Ok, here goes nothing!

LauraB89

Thanks Bob and Poddle!

We are viewing houses on Saturday..!

I'm so excited, but a little bit nervous. We are getting married in June next year and need to start saving for the wedding. We are also looking at houses that would mean a long commute to work (1 hour) - does anyone else have a commute? Does it suck or is it worth it to live somewhere lovely?

It's OK for me, because we are planning on having a baby so it won't be forever. I worry that the oh won't like it!

Not only that but where we're moving to is more rural so we will need another car. I feel like I have a bit more to pay for than I can afford and I don't want to get in more debt or sell my shares.

Lots of motivation to stay on the straight and narrow - haven't got much money left for this week but payday is only 2 weeks away and hopefully I will get my bonus and pay off another big old chunk of debt! Xxx

Bobarella

Well. We are in SE London and lots of people we know have moved out to Kent and the surrounding area because as someone was only telling me this weekend you can buy a 3 storey house in Ramsgate for £200,000 whereas were we are you'd be hard pushed to find a 1 bed flat for that.

One of my dear friends who gave up work when she had her first child 10 years ago, has made it work. Her OH commutes from near Canterbury each day whilst she looks after their kids. They do have 2 cars but their house always reminds me of a national trust property, think super cute country cottage in an amazing garden. So for them it works. But I do know it's hard for her when the kids are sick or her husband has to go to meetings around the country.

It's a lifestyle choice isn't it. Ultimately. I think its best to get the mortgage before you start a family because if you intend to have kids your mortgage contribution would decline and even if you go back to work they will take off whatever your childcare costs are on an affordability basis which reduces what they will lend.

poddle911

Absolutely what Bob said ^^

It's all down to what you value most, and it's sometimes difficult to work out what this is until you're living it! However, nothing focuses the mind like planning a wedding, buying a house and starting a family(!), so you're in a good place motivation-wise and that is a pretty decent mortgage rate.

Regarding the commute, what kind of commute is it? Personally I think an hour is doable, but is that door to door? Is it reliable? Is it a stressful drive with nightmare parking at the end of it or an enjoyable traffic-free 60 miles with a dedicated parking space? My OH spends more than £3k a year on a 55-minute train journey - which he accepts because we're happy living where we are on the south coast -but this past year has been a real challenge because of bl00dy southern rail and their shocking 'service'. Some weeks he spends more than 20+ hours commuting, waiting for cancelled trains, standing up most journeys because when the trains eventually come they're packed, and not being able to listen to use his noise-cancelling headphones because then he can't hear the last-minute platform change announcements! So, while he appreciates how fortunate he is/we are, he'd love that extra 10 hours back!

Oops, slight rant there, but hopefully helpful

Where are you house hunting?

LauraB89

Ahh thanks guys - great advice as always!

The commute is from North Dorset (Gillingham and the surrounding area) to Bournemouth. There is parking and most of the drive is country lanes. PLUS my OH works at the same place, so we can drive together which I think would make it better. I think that he would either look for a role from home or a new job closer to home eventually - but I think that until after the wedding we will stay at the same jobs and just look to move.

Overall, we can get a MUCH nicer house for the money and be closer to our friends and in the beautiful countryside

We have viewings this weekend and I am really excited to see some houses!!!

Today has been a NSD, my budget is tight towards the end of this month (we get paid on the 15th) but I am determined to stick it out to payday without going over my limit.

It's Friday tomorrow and I find out more about the changes at work - which I am kind of excited about!

How's everyone else's day been?

xx

Bobarella

Sounds like a win/win situation then!

Mrs_Hainsworth

I would love to live in North Dorset - lucky you!

Although we rent, when I got a job in London we made the decision that I would commute in so that we could get a two bedroom cottage (we live in a pretty Hampshire town) and we have an allotment. My commute is 75 mins door to door (but will increase when I start my new job). Our rent plus my season ticket still works out cheaper than London rent. The trains are reliable and although the journey is long it gives me time to read (or sleep).

That said we want to start a family soon so commute time will start to become a bigger factor.

Ultimately you need to think whether it's something you can commit to long term - are you planning to go back to work after maternity leave? If you are, and having a baby has meant 'escaping' from a long commute then it's going to be a whole lot harder to start commuting again.

LauraB89

Hi Mrs Hainsworth! Great points - I suppose I won't know how I really feel commuting until I do it. Currently I live 1 minute's walk from my bed to my desk so it will be a change. I think my approach will be to move, commute, have baby and go from there. If I go back to work and I hate the commute I can go elsewhere for work closer to home or I might not go back to work! Who knows! I think I'm guilty of over planning sometimes - you never know what the future will look like really. So I'm doing it - bring on the commute with the house, garden and chickens!!!

Thanks for all your comments guys - it really does help me think things through xxx

LauraB89

Guys, I am having THE BEST WEEK.

- We got approved for a mortgage
- I sorted out the audit issue at work
- My line management is changing much for the better
- LAST NIGHT MY SISTER SURPRISED US AND CAME HOME FROM AUSTRALIA EARLY AND NOW SHE WILL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

I might need to get a lottery ticket you know, I am feeling like all of the puzzle pieces are coming together!

As both of the boys that I live with are late with their food money, I have had to dip into the emergency fund for now, but I am pretty sure that they will sort it out by next week, so it's all good really.

I just have my fingers crossed now that they pay me my bonus for October and then I can pay off an EXTRA £500 or so. I will pay off the Barclaycard for sure, and probably some extra on the Halifax card. I am not going to go mental though, because it's Christmas and I still need to get some presents so I will set some money aside for that. I really think that they key to all of this is not to over estimate how much you can pay back in a month, otherwise you end up stashing all your money away and not being able to pay for stuff so putting it back on credit and feeling like a failure and giving up. Not that I think that I can give up at this point - I am just too excited by life and the possibility of my debt-free, home-owning, chicken-keeping, happily-married and hopefully baby-having blissful future ahead!!!!!!

So!

I have been doing some sums, and if we buy we will need the following;

- £1-2k stamp duty
- £250 for the broker
- There are no survey fees with the mortgage
- Solicitors fees - £1000
- £200- £300 - land registry fees

Which means that we need about £3,550 worst case and £2450 best case - which is a little insane when you think about it!

Either way, the HTB ISA has now had interest paid on it and last month's payment so stands at £2,482 - once I have put in December we will be at £2,682 which is £3,352 in total. If we don't go through until Jan it will be £2,882 or £3,602 post bonus. The plan is to take £5k out of the deposit to cover the fees and help with the wedding - in our best case scenario that leaves us with £3.5k to find for the wedding and worst case is leaves us with £4.5k left to save!!!

The OH gets paid a bonus in Feb which will be a minimum of about £500 after tax, and I should get paid a dividend before the wedding of about £500 as well (although neither of these are guaranteed).

SO, the plan is that in December - the bonus goes to debts - pay off the barclaycard and £250 off of the Halifax card. Which will leave me with;

£914 + £561 = £1475 to pay.

If we buy I will have an extra £200 a month to save for the wedding, plus an extra £50 from Barclaycard payments in Jan. With the mortgage payments and conservative approximates for the bills, it will be around the same cost to live in the new house as our current house.
Which over the 6 months will be £1,500. So, my grand plan is to stash as much away from bonuses as possible from January in savings and pay off only £100 a month to my CC and my usual loan amount £119 (which isn't very MSE I know) and hopefully, if I earn the same in that 6 months that I have in the past 6 months we should be fine!!! And if not, then I will have to sell some shares or get a small loan.

Either way, I think that it would be best to get moving sooner rather than later, and we are seeing a house today that I am really excited about and definitely could be THE ONE. So if it is and we can get moved in as soon as possible, I will be super happy.

I am so sorry for the massive missive today - can you tell I needed to get a lot of things straight?!

Wish me luck house hunting, and I hope everyone has a brilliant no spend weekend!!!

Bobarella

What a lovely surprise to see your sister. And yes it all does seem to be coming together for you, which is great. It just sounds so possible for you to buy and that is fabulous!!!

ab_saver

Wow it all sounds amazing - so exciting to see your sister, and house and wedding planning!