How did you save for you first home?

AlexMac

Good question Sam...

SamanthaKing wrote: »

... I am just wondering how and when you all got on the property ladder? ...

... but my experience won't "help you at all in the process" sadly, as you're unlikely to benefit from the political-economic environment and spoonfeeding which I enjoyed in my 20's and 30's in the latter quarter of the 20th Century!

In the late 40's and 1950's my family lived in a succession of really rough places (a caravan, B&Bs, Homeless Persons' Units, hostels, tied accommodations, dodgy short term rentals, til (joy of joys) my parents got a Council flat (does anyone remember them?) from a Socialist borough Council...

... then on marrying, and after a few more years in rough rentals or HMOs, I got our own Council flat (does anyone remember them?) from another Labour borough Council...

...then bought our first house in my late 20's; a £10 grand slummy wreck in Brixton in 1975, (under a Labour Government; Harold Wilson, 1964–1976 except for a few years under Conservative Edward Heath) with the help of a 100% (yes, 100%) mortgage from the deeply Socialist regional "Greater London Council" (does anyone remember them?) ...

... and, as we were skint and there was not much of a roof, no hot water or heating and carp kitchen/bathroom, did a load of DIY but crucially, got a "Home Improvement Grant" (does anyone remember them?) from (yeah, you guessed, another Labour Council!)...

It gets better; I then bought my second home in 1985 with some help from the taxman via "MIRAS" (does anyone remember that?), so that over the 7 years I owned this one, the tax relief totalled over £11k; exactly one-third of its £34k purchase price.

MIRAS; Mortgage Interest Relief at Source was introduced by a Conservative Government (Margaret Thatcher 1979-90) who wanted everyone to own their own home on the assumption this would make them all vote Tory, and eventually abolished by (you guessed it- a Labour Governemnt in 2000.

Then both governments colluded (or neglected) so as to let the market produce the kind of housing shortages that caused rocketing house price inflation in the latter 20th Century and 'noughties, so that my old £10k Brixton wreck is probably worth north of a million pounds...

So as regards...

SamanthaKing wrote: »

... I think other people's experiences/tips might just help me in the process...

my experience is therefore of absolutely no help to you; unless you extrapolate that you have to vote Comrade Corbyn into power in the hope that he'll build mass public housing, re-introduce tax breaks for poorer families and cull the rich... which regrettably ain't gonna happen!

But you'll get there; good luck

Takmon

jkility wrote: »

For the purpose of OP, I don't think matched betting is suitable as a 'get a deposit scheme' or 'save money scheme'

Have you ever tried Matched Betting?

Matched Betting is a way to make extra money guaranteed in your spare time, you need less than £100 to start off and don't have to declare any of it as income. So sounds perfect for the OP.

I did it for around a year taking advantage of the quick and easy offers and I make just over £4000 profit. If you compare that to other people that's not a massive amount but I didn't spend a massive amount of time doing it.

csgohan4

Takmon wrote: »

Have you ever tried Matched Betting?

Matched Betting is a way to make extra money guaranteed in your spare time, you need less than £100 to start off and don't have to declare any of it as income. So sounds perfect for the OP.

I did it for around a year taking advantage of the quick and easy offers and I make just over £4000 profit. If you compare that to other people that's not a massive amount but I didn't spend a massive amount of time doing it.

I hate gambling and it has ruined many lives seeing it first hand, no thank you. Lottery from time to time is my limit


The best way to guarantee your income indefinitely is building up your career and not chance it

pinknsparkly

Living in the cheapest houseshares we could find to minimise our largest expenses (rent and bills) as far as possible. I realise this isn't an attractive option, but for us that was the most straight forward way of reducing our outgoings (plus we were unwilling to give up our holidays!). Also, considering savings over an extended period of time rather than just immediate savings - we bought a car for £4000 to ensure it would last a good number of years and saved me quite a bit of time (commute) and money (train fares compared to petrol). Taking that money out of savings was painful but it paid itself back over the next five years in terms of savings on train fares!

I would suggest you create a careful, and complete, record of your outgoings over a year (when I say "complete", I mean make sure you include everything that you spend - that cup of coffee you get when your train delayed and you're freezing cold on the platform, your annual car insurance bill, the takeaway when you can't be bothered to cook, the monthly gym membership that you pay for but never use!). Divide them into categories, and work out the total expense in each category per year. Then, cut out the things that jump out at you as being completely unnecessary and that you wouldn't even notice if they went (such as the aforementioned gym membership!). Next, start with the categories that cost you the most money, this is likely to be your rent, and see how you can trim them. Pick the biggest wins (this may be the ones that save the most money or the ones that are easiest to do) and put those into place. The final step is to make ABSOLUTELY sure that every penny you save from these changes goes immediately into a savings account rather than hanging out in your current account at risk of getting spent!!

Good luck, it's tough but having just bought our first house I can say it's totally worth it!! It's about finding compromises that allow you to save that still allow you to live a life you value. For us the compromises were living in houseshares, taking packed lunches to work and not eating out whilst the things we value and wouldn't give up were holidays and visiting friends and family.

Takmon

csgohan4 wrote: »

I hate gambling and it has ruined many lives seeing it first hand, no thank you. Lottery from time to time is my limit

The best way to guarantee your income indefinitely is building up your career and not chance it

Matched Betting isn't gambling, it is a way to take advantage of special offers to guarantee a profit no matter what happens.

This also isn't a replacement for a good career. Like I said I did it in my spare time and made a good amount of money for a hobby.

SamanthaKing

This has actually helped so much....."live like a monk for a few years" :rotfl:

You're totally right. I'll be hustling for the next few years but it will pay off in the end! I would get a weekend job to help but I am a full time worker and part time student so that is out of the question.

At least being busy means that I am not constantly going out and spending money!

:beer: