Save for a deposit for flat, travel OR career change

moomin82

Thanks all. I think I am able to stick at my job for now whilst i look into a longer-term career change. It would be either yoga or nutrition . Both options will cost at least a few £1000's to retrain, which means part time study whilst I work full time.
I'm probably too old and not as adventurous to quit job and go travelling or have a mature "gap year", but I think I can afford at least one holiday next year.

FatVonD

Have you considered VSO? You wouldn't be able to save for anything but you'd get to travel.

lessonlearned

First of all well done on clearing off so much debt....a great achievement.

Second......I think you need to decide what you actually want......you currently seem very unsure and a bit lost.

Only then can you work out a game plan.

So you need to ask yourself What is it you actually want.....until you know that then you will continue to be indecisive and flounder.

But first you need to ask yourself some searching questions. What kind of person are you really. Do you want a 9 to 5 job or are you craving some excitement. How adventurous are you. You need to answer that with honesty. Do you need security or are you happy to be footloose. How risk averse are you.

You must answer these questions first. And you must be truthful. Don't delude yourself. You need to do a bit of soul searching. Without answering these questions then you will just continue to drift aimlessly, feeling bored, discontent and dissatisfied.

Have you read a book called The 4 hour week. Give it a whirl, it might help you crystallise your thinking and define your goals.

Tbh none of us on here can tell you what to do, how you should plan your life, what your future should look like. All anyone on here can give you is an opinion - an opinion based on our own reality, not yours. We don't really know anything about you, what makes you tick, your strengths and weaknesses. Are you capable of striking out on your own for an extended stay in another country. Do you speak any of the languages in South America. What other skills do you have.

I think if you wish to "change your stars" then you need to start making some preparations. At the very least you will need some seed capital, whether it's for an extended trip, a career change or a place of your own.

So my advice would be to start getting some money together. You are living with your parents so you should be able to save a good chunk of your disposable income. I see no reason why you can't save 50 per cent of your net income.

I suggest you Start a spending diary and start tracking your expenditure. That way you can see where you money is going, where you can cut back and make savings.

Again if you are living with your parents you probably have quite a lot of spare time on your hands. Why not use the time productively. Can you get a second job. Even a couple of nights a week just for a few months to boost your savings.

Can you use some of that time to study part time for your career change. Can you learn some Spanish for your trip.

Karohner makes a valid point. If it is to be an extended trip then in all likelihood you will have to take it before you settle down and commit to a mortgage. Either that or you might not be in a position to do it until you come to retirement. Do you want to wait that long.

Do,you need to see all of South America in one go.....it's a big place!!!! Can you break it down into two or three shorter trips.

It may interest you to know that I will be heading off to the Amazon in January next year. I don't care for flying so I will be going on a cruise. The round trip will take six weeks and will cost me £4K. But because I am (technically) retired - although I still "dabble" - I can spare the time. 6 weeks is ok for me,

When I come back I shall work at my little sideline business for a few months and then disappear again for a couple of months the following winter. My goal is to spend most of the year here in the U.K. And then travel to warmer climes for a couple of months during the worst part of the winter. Rio is in my list, as is Cuba. Quite fancy Argentina. I also have Iceland on my hit list. And Canada looks interesting.:rotfl:and Japan and well........you get the drift. Theres a fair bit of the world I still want to see.

Do I regret waiting until retirement to fulfil my life long dream of visiting South America. No, not all. I chose marriage and motherhood and have never regretted it. But that might not be the right choice for you. We travelled as a family, to quite a bit of Europe, the USA, Egypt, China. Sadly I am now a widow so I now travel solo.

My plan is to continue travelling and having adventures for as long as I am fit and well enough to do so. Hopefully for a fair few years yet. :rotfl:

I have a couple of sideline money making enterprises. I dabble in antiques and I am a qualified beauty therapist, with a special interest in natural skin care and complimentary therapies. So I can be flexible and work if and when I choose.

As I say it all depends on what you want out of life. I wanted it all, a decent job, marriage, babies, a nice home and the opportunity to see a bit of the world. And that's more or less what I got.

But here's the thing......yes you can have it all, but just not all at once. You do have to prioritorise. When I reached 33 I decided I needed to have my babies whilst I still could so the travel had to wait.

So ....in a nutshell.....decide your priorities and then set your goals.

Good Luck - whatever you finally decide.

moomin82

Hi there,

Thank you so much for your post. I am doing a lot of soul searching.I've replied to your comments below.

lessonlearned wrote: »

First of all well done on clearing off so much debt....a great achievement.

Thank you.

Second......I think you need to decide what you actually want......you currently seem very unsure and a bit lost.

That makes me uncomfortable but is probably true. I am looking into my options for career retraining so this will help!

Only then can you work out a game plan.

So you need to ask yourself What is it you actually want.....until you know that then you will continue to be indecisive and flounder.

You are correct. I need to save more before I can embark on anything major, travel or courses.

But first you need to ask yourself some searching questions. What kind of person are you really. Do you want a 9 to 5 job or are you craving some excitement. How adventurous are you. You need to answer that with honesty. Do you need security or are you happy to be footloose. How risk averse are you.

I am not a 9-5 person at all - however until I learn to make money in more creative ways I will have to be, in order to keep saving/living. I am dabbling with the idea of becoming a yoga teacher. I have landed an interview for teacher training. Hurrah!

You must answer these questions first. And you must be truthful. Don't delude yourself. You need to do a bit of soul searching. Without answering these questions then you will just continue to drift aimlessly, feeling bored, discontent and dissatisfied.

Have you read a book called The 4 hour week. Give it a whirl, it might help you crystallise your thinking and define your goals.

Ah yes, I did buy that book and read it years ago. Didn't find it very prominent for me, what were the main lessons you learned from it?

Tbh none of us on here can tell you what to do, how you should plan your life, what your future should look like. All anyone on here can give you is an opinion - an opinion based on our own reality, not yours. We don't really know anything about you, what makes you tick, your strengths and weaknesses. Are you capable of striking out on your own for an extended stay in another country. Do you speak any of the languages in South America. What other skills do you have.

I do speak "Intermediate" Spanish and have taken evening courses earlier this year to improve. Seems a bit of a waste having not gone anywhere this year, I live in hope!:rotfl:

I think if you wish to "change your stars" then you need to start making some preparations. At the very least you will need some seed capital, whether it's for an extended trip, a career change or a place of your own.

So my advice would be to start getting some money together. You are living with your parents so you should be able to save a good chunk of your disposable income. I see no reason why you can't save 50 per cent of your net income.

I've made a start

I suggest you Start a spending diary and start tracking your expenditure. That way you can see where you money is going, where you can cut back and make savings.

Again if you are living with your parents you probably have quite a lot of spare time on your hands. Why not use the time productively. Can you get a second job. Even a couple of nights a week just for a few months to boost your savings.

I work full time and have a dance group that takes up some evenings for rehearsals. So I don't have a lot of time at all. I like the idea of a 2nd job though. I have signed up to be a Neal's Yard consultant!!

Can you use some of that time to study part time for your career change. Can you learn some Spanish for your trip.

I would love to learn more. Time to enrol!

Karohner makes a valid point. If it is to be an extended trip then in all likelihood you will have to take it before you settle down and commit to a mortgage. Either that or you might not be in a position to do it until you come to retirement. Do you want to wait that long.

Oh dear, no way I could wait till retirement. I will have to keep saving and then book a few extended trips.

Do,you need to see all of South America in one go.....it's a big place!!!! Can you break it down into two or three shorter trips.

It may interest you to know that I will be heading off to the Amazon in January next year. I don't care for flying so I will be going on a cruise. The round trip will take six weeks and will cost me £4K. But because I am (technically) retired - although I still "dabble" - I can spare the time. 6 weeks is ok for me,

A cruise sounds fantastic. I am excited for you! I would do a cruise for sure! Have the best time ever! You have worked hard and you deserve it :j

When I come back I shall work at my little sideline business for a few months and then disappear again for a couple of months the following winter. My goal is to spend most of the year here in the U.K. And then travel to warmer climes for a couple of months during the worst part of the winter. Rio is in my list, as is Cuba. Quite fancy Argentina. I also have Iceland on my hit list. And Canada looks interesting.:rotfl:and Japan and well........you get the drift. Theres a fair bit of the world I still want to see.

Do I regret waiting until retirement to fulfil my life long dream of visiting South America. No, not all. I chose marriage and motherhood and have never regretted it. But that might not be the right choice for you. We travelled as a family, to quite a bit of Europe, the USA, Egypt, China. Sadly I am now a widow so I now travel solo.

It sounds as though you are happy with your life choices and have no regrets. You are now fulfilling your personal and travel dreams and hats off to you. I am sorry for your loss.

My plan is to continue travelling and having adventures for as long as I am fit and well enough to do so. Hopefully for a fair few years yet. :rotfl:

That is the best way to live! I have been rather bogged down, at 35 I feel older than my years. I don't have a partner at the moment and wonder how I am going to do all this on my own. Yesterday I went to a boat party and just enjoyed myself. I was happy!

I have a couple of sideline money making enterprises. I dabble in antiques and I am a qualified beauty therapist, with a special interest in natural skin care and complimentary therapies. So I can be flexible and work if and when I choose.

Oh right that sounds interesting. I love complementary therapies. Would like to learn holistic massage. Well I did a one day course, want to do more!

As I say it all depends on what you want out of life. I wanted it all, a decent job, marriage, babies, a nice home and the opportunity to see a bit of the world. And that's more or less what I got.

But here's the thing......yes you can have it all, but just not all at once. You do have to prioritorise. When I reached 33 I decided I needed to have my babies whilst I still could so the travel had to wait.

Thanks, yes I do want it all. Will figure things out

So ....in a nutshell.....decide your priorities and then set your goals.

This sounds sensible. I actually will make a list as it's too much to fathom!

Good Luck - whatever you finally decide.

SmarterNotHarder

Hmm. I saw the title on your thread and couldn't click it fast enough for the responses!

I'll give you a bit of background, though I'm uncertain I'm going to help with the indecisiveness!

At 25, having saved up £15k towards a house deposit, I quit my job and gave up my rented flat and spent it on a year long, Working Holiday to Australia. I don't regret a second of it.

I returned home, and have been working since. I moved back in with my parents because of how close they live to where I work (we split the bills 3 ways).

I'm now 33, and single and about to be made redundant. I've saved up a fair whack, and the Wanderlust is calling again. Strangely enough, Central and South America are on the list.

Now the money I've saved needs to be split between the travels and a house deposit, but I can't buy a house while being made redundant, so I need to find a new job and get past the probation period.

On the flip side, once I've done that, long term travels are out of the question. And yes, it's all a bit "First World Problems"

The more I think about it, the more I think that I'll regret not taking the opportunity. But there is a little voice at the back of my head telling me to grow up and be sensible.

This wasn't helpful at all was it?

Ok, now more practical stuff.

You don't have to decide right now. Your first job is to save up 3 month's living costs. (This you don't touch if you go travelling, it's for when you get back so you're not completely broke. If you don't go travelling, it's your buffer for setting up your business).

Then, do the yoga course. This is regardless of what you decide to do in the end, simply because there is nothing stopping you offering yoga classes to toher travellers (It's really popular among the travel types) and could supplement your travel income. You could even offer your sevices to hotels/backpacker hostels in exchange for a bed. If you learned Spanish and/or Portuguese this would help this. Could you also teach Salsa to your fellow travellers?

Open a H2B ISA *NOW*. This is because you have to have had it open for a certain amount of time before you're allowed to use it. Add £200.00 to that grand and use the full opening allowance. Than start again. Nationwide are good as they allow you to split the total ISA allowance between different products.

If you use mobile banking, keep all saving accounts off your phone. Just have your "current account" on there with your "spending money" in it. If you can't see it/easily move money, you're less likely to spend it.

moomin82

Hi there!

Thank you for your post! It's quite nice to hear from someone who seems to be wrestling a bit with similar issues! (Only to find someone that can relate, not that I am happy for your indecision!

Ah you did the Australia thing that must've been amazing!

How is it living with the 'rents again? I can bear it for now but feel I shouldn't stay too long! It doesn't help to read articles that say young people need to save for 60 years for their deposit in London. :mad:

Sorry to hear about your redundancy. It could be an opporune moment to go on those trips to South America now, whilst you have the savings and free time! Ah I see what you mean, the good thing is you have savings for your deposit.

Ha, I know it is a bit First World Problems. I am sure some other 30 year olds must be thinking the same thing. I have friends who either resign to renting forever or have been sensible enough to have saved for years, inherited some money or have had parents help towards a deposit. I had none of those sadly!

I think if I were you I would start planning my trip and worry about the job when you come back? What do you think :D:D Sorry if I am unhelpful, I live for today, like organic food and nice clothes, good times and nights out. So I need to change my ways!:rotfl:

SmarterNotHarder

Hey!

Yeah I know, it's refreshing finding someone of a similar age having similar issues when your friends are all getting married/mortgages/having kids!

Australia was beyond amazing. Not just because of the place, but travelling alone taught me so much about myself. "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

Hmm. Living with parents is ok, and I'm utterly grateful for the opportunity to save the way I have been doing, but you know, I'm getting old :P I'm craving things like my own kitchen and having a home rather than a room! But you know, it's opportunity cost.

Would you move out of London? Is there anything other than the job keeping you there? I live in the North West and you know, it's lovely up here!

Oh I'm not sorry at all, I needed a kick to get out of the "Permanent but dull admin job", and a chance to think about what I actually want to do. Luckily between the savings and the redundancy money, I have a bit of breathing room.

I think that might be the best plan. So why am I looking up "dream kitchens" on Pintrest? *headdesk*

Hmm. Do you have a garden? Could you grow stuff? you can do herbs etc on your kitchen windowledge. And remember, you need a miniscule practical wardrobe for your travels, and the more extra "stuff" you have, the more you'll need to pay to store it when you go away! I'm not saying don't have fun, but that £20 cocktail at London prices could pay for a couple of days worth of food in Brazil. Just saying! Your mates will still love you over a few bottles of wine and a fakeaway in your living room.

How many "nice clothes" do you have? Do you still wear them all? Could you sell any?

moomin82

Hi!

Oh yep I don't see my settled down friends so much, we seem to be living in different worlds! I am still into my dancing and finding my "self", it sounds self-indulgent but is necessary!

That sounds like the trip of a lifetime. I did do a short period of study in Salamanca in 2011 and still look back on that in awe! It was the best time ever.

How about renting, is that an option for you? Must be a lot cheaper than London prices.

Do you know what you really want to do? I applaud you for escaping the dull job. I question if finding my purpose and a fulfilling job is actually achievable, as I haven't found it so far. I'll have fun trying out the options!

If you can afford that breathing space, I would enjoy it - you seem to have a good sense of budgeting!

I look at interiors pages on Pinterest too. It's inspiring!

I do have a garden (well Mum does), not green fingered at all. Thanks though, I may try to get into that! I have too many hobbies. My friends, I don't tell them I live at home. I am too embarrassed, hah.

I could part with some of that stuff in my wardrobe, will have a rummage

Will your week ahead involve travel plans? I wish you all the best with the next steps!