VelvetFreak is saving up to buy a house! 10 July 2019 at 2:14AM in Mortgage-free wannabe 284 replies 15.7K views

VelvetFreak

Shiny new diary! Yay!

A bit about me: I am 25 years old, living in Australia. I own a tiny one-bedroom unit (well, the bank owns it, because I have a mortgage ). My boyfriend moved in with me a few months ago.

I recently reached a big goal, which was to have $10,000 saved in an Emergency Fund. So now I am onto the next thing, which is saving to buy a house. My goal is to have $80,000 saved before I turn 30 (which is in about 4.5 years, December 2023 :eek:)

At the moment, I am able to save $400 per fortnight out of my wages, and my boyfriend pays $200 for “bills” which I am able to save because I paid the same amount in bills since before he moved in, so I see it as “extra” money that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I hope that makes sense. Our finances are separate at the moment but I suppose we will combine things more over time. I also plan to save extra money that I get with raises, bonuses, etc.

I am also wanting to do some small renovations in my unit to make it nice for us to live here for the next few years. I will find the money for that somewhere.

I recently sold a mattress and furniture that I had stored in the garage, so we are starting the House Savings off with $100 :j

LeighofMar

Well done. Best wishes on your journey.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

VelvetFreak

My BF (who shall now be known as MrVF - I figured he deserves a proper name ) and I have been having some really good talks about money lately. He has some of his own goals that he is working on for the next couple of years. He really needs a new car in the next few months and he is paying for some dental work (braces, etc). He also has a small debt that needs to be paid off. After all of that has been sorted, he will save up his own big emergency fund and then join me in saving for a house. He is currently working full-time but would like to go back to university and finish off his degree so that he can get a better job. That might mean going part-time at work, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

I have been looking at my accounts this morning and shuffling things around. Have moved all of the “bills” money that MrVF has paid me so far into the House Savings ($1800) as well as $50 that I had put aside for petrol that I didn’t end up using. So the new balance is $1950 :j :j

Things are off to a great start. I have been thinking about all the junk that’s in the house and the garage that I could potentially sell :cool:

I should also mention that all of this money is in an offset account against the mortgage, which reduces the amount that you pay interest on. So while I am not actively trying to pay out the loan early with extra repayments, it all helps because there is less interest charged.

Off to update my signature.

Cherryfudge

Happy new diary! You are so organised... wish I had an offset mortgage but we've been advised that the remainder of ours is now too small an amount for it to be considered. (Also I've shrunk the mortgage considerably since we had that conversation).

Super that MrVF and you are one the same page about money... that makes a huge difference.

I'm looking forward to your further adventures!

VelvetFreak

Thanks Cherry. It’s true, I am organised if not obsessive . MrVF and I are on the same page in the sense that I tell him what to do and he does it, because he has no interest whatsoever in financial things :rotfl:

Today was a good day. I made a Thai green curry with rice for dinner and boxed up the leftovers, so we will each get two lunches to take to work. MrVF has had two weeks off (works at a school, so gets holidays when the kids do). He just did 3 days of work for a friend of his and got paid $300 so he put $280 towards his Car Savings which brings his total up to $2818 (he is aiming for $6000). I must say that I am really proud of him . His parents never taught him a whole lot about money, so it’s taken a while to get him on track.

Thank god tomorrow is Friday. I have been so tired lately. I have a doctors appointment next week to get my bloods checked and whatnot, but I think I just need a holiday
I love my job but there is a particular person there who makes it harder than it should be.

VelvetFreak

Friday done and dusted. MrVF wanted to go to the movies tonight but I am just exhausted. We got takeaway for dinner, paid out of excess money from the grocery budget.
I’m trying to lodge my taxes for the year but the website is down . I should get a decent return this year and I’m trying to decide how I should spend it. Of course, the logical choice would be to put it in the House Savings, but I really want to buy a treadmill as I really should be exercising but hate walking outside. MrVF and I have been together for almost two years but have never really been on a proper holiday together, so I’d like to go somewhere for just a few days. There is also renovating to be done.

Just ranting for the sake of it now: I am tired of doing renovations. It’s just not very fun anymore. Whilst I am glad that I bought my flat, I am sick of spending time and money on it. It has a really weird layout so everything that I want to do is twice as hard as it should be. Nothing is in a logical place and it’s really frustrating having to work around that . There is also very little storage and that makes it difficult to keep tidy.

Anyways, that’s enough nonsense for tonight.

Cherryfudge

VelvetFreak wrote: »

Thanks Cherry. MrVF and I are on the same page in the sense that I tell him what to do and he does it, because he has no interest whatsoever in financial things :rotfl:

That's what I call a great arrangement!

Maybe you need to book that holiday to give yourself a fresh view on renovations? I didn't do AirB&B in Australia but I know that in the UK/Europe I've been on self-catering holidays that gave me lots of inspiration for my own home. Mind you, I've been on some that showed me what NOT to do as well. :eek: It must be frustrating to have to deal with a badly laid-out flat, so I hope your mojo comes back to help out.

VelvetFreak

Cherry - I think we will go on the holiday. Renovations be damned. There is plenty that I can do at this stage that won’t cost much money (demolishing and painting), so I will start on that if I ever feel the urge to get off my butt and actually do something

VelvetFreak

A very productive morning was had. I've done 3 loads of washing, made and ate lunch, taken the cat for a walk in the garden and helped MrVF set up his computer that has been packed away since he moved in. We both lodged our tax returns and should get a bit over $1000 back (each).

MrVF is now in a very cranky mood as his computer won't do the thing that he wants it to do. I have sent him to have a nap, so hopefully that fixes him.

I need to get the sheets out of the dryer and make the bed, do a quick vacuum and tidy up the kitchen. I have high hopes of cleaning out the garage tomorrow morning.

CosmoCat

My goodness, you are a busy bee, aren't you? I've only just managed to pick out something to wear for an event later, and drink two cups of coffee!

Well done on productive days, hope you have a terrific weekend! I'm off to work!