Planning a mortgage in 2017

gino76ph

Me and my wife have a joint account a high high street bank which we use to pay off our utility bills. A savings account from the same bank is where we put some of our salary to.

It's kind of difficult to estimate our outgoings as we could have over £500 for grocery shopping one month and the next more or less. Our broadband+landline are somewhat fixed (and I have removed the "Anytime" part of our landline) as we use mostly our mobiles. We give meter readings for British Gas so that saves us. (I hope). Water and TV license is quite cheap so that's alright for us. Council Tax is pretty much "stable" for the rest of the 12 months. So the only variable is our outgoings is grocery shopping (which we have been controlling/limiting by buying only what we need and keeping healthy as well by checking the traffic light labels), mobile bills (somewhat but still remain fairly stable) and some "unplanned" stuff like if we we need to buy a new trouser or coat or something we like/need on Amazon or Argos or Ebay.

My wife's salary is pretty much stable (more than £2000 each month) but since i've gone to being an agency nurse my salary has gone a hit of £500 each month but I try and work 4-5 days a week which will compensate for that.

We are currently paying a combined £400+ each month for our individual personal loans of 2-3 years minimum.

Would paying the mortgage be better off if its coming out of our savings account/salaries?

Thrugelmir

gino76ph wrote: »

We are currently paying a combined £400+ each month for our individual personal loans of 2-3 years minimum.

Clear your other debts as a first priority. Will impact affordability and no point earning pennies on savings accounts while paying higher rates of interest. .

ViolaLass

Giving meter readings does not save you money per se - it's what deal you're on that matters.

Council tax should exactly the same each month (apart from the two months off), not just vaguely 'stable'.

£500 a month on food!

You should do some budgeting. Start by sitting down with bank statements for the last three months and tot up how much you've actually been spending.

SavingSteve

gino76ph wrote: »

Would paying the mortgage be better off if its coming out of our savings account/salaries?

Your mortgage must be paid from a bank account via direct debit. There is no other option.

elverson

Both of you should read through this first so that you understand the full process.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/house-buying-guide

On your third question, whether you find somewhere on a website or via a traditional estate agent doesn't make much difference. The contract that you sign is with the seller (current owner) of the property and the website/estate agent just does the introductions.

gino76ph

So do you guys think £500 for a monthly grocery shopping is a lot albeit a rough estimate? We have store cards (Nectar & Tesco Clubcard) that we earn points and earn money off vouchers. And we dont do "impulse" buying. I check labels and reconcile them with prices and at the same time we just get what we need and what's healthy. e.g. getting an 86p 1L pineapple juice rather a £1.25 500ml Oasis juice drink. Cutting down on fizzy drinks instead bringing our own water for lunch. And as much as possible we cook /bring our own food rather than buying outside.

My wife is insisting she uses her credit card for the deposit. Is this right?But I agree that the main mortgage itself must be paid off via direct debit.

We can't be clearing our debts till after 18 months (for me) and 3 years (for her). Slowly January is nearing and we need to start having some pre-planning whether to rent or buy something:(

Been selling off my gadgets at home like getting a mid-range phone (£200-£300) rather getting a high-end phone like Galaxy S7 or an iphone (£400-600+). Was selling my 2014 Macbook Air and wanted to get a cheaper PC but i found it very useful/helpful that if i get a Windows PC I would probably end up having it repaired many times and paying more. I have NEVER had my Mac for repairs in the last 2 years. We don't have Netflix or Amazon Prime video. We enjoy TV via our Youview/BT Sport box which is included in our Plusnet contract. I've lowered our mobile phone tariffs long time ago making it as a monthly rolling SIM-only plan rather than a contract.

Going on holidays twice a year doesn't hurt don't you think? Spending £200 for 2 x people return flight and £500+ for 5 days on a EU holiday doesn't sound much you think?

So I don't know what else or where else we can save?:(

ViolaLass

Your wife is clueless - no chance of paying a house deposit with a credit card.

You're equally clueless so the good news is that you're a good match.

The point isn't whether we think you're spending a lot, it's whether you're happy with your money going on EU holidays or on a house. We all have choices to make.

csgohan4

gino76ph wrote: »

Been selling off my gadgets at home like getting a mid-range phone (£200-£300) rather getting a high-end phone like Galaxy S7 or an iphone (£400-600+). Was selling my 2014 Macbook Air and wanted to get a cheaper PC but i found it very useful/helpful that if i get a Windows PC I would probably end up having it repaired many times and paying more. I have NEVER had my Mac for repairs in the last 2 years.
So I don't know what else or where else we can save?:(

Having MacBook is not money saving, learn to build your own PC and you will learn to troubleshoot. Worse case scenario, reformat and reinstall the operating system or replace defective components

gino76ph

I correct myself with regards the £500 a month grocery shopping. The most would be £300 max.

I'm selling my 2014 11-inch Macbook Air for a cheaper laptop. But had a high-spec cheaper Lenovo last year, thinking it was better/faster than my MBA but was disappointed. Tried a Chromebook. Again cheaper, speed is great but with lacking a backlit keyboard, no 4GB RAM and a very limited hard drive (sure one can insert a microSD card) but having an immature Chrome OS I returned it. And besides if i sell my MBA I would be lucky If i can get £500 off it. I would prefer a laptop-notebook hybrid coz its very portable and small. I miss having a PC for gaming tho:(

So, I don't know what else to do to save.

RosaBernicia

If you hop over to the Debt Free Wannabe boards on this forum, you can see examples of how to set out your money coming in and going out (often called a Statement of Affairs) and find links to help calculate how long it will take to pay off your debts. If you like, you can also share your own version so that people can suggest where you may be able to make savings.

It is always your choice but you will need to decide how much you want to buy a house soon, and how much you want other things in your life. You cannot use credit for a mortgage deposit - you must have savings (or confirmation that any money coming from eg family is a gift not a loan). You will also need to have the debts clear when you apply for a mortgage, otherwise either the application will be refused or the lender will reduce how much they will lend you.

There's lots of helpful background information in the rest of this site.