Debt Clearing and Deposit Saving.......

GeorgianaCavendish

Good luck with clearing the debt and saving for the house deposit. I also opened a LISA recently for deposit saving and am squirrelling a little bit into there each month as well as building up my emergency fund and clearing CC debt. 

jwil

I've got a LISA too (for retirement purposes) and the top up gets added each month.

beanielou

Yes!! 
Have a repair fund!!!

Buffythedebtslayer

ooo exciting times Emz! 
I shall follow. No idea what a LISA is but I have a help to buy ISA so I suppose that is a similar thing? 

XXX

Emzilla

ImpulseSpender said:

Emzilla said:

Sarahwithlove said:

No the Lisa money can form the deposit just don't include the bonus itself I believe. Unless it's different to help to buy one? Do you get the bonus regularly or only when you buy house or retire? 

Oh, I see. I think the bonus goes on monthly from what I understand, but I'm not sure.

Emz xx

Hi Emz,

You're right the money goes into the LISA each month based on what you've put in the previous month, obviously up to £1K per year. So last month I had £200 deposited into my LISA by the Gov as I'd put £800 in my LISA over the previous month or so. It is just added to the LISA total amount in there.

I'm also saving for a house deposit now almost all of my debts are paid off! I remember reading your old diary I think? Will be following this diary along wishing you all the luck!

Hope that helps!

Thank you for letting me know. I'm really clueless with all this stuff, and my OH isn't much better!! Will have to learn more before we start going for mortgages etc.

Good luck with your savings. I'm not sure I'll be able to put £800 in one month - that's a great amount!!

Emz xx

Emzilla

Sarahwithlove said:

It's exciting times buying your own place. Although make sure you have a good house fund for repairs going forward! That's what's caught me out a few times 

Oh yeah, that will be one of the few downsides of not renting - not being able to just call my letting agent and get them to sort stuff like that out!! Will have to start an emergency fund once the debts are clear.

Emz xx

Emzilla

GeorgianaCavendish said:

Good luck with clearing the debt and saving for the house deposit. I also opened a LISA recently for deposit saving and am squirrelling a little bit into there each month as well as building up my emergency fund and clearing CC debt. 

Wow!! You're doing it all!! I'll have to start my own emergency fund once the debts are clear. Can only put £4,000 into the ISA each year anyway, so should be able to put away a bit more in another account eventually.

Emz xx

Emzilla

Buffythedebtslayer said:

ooo exciting times Emz! 
I shall follow. No idea what a LISA is but I have a help to buy ISA so I suppose that is a similar thing? 

XXX

Hey Buffy

They don't do the help to buy ISAs anymore, and a LISA is the next best thing, so I quickly opened one up before I hit my 40th birthday next year, as I would have been too old then. I think we've probably left it a bit late to buy our first house, and we might only be able to get a 20 year mortgage (OH is 45 this year), but TBH, I really didn't think I was going to live long enough to be able to get a house. Now knowing that I will get the CF wonder drug shortly, I actually have hope that I might live into my 50's, 60's and maybe even beyond!! Time to plan for a future that I didn't think I had.

Emz xx

Emzilla

Evening everyone

My OH is visiting his parents for the next week or so (back on Thursday), so I've got lots of peace and quiet to get cracking with making plans and making money.

I stupidly thought that I had a year from opening up my LISA to put in £4,000 to get the £1,000 bonus, but I've only got until the new tax year. So my question is, would I be better off concentrating on getting my card and Curry's debt paid off by the end of the year, and then adding as much as I can to the LISA, but it will probably only be around £1,500-£2,000, or should I concentrate on adding to the LISA, reaching the £4,000 by April, and then getting the £1,000 bonus. I guess that I would have to pay around £400 interest on my CC in the 7 months between now and April, but I'd gain £1,000 in the LISA bonus.

It would be tricky to do. I would need to save around £570 a month to reach the £4k, plus I need to pay Currys off by the end of the year. I guess I could chip away a little bit at the card too, and pay the interest off so the balance doesn't go up.

Really not sure which route is best.

Emz xx

jwil

I think I'd prioritise clearing the card and Curry's first - maybe split between the three so you are getting something in the LISA.  I imagine the interest rate on your card is still higher than the interest rate on the LISA, even taking into account the bonus.  £400 interest in 7 months is just money down the drain.  Paying that off sooner means there's more money to go into the LISA pot in the long term.