at the end of the month.

This could give you 3% on up to £6000.

You might also wish to look at Nationwide Flexdirect.

LISA becomes available next year. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/lifetime-ISAs

Are you making any pension provision for yourself?

masamoah

Ok thanks, that is a good shout. I figured I will wait until the end of the contract/ financial year and then put in a lump sum into a private pension / safe govt bonds.